Piñata Day!


 You might assume the origins lie in Mexico or Spain, but the word itself is derived from the Italian pignatta, or "fragile pot."  The tradition arrived in Europe in the 14th century from China, where they would fill designs based on the New Year with five types of seeds.

In Spain, "Piñata Sunday" became a part of Lent celebrations.  They originally used a plain clay container before they started decorating with ribbons and colored paper.

The European tradition came to Mexico in the 16th century, but the Mayans had one of their own, which included blindfolding the participant.  For them, it was a celebration of Huitzilopochtli's birthday.  The treasures inside would fall to the idol as an offering.

Mexican Catholics co-opted this for the Las Posadas tradition, but these days there is very little religious affiliation.

You can still find the traditional design of the 7 pointed star though, for the 7 deadly sins.


And so now we have a history of Piñata Fails.



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