As human beings, we’re instinctually protecting of our younger, as infants are so tender and helpless. Perhaps that’s what makes this considerably precarious Spanish ritual involving working and leaping over infants such a redemptive and auspicious custom.
Every 12 months, within the city of Castrillo de Murcia in northern Spain, a particular ritual is held within the streets throughout the Roman Catholic celebration of Corpus Christi. The “El Salto del Colacho” or “Devil’s Jump” ritual entails males wearing purple and yellow fits working down the road and leaping over infants lower than 1 12 months previous, positioned on mattresses alongside a street, lined with folks on both facet.
The jumpers maintain whips and outsized castanets as they leap over the helpless bundles. The ritual appears to be rooted in pagan traditions, though its actual origin is unknown.
It is believed that this ceremony cleanses the infants of authentic sin and ensures a protected journey by way of life, whereas safeguarding in opposition to sickness and evil.
In 2013, Pope Benedict requested Spanish clergymen to distance themselves from the pagan El Colacho ritual and to sever ties between the custom and Catholicism, for the Church teaches that it’s baptism by water that cleanses authentic sin.
Have a have a look at the video of the neighborhood becoming a member of the baby-jumping pageant: