Piñata
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Pinatas hurt in wierd places
The piñata is a bright container generally suspended on a rope from a tree branch or ceiling that is filled with candy and toys and is used during celebrations. A succession of blindfolded, stick-wielding children and some fun-loving adults will try to break the piñata in order to collect the candy (traditionally fruit, such as sugarcane) inside of it. It has been used for hundreds of years to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas.
The piñata derives from pre-Columbian Aztec rain-god clay pots [1] which ritually represented a thunderstorm. The pots were decoratively covered in paper and included a face of the rain god Tlaloc. The pots were filled with water rather than candy or toys. Striking a pot represented thunder and the resulting outflow of water represented the downpour of rain. With the adoption of Catholicism, this Aztec religious ritual was transformed into a secular activity, usually employed for birthday celebrations, and also as described below, coopted into Catholic symbolism.
Piñatas are made from easily breakable materials, such as straw, papier-mâché, or clay; traditionally they were made in the shape of human or animal figures (often a star or donkey [burro]) but, in recent times, vehicles, cartoon characters, or corporate mascots have gained in popularity. In some areas in Mexico and Central America, one finds small stores called piñaterías that are devoted exclusively to sales of piñatas.
In Mexico, the piñata is traditionally shaped like a seven-pointed star. It represents the devil and the seven deadly sins; hitting it with the stick makes him let go of the good things he has taken hold of.[citation needed] While hitting the piñata the following rhyme is sung:
- Dale, dale, dale,
- No pierdas el tino
- Porque si lo pierdes
- pierdes el camino.
- Dale, dale, dale
- Dale y no le dio
- Quítenle la prenda
- ¡Porque sigo yo!!
- ¡Se Acabó!
- ¡Sigo yo!
which translates as:
- Hit it, hit it, hit it (or Go, go, go)
- Don't lose your aim
- Because if you lose it (your aim)
- You will lose the path.
- Hit it, hit it, hit it (or Go, go, go)
- Hit it, He didn't hit it
- Take away his token
- Because it's now my turn!
- It's Over!
Over the past couple decades, the piñata tradition has been adopted by many Americans and has become a staple on America's Funniest Home Videos. They are also commonly sold at both regular grocery stores and Hispanic specialty supermarkets. With an increasing Hispanic population, the piñata tradition is expected to become part of American culture.
Other meanings
The word piñata was also used for the process whereby Nicaragua's former Sandinista leaders held on to property they had nationalized while in power. The successor government accepted these appropriations.
It also symbolizes Judas Iscariot, who hanged himself after betraying Jesus. Apparently Judas chose a tree near the edge of a cliff, and the rope broke and he fell to his death at the base of the cliff (according to the King James Version, "His bowels gushed out.")