The Feast Day Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe On December

ON THIS DAY IN MEXICO, THE ANNUAL "OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE" RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL TAKES PLACE. IT IS A SACRED DAY TO THE GODDESSES "COATLIQUE, TONANTZIN ", AND THE "BLACK MADONNA. "TONANTZIN" (MOTHER) WAS AN ANCIENT MOTHER GODDESS, A PATRONESS OF MIDWIVES AND HEALING; SHE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOON AND REPRESENTED FEMALE POWER. SHE WAS A GIVER AND TAKER OF LIFE. SHE IS BELIEVED TO BE THE MANIFESTATION OF THE EARTH MOTHER, "COATLIQUE". "TONANTZIN" WAS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD DEITIES THAT WAS WORSHIPPED IN MESOAMERICA, AND THE AZTECS TRAVELED TO "TEPEYAC HILL" TO VISIT HER SHRINE AND PRAY FOR CURES. THIS WAS HER MOST IMPORTANT TEMPLE AND WAS BELIEVED TO BE THE PLACE WHERE SHE CAME DOWN DANCING WITH THE MOON. HUMAN SACRIFICE AND HARSH PHYSICAL PENANCE WERE USED TO APPEASE THIS GODDESS.

WHEN CORTES AND HIS SOLDIERS CONQUERED TENOCHITLAN, THE CAPITAL CITY OF THE MEXICA, ONE OF THE TEMPLES DESTROYED WAS THAT OF THE GODDESS "TONANTZIN" WHICH WAS LOCATED ON "TEPEYAC HILL". THE FIRST ARCHBISHOP, JUAN DE ZUM'aRRAGA, ARRIVED IN 1531, AND WAS CONFRONTED WITH ALL THE COLONY'S EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE OF THE INDIANS. IT WAS THEN THAT A MEXICA NOBLE, JUAN DIEGO, WANDERED UP THE HILL WHICH HAD BEEN FORMERLY SACRED TO "TONANTZIN" AND HAD AN APPARITION OF A DARK-SKINNED, NATIVE LOOKING DIVINITY WHO INTRODUCED HERSELF AS THE "VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE.

WHEN JUAN PRESENTED THIS TO THE BISHOP, HE DEMANDED PROOF; HENCE, JUAN DIEGO RETURNED TO THE VIRGIN ("WHOM ONLY HE COULD SEE, BY THE WAY"), WHO WHO TOLD HIM THAT HE SHOULD GO GATHER ROSES ON THE HILLSIDE EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS NEITHER THE TIME NOR THE PLACE FOR ROSES. JUAN CARRIED THE ROSES BACK TO THE BISHOP OBSCURED IN HIS TUNIC, AND WHEN HE ALLOWED THEM TO DROP ON THE GROUND, HE WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THE BISHOP AND RETAINERS KNEELING BEFORE HIM...FOR A PICTURE OF THE "VIRGIN," COMPLETE WITH APOCALYPTIC IMAGERY-SUN, CRESCENT MOON, AND STAR-WAS PAINTED ON HIS CLOTHES.

TODAY THE "BASILICA DE GUADALUPE" IS THE PRINCIPAL SHRINE TO THE "VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE" AND STANDS AT THE EXACT SPOT WHERE THE PYRAMID OF "TONANTZIN" ONCE STOOD. IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT THE "VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE" AND "TONANTZIN" ARE ONE IN THE SAME AND THAT THIS IS ONE OF MANY EXAMPLES OF HOW ANCIENT INDIAN BELIEFS HAVE BECOME FUSED INTO THE UNIQUE SPIRITUAL REALITY OF "MODERN" MEXICANS. THE "VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE" IS IMPORTANT TO THE MEXICANS BECAUSE SHE IS THEIR SUPERNATURAL MOTHER AND BECAUSE SHE REPRESENTS THEIR MAJOR POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS ASPIRATIONS FOR THE SPANISH CONQUEST REPRESENTED NOT ONLY THEIR MILITARY DEFEAT AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR CULTURE, BUT ALSO THE DEFEAT OF THE OLD GODS AND THE DECLINE OF THE OLD RITUAL. BUT, IT IS SAID THAT TONANTZIN WILL FOREVER LIVE ON AT TEPEYAC IN HER NEW INCARNATION, AS IT WERE, AS THE "VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE". THE OLD BELIEFS HERE HAVE NEVER REALLY DIED, BUT CONTINUE TO HAVE NEW LIFE BREATHED INTO THEM BY EACH NEW GENERATION OF BELIEVERS WHO GROW UP IN THIS CULTURE. IN TURN, THE SPIRITUAL ENTITIES, THE SAINTS AS REINCARNATIONS OF THE MORE ANCIENT GODS, BREATHE THEIR LIFE INTO THE BELIEVERS...THUS, PERPETUATING A LIVING TRADITION WHICH GOES BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME ITSELF.


Reference: http://religion-events.blogspot.com