Playing the Race Card
Post by soul49 on Dec 28, 2016 14:45:42 GMT -4
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Today the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Queen of Mexico, is celebrated on December 12th, the date of her second appearance. However, it was on December 9, 1531, when Juan Diego, a humble Indian peasant, was crossing the hill of Tepeyac just north of present day Mexico City that — it is said— a beautiful shining woman miraculously appeared to him.
Declaring herself to be the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, she called Juan her son. He reported his vision to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who demanded additional evidence of the divine apparition.
On December 12 then, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac, where the Virgin told him to gather roses where none had grown previously. Then, when the Indian delivered the roses to the Bishop, the image of the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared on his cloak. This has been taken as proof positive of the apparition.
Ever since the 16th century the tilma or cloak of Juan Diego displaying the image of the Virgin has been the focus of veneration by generations of devout Mexican Catholics as an actual physical artifact of a divine occurrence. Numerous claims are made in favor of its authenticity.
For example, examination by ophthalmologists allegedly reveals the image of a man staring out of the eyes of the face on the cloak. This is taken to mean that the Virgin Mary was actually present in the room when Juan Diego presented the roses to the Bishop. On this interpretation we are to imagine that we are seeing the face of Juan Diego as the Virgin Mary saw him more than four and a half centuries ago.
According to some accounts, her image on the cloak has remained unchanged over the centuries, although it is also said to have been retouched in 1929 to repair damage sustained through time and circumstance.
Whatever the "scientific" explanation, this image of the Virgin Mary not only reflects the sudden and violent clash of two cultures, Spanish and Aztec, but remains for many a symbol of the birth of the Mestizo nation of modern Mexico.
However, there is another side to the story. Before the fall of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the hill where Juan Diego had his vision had also been the site of an ancient temple to the Aztec goddess Tonantzin (Our Revered Mother), later leveled to the ground by the Spaniards.
According to the great Franciscan ethnographer Sahagun "Our Mother" Tonan was also known as Ilamatecuhtli (a noble old woman) and Cozcamiauh (a necklace of maize flowers).
Aztec deities could not only be of double gender but different names represented different facets of the character of the same deity. Tonantzin, therefore, may be associated with the dread goddess Cihuacoatl (a serpent woman), whom Sahagun identified not with the Virgin Mary, but with Our Mother Eve and her encounter with the serpent of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.
Like most other Spanish missionaries, Sahagun was absolutely convinced that all Mesoamerican gods and goddesses were manifestations of the Devil. In the clash between Christian saints and Mesoamerican deities, it is not surprising therefore that the original Virgin Mary was eventually transformed into a beautiful dark-skinned Virgin encountered by Juan Diego.
The fortunes of Juan Diego have likewise waxed and waned over the centuries.
Depending on the source, Juan Diego was either a humble peasant lad wandering over the hill of Tepeyac or one of the most influential and powerful men in the Aztec Empire at the time of the Conquest.
When the Vatican decided to canonize him, their investigation reportedly revealed that the humble Indian lad had actually been a prince, the son of a king of Texcoco, who helped Cortes defeat the Aztecs. His royal blood and social standing are sometimes said to account for the large numbers of Indians who were baptized after the apparition of the Virgin in 1531.
Accordingly, the ancient Aztec belief in Tonantzin and the Christian faith in the Virgin Mary are not necessarily contradictory.
Christianity in Mexico has been described as Mesoamerican Catholicism, an inextricable blending of Pre-Hispanic religion with the symbols and tenets of Christianity. In the case of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Indians in Mexico simply transferred their beliefs and practices from Tonantzin, the Goddess of the Earth, to Mary, the Mother of God. In the process, the Indians also transformed the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church to conform with and support their own Pre-Hispanic religion and world outlook. At least this is one point of view.
Declaring herself to be the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, she called Juan her son. He reported his vision to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who demanded additional evidence of the divine apparition.
On December 12 then, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac, where the Virgin told him to gather roses where none had grown previously. Then, when the Indian delivered the roses to the Bishop, the image of the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared on his cloak. This has been taken as proof positive of the apparition.
Ever since the 16th century the tilma or cloak of Juan Diego displaying the image of the Virgin has been the focus of veneration by generations of devout Mexican Catholics as an actual physical artifact of a divine occurrence. Numerous claims are made in favor of its authenticity.
For example, examination by ophthalmologists allegedly reveals the image of a man staring out of the eyes of the face on the cloak. This is taken to mean that the Virgin Mary was actually present in the room when Juan Diego presented the roses to the Bishop. On this interpretation we are to imagine that we are seeing the face of Juan Diego as the Virgin Mary saw him more than four and a half centuries ago.
According to some accounts, her image on the cloak has remained unchanged over the centuries, although it is also said to have been retouched in 1929 to repair damage sustained through time and circumstance.
Whatever the "scientific" explanation, this image of the Virgin Mary not only reflects the sudden and violent clash of two cultures, Spanish and Aztec, but remains for many a symbol of the birth of the Mestizo nation of modern Mexico.
However, there is another side to the story. Before the fall of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the hill where Juan Diego had his vision had also been the site of an ancient temple to the Aztec goddess Tonantzin (Our Revered Mother), later leveled to the ground by the Spaniards.
According to the great Franciscan ethnographer Sahagun "Our Mother" Tonan was also known as Ilamatecuhtli (a noble old woman) and Cozcamiauh (a necklace of maize flowers).
Aztec deities could not only be of double gender but different names represented different facets of the character of the same deity. Tonantzin, therefore, may be associated with the dread goddess Cihuacoatl (a serpent woman), whom Sahagun identified not with the Virgin Mary, but with Our Mother Eve and her encounter with the serpent of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.
Like most other Spanish missionaries, Sahagun was absolutely convinced that all Mesoamerican gods and goddesses were manifestations of the Devil. In the clash between Christian saints and Mesoamerican deities, it is not surprising therefore that the original Virgin Mary was eventually transformed into a beautiful dark-skinned Virgin encountered by Juan Diego.
The fortunes of Juan Diego have likewise waxed and waned over the centuries.
Depending on the source, Juan Diego was either a humble peasant lad wandering over the hill of Tepeyac or one of the most influential and powerful men in the Aztec Empire at the time of the Conquest.
When the Vatican decided to canonize him, their investigation reportedly revealed that the humble Indian lad had actually been a prince, the son of a king of Texcoco, who helped Cortes defeat the Aztecs. His royal blood and social standing are sometimes said to account for the large numbers of Indians who were baptized after the apparition of the Virgin in 1531.
Accordingly, the ancient Aztec belief in Tonantzin and the Christian faith in the Virgin Mary are not necessarily contradictory.
Christianity in Mexico has been described as Mesoamerican Catholicism, an inextricable blending of Pre-Hispanic religion with the symbols and tenets of Christianity. In the case of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Indians in Mexico simply transferred their beliefs and practices from Tonantzin, the Goddess of the Earth, to Mary, the Mother of God. In the process, the Indians also transformed the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church to conform with and support their own Pre-Hispanic religion and world outlook. At least this is one point of view.
I always find it interesting how syncretism between various faiths worked. One could easily see in many Latin American countries how the locals still participate in Amerindian or African origin traditions, but simply evolved with their current identity.
