Breathe
By Laura Brugés
January 6 marks the end of the Christmas season, but it is not just any end: it is the last gasp of magic. In Mexico, as in much of Latin America, we celebrate Three Kings Day, a tradition that has been kindling smiles and dreams for centuries. But how much of that magic have we preserved and how much have we let time and circumstances erode it?
I ask myself this question because the traditions in each country or even those that are imported, are so linked to the cultural that they feed the feeling of our sense of identity, family, cultural diversity or inclusion. But we resist believing that they are not entirely ours, when in fact they remind us of the close relationships we have with other countries, migration and understanding part of our history, all because of political or nationalistic issues.
But let's remember, also known as Epiphany, celebrates the arrival of the three wise men from the East to Bethlehem, in the ancient kingdom of Judea, with symbolic gifts to the baby Jesus. However, the tradition that arrived with the missionaries from New Spain was reinterpreted by generations of Mexicans, creating a unique ritual that combines religion, community and culture.
As in Spain, in Mexico it is customary to include a hidden figure inside the rosca. Curiously, this tradition was not introduced by the missionaries, but by the Spanish bakeries that proliferated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the beginning, the idea of hiding a bean became popular, later it was replaced by a figure of the Child God, with a simple promise: whoever found it would have to organize the tamales for Candlemas Day.
In Spain in its beginnings, the fava bean was that element of surprise, symbolizing fortune and fertility. The person who had a fava bean in his portion was considered lucky and predicted prosperity during the year. Nowadays, the type of figures inserted in the bread has diversified, with two hidden surprises: a dry bean and a figurine (usually of one of the Kings). According to tradition, whoever finds the figurine inside his piece is crowned with the golden cardboard crown that decorates the center of the cake, while whoever finds the bean gets to pay for the cake. In France, for example, it is customary for the youngest member of the household, from under the table, to tell to whom each part of the cake belongs. In addition, it must be cut in as many parts as guests plus one, which would be the part destined to the first poor person to appear in the house.
Regardless of the country, the promise has turned into nervous laughter and jokes among those who share the table. But it has also given rise to a silent battle between the big bakeries and the small merchants, who face not only the competition, but also the growing price of a tradition that, at least in the heart, should be accessible to all. I dare say that it is a shared custom and that both Mexico and Spain each gave it its own meaning.
In this context, I take advantage of the context that I have just given you to make an invitation to leave aside at the table the animosity towards Spain or to avoid those familiar political discussions that lack historical sense, but that we force them just to be in favor or against the ideology of the party that governs us at this moment in Mexico.
Anyway, we are adults now and maybe we have stopped waiting for gifts under the tree, and we are thinking more about how to pay the credit card for what we buy to make the children smile. But what a contrast, we no longer believe in the magic of Christmas traditions, nor in good fortune for the rest of the year, but we do believe in politicians who make decisions that make us more anxious than we should be and that life becomes more and more expensive.
I confess that my wish is for a fairer country, where those illusions are not lost in the noise of political and economic crises. I have tried not to think about that in these days that I have been on vacation and it has been difficult for me as a journalist.
But I don't want to worry you anymore, go break the donut and see the faces of those around us, maybe we should ask ourselves: what are we doing so that those illusions survive, so that the magic doesn't fade away? Because,in the end, the only thing the Three Wise Men remind us every year is that hope, like sweet bread, always tastes better when it is shared and for a moment we forget about our problems.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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