“Dia de los Reyes”

January 6 the day of the three Wise Men or better known as “Día de los tres Reyes Magos”

Ex-pats, Mexicans, Latinos, Chicanos, Pochos, Hispanics or any foreigner who has been living in and outside of Mexico and doesn’t know the story about January 6th, here’s a brief scope of it:

Long ago, from an area now being Iran or Saudi Arabia, after Jesus was born, wise men came looking for him. Even though nowadays they are often called the “Three Kings”, it is not stated in the bible how many there were, or that they were kings. The reason why they are called the “Three Kings” is because each one of them brought with them a gift. To this day we can probably still call them “Philosophers or Scientists” since they were certainly men of learning. When you look at the sky, you will see that there is an unusual star – that is, three lined up stars, each one representing each King, and also represents the birth of a special king, baby Jesus.
According to many stories, the Three Kings went east following the direction of the star until they found the stall where Mary, Joseph and Jesus had been staying.
The purpose of the three gifts were to honor the child; gold, a gift suited for a King, frankincense (incense which gives a beautiful scent when is burned), it was used to worship God, and myrrh, a sign of mortal human – ness which was used to bury the dead.

This tradition is followed each year on January 6th with a “rosca” with plastic figurines in it representing “the King” baby Jesus. On this day, friends and family get together to cut and eat the “rosca” and drink hot chocolate. Each person cuts a slice of rosca and the fortunate ones who get the figurines become the “Godparents”. The Godparents are responsible for buying clothing to dress the figurine representing baby Jesus follow the celebration 27 days later on “Dia de la Candelaria” (February 2nd); tamales among many goodies are made on this day. Mexicans don’t need a special day nor a reason to celebrate, every day is a party for them. Their spirits are filled with happiness all the time.
Dia de la Candelaria
February second, Dia de la Candelaria the many baby Jesus figurines are taken from their nativities to the church to be blessed. All the supermarkets paint, restore and dress the figurines for the occasion, and once this is done, the nativity is put away on this day, February second until the following year – when the next Christmas season begins.