I liked this 90’s movie starring Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek. It was filmed in the mainland town by my Southern island home plus Sissy’s character used her nail to scrape a bit of chocolate off every piece in a Whitman’s Sampler to see if it was a flavor she would enjoy. I thought that was brilliant and a clever plot point.
Hearts have always been important to San Miguel. Long before Conquistadors arrived battles were fought to get prisoners of war to sacrifice for the gods. The highest national deity (like a Montezuma) got to eat the heart.
During the three hundred years of the Inquisition, the Spanish brought over images of Jesus, Mary and Joseph’s sacred heart depicting the Holy Family as compassionate folks. Since the indigenous already knew the importance of the heart the images gained quick popularity and are featured around town including nearly every other tombstone.
Today San Miguel de Allende is called the “Heart of Mexico” for being the birthplace of the Revolution against Spain and the cradle of democracy. We are also Mexico’s heart for being the most romantic city in the country for being built upon pink quartz. Said quartz is what keeps us from experiencing earth quakes. Well, unless you are in La Comer which shakes a bit as the lake’s water carries the tremors.
More recently, local soon-to-be saint, Concha’s greatest visual image to the Church was the cross featuring a heart wearing a crown of thorns being pierced. This image is featured in the Parroquia and all over town alongside many other renditions of a heart available at the Artists’ Market.
The heart matters here in San Miguel and the sacred heart is being celebrated this week, including the procession Sunday at noon. From the train station, dancers, mojigangas and bands will proceed up Insurgentes, circle the jardin and head back to the train station via Canal St.
Have a heart and join the fun!
Joseph Toone is the Historical Society’s short-story award winning author of the SMA Secrets book series. All books in the series are Amazon bestsellers in Mexican Travel and Holidays. Toone is SMA’s expert and TripAdvisor’s top ranked historical tour guide telling the stories behind what we do in today’s SMA. Visit HistoryAndCultureWalkingTours.com, and JosephTooneTours.com.
