Entrega de Ornamento
(Handing Over of the Ornaments)
195
32" x 58", oil on canvas.

Antonio C. Ixtamer (painter) and Vicente Cumes Pop (theme and supervision)

At the beginning of January the retireing members of cofradia [religious guild] responsible for the Christmas celebration transfers the decorations to the incoming cofradia which will be responsible for them during the coming year. A procession winds it way from the church to the cofradia house where the ornaments will be kept. To the side of the procession we see two men dressed in a colorful costumes. The man wearing a cape is a Maya priest or shaman. The ceremony that he and his assistant are performing with candles, incense and a doll is meant to clear the path of any evil spirits for the procession. Because the Catholic Church does not feel the need for a shaman priest to sanctify a procession they feel is already holy, they at turns tolerate the participation of the Shaman priest and oppose it.