Tradiciones de Navidad en Mexico

On Christmas Eve we participated in a couple of local traditions.  The first was to break a piñata in our back yard.  I didn't know the religious significance of this tradition but following is an article from the Lake Chapala Review which I read to everyone prior to the fun:

 Piñatas Symbolize Christmas

Many of today's piñatas are crafted to look like Shrek, Cinderella, popular toys and other modern icons.  For Christmas you'll also see piñatas that look like Christmas trees, angels, camels, kings, and Santa Claus.  Still, none of these hold the appeal or the hidden symbols as the sputnik-like piñata.  

The seven points of the traditional star-shaped Christmas piñata represent the seven deadly sins.  

The candy in the piñata's inner clay pot symbolizes the pleasures with which Satan tempts man.  

The blindfolded person represents blind faith, which is guided by the voices of others to destroy evil.

The stick used to break the piñata is a symbol of Christian goodness.

The breaking of the piñata symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.

The shower of candy and fruit is indicative of the unknown joys and rewards which the good and faithful will receive in Heaven.  

While it's always interesting to learn the origins of a tradition, we enjoyed the pleasure of the game, starting from youngest of oldest in attempting to break the piñata.  It took a couple of turns each before we were rewarded.  

The other tradition was to visit the Christmas Eve Tableaus.  I quote again from an article in the Lake Chapala Review (a local monthly English magazine):

Nearly 900 years ago St. Francis of Assisi arranged live animals and a manger of hay into A Christmas tableau creating the first 'nacimiento (creche or nativity scene).  As the popularity of these vignettes grew, Italian artisans (and later sculptors, carvers, and potters in other European countries) began crafting figurines so that scenes could be displayed in churches, homes and businesses.

The custom came to Mexico with the Franciscan monks who were exploring the new world and converting the people.  As nacimientos became popular here, they were adapted and marked with Mexican color and flair.  Instead of the standardized sets of main characters like those sold north of the border, in Mexico the people, buildings and accessories - enough to create giant villages are sold 'open stock'...

An Ajijic favorite Christmas Eve tradition recalls St. Francis' original vision when each year a series of living nativity scenes are presented in the atrium of the San Andrés Church.  Each tableau depicts the Holy Family, complete with cooing and sleeping babies.  You'll see the family as they might have looked in a variety of countries around the world as well as some regions of Mexico.