In Santa Rosalia, the Catholics have a "Stations of the Cross" procession that re-enacts Jesus' journey to the cross. They have 14 stations along the procession route, starting in town and ending on the hilltop where they've got three large crosses set up. It was very interesting and provided a great opportunity to see lots of local culture.
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| Station 2 - Jesus carries his cross |
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| One of the thieves |
Later in the day we went to see the Yaqui ceremonies. The Yaqui's are an Indian group that was brought to Santa Rosalia many years ago to work in the mine. The descendants of those people are still in Santa Rosalia and perform a ceremony which is a blend of their original ceremony along with some Christian overtones. Basically, the people who feel they need redemption or extra help participate in the ceremony, they're masked as animals. Along the way, Jesus is killed and the people looking for redemption chase the killers away.
After removing their masks, the people go to Jesus' tomb and are redeemed.
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| Yaqui's in animal masks |
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| Procession |
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| Bored "angels" at Jesus's tomb |
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| Chasing killers away |
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| Praying at Jesus's feet |
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