Luminarias

Luminarias are a type of paper lantern used to decorate backyards, walkways, and roofs (particularly on flat, adobe-style buildings) in New Mexico and some parts of the Southwestern United States. The lanterns are created from brown paper bags that are folded over a few inches along the rim to make a crease and then partially filled with sand. Small votive candles are placed inside and lit, giving off a warm, orangish glow. While electric versions of these lanterns are now sometimes used to decorate New Mexican restaurants and other businesses year round, they are largely reserved for the Christmas season, and traditionally lit on Christmas Eve.

While the exact origins of the luminaria as it exists today are unclear, the tradition may have been inspired by the use of bamboo and paper lanterns in the Philippines. During Spanish colonial rule, these lanterns, called “parol”, became associated with Christmas processions, and a variation of this was then brought to New Spain by Spanish traders as early as the 17th century. Alternatively, the tradition may have developed out of the practice of lighting small bonfires along roadsides on Christmas Eve to lead parishioners to the midnight Mass. This tradition, started by Spanish missionaries and later adopted by the native Pueblo peoples, could have then slowly devolved into the use of smaller lanterns as decoration. It is most likely that a combination of these two traditions led to the development of luminarias as they are known today, resulting in a Christmas tradition that is unique to the American Southwest.

It should be noted that in Northern New Mexico the term “luminaria” is used to describe a small bonfire (such as the ones used by Spanish missionaries, as described above), and the lanterns themselves are instead referred to as “farolitos.” While there is some debate about “proper” terminology, “luminaria” is much more widely used and accepted.