It's the last day of my Museum Musings theme week, and I have to conclude this week of posts by saying that I was startled to see the devil at the Field Museum last Friday. It wasn't so much the fact that I saw him as much as it was the place where I saw him.
Turns out the Mexican nativity scene tradition (there's a special room at the museum put aside featuring various displays) is to include him in the creche, to represent temptations that the shepherds faced on their journey to baby Jesus. I collect nativity scenes (and chess sets -- the goal is one different one for each room as I decorate) and I've yet to have the devil as a figurine. In my other-cultural ignorance, it struck me as an odd juxtaposition.
Speaking of odd juxtaposition in religion (here's this week's Amazing Race Aside) -- one of the stops on last week's episode was a church that the communists forced into being a museum of atheism during their heyday. No matter what your beliefs, you have to admit that's a pretty damn effective way to prove your point! And -- look back through the episode for these "celebrity" cameos -- Betsey Johnson as a Russian circus clown and Jack Kevorkian running the gorodki courts -- maybe?!
POSADAS, PASTORELAS and NACIMIENTOS:
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2624-mexico-s-christmas-traditions-posadas-pastorelas-and-nacimientos
LEARN TO PLAY GORODKI:
http://www.russia-channel.com/blog/learn-to-play-gorodki
ST ISAAC's CATHEDRAL's COMMUNIST PAST:
http://www.nevsky-prospekt.com/isaacs.html
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