Category Archives: religion

it’s a vulva ffs!

06 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by in christmas, religion, sevilla

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nativity

A so-called “erotic waffle shop” in Sevilla is being investigated for the so-called crime of “offending religious sentiment” after making a nativity scene out of, well, their waffles. I mean, when I first saw this establishment a couple of months ago it was an eye-rolling moment but you know, what the hell. Not exactly classy, but it’s also not hurting anyone.

But what I HAVE found offensive is that the so-called news articles about this scandalous nativity scene keep referring to the Virgin Mary being made from a waffle vagina. At least the waffle shop refers to them as chochofres (cunt waffles) and chocho can mean either the vulva or vagina. Or both. But I mean ffs already, doesn’t anyone actually know the difference between a vulva and a vagina? Apparently not.

chasing virgins

11 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by in culture, religion, sevilla

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Spent the weekend and Monday being a “fixer” for a photographer coming to shoot virgin processions, as well as different virgins in various churches, for a travel magazine. In the end we saw three processions, but for me this was the highlight, especially because it happened by chance. I had stopped in at the Iglesia Magdalena near my house to ask if I could arrange a photo shoot and the lovely archivist Aurora invited us to come “backstage”, as it were, and see them preparing inside the church just before the evening procession on Sunday. Apparently this was the first time they have ever allowed this for people outside the brotherhood. Wow.

This is the Virgen del Amparo and below are a few pics I took backstage, focusing on the costaleros, who are a bit of an obsession with me during Semana Santa. I mean, I just don’t get WHY they do this, especially as many of them end up with lifelong injuries from carrying all that weight on the backs of their necks. This time I even got a short video of them lifting up the platform with Aurora’s husband holding up the skirting so I could get a better look. I am still going through other photos I took over those three days – might share more later.

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an extraordinary outing

03 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by in culture, events, religion, sevilla

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La Esperanza de Triana is one of the two “grande dames” of Semana Santa in Sevilla (the other being La Macarena) and they both go out (salir) during the overnight (madrugada) processions between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. For the rest of the year they are on display in their respective home churches. This is why Thursday’s procession to the Cathedral was a Salida Extraordinara (extraordinary outing), which was followed by the return procession on Saturday. ,

The occasion for the Salida Exraordinara was the celebration of the sixth centenary of the founding of the brotherhood, the oldest in Sevilla, culminating with a commemorative eucharist mass on November 3rd at 11 am at the altar of the Jubilee of the Seo Hispalense inside the Cathedral.

I caught the outgoing procession on Thursday, as it happened to be passing near my home, and I happened to be on my way home at the time. It’s been many years since I last saw the Esperanza, as she comes out during the night and returns quite early Friday morning during Easter week (and to be honest, my going out all night – and going out early – days are long over). Even though I’m not religious I quite enjoy the occasional procession, and so it was nice to see one of Sevilla’s most beautiful pasos again.

corpus christi 2018

01 Friday Jun 2018

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I almost missed the annual tradition of getting up (way too) early to walk the rosemary and flower pet strewn Corpus procession route before everything gets going (and everything gets trampled underfoot). But when I texted Peter to say I wasn’t going he said he was going anyhow and so, thus challenged, I was up, dressed and out the door in 20 minutes. I’ve only missed Corpus here four times in 25 years: once when I was in Granada, another time when I was in Lisbon, then London in 2015, and one other time when I was too sick on chemo to go out. So I knew I would regret not going. And it proved to be worth it.

We got almost completely around the route before deciding to stop for breakfast, so the procession was in full swing by the time we finished. We didn’t get to see a lot of that, which was fine by me. But I did stop by ALL THE ALTARS this year, which you can see below. I am always amazed at how much work and preparation (those arches take an entire month to build) is involved for a four-hour event. Crazy. But I love it.
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semana santa 2018

02 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by in andalucia, culture, religion, sevilla, spring

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Well, that’s it for another year. Semana Santa was quite a different experience for me this year as it was the first one since moving to the new Casa Azahar. From this location other processions were closer to me, so I found myself seeing a few I had never seen before. And my mission – to get a few pics of at least one or two processions each day – was accomplished. In retrospect I should have edited and filed the photos every evening because going through them all now was a bit overwhelming. Anyhow, here are some of them (unlabelled and not in chronological order)…
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