Author: Manuel Guerrero Cabrera, professor and writer
(Article published in the ‘Revista Campanitas’ ―Campanitas Magazine― during Lent 2013)
In my library, I keep the substantial ‘Guía de fiestas populares de Andalucía’ (Guide to Popular Festivals in Andalusia), edited by the anthropologist Salvador Rodríguez Becerra, which offers a festive and folkloric survey of nearly eight hundred Andalusian towns and villages. At the time of its publication in 1982, it was the first book to compile basic ethnographic information on local festivities. Our city, Lucena, occupies four pages, from 246 to 249, to which we may add page 250, devoted to the villages of Jauja and Las Navas del Selpillar, which is incorrectly given in the book as «Navas del Cepillar». In addition to the festivities still celebrated today —the festivities in honour of Our Lady of Araceli, Holy Week, Corpus Christi, the fairs of Santiago, San Francisco and Our Lady of the Valley, and the festivities of Our Lady of the Dawn, referred to as the «Velada de la Aurora»— the guide also mentions others that have since disappeared, such as the evening celebrations of the Holy Cross on 3rd May and Saint Roch on 16th August, and the Saint Raphael open-air dance on 24th October, although some of them have recently been, or are currently being, revived.
Our Holy Week is the subject of an article spanning almost two pages, which opens with a fitting introduction to ‘santería’. From its very first line, it states that «to speak of Holy Week in Lucena is to speak of ‘Santería’», adding that it is so prominent that the brotherhoods themselves are relegated to the background. To make this clear, the article goes on to state that ‘santería’ is something unique: Lucena’s own way «of carrying the images on the shoulders». To explain this distinctive local character, it then gives a brief account of its origins, highlighting the influence of the agricultural world, reflected in the use of terms such as ‘manijero’ and ‘cuadrilla’, as well as that of pottery, owing to the use of the ‘correón’. The article then reveals its sources, discussing the transfer of the ‘correón’ to the shoulders by citing Manuel Alba «La Chana» on the need for the «marca» and the «cuñas», and Francisco Sánchez González on the «juntas» and the singing of «saetas santeras»
At the end of the introduction, we find some highly valuable observations on what the article ultimately calls «the art of ‘santear’», of which we highlight the following two: «Each man has his place, and each places is for a particular man» and «Each image is ‘santeada’ in a different way, with a different drumbeat that sets and regulates the movements of the ‘cuadrilla’ carrying the processional image».
Finally, the section on Holy Week concludes with a critical assessment of the ‘santería’ of each processional image, rather than an artistic description, as is found in the entries on other towns.
On Palm Sunday, only ‘La Pollinita’ took part in the procession. We are told that its ‘cuadrilla’ was young, that the processional image was raised in three very steady and measured stages, and that it displayed «a very characteristic ‘botado’» until it reached Curados Street.
On Holy Monday, the Christ of the Passion («Derribo») took part in the procession. It was raised in three very steady stages and maintained a very short, sharply marked ‘botado’ throughout the route. The Virgin of Sorrows was also carried in procession, although the only point noted about her was the youth of the ‘santeros’, who were described as «almost children». These images appeared together in the streets of Lucena on Holy Monday only in 1981 and 1982.
The account of Holy Tuesday is more detailed, beginning with the Christ of Love, whose review is reproduced here in full:
It begins the processional route with a three-stage lift. The first tentative pauses on the «horquilas» reveal a degree of uncertainty, but the nervousness subsides after the first ‘saeta’. Particular mention should be made of the left-hand corner, its opposite corner, and the ‘repisón’ of the ‘manijero’.
