Virgin of Guadalupe Celebrations in La Antigua Guatemala

Gringa Mama Taking the Pictures

In La Antigua Guatemala, religious celebrations draw together all kinds of heterogeneous people and the feast day of Virgin of Guadalupe is no exception. In the day of La Virgen de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe, you can find gringa mamas, indigenous mamas, ladino mamas and white mamas all taking their children dressed with indigenous clothes to visit the altar of La Virgen Morena. In many cases you have grandmas and the whole family taking part of the visit to Virgin of Guadalupe inside Iglesia de la Merced.

Carmen and Monolo must’ve been thinking of the incredible power of the sense of smell to detonate nostalgic memories, quite possibly inspired or influenced by Patrick Süskind masterpiece Das Parfum (Perfume). I lived such an experience today while taking the shots that you can see below in the slide show, as I was bombarded with the scents of pine needles, firecracker’s polvora (powder), fruits, traditional Guatemalan Christmas foods (do you see a new series coming up?), incense, candles, on and on. My sense of smell was in shock and my memories were flowing incessantly. But before I bore you with such descriptions, I leave you with a slide show and a video clip of the Virgin of Guadalupe celebrations in La Antigua Guatemala so you can get an idea. You will be missing the smells though.

Please, let me know your impressions of the photos and video clip as well as how is The Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrated in your neck of the woods?

Slide show of the Virgin of Guadalupe celebrations in La Antigua Guatemala

Video clip of the Virgin of Guadalupe celebrations in La Antigua Guatemala

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