Asturian-American Migration Forum

We are celebrating the Holy Week in which is commemorated the dead and resurrection of Jesus, as ye know.

Here is very typical to see this kind of people;



They are the Nazarenos dressing a penitential robe and a hood called capirote.

How is celebrated in the US?. Does the Catholic Church make processions there like the Spanish one?.

Greetings!

I've never seen or heard of such a procession in the EEUU, at least in the northeast, where I live. Strangely, the penitential outfits resemble those of the Ku Klux Klan (which are white rather that purple).

I"m not very religious, and see Easter more as an opportunity to get together with family and friends (everyone will be at our house for Easter this year) and for the Easter Bunny to give gifts to children and to adults who wish to preserve their childhood (in our mid-60s, Evelyn and I still have our original Easter baskets and there is always candy and other goodies in them on Easter morning).

At colleges and universities, Good Friday is typically a holiday (no classes) and Jewish students do not attend classes on Passover (which means that the day is an informal holiday - I don't present any new material then).

I've seen processions like that in France, but never here.

My first thoughts are like Bob's: Ku Klux Klan. The hood is a very ugly here in the US.

It's ironic that the KKK wore nearly the same outfit because one of the targets of the Klan was Catholics. In both cases (Catholics and Klan) one of the purposes of the hood was to conceal the identity of the wearer.

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He visto unas procesiones así en Francia, pero nunca aquí.

Mi primer pensamiento era como lo de Bob: Ku Klux Klan. El capirote hace una imagen feaísima aquí en los EE.UU.

Es irónico que el KKK llevaba casi el mismo conjunto porque uno de los objetivos/blancos del Klan fue los católicos. En ambos casos (los católicos y el Klan) uno de los propósitos del capirote era ocultar la identidad del usuario.

The hoods are obviously older than the KKK, they started with the Inquisition. At any rate, Holy Week in Spain is the most sinister event ever. As a kid I used to be afraid of those processions, although here in Asturias there's no big tradition (we've always been Christians and had nothing to prove).

Were the hoods worn by inquisitors during the Inquisition? I wonder why they'd want their identities hidden? Would it have been an honor to be an inquisitor?

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Llevaban los inquisidores capirotes durante la Inquisición? Me pregunto por qué les gustaría ocultar su identidad? ¿No sería un "honor" ser un inquisidor?

No, the robes and pointed hats (capirotes) were imposed by the Church on any sinners who had confessed their sins and wanted to show their repentence during Easter processions. However, most did not want to be recognized and were allowed to add a hood to cover their face and chest.

Having to wear a capirote always implied that you were the subject of public mockery, and in school kids were made to stand in the corner with the capirote on (see for instance original illustrations of Pinocchio).
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No, las túnicas y los capirotes los imponía la Iglesia a los pecadores confesos que querían hacer penitencia (penitentes) en la procesión de Semana Santa. Como la mayoría no querían ser reconocidos, se permitía añadir la capucha para tapar cara y cuello.

Llevar un capirote siempre implicaba escarnio público y en las escuelas a los niños (tontos de capirote) se les ponía en la esquina con el idem puesto (ver también las ilustraciones originales de Pinocho).

Pincocchio's capirote without a mask is a dunce cap, supposed named after John Duns Scotus, a medieval theologian. His work later fell out of favor and his name was applied to people who did not learn well.

Terechu wrote:
Llevar un capirote siempre implicaba escarnio público y en las escuelas a los niños (tontos de capirote) se les ponía en la esquina con el idem puesto

un mundo gagá
y símbolos patas arriba



~

It's amazing how international these things are! But leave it to the Germans to find a practical use for the dunce cap: fill it with candy and give to your kid on his/her very first school day! I would have never drawn the paralell between the two uses. Thanks Peter.

Es asombroso lo internacional que son estas cosas. Pero como siempre son los alemanes los que le han dado un uso práctico al capirote: llenarlo de chucherías y que los niños lo lleven en su primer día de escuela! No se me había ocurrido relacionar las dos cosas. Gracias, Peter.

Terechu wrote:
Es asombroso lo internacional que son estas cosas [...] lenarlo de chucherías ...

servus terechu,

pues, all *culture* and human behavior boils down to: punishment & reward, pleasure & pain. { and the li(n)e/s inbetween them can be very 'fine'} ~ tschüß

se puede reducirse todo la *cultura* y la actuación humano a: castigo & recompensa, placer & dolor

I don't get it. Why would a parent give their kid a dunce cap on the first day of school? The symbolism is bizarre, unless maybe this hat doesn't mean "dunce" in Germany.

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No lo entiendo. ¿Por qué los padres darían a sus hijos un capriote para el primer día de escuela? Me extraña el simbolismo, a no ser que tal vez este gorro no significa "burro" en Alemania.