It is worth nothing that, unlike what has become customary in recent years, the Nazarene of Love was not lifted directly onto the shoulders ―as was the case with ‘La Pollinita’ and el ‘Derribo’― but raised in three stages. Equally noteworthy is the reference to the santeros’ nervousness during the opening moments of the procession. Most striking of all, however, is the fact that the article identifies the positions considered to have performed particularly well: the left corner, its ‘contraesquina’ (opposite corner), and the ‘repisón’ of the ‘manijero’
The account of Holy Tuesday continues with the observation that the entire ‘cuadrilla’ of the Christ of Mercy (referring to the one known as the «Camisitos») performed well, raising the processional throne onto their shoulders in three stages and giving it its «true gait». With regard to Our Lady of Peace and Love (not yet referred to as «Campanitas»), it is noted that the ‘cuadrilla’ had difficulties taking the weight of the processional throne during the «first ‘horquillas’» (it is worth noting the use of the feminine form, rather than ‘horquillo’ or ‘jorquillo’, possibly derived from the expressions ‘descansar en las horquillas’ or ‘tomar las horquillas’, which refer to the moments when the ‘manijero’ rings the bell for the throne to be rested on the supports). Later, however, «they levelled the throne and continued with a short, gently swaying gait». That yerar, the Christ of the Humiliation was given an excessively pronounced ‘botado’. By contrast, the ‘santería’ of the ‘cuadrilla’ carrying Our Lady of Sorrows «Servites» was warmly praised.
As for Holy Wednesday, the only comment concerns the Christ of Mercy (clearly referring to the Christ of Silence), whose ‘cuadrilla’ is said to have been the most level of the entire Holy Week, giving the processional throne a gently swaying gait.
Curiously, of the seven processional thrones that took part in Holy Thursday that year, the article comments on only four. ‘The Washing of the Feet’ (it should be remembered that it returned permanently to Lucena’s Holy Week in 1981 with the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith) was raised in three stages and carried with a very short, clipped rhythm at ‘medio paso’. The Christ at the Column (noted as being the most difficult processioanl throne to carry) was given a short, brisk gait. Our Lady of Hope completed the route with the ‘medio paso’ «that characterises this image», while the Christ of the Blood processed with a calm, steady and long gait (attributed to the size of the image), accompanied by lively ‘maceteado’ at the corners.
As for Good Friday, the account describes the Penitential Procession of Jesus the Nazarene in considerable detail, both in the moments immediately before the processional departure and at the traditional points along the route (Plaza Nueva, El Coso, El Agua Street, and others). Regarding the ‘santería’ of Jesus the Nazarene, the article states that the ‘cuadrilla’ gave the processional throne the «true gait of Jesus, driving from the rear and holding back at the front», By contrast, no comment is made on the ‘cuadrillas’ carrying Saint John or Our Lady of Succour. To round off Good Friday, the article notes that the Holy Burial processes in the evening, describing it as the «only processional throne for which the ‘santeros’ are allowed to stand with their feet slightly apart in order to achieve the so-called ‘coleo’». For this reason, it adds, the ‘santeros’ do not begin to move forward «until they have mastered the rhythm».
Our Lady of Solitude is the only processional cortège to take place on Holy Saturday. In 1981, it maintained the same gait throughout the procession, which the article describes as traditional: «a delicate gait, as through floating through the streets».
Finally, the account concludes with Easter Sunday and the Risen Christ, whose ‘cuadrilla’ was made up of young ‘santeros’ and «performed quite well throughout the entire processional route».
Despite this analysis, it should be noted that the source for the article published in the Guía de fiestas populares de Andalucía (Guide to Popular Festivals of Andalusia) was the Gaceta Lucentina, a local publication produced in our town between 1980 and 1984. The article itself states that it draws on information from several years and from a number of different articles, a point that should, however, be qualified. On the one hand, the analysis refers solely to Holy Week in 1981, since the processional cortèges it assesses coincided only in that year. On the other hand, in addition to the selected reviews taken from the ten-day publication, it reproduces passages from the articles on ‘santería’ that Manuel Alba «La Chana» published in those same pages (specifically, those of 1st April 1981). Thus, the observations made about the Column, Jesus the Nazarene, the Blood of Christ, and the Holy Burial ―significantly, the traditional processional thrones― are verbatim transcriptions of his words, opting for a general description of these processional thrones rather than of the specific way in which they were ‘santeados’ in 1981. From this, we may conclude that, although many things have changed, what truly matters has essentially remained the same: ‘santería’.
Photograph of the article: Jesús Cañete Fernández
