Lighting the way New Mexico Style

The Christmas Eve view from the author's front door. (My husband would be horrified: he very carefully lines up the bags so you cannot see the seams from the street.)

Lights line the sidewalks and entryways of New Mexico every Christmas Eve.

Here in Albuquerque, they are called luminarias, and they are made by placing a candle atop an inch or so of sand inside a paper lunch sack.

In other parts of the state they are called farolitos. Sometimes they have no bag, but are small stacks of wood.

The tradition began as part of Las Posadas, a special ceremonial procession brought to New Mexico by Franciscan missionaries very early in the Spanish occupation. In the posada, a couple dressed as Mary and Joseph travel from house to house, asking, through song, for a place to stay:

En el nombre del cielo
os pido posada
pues no puede andar
mi esposa amada.
 
In the name of Heaven
I ask you for shelter,
For no farther can
my beloved wife go.

Inside the home, people answer, turning away the weary travelers:

Aquí no es mesón,
sigan adelante
Yo no debo abrir,
no sea algún tunante.
 
There's no inn here,
keep on your way,
I can't open up
You might be a scamp.

On and on the travelers go, until at last they find rest at the church.

This holiday season, may you find light to guide you on the path to truth and love.