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Today is the feast day for the Virgen Guadalupe and I want to honor my patron goddess here since I can't travel to her shrine inside San Fernando to pay respects today.
So let me tell you a little story about whitewashing of the old gods and how you can't keep the Goddess down.
So let me tell you a little story about whitewashing of the old gods and how you can't keep the Goddess down.
Before the Spanish arrived there was a temple of adoration to Tonantzin which was attended by people from all over the Anahuac empire. The Mexicas & other Nahua people gave accounts witnessing visitations from the mother of the gods on the top of the Tepeyac Hill.
The story is that the Virgin appeared in December 1531 at Tepeyac Hill to a Nahua man named Cuauhtlatoatzi (Talking Eagle), who became known as Juan Diego after his conversion to Catholicism. At the very same sacred place where the beautiful shrine once stood.
Cuauhtlatoatzi wasn't believed by the Catholic bishop. To provide proof of her divinity and to insist her wishes be filled She instructed him to fill his tilma (cape) with roses and take them to the bishop yet again with the instructions to build a church on that same holy site.
When he opened his cloak to show the disbelieving bishop the flowers the image of the Goddess was miraculously imprinted upon the fabric.
That tilma is now enshrined at the Catholic Basilica in Mexico City.
That tilma is now enshrined at the Catholic Basilica in Mexico City.
In Nahuatl-speaking communities (and in other indigenous communities as well), the Virgen is known to be the reappearance of Tonantzin and the anniversary of Her return is celebrated 12/12 each year. Many ceremonies & much feasting happen over this time each year in Her honor.
Tonantzin means “Our Sacred Mother” in the Nahuatl language and she continues to be connected symbolically to fertility and the earth. I was introduced to her in ceremony I was invited to as a very young woman. I have kept a shrine to her for 16 years.
I consider her return to be an act of compassion by the female divine principle. To worship Tonatzin openly would have resulted in torture by the Spanish. She appeared in a blended manifestation so that the brutally repressed Nahuatl people could find some solace. Many still do.
Our Lady of Guadalupe's attire is full of Mexica cosmology: her robe is red meaning wisdom; she wears a black belt representative of pregnancy, of new beginnings; her blue/green cloak of stars brings to mind the Mexica goddess of the stars, Citlanilicue.
She appeared on 4 different days, clearly marking the sacred number 4: the 4 Winds, the 4 Directions.
The 4-petalled flower is the only flower of its kind found on Our Lady’s robe. It is considered to be one of the highest symbols of the Aztecs as it depicts the 4 movements...
The 4-petalled flower is the only flower of its kind found on Our Lady’s robe. It is considered to be one of the highest symbols of the Aztecs as it depicts the 4 movements...
of the sun (the 4 seasons) as well as the North, South, East and West united in the centre by a 5 element giving it balance and equilibrium.
The 4 petals also signify the 4 past eras with its centre signifying the birth of the 5th Sun...
The 4 petals also signify the 4 past eras with its centre signifying the birth of the 5th Sun...
which coincided with the Winter Solstice of 1531 – Our Lady’s miracle of 12 December.
The location of the 4-petalled flower is known to the Aztecs as Nahui Ollin representing the motherhood of Our Lady.
The location of the 4-petalled flower is known to the Aztecs as Nahui Ollin representing the motherhood of Our Lady.
With its strategic location, Our Lady’s Image tells the Aztecs She is the Mother of the ‘sun god’ that is in her womb – the author and giver of life.
There is so much more that I would love to learn about Her, but this little thread is my way of lifting Her up today & sharing Her story. I was initially confused as to why indigenous people would embrace a colonialist symbol, but She's just a new incarnation of an old Goddess.
