We had been sitting here for three hours already watching four men run a platform with John the Prick (John the Baptist in Catholic beliefs)4 blocks between Jesus and Mary. The thrusting of the statue invokes a bizarre orgy in which the brother of the corn god impregnates the earth. In this case, Jesus has been assimilated into the Maya traditions as the symbol of corn with the celebration of rebirth being one of the most important festivals of the year.
The men will continue to run the statue back and forth until dawn, about 8 hours total, without rest.
The following day is the raising of Christ followed by a Catholic mass. This is a celebration of both traditionalists and Catholics, each group with their own religious leaders and own ideas on the symbolism of the ceremonies.
After the mass, the statue of Christ is loaded into an enormous urna a large psychedelic coffin. The urna is then hoisted onto the shoulders of 30 men who will slowly carry the urna around a 4 block area for around 15 hours. During the mass, people have been working on creating street art work with colored saw dust. This collective art piece extends the entire path and is trampled as the men carry Christ until dawn.
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