Men dressed in medieval-style robes of purple or black, their faces and heads covered by conical caps, walk barefoot through the streets, together with images of the Crucified Christ, the Sorrowing Virgin Mary, and John, the Disciple whom Jesus charged with caring for his mother, Mary.
Children carry symbols associated with the Crucifixion.
Boy dressed as Roman soldier
Women and girls dress as the women following Jesus. The girl dressed in black in the center represents Mary, who is following a white-robed angel and accompanied by other women.
A word is needed to explain the conical hoods. For our countrymen and women in the U.S., the connection to the Ku Klux Klan is instantaneous and fraught. Here's the story as we understand it.
The conical cap has a long history throughout the world. It was used during the Spanish Inquisition as part of the clothing of humiliation worn by people charged with heresy before the Inquisition. There is some evidence that this practice is the historical root of the student's Dunce Cap.
Pointed hoods were also used by various Spanish secret orders and Catholic lay confraternities for processions—specifically, the Capirote, or conical cap, was worn during Semana Santa processions held in Seville, Spain.
But the story of how the medieval conical cap came to be adopted by the Ku Klux Klan is a curious example of cultural diffusion. During the making of the movie (1915), The Birth of a Nation, the costume designer reached into the medieval ages to get a costume idea for the Klan, which by the 1920's had nearly died out. The designer came up with the medieval Spanish Capirote. In the wake of the movie, the Klan experienced a resurgence and adopted the conical cap seen in the movie.
It should be noted that although "Birth of a Nation" is honored for its technical innovations as one of the One Hundred Best American Films, the racial undertones are deeply disturbing to contemporary audiences.
Conical Cap in Pátzcuaro
But it is safe to say that the tradition of the conical cap in Pátzcuaro's Silent Procession is grounded in the medieval tradition of Spanish lay confraternities, as introduced in Nueva España by the Spanish monastic orders. In Pátzcuaro, barefoot penitents march in the Silent Procession in search of atonement for their sins.
Pointed hoods were also used by various Spanish secret orders and Catholic lay confraternities for processions—specifically, the Capirote, or conical cap, was worn during Semana Santa processions held in Seville, Spain.
But the story of how the medieval conical cap came to be adopted by the Ku Klux Klan is a curious example of cultural diffusion. During the making of the movie (1915), The Birth of a Nation, the costume designer reached into the medieval ages to get a costume idea for the Klan, which by the 1920's had nearly died out. The designer came up with the medieval Spanish Capirote. In the wake of the movie, the Klan experienced a resurgence and adopted the conical cap seen in the movie.
It should be noted that although "Birth of a Nation" is honored for its technical innovations as one of the One Hundred Best American Films, the racial undertones are deeply disturbing to contemporary audiences.
Conical Cap in Pátzcuaro
But it is safe to say that the tradition of the conical cap in Pátzcuaro's Silent Procession is grounded in the medieval tradition of Spanish lay confraternities, as introduced in Nueva España by the Spanish monastic orders. In Pátzcuaro, barefoot penitents march in the Silent Procession in search of atonement for their sins.
The Procession of Crosses on Good Friday Night and the Procession of Silence conveyed to Reed and me powerful feelings of the suffering that humans are capable of inflicting on one another—as represented by the image of the Crucified Christ.
But these annual processions also convey the love and devotion that Mexican Catholics have for these very realistic images that provide them with a tangible connection to their God.
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