Every fall, Santa Fe has a tradition that goes hand-in-hand with its Fiesta. Thursday night, Zozobra burned. Now, before you get concerned about puppet brutality, let me explain that the 50-foot marionette is constructed for the express purpose of being set on fire. It’s a roast, in the most literal sense. As the monstrous figure ignites, he’s supposed to take all your cares and worries of the past year away with him.
An ancient Spanish tradition? Not really. Although the Fiestas de Santa Fe has roots that go back to the year 1692 when the Spanish peacefully reclaimed the city from the Pueblos, the Zozobra tradition was started in 1924 by artist William Howard Shuster, Jr. and it has been carried on in more recent times by the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe.
For weeks leading up to the event, people can drop off slips of paper with details of personal gloom—or even certain legal papers—at the offices of the Santa Fe Reporter. These items are stuffed inside the giant effigy along with liberal amounts of shredded newspaper. They can then join the crowd of 40,000 to celebrate on the second Thursday evening in September in the banishment of doom and gloom.
It's quite a ritual. First the music starts and then the Fire Dancers come to perform a bizarre ballet around the monster's feet. Then amid fireworks, cheers and jeers, Zozobra moans, groans, rolls his eyes, waves his arms, and incinerates. This marks the start of the three day Fiestas de Santa Fe.
I think writers should have their own version of the burning of Zozobra, don’t you? Imagine collecting a stockpile of unsalvageable manuscripts, rejection letters, errant contest score sheets, misguided bad reviews, and other gloom-laced paperwork and having a bonfire of epic proportions to banish our cares.
Hmmm, what would we call our gloom-banishing celebration? What items would you stuff inside our literary Zozobra?
Reminds me of The Wickerman, Laurie.
ReplyDeleteWhat would I call the burning of my literary woes???
Arson. LOL
I think my pile would light up half the state.
Or the townies would see it and come with beer. Bonefires around here always turn into a BYOB party, or at least that's what I discovered last year when we gutted the old dance hall and had a burn pile.
Laurie, I think this is a great idea, I don't have a lot of literary woes yet, but I can think of all kinds of stuff that needs to be gotten rid of.
ReplyDeleteI told a friend last night that the upsetting letter she had received from a relative needed to be burned, this would have been perfect.
Thanks for the post and vid, and thanks for the kind words you left on my Live Journal.
Elorie
LOL Dawn. Sounds like a lively neighborhood. Maybe you should start a tradition. :)
ReplyDeleteElorie, welcome back. Sounds like you already have a start for your own private Zozobra burning!
Laurie, That was awesome! Sure as hell beats watching a papier mache pear drop on New Year's Eve,which is all Fredericksburg has to offer!
ReplyDeleteWhat would I burn? Personal demons, maybe? Fear of failure, fear of success? Reminds me of the story Janet Evanovich told at the conference of hauling all her rejection slips to the curb and setting them on fire!
Donna
Oh, GREAT analogy, Donna. I loved Janet Evanovich's story. It was so inspiring!
ReplyDeletePersonal demons...oh, they would make some fabulous stuffing, don't you think? Pretty flame colors, too, I bet! heh heh