Pilgrimages and Processions in Ancient and Modern Mexico [] LIFELONG LEARNING

Instructor: Cheryl Claassen

March 4, 6  | 1-3 p.m.

Pilgrimages were surprisingly common in ancient Mexico and were even more common among settler Catholics in modern times. We will look at the pilgrimage, procession, and rogation practices of both cultures, Mexican and Spanish. In both countries the faithful maintained traditional routes to major shrine centers. 

The contemporary Nahau community, as a continuation of ancient rites, carries out its pilgrimages to various mountaintops, springs, caves, and sinkholes, as illustrated by the author’s own photos. Many native shrines were incorporated by modern Catholics, as were calendar dates creating processions and pilgrimages such as the widely observed May 3rd Day of the Cross observance, and several year-round pilgrimages. Rogations can be found in several mestizo towns as well.

Finally, we will address 16th century ritual dramas in both Old and New World, and how these rituals continue to survive among 21st century indigenous peoples of Mexico.

Cheryl Claassen earned a BA in Anthropology at the University of Arkansas and a PhD in Anthropology from Harvard.  She is particularly interested in gender, landscape, and ritual with respect to rock shelters, caves, and shells, bringing her participant observations on pilgrimage and ritual sites in Mexico to bear on the archaeology of the Eastern US 10,000 to 3,000 years ago. She is the author or editor of many books and scholarly papers in archeology.