2018-12-09 18:00:20
Bud Russo
| For the Sun-News
Call them luminarias or farolitos — they light the way to Christmas
When you think Christmas in New Mexico, one of the images that comes to mind is the traditional luminarias lining sidewalks and walls. Luminarias may be unique to New Mexico, although other Southwestern communities with Spanish Colonial heritage may stake a claim. Regardless, it’s a fun time for families to share the beauty of the lights — followed by hot chocolate and a slice of wreath-shaped Roscón de Reyes — the King’s bread.
Mesilla will once more illuminate the plaza with with over 6,000 luminarias. People will be able to enjoy the sight from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. But, if you are an adventurer, there are distant places to experience this Holiday tradition.
Closest to home is Fort Selden, only 20 miles north of Las Cruces. On Dec. 15 from 6 to 9 p.m., the walkways of the old fort will be lined with 800 luminarias for Las Noches de Las Luminarias. Stroll the grounds and then enjoy a cup of cocoa while listening to holiday music around a cozy camp fire.
The town of Lincoln, once — and still — known for the horrendous Lincoln County War, is a New Mexico Historic Site. Usually people go to explore the battle between the Murphy-Dolan gang and the Tunstall Regulators, including Billy the Kid. The town has been relatively quiet for 140 years, but its history still draws to us there.
On Christmas Eve, the entire mile-long historic site will be illuminated with luminarias. Unlike other venues, Lincoln welcomes visitors in the morning — around 9:30 — to make the luminarias. In the followingnoon, volunteers and visitors will set out over 1,200 of them. At dusk, they will be lighted. Then, at 7 p.m., there will be a service in the Community Church, followed by a surprise. On his round-the-world journey, Santa Claus will arrive on a longhorn steer adorned with lights, bells, and other holiday decorations. Visitors can have their pictures taken with Santa and the steer.
Santa Fe will once more host the Canyon Road Farolito Walk on Christmas Eve from dusk to 8 p.m. Some galleries along the street will be open. Thousands of farolitos will cast their glow on gardens, courtyards, and adobe walls in the nation’s oldest capital. Inhale the fragrance of piñon logs burning in small bonfires, taking the chill out of crisp mountain air. Listen to street musicians play holiday tunes and partake of hot chocolate or cider and biscochitos. But, if you go, make plans ahead of time. Santa Fe expects up to 30,000 participants for its Farolito Walk.
You might now be thinking — Luminarias? Farolitos? Aren’t they the same thing? Isn’t it that just northern New Mexico uses one word and we use another? In a way, they are both the same — and yet they’re different.
In the early 1800s, settlers brought Chinese paper lanterns to light their portals. Beautiful but expensive, the Chinese lanterns were replaced by the paper-bag and candle version. Santa Feans called them farolito for little lantern.
Luminarias had a more practical use. They were constructed from piñon branches stacked in a cube. They were often used each of the nine nights of Las Posadas, the festive pageant introduced to the indigenous people of Mexico by European missionaries. Luminarias marked the path of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in Bethlehem. They were also used as early as the 16th century to light the pathways to church for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
Then there’s the story of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, who led a group of immigrants into the Spanish province of Nuevo México in 1590. He had not asked permission from governor in Mexico City, making his entry illegal. De Sosa and the colonists followed the Pecos river, naming it Rio Salado, because it was salty, and camped near present day Brantley Lake.
De Sosa had ridden far ahead of the group to scout and had not returned by nightfall. His compadres worried something terrible may have happened to him. To help him find his way home, the colonists built small bonfires — luminarias. De Sosa followed the fires back to the camp. This may have been the very first time luminarias were lighted in New Mexico
So, whether you call the “little lanterns” luminarias or farolitos, they mark the ancient tradition of New Mexico just as brightly as they light your pathway. They are a way to brings people together — whether families drawing closer or making new friends with strangers.
And, following all, isn’t that what the holiday season is all regarding? However you celebrate, let me wish you Happy Hanukkah, Heri za Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad or, in my family tradition, Buon Natale.
Las Cruces freelance writer Bud Russo is author of “Heroes and Villains of New Mexico: A collection of true stories.” See his website at budrusso.com.
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