Those bags with sand and candles that are a New Mexico Christmas Eve tradition; the correct name for them is farolitos.
Often farolitos are called luminarias. Lumanarias traditionally were actually small bonfires.
Farolitos (literally “little lanterns”) replaced lumanarias (“altar lamps”) as towns became more densely populated. The purpose of both was to light the path to midnight mass.
Farolitos are the coolest Christmas decoration ever, especially when whole neighborhoods line their sidewalks, driveways and even roof-lines with them. (Electric versions are common and can be found throughout the season. The real deal are candles and displayed only on Christmas Eve.)
Buy some sand (for ballast), some votive candles and some lunch bags and bring a beautiful New Mexico Christmas Eve tradition to your neighborhood this year. Get your neighbors to join you. You could become famous if it’s never been done in your area. And the kids love it.
I’ve probably mentioned this before, but about 6 years ago, when we lived in W VA, we went to the Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg, MD, where they light a luminaria (or farolito, I guess) for each casualty of the battle–more than 23,000 of them.
Here’s some info from an article about it:
“Each light was a testament to the memory of each casualty of the Sept. 17, 1862, battle: the dead, wounded and missing who made up what constitutes, to the present time, America’s single bloodiest day.”
The lights line the roads for miles. I found the visual representation to be unbelievably moving, considering each of the lights represents an actual human being who was killed or wounded…. OVER 23 THOUSAND IN ONE DAY! It’s a phenomenal way to demonstrate just how many people that is.
Heck, it takes almost 1,400 volunteers just to set it up and light them.