Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- About the Cover
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Prologue: The Prehistory of Power: Souls Spirits, Deities
- Part One Kings and Emperors
- 1 Divine Kingship in Mesopotamia
- 2 Pharaohs among the Indestructibles
- 3 Kingship among the Hebrews
- 4 The Deification of Roman Emperors
- 5 The Deva-Rajas in India and Southeast Asia
- 6 The Chinese Mandate from Heaven
- 7 The Japanese Imperial Cult
- Part Two Empires before the Common Era
- 8 The Legendary Empire of the Sumerians
- 9 Legendary Empires of Preclassical Greece
- 10 Patriarchs, Exodus, and the Epic of Israel
- 11 Legendary Empires of Ancient India
- 12 The Legendary Founding of Rome
- Part Three Founders
- 13 Moses: The Israelite Lawgiver
- 14 Buddha and Legends of Previous Buddhas
- 15 The Savior Narratives
- 16 Muhammad, the Qur’an, and Islam
- 17 The Virgin Mary through the Centuries
- 18 Tonantzin and Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Part Four Empires of the Common Era
- 19 Narrative Inventions of the Holy Roman Empire
- 20 The Epic of Kings, Alexander the Great, and the Malacca Sultinate
- 21 The Franks, Charlemagne, and the Chansons de Geste
- 22 The Legendary Kingdom of King Arthur
- 23 Ethiopian Kings and the Ark of the Covenant
- 24 Narratives of the Virgin Queen
- Part Five Ideologies
- 25 Discovery: The European Narrative of Power
- 26 Epics of the Portuguese Seaborne Empire
- 27 Dekanawida and the Iroquois League
- 28 The New England Canaan of the Puritans
- 29 The Marxist Classless Society
- 30 Adolph Hitler: Narratives of Aryans and Jews
- Epilogue: A Clash of Narratives
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
18 - Tonantzin and Our Lady of Guadalupe
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- About the Cover
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Prologue: The Prehistory of Power: Souls Spirits, Deities
- Part One Kings and Emperors
- 1 Divine Kingship in Mesopotamia
- 2 Pharaohs among the Indestructibles
- 3 Kingship among the Hebrews
- 4 The Deification of Roman Emperors
- 5 The Deva-Rajas in India and Southeast Asia
- 6 The Chinese Mandate from Heaven
- 7 The Japanese Imperial Cult
- Part Two Empires before the Common Era
- 8 The Legendary Empire of the Sumerians
- 9 Legendary Empires of Preclassical Greece
- 10 Patriarchs, Exodus, and the Epic of Israel
- 11 Legendary Empires of Ancient India
- 12 The Legendary Founding of Rome
- Part Three Founders
- 13 Moses: The Israelite Lawgiver
- 14 Buddha and Legends of Previous Buddhas
- 15 The Savior Narratives
- 16 Muhammad, the Qur’an, and Islam
- 17 The Virgin Mary through the Centuries
- 18 Tonantzin and Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Part Four Empires of the Common Era
- 19 Narrative Inventions of the Holy Roman Empire
- 20 The Epic of Kings, Alexander the Great, and the Malacca Sultinate
- 21 The Franks, Charlemagne, and the Chansons de Geste
- 22 The Legendary Kingdom of King Arthur
- 23 Ethiopian Kings and the Ark of the Covenant
- 24 Narratives of the Virgin Queen
- Part Five Ideologies
- 25 Discovery: The European Narrative of Power
- 26 Epics of the Portuguese Seaborne Empire
- 27 Dekanawida and the Iroquois League
- 28 The New England Canaan of the Puritans
- 29 The Marxist Classless Society
- 30 Adolph Hitler: Narratives of Aryans and Jews
- Epilogue: A Clash of Narratives
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Summary
As the story goes, a miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary, now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, appeared to an Aztec Indian, Juan Diego, near Mexico City in December 1531. Following three appearances in as many days, and a miraculous image of the Virgin appearing on Juan Diego's cloak or tunic (tilma), a shrine for the Virgin was erected on the site. The effect of this legend has been profound. Over the centuries, Our Lady of Guadalupe has become the spiritual center of Central American Catholicism and the place where she appeared has become the most visited pilgrimage site in the world, hosting millions of visitors each year.
The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one among hundreds over the centuries. It might easily have been forgotten were it not for the enormity of influence she has achieved. Rising above the thousands of saints of the Catholic Church, she is revered in Central and South America virtually as a goddess. She has inherited the entire body of Catholic doctrine surrounding the Virgin Mary that claims her as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, Immaculately Conceived and Ascended to Heaven—stopping just short of raising her to Co-Redemptrix with Christ. However the Indians of Mexico revere her as Our Mother, Queen of Mexico and a reborn Tonantzin, goddess of the earth. Meanwhile, more than three and a half centuries later, on October 12, 1895, Juan Diego received “canonical coronation” by the Roman Catholic Church; his beatification was completed on May 9, 1990. On July 31, 2002 Pope John Paul II conducted the ceremony of canonization at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, establishing Juan Diego as a saint.
The cultural significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, not only for Mexico but also for world understanding of spirituality, was described many years ago in The Meeting of East and West by F. S. C. Northrop who recognized the power of this narrative: “In some way the Virgin of Guadalupe and the story of her revelation, directed especially to the Indians, call forth from the Mexican spirit a devotion and sweeping response not equaled by any other influence in Mexico even today” (1946, 26). “It is impossible,” writes Jaroslav Pelikan, “to understand the history of Western spirituality and devotion without paying attention to the place of the Virgin Mary” (1996, 247).
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- Invented History, Fabricated PowerThe Narratives Shaping Civilization and Culture, pp. 207 - 216Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2020