Even the simple act of praying had to be explained to me. The wedding itself was quite similar to the most weddings in America. With just a few differences, one of the differences was in the groom’s choice of attire. While in an American wedding the groom will often wear a tuxedo, in a Mexican wedding the groom wears a Mexican style shirt, specially made for the wedding. Another difference that I took note of was the kissing of a cross.
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is also known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is like a female God that Mexican made famous. The way I understand it there several story out there about the Virgin Mary. The most closet one and the one that the book in it (spilling the bean) stated that she approach a peasant by the name of Juan Diego. ( Juan was an Indian, who had just converted to Catholic, the story has it that the Virgin Mary (Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe) appeared to Juan Diego as he was on his way to church service which he had heard a whisper calling his name coming from the top of the hill of Tepeyac).
Religion gave meaning and explained human existence, agriculture, natural biological occurrences, and even the light of day. Religion and the gods surrounded the Aztecs lives in every direction. In order to further understand the reasoning behind why the Aztecs felt they needed to practice sacrifice, one needs to understand the importance religion held within the Aztec race. Sacrifice of any form was considered to be a payment to their gods. According to Michael Graulich (2000), the director of religious studies at a school in Paris, the primary reason for sacrifice was atonement (p. 2).
Native American Dancing Native American dancing plays a very important role in the Native culture. It is like going to church from an outsider’s perspective. Most traditional dancing takes place in the roundhouse. The roundhouse is a very scared place where dancers dance to pray and singers sing the songs. They pray for sick people, good health, healing, and a lot of the time pray for the elders.
At this time, theatre was very popular. The instruments used in these theatrical productions included violins, guitars, and harps. It was to this time, and to these instruments, that the origins of the modern mariachi can be traced (Mexico, The Melting of Two Cultures, 1991). The modern mariachi ensemble originated in the Mexican state of Jalisco where traveling groups of musicians would play for hire in haciendas. During the Mexican Revolution which began in 1910, they were unable to perform in the haciendas as they had in the past and were forced to travel from town to town singing about, and thus carrying news about, the war.
In the early years there was three different civilization, the Aztec, Maya, and Inca. They all had different lifestyle. If I had the opportunity to live in one of those lifestyle it would be the Aztecs. They had a different way of living. I like the way they worship their god and the way of thinking.
The festival celebrates the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a changed Christian Indian. Then you have the celebration 9 days before Christmas called “Las Posadas” which honors the arrival of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Mexican Americans celebrate these days with their family members or with strangers. They
The highlight of this shared high school winter concert on December 13th was a memorable performance of “Savada khmer” (A Cambodian Folk Song arranged by Ricardo Padreres) performed by the San Jose High School’s Chamber and Intermezzo Orchestra conducted by musical teacher Sophia Fojas . The music’s difficult mixed meters were played with mistakes, out-of-tune notes, and a whole lot of nervousness between the two groups. The school’s Mariachi group also had a shot at the limelight and they kind of blew it, the vocals group was out of tune the whole time. Ms. Fojas also conducted “Petite Tango” by the excellent composer C.B Kriechbaum; Fojas tried to bring out the work’s colors and balances, alas it was all for nothing because, the Chamber orchestra was so out of tune. (Not that it mattered to the tone deaf audience.)
In Guadalupe, the ritual is celebrated much like it is in rural Mexico. "Here the people spend the day in the cemetery," said Esther Cota, the parish secretary at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. "The graves are decorated real pretty by the people." In Mesa, the ritual has evolved to include other cultures, said Zarco Guerrero, a Mesa artist. "Last year, we had Native Americans and African-Americans doing their own dances," he said.
El Dia de los Muertos ( Day of the dead) is celebrated every Autumn in Mexico. It is normally observed during the Catholic feasts of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day during 1st and 2nd of November. The Mexicans celebrate this 2 day holiday in return of deceased relatives to their loved ones remaining on earth. This has been a 4,000 year old celebratory tradition for the Mexican people to honor the dead. The celebration is the opportunity to laugh at death and it involves a candlelight vigil and La Llorada (the weeping).