In Search of the Perfect Virgen: There's No Place Like Home!

Of course, I don't have to travel very far, to find examples of the Queen of the Americas.  This one is sitting in the niche, in the Inner Patio of Casita Laberinto one of the two "GREEN" houses that we built and are selling.  This Virgen is carved from Cantara, a stone used for statuary and decoration around buildings.  We had been searching for a statue of the Virgen to put in this niche and found her in Dolores Hidalgo (along with numerous of her sisters).  Simply carved out of the pink cantara, we bought her, brought her home and added just a touch of color.  She, along with the plants and our fountain, make the Inner Patio seem like a mini-sanctuary.


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In Search of the Perfect Virgen: They're everywhere!!

In the Bus Station in Mexico City.  Waiting for the Bus to Oaxaca.  The bus ride was an adventure in itself.  There is a box in front of this statue to put money in.  If I'd known what kind of ride we were going to have, I'd have paid a bribe to this one.


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In Search of the Perfect Virgen, Again!

     The Search for the Perfect Virgen can take us anywhere.  This Paper Mache Virgen was part of an art exhibit of over-sized figures of folk catholic saints and sages.



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The Serch For the Perfect Virgen......... etc!

This is an image of Mary, in what some would call the classic Virgen del Rosario pose.  This one was taken in a small church in San Miguel de Allende.  My favorite description of her comes from Beverly Donofrio's book Looking for Mary, or The Blessed Mother and Me.  She wrote that this statue, with a golden haired Mary (and golden haired Jesus) and puffy dress looks much like Glinda, in the Wizard of OZ.  And so she does.  The chapel is small and cozy, and it has a feeling of spirituality that the larger chapels don't impart. 

In Search of the Perfect Virgen, Again.

Many of the Virgin Mary's Apparitions are from the European Tradition.  Our Lady of Sorrows, is one that is depicted often, in statues in many of the Churches.  She is very prevalent, however, in the time before Easter.  This is particularly so on Viernes de Dolores, the Friday of Sorrows, on the Friday that precedes Palm Sunday.  Typically, she is shown in a Purple Habit, with her head down turned, as she contemplates past events (such as the flight into Egypt) upcoming events of her son's sufferings (such as his crucifixion.


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In Search of the Perfect Virgen: The Search Continues!

Not all of the Goddesses in Mexico are post Spanish Conquest.  This pre-Columbian one was sitting on shelf with numerous other artifacts.  Modern versions of this are seen in a modified, less stark state, in artisan stores around Oaxaca.  And the search continues...................

In Search of the Perfect Virgen!

     Here is another in the series of Searching for the Perfect Virgens in Mexico:  Our Lady of Solitude, Nuestra Señora de Soledad.  She is the Patroness of Oaxaca.  And featured in her Song "La Cumbia del Mole."  Her image is all over Oaxaca City.  I took this one at the entrance of one of the restaurants.  Below, Lila Downs in "La Cumbia....

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Celebrating Mary! In Search of the Perfect Virgin! Part 1

     In Mexico, when Spain had conquered the indigenous people, the tale is told that the Virgen de Guadalupe, an apparition of the Virgin Mary, appeared to a native convert, Juan Diego, and told him to tell the Bishop to build a Chapel on the hill at the site of the encounter.  Juan Diego obeyed and was met with skepticism by the bishop.  The bishop asked for a sign.  Juan Diego went back to the site and the Virgen had Juan Diego pick some roses that, as it was December, shouldn't have been blooming on the hill.  Juan put them in his cloak and took them to the bishop.  When he opened his cloak, the roses fell out and there was an image of the Virgen on the Cloak. 
     A shrine was built on the hill; conveniently it was over ruins of a temple to the indigenous goddess, Tonanzin, that had been destroyed during the Spanish Conquest.  Historically, the Catholic church has, in the name of conversion, been able to absorb the beliefs of their converted flocks and help them align with the prevailing dogma.
     The Virgen has since been called the Queen, the Mother, the Empress, the Patroness of the Americas, by the church.  Being a Catholic nation, Mexico revers all forms of the Virgin Mary.  To celebrate that celebration, periodically I will post pictures of the Virgin as she appears in churches, plazas, mercados, on wall, in niches.  Part One is Guadalupe herself at a site in San Miguel:

 Que Viva La Virgen de Guadalupe!  Que viva!