The mother of Mexico
Sommary
di Elisa Mereghetti
They call it "Lupita", an affectionate diminutive for Guadalupe. When they enter Mexico City they are more than ten thousand; believers and curious people await for them in the square in front of the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Women arrive singing, like a multicoloured snake of faces and smiles marked by weariness. In eight days they crossed more than 200 kilometres on foot; some of them come from the northern mountain area of the State of Queretaro: they are "las hermanas della Sierra", sisters of the mountain. The largest procession left the city of Queretaro; two hundred come from the small town of Amealco. After 4 days of walking they all meet in the winding mass of white hats and signs, to cover the last stretch together to get to see the Virgin. Why do they do it? It's a vow, a promise, a thanks giving to Guadalupe for a son or relative healed from a serious illness, or for having resolved a family problem. Among them there are women that for 8, 10 years have been repeating this experience: young, old women, schoolgirls, "campesinas", young mothers holding their babies in their arms, all keep up the pace. An ambulance, with a group of "socorristas" closely follows them for the whole journey. July nights often show stormy weather. Sometimes pilgrims catch in hail storms along the way: they put on a plastic poncho and go on with the procession. They find shelter for the night in churches, schools, large cold and damp rooms, sometimes with large puddles in the middle. But the group faces adversities with enthusiasm: they spread out blankets on the floor and the night quickly goes by; at four in the morning, after a hot cup of coffee, they go back to walking. The Coca-Cola truck, official sponsor of the pilgrimage, precedes the group. A priest strikes up religious hymns, and every now and then he spurs the pilgrims to drink Coca-Cola: contradictions of a composite country, synthesis of different culture and traditions, inexorably on its way to being a new American colony. Pilgrims' arrival blocks the traffic in Mexico City within the area around the Basilica. The new modern style building replaced the antique baroque church that was slowly falling in. In the middle of the new Basilica, upon the altar, there is the "ayate", the miraculous fabric on which an image of the Madonna is imprinted. Tired out pilgrims reach their destination and burst into tears. For a few minutes they wind their way under the "ayate", carried by pitiless conveyor belts that set a limit to their devotion, these women seem to be moved by forces greater than them. When they finally see the sacred image they find the sense of their vow: the direct encounter with their spiritual mother. The Virgin lays upon them her miraculous favour, her protective mantle. During those few minutes allowed by the conveyor belt, pushed by the crowd of people urging to get in after them, pilgrims cry. Their sorrow and anguish are freed by their mother's presence. Outside, in the blinding daylight, their homes, the Coca-Cola trucks, their life in the fields await them. The annual pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe is one of Mexican people's many displays of faith towards the "Virgen morena", dark- skinned, symbol of national identity. The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is one of conquest of native people: whence came the cult of the goddess Tonantzin, mother land, the Spanish placed the sanctuary of Guadalupe; the legend tells that in 1531 the Virgin appeared to a humble Indian, Juan Diego. According to Laura Sotomayor, psychotherapist in Xalapa, Veracruz, "Mexican people, after the Spanish conquest, found themselves orphans. They lost their deities, their government and they needed to be supported. Therefore, the Spanish chose the Tepeyac hillside as a place for worshipping the Virgin of Guadalupe. As a matter of fact Tepeyac was the place where Mexicans worshipped Tonantzin, mother goddess. The Virgin of Guadalupe replaced Tonantzin, representing a mother, with the same Indian racial characteristics and with all the qualities of a mother: protection, support, bent to welcome the orphans, the poor. We are still adolescent people, a bit infantile, that hasn't yet matured and that needs the support of a mother. Even in the relation with the true mother Mexican people show this great importance of the maternal figure, a strong figure, that for though it lies in the background, it supports us and gives us strength". To study the role of the Virgin of Guadalupe within Mexican women's life helps us to discover the ways a religious image can change meaning depending upon the historical and social-political context displayed. During our research we interviewed peasant-women, university professors, psychologists, lawyers, women living and struggling for better conditions of life in borderline areas of large cities, traditional healers, young leaders, religious women involved in social life. The Virgin means something to each one of them: if for Mexican men the Virgin of Guadalupe always represented the archetype of a mother, for women this image actually supplied an identification model. But as times change this identification is becoming a tool for struggle, from a model of submission and devotion to the role of mother. A religious symbol, created by the conquerors to incorporate and dominate the native culture, can change into an inspiring image, it can be used as a tool for developing awareness, catalyzer of social changing energy. In this delicate stage of political transition, with the growing awareness of native Mexican people and their pressing claims, the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe plays an important role for Mexican women, and in particular for native women, giving them hope, the force of changing the anonymous status they have been relegated for centuries. Mexican women have always lived in the background: universally accepted as "natural" and institutionalised domestic violence, and machismo, had women's voice completely hushed. The daily struggle for survival implied all their energies. In the trip carried out within the State of Veracruz we saw an important phenomenon: peasant women now meet, they follow alphabetisation courses, seminars on human rights, discuss about politics. In these areas until a few years ago women, who weren't important, didn't even go to vote because their husbands voted for the entire family. That is an enormous step they took. Much of the conscience-developing arises from the religious people's commitment, inspired by liberation theology, that, starting from catechism and deep thought on Christ and the Virgin's figure, they nevertheless manage to convey greatly innovative contents. Native Mexicans are awaking. Within this great movement women are getting ready to lead. Note: This paper is based on the experience of two trips to Mexico (December T93 and July T94) with the guide of the American anthropologist Judith Gleason in order to realise a documentary film about the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexican women's life. The documentary film, entitled "FIORI PER GUADALUPE" (FLOWERS FOR GUADALUPE) is being finished.