Are these children selling...whips?The boys laden with colorful ropes ending with stinging knots (cattail whips) cannot be ignored. And the same whips are being sold in every market stall. In Atotonilco, the rope-whips are aptly named disciplinas.
The disciplinas are fashioned from the roughest fibers, and are worn around the neck and chest by penitentes with knotted ends hanging down for self-flagellation. The purifying exercises reinacting the passion of Christ are performed in the seclusion of the walled compound behind the Santuario Atotonilco, and I find it difficult not to imagine these hidden rituals. Luckily, the knots do not appear capable of inflicting much damage.
Children selling whips to administer religious discipline? It is yet another curious sighting during this season of amplified passion. As collectors of usual as well as beautiful Mexican folk art, the disciplinas find a place in our collection.
Parting thought...In this instance, Mexican folk art can sting!
PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.
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