The Devil In-stride - When religious traditions are INXS

In a previous post I wrote about how a comment taken out of context could appear offensive, disturbing or obscure but when put into context the comment is reasonable and you can happily still be friends with the person who uttered it. To whit, a friend holidaying in Spain ended a conversation earlier this year with the statement, "I must go David - the Devil is about to start jumping over the babies and I want to watch."

Gosh I thought? Is it really baby-jumping time already?

But I digress. The event, which began in 1621, is known as El Salto del Colacho and takes place in Castillo de Murcia in Spain to celebrate the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. Babies born during the previous year are dressed in their best clothes and laid on mattresses in the streets. Crowds of people watch as the Devil, El Colacho, dressed in a bright red and yellow costume jumps over a series of baby-topped-mattresses. Should the Devil avoid an unfortunate landing the children are magically protected from illness, but seemingly not protected from illogical religious practices...

Even with the benefit of context the event (and frankly my friend's enthusiasm) is still disconcerting. I am not sure if I follow the traditional logic that to protect your child you instruct someone to endanger their life. Hmmm. I wonder what other dangerous activities were considered and rejected in favour of the annual baby steeplechase. Perhaps this...

Throwing babies off a tower for luck in India - Do they have an adult version? Might be fun :)