Pooping Peasant Popular in Spain

Examiner | AP ^ | 12/20/06

[LibWhacker]

Strange

Pooping Peasant Popular in Spain

1 day ago Pooping Peasant Popular in Spain

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The Associated Press

Dec 20, 2006 4:16 PM (1 day ago)

BARCELONA, Spain - The Virgin Mary. The three kings. A few wayward sheep. These are the figures one expects to find in a traditional Christmas nativity scene. Not a smartly dressed peasant squatting behind a rock with his rear-end exposed.

Yet statuettes of "El Caganer," or the great defecator in the Catalan language, can be found in nativity scenes, and increasingly on the mantelpieces of collectors, throughout Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, where for centuries symbols of defecation have played an important role in Christmas festivities.

During the holiday season, pastry shops around Catalonia sell sweets shaped like feces, and on Christmas Eve Catalan children beat a hollow log, called the tio, packed with holiday gifts, singing a song that urges it to defecate presents out the other end.

These traditions, in the case of the caganer dating back as far as the 17th century, come from an agricultural society where defecation was associated with fertility and health.

While the traditional caganer is a red-capped peasant, more modern renditions have gained popularity in recent years.

[LibWhacker]

Another anti-Christian smear from the War on Christmas crowd. Just look at who's picked this AP story up in the last 24 hours: CBS, ABC, MSNBC, Washington Post, Mail & Guardian, the usual suspects, and precious few others.

[dave48170]

Is this the same one that poops on our lettuce & spinach here?

[indcons]

Bookmark

[dead]

children beat a hollow log, called the tio, packed with holiday gifts, singing a song that urges it to defecate presents out the other end.

If the log lets the little Spaniards down, I'll brew up something special for them.

[ChiMark]

I take this more as a commentary on the Spanish.

[Grizzled Bear]

Hey, that no cookie!

[lndrvr1972]

This is a new form of the "Yule Log"...Thank you I will be here all week.

[ClearCase_guy]

I like the Eid displays with the line of pilgrims on the Hajj going to Mecca, where one of the pilgrims is pissing on the Kaaba. Seeing that always brightens my holidays!

[Cicero]

Actually, I hadn't heard of this particular figure, but it's not uncommon for traditional celebrations of the Nativity to include crude figures. The classic instance is "The Second Shepherds Play." Shepherds were traditionally known to be rude and clownish, which simply increases the wonder that God would include them among those who welcomed Jesus at His birth.

After all, it's a fallen world, and Jesus came into it to save sinners and idiots, not just the cultured and elegant few.

[starbase]

I thought it was the rain that fell in Spain.

[HighWheeler]

"I thought it was the rain that fell in Spain."



eh, that happens mainly on the plains.

[LibWhacker]

...but it's not uncommon for traditional celebrations of the Nativity to include crude figures

Boy, I must've led a sheltered childhood, lol! In my entire life, I've never seen any crude Nativity scenes, except ones set up by atheists to mock Christ.

[Jaysun]

Boy, I must've led a sheltered childhood, lol! In my entire life, I've never seen any crude Nativity scenes, except ones set up by atheists to mock Christ.

Nor have I and I hope to never be "enlightened".

[Bean Counter]

I can speak from a position of authority, that within the ranks of the United States Navy Aircraft Carrier Fleet, a close cousin, the Phantom ****ter, has a long and sundried history, not to mention the occasional incredible aim, as the rightful owners of many Ready Room coffee mugs will testify to in person.

While many will claim that the original ****ter was a boisterous, barely bearded, boy of a Junior Officer, tgo real ****ter aficionados (and fans), the most hardcore originate among Enlisted men, this phenomenon often manifested itself in many spin offs during different versions of "Top This" and "Manly Wargames", the details of which are barely fit for polite conversation, and posting of which here would surely earn me the wrath of the All Seeing Admin Moderator.

That means you'll just have to take my word for it...

[FlingWingFlyer]

I might be an old fogey but I find Spain's obsession with feces more than just a little strange. Those people are just flat out SICKOS.

[billorites]

[LibFreeOrDie]

So there's an historical source for South Park's Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo?

http://www.southparkstudios.com/show/display_episode.php?season=1&id1=110&id2=10

[livius]

This is not anti-Christian. The "caganer" is a typical figure in Nativity scenes from Catalonia in northern Spain. In the Spanish Nativity Scene (called a "belén," which means Bethlehem), there are many figures doing all sorts of things, playing traditional instruments, herding sheep, doing traditional trades, etc. The "caganer" was a figure hidden in the bushes, and basically put there to entertain children. It would be like looking for the outhouse in an American "Victorian Christmas" diorama.

We should quit taking things so seriously. It makes us look ridiculous and also makes life pretty grim.

[livius]

LOL! Call him the Caganer (which means ****er in Catalan, a regional Iberian Peninsula language) and nobody will ever know the difference.

[Ole Okie]

By George, I think you've got it.