FINDING MY VIRGIN ... (ity)

I have never reeeally understood the Catholic fascination with Mary. It's kind of like thanking the postie for a gift you got in the mail, rather than the person who sent it.

But nevertheless, this day - the birthday of The Virgin of Guadalupe - is as important to many Catholics here as Navidad. And it is a sight to behold.

The story goes like this: after the conquest, Mexico's indigenous population wasn't taking up Catholocism as quickly as the conquistadores would have hoped (due to that fact that they already had their own religion).

Then, one day in 1531 an indigenous man called Juan Diego was walking along when the virgin appeared to him and told him to take roses to the Bishop. She was 'morena' - brown-skinned - and is thought to be a manifestation of the virgin in the Americas and the indigenous goddess Tonantzin, kind of mixed in together.

Despite roses not being in season he found some (miracle), gathered them in his cloak and took them to the abbey at which point a picture of the Virgin appeared on the cloak. To this day it hangs in the basilica and everyone prays to it.

Thousands of people from all over the country head to the Basilica La Villa for December 12th. I went today because by tomorrow there are too many people to even get near the place. These people have walked the hundreds of kilometres from their towns, or in an interesting twist: ridden their bicycles.

I want to know when the wheel got introduced to religious rituals.. wonderful.

I talked to one man from Guadalajara ... which is 12 hours away by bus. He and 30 of his friends had ridden for four days, resting in the heat of the day and a bit at night. He must have been about 60 and he was a delight, despite the fact that I could only understand about half of what he was saying. He was a 'fast-talker'.

Then, after all that walking or riding, some people do the final hundred metres or so over the stone paving ... on their knees.



There are people in masks dancing, some of them carrying dead weasels (???) and even some people dressed up as clowns. That'd be a tribute to the little-known clown who appeared to Mary while God was talking to Joseph.


It got me thinking, we think Christmas is a marathon effort because of epic journeys to the shopping centre to to battle for carparks before taking on the crowds. Here's it's a three-day walk to line up for hours in order to honour Mary. Kind of the same thing except our deity is capitalism, and here... it's... well, it's the reason for the season.

Did I just use not only an americanism, but a christian americanism??