Burning the Devil

Burning the Devil

Burning the Devil

The night of each December 7, Guatemalan communities engage in the traditional Quema del Diablo ritual, a symbolic burning of the devil. The date marks the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, and is chosen to symbolize the eternal struggle between good and evil. Just as Thanksgiving customarily ushers in the holiday season in the United States, the Quema kicks off Christmastime in Guatemala.

Townspeople traditionally would spend the day cleaning unwanted items from their homes, because of a legend holding that the devil inhabits household objects that had remained idle. Residents piled their discarded goods in the street and set them on fire as a way of burning the devil from the house and the evil from the family's life.

Safety, health, and environmental concerns now temper the observances, at least in urban areas, and most communities no longer permit the free-for-all of hundreds of unsupervised fires on their streets. Most towns and cities now hold one controlled bonfire in which a wooden figure of the devil is burned, and firefighters are present to keep things from getting out of hand.