Tuesday, November 23, 2010

hold on, it's coming

With Thanksgiving upon us and Christmas coming sooner than we like, I thought I'd share an amusing Catalonian tradition I just learned about. Since the 17th century during Christmas, a large model of the city of Bethlehem is created along with the usual nativity scene. Tucked away in a corner of the model there has always been a little figure of a defecating Catalan peasant, called the Caganer.

It's considered to be a good omen and a sign of the earth being fertilized. In recent years, instead of a peasant wearing a red hat squatting in a corner, modern Caganers are caricatures of famous people.



It could be said Caganers represent the equality of all people and I rather like that definition. Then again, it could mean other things too which I'll leave for you to decide.
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10 comments:

  1. La Belette RougeNovember 23, 2010 at 2:15 PM

    It's kind of like a nativity scene of the classic book of literature "every one poops". Hilarious!

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  2. Sean JeatingNovember 23, 2010 at 4:07 PM

    It's very sophisticated, eh? :)

    I notice quite a few people are visiting Omnium just to see Mrs. Merkel. :)

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  3. lisahgoldenNovember 23, 2010 at 4:43 PM

    Those are hilarious! I love the Tin Tin one.

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  4. lindsaylobeNovember 24, 2010 at 2:24 AM

    Seeing there are only a few million who still speak the language it’s amazing how well their traditions continue.
    I guess since Christmas coincides with pagan festivals of renewal it does have some connection of sorts.
    Happy belated birthday wishes.

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  5. Randal GravesNovember 24, 2010 at 9:36 AM

    That's concentrated evil coming out of your ass.

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  6. susanNovember 24, 2010 at 10:29 AM

    belette - There's a book called that?

    sean - You mentioned it and I found it. Pretty funny.

    lisa - I was so surprised I had to share.

    lindsay - I think the tradition continues because they found a lot of people will buy them. That's often the way.

    Thanks for the good wishes.

    randal - I know :-)

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  7. L'AdelaideNovember 24, 2010 at 2:06 PM

    how fun...in a rather crude way...not into watching famous people defecating however we all do-some more than others- and tho it no longer fertilizes our earth, heaven forbid with OUR diet, well, at least it's a way to lighten the load, so to speak. ahem...

    xoxoxoxoxox and heartfelt thanks for the recent email with the included in-sight into such a sweet friend, very much treasured and will hold close to my heart the image ♥

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  8. gfidNovember 25, 2010 at 5:36 PM

    of COURSE sponge bob has a yellow bum!!! why was i surprised?

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  9. gfidNovember 25, 2010 at 5:38 PM

    but i question the creative license regarding the other yellow bit.

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  10. susanNovember 26, 2010 at 2:04 PM

    linda - One of these days I'm going to write about fertilizer but in the meanwhile I thought this was pretty funny. I'd never heard of them.

    I too am very glad we're friends.

    gfid - Maybe this is a baby sponge bob?

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