Visitors in Mexico’s street markets and tourist stalls are drawn to the mountains of goods imprinted with the image of the country’s patron, the Virgin of Guadalupe.
After marveling at the variety and quantity of items, they dismiss the colorful Guadalupe T-shirts, key chains, mud flaps, shopping bags, bibs, tiles and kitschy knick knacks as clever marketing, a quaint custom, or talismans for the poor and uneducated.
Brushing aside the Virgin and all she represents as tacky commercialism, Mexico’s guests are missing an opportunity to learn what is at the heart of Mexicans and of Mexico.
In this land of contrasts, anthropologists search for a common bond, the source of national identity. They immediately reject language – there are still more than 50 dialects. It isn’t ethnic background; not in a population that has evolved from Spanish conquerors and raped and enslaved indigenous mothers whose offspring were blended with immigrants from Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, China, and other North and South American countries. Mexico is not only divided by brutal geographical features. Rigid class structure from the early years ensured that education, occupations, politics and most of all position would continue to divide the people.
While Mexico is still nearly 90 percent Catholic, it is not religion or belief that makes the Virgin of Guadalupe the rubber band that binds this disparate nation into a whole.
When Mary, the mother of Jesus appeared at the site of destroyed temple of the Aztec Mother Earth goddess in December 1531, the Aztecs read the clues to her identity and the message in her appearance. They recognized that this young brown-skinned woman was bringing a message from the leader of the Aztec gods; she wore the blue-green robe of the ambassadors and the rays of the sun, the most powerful of all gods shown around her. That she was the wife of the sun, and pregnant with his child was revealed by black pregnancy belt that sashed her floral gown. The flower centered on her belly was another symbol of the god of the sun.
Her mestizo (blended Spanish and Aztec) features marked the beginning of a new people in a new age and that bolstered the dignity and spirit of the Aztecs. That new era was also foretold by the shimmering stars on her cloak and the new moon on which she stood.
This new world image of the Virgin is Mexico — fiesta and fervor, food and devoted song, dance and penance. She is the image, the icon that gave birth to a nation and that is the cornerstone of national pride and strength, a symbol of the homeland.
She is the symbol of ethnic identity, uniting people of different races, religions and languages. She manifests, symbolizes and activates the power of the people. She is a cultural symbol of justice, unconditional love, union, belonging, family, home.
Guadalupe is the mother of all Mexicans, not just the poor or the immigrant. Her devotees cross all lines of economics, social standing, and education. Her image dangles around necks on fine gold chains and on rawhide with the same depth of emotion and devotion.
Octavio Paz, Mexican thinker, writer and Nobel Prize recipient said, “When Mexicans no longer believe in anything, they will still hold fast to their belief in two things: the National Lottery and the Virgin of Guadalupe. In this I think they will do well. For both have been known to work, even for those of us who believe in nothing.”
In times of joy, Mexicans turn first to light a candle of thanksgiving in front of her image, in the church or in their home. In the darkest despair, her candles light their way. Whether hoping to win a soccer game, a huge contract or the hand of their intended, their petitions and thoughts are always on the Virgin, who has helped so many times before.
To mark December 12, the day of her final 1531 appearance, all of Mexico, pauses to celebrate their mother, the Virgin of Guadalupe. An endless parade of pilgrims from the country’s four points appear at her Basilica near the nation’s capital with their flowers, songs, chants and prayers while others join in processions led by indigenous dancers in all of the nation’s towns and villages.
To join in the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe, drive or walk through the streets of lakeside villages to view the displays of devotion created in front of the homes. These ofrendras are more common in San Antonio Tlayacapan, San Juan Cosala, and in the Seis Esquinas neighborhood of Ajijic. Grand late afternoon processions are held in each of those villages, in Chapala and in Jocotepec.
The processions end at the church in which the Virgin of Guadalupe is being honored in time for evening mass — 6 p.m. at the Seis Esquinas Santuaria de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Ajijic, 7 p.m. in San Antonio, San Juan, Chapala, and Jocotepec. Following mass music, dancing and festivities, including a fixed fireworks display continue near the church in most villages.