Perhaps the most widely recognized and honored figure of Mexican religious mythology is the Virgin of Guadalupe (pronounced gwah-duh-LOO-pay). Tradition says that in 1531 the Virgin Mary appeared before a peasant named Juan Diego on Tepeyac, a hill to the north of Mexico City, and told him that she wished to have a church built there. When the bishop of Mexico asked Juan for proof of what he had seen, the Virgin appeared again to the peasant and instructed him to gather roses in his cloak and take them to the bishop. Juan unfolded the cloak before the bishop, and a miraculous image of the Virgin could be seen where the roses had been. Another tradition associated with the Virgin of Guadalupe says that a shrine to Tonantzin (pronounced toh-nawn-TSEEN), an Aztec corn goddess, once stood at Tepeyac and that the Virgin replaced Tonantzin as the goddess mother of the Mexican people. However, there is no clear evidence of pre-Christian worship at that site.
The Mexican people have long regarded a vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe as a sign of divine favor. They have credited her with ending an epidemic of disease in the 1700s, and later with inspiring movements toward independence and liberation for their country. Mexicans of all regions and all ethnic backgrounds are united in their devotion to the Virgin as an emblem of both religious faith and national pride.
Among the historical figures who have acquired legendary status in Mexico are Hernan Cortes (1485-1547), the conquistador (Spanish soldier) who overthrew the Aztecs and brought Mexico under Spanish
Rule. Another important figure is Malinche (pronounced mah-leen-CHAY), an American Indian woman who assisted Cortes as an interpreter of Indian languages. Malinche had a son by Cortes and later married one of his followers. In the past, Mexicans have condemned Malinche as a traitor, coining the term malinchismo to refer to favoring foreign things over those of one’s own people or culture. In recent years, women writers and artists in Mexico have tried to create a more balanced image of Malinche.
Legends also cluster around Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (17531811), a priest and leader of the independence movement who died before a firing squad; Francisco “Pancho” Villa (1878-1923), a bandit turned revolutionary general; and Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919), a peasant who fought for peasants’ rights in the Mexican Revolution. It is said that Zapata is not really dead but only sleeping. One day, like King Arthur of British legend, he will return to help his people. Some speak of hearing the hoofbeats of his horse Lightning as he rides through their villages at night.
World History
