Today is the culmination of the ten days of festivities celebrating El Señor del Rayo — an only-in-Oaxaca observance. Early Saturday evening, on my way to an event at the Museo Textil, I ran into a calenda (parade) of his. I was going in the opposite direction and felt like I was swimming upstream. What to do? Stop, take a few photos, and enjoy the music and dancing until it passed by, of course!
El Señor del Rayo is a wood-carved Christ on the Cross figure that was brought from Spain in the 16th century, a gift to Oaxaca from Charles V. The image was placed in the temple of San Juan de Dios, a church with adobe walls and a straw (or possibly wood) roof. According to religious lore, lightning struck the church and everything was destroyed, save for this figurine. A miracle! The statue became known as El Señor del Rayo (the Lord of Lightning), was given his own chapel (the furthest capilla from the main entrance on the left) in the newly built Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, and has been much venerated ever since.
El Señor has a body double as the original, given it’s importance and value, remains behind glass in his chapel (first photo above). Today, the line of faithful waiting to worship him stretched into the aisle leading to his chapel. Restoration work was done on his replica earlier this year, but it is back on the main altar and available to travel through the streets during this afternoon’s procession, along with the estandartes (religious banners) currently leaning up against the inner walls of the Cathedral.
Tonight, like all good Oaxaca celebrations, be they religious or secular, there will be pirotécnicos — fireworks and all things pyrotechnic, including a castillo. For the uninitiated, a castillo is a multi-story erector set like structure with moving parts that is wired with colorful explosive charges. Another noisy night in Oaxaca!
By the way, in previous years, the inside of the Cathedral was festooned from bottom to top with lilies — greeting all who enter with Divine beauty and fragrance. However, this year there are many fewer floral decorations and no lilies. I’m wondering if the lily-growing region was affected by the hurricanes and/or earthquakes….
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