Mexico Fiesta: Cruz Verde in Pátzcuaro

We wakened at 6:30 AM to the now-familiar sound of cohetes (rockets, large firecrackers) announcing 7:00 AM Mass.

Today, May 3, is celebration of the Fiesta de la Cruz Verde (Green Cross)—patron saint of Cruz Verde Church located just a couple of blocks from the central plazas in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. In the Catholic Liturgical Calendar, May 3 is the Feast Day of the Holy Cross (Santa Cruz), of which Cruz Verde is a variant.

Watching today's parade to the Plaza Grande, it became clear that whatever its meaning within Catholic tradition, Cruz Verde is, in fact, a May Day festival of renewal celebrating the mid-point of spring—falling, as it does, midway between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice.


Green, of course, symbolizes resurrection and regeneration, thus strengthening the link to the season of planting, which begins when the rains arrive sometime after Cruz Verde. In Mesoamerican culture, green represented Life as symbolized by quetzal feathers (which are green) and jade.

The origin of the Feast of Santa Cruz—Cruz Verde—is shrouded in legend.  Polydoro Virgilio, a sixteenth century Italian writer, relates the Fiesta of the Holy Cross to Roman fiestas honoring Flora, the goddess who represents the eternal rebirth of vegetation in the spring.

Today's parade was led by señoras carrying arcs of paper flowers, which symbolize Life

In Greek mythology, Cibeles (goddess of the Earth and Fertility) selected Attis, a beautiful youth, to guard her temple, on the condition that he remain virgin. Attis succumbed to the charms of a nymph. Enraged by Attis' betrayal, Cibeles struck down the Tree on which Attis' eternal life depended. Repentant, Attis castrated himself.

Upon learning of Attis' action, Cibeles admitted him once again to her temple. The ancient Greeks celebrated this myth of death and resurrection involving the Tree of Life at the time of the Spring Equinox.

Another legend involves the Roman Emperor Constantine. Vastly outnumbered by an enemy army, Constantine had a dream in which he was told to construct and place the Holy Cross at the head of his army in order to assure victory. He did so and, as foretold, easily routed the enemy in the ensuing battle.

With this victory, Constantine sent his mother, Elena, to the Holy Land to find the Cross on which Jesus had been crucified. Under torture, three priests showed Elena where the three crosses lay hidden. A young man, recently dead, was laid in turn on the three crosses. When he was laid on top of the Third Cross, he regained his life—clearly, indicating that this was the Santa Cruz de Jesús.

Faithful señora carrying the Cruz Verde decorated with 

flowers fashioned from  pink and white crepe paper. 

As part of the Holy Roman Empire, Spain was heir to these Greco-Roman traditions and legends, which are relevant here because clearly the Santa Cruz celebration was brought to Nueva España (México) from Spain by Catholic missionaries charged with evangelizing the indigenous peoples.

Intent on eliminating ancient practices and superstitions, the missionaries sought to transform ancient practices into Christian symbols. In this case, the ancient May Pole (Tree of Life, or Ceiba Tree, which is also a symbol in Mesoamerican culture) was transformed into the Santa Cruz, while conserving nearly intact the cultural elements of the ancient celebration.

 Señora celebrating Cruz Verde by decorating her sombrero with paper flowers. Her silver earrings are traditional Purhépecha design.

 Handsome jovén (young man) wearing traditional sombrero and 

 a black and gray sarape folded over his right shoulder.

The Fiesta of Cruz Verde is all about color and life, animals that support the agrarian lifestyle and a fair amount of mescal, which—to my surprise!—is shared with all who watch the parade.

Teams of oxen (bueys) are still seen in the fields around Pátzcuaro.  This pair look askance at Reed pointing his camera at them. Notice the crepe paper festoons.

Burros are not an uncommon sight on Pátzcuaro's streets carrying loads of leña (firewood) for the pueblo's many fireplaces.

I love this burro. He was groomed to beat the band...and his dramatic coloring caught my eye. Check the eye shadow around his eyes!

Speaking of bands!  Every Mexican fiesta has to have a band, and the Fiesta of Cruz Verde is no exception!

The towel around the head of the tuba player is to protect against the sun, which on May 3 is very high in the sky.  But nothing can filter out the twinkle in the player's eye as he realizes that Reed is taking his picture!

This joven (young man) is wearing the traditional Purhépecha sombrero and carrying the distinctive 'Butterfly'  fish nets used by Lake Pátzcuaro's fishermen.

Dancer holding aloft the Pescado (Fish)

The parade ends in front of the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), where the Dance of the Pescadores (fishermen) is performed. Even thirty years ago, fishing in Lake Pátzcuaro was not only an important source of food, but an integral and important part of the culture as well.  As the water level in Lake Pátzcuaro has dropped, this aspect of the culture has perhaps diminished, but by no means has it disappeared. 

Next came the Dance of the Torito (Little Bull), which celebrates Fertility, Life, and the omnipresent possibility of Death. Bulls were brought to Nueva España by the Spaniards. Today bulls, bull-fighting (in the larger cities) and bull-riding (jaripéos in the countryside) remain important parts of Mexican culture.

The Torito Dance is a standard feature of many Mexican Fiestas. The head of the Torito is constructed from hand-woven natural fiber mats (petates).

When painted and with bulls' horns attached,
they become the Torito in this traditional dance.  

We were enchanted by this muchacho performing the Torito with a small bulls' head. It's never too early to begin learning the traditional dances!











For the past ten days, we've had a team of albañiles (construction workers specializing in bricks and tiles)—a family team of father and two sons—cleaning and resetting Casa Mariposa's red tiles (tejas) so rainwater will flow easily when the rains arrive. Cruz Verde is the patron saint of albañiles. Cruz Verdes festooned with crepe paper flowers and streamers are erected to protect albañiles working on often-dangerous construction sites across México.

The Fiesta de Cruz Verde, coming just after Easter Sunday, celebrates the Natural Cycle by saluting the arrival of Spring, the beginning of a new agricultural cycle and concludes with thanksgiving to nature for the harvest to come.

In line with this general celebration of fertility, the Fiesta de Cruz Verde exalts human love and all its spontaneous expressions—hence the mescal, which harks back to ancient traditions.  In this way, the Fiesta de Santa Cruz is a joyous, colorful example of syncretism—Catholic symbols superimposed on ancient beliefs.

Postscript:  I had just finished writing this blog and was ready to post it when I heard the first raindrops of the season.  I didn't quite believe my ears or my eyes because the sun had shone brightly all day long with no indication of impending rain. I kind of held my breath because we've had ever-so-light suggestions of a rain shower with the drops not really hitting the ground, just the leaves of the trees.

But this time, I heard the distinct patter of raindrops falling on our newly cleaned and arranged roof tiles. Then it started to rain even harder.  It can't really be, I thought, but it really was!  I glanced at the clock—6:00 PM. Then I heard the season's first roll of thunder (trueno).  It is now 6:58 PM and the rain god Tlaloc has not yet finished announcing his seasonal arrival!

Earlier today when I wrote, the Fiesta de Cruz Verde announces "...the season of planting that begins when the rains arrive sometime after Cruz Verde." Well, today they arrived right smack on schedule!

The thunder is growing fainter...moving up toward the Meseta (highlands).  Murmuro yo, ¡Bienvenido a las primeras lluvias de la primavera!  [I whisper, Welcome to the first Spring Rains!]


Oh...and did I remind you of the sweet, sweet smell of wet earth, trees and leaves....  Hmm, it's starting to rain even harder now.  Happy Spring!