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.


Watch the Fountain @ Casita Laberinto

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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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!

How To Care For A Simple Green Home.

    When we first came to Mexico to build, we had in mind a house with land around it that reflect our respect and love for nature and its beauty, the full ecological picture, and simplicity.  We built our house with many of the features that we had researched and envisioned.  Among those that we implemented in the house were, adobe construction, passive solar orientation and elements, photovoltaic solar energy, water catchment, gray-water plumbing, a compost toilet (to avoid extra water usage and black-water), and composting of both kitchen and garden by-products (i.e., peeling, etc., from the kitchen; weeds and clippings from the garden).
     We also let the garden evolve around the house, as we were building and first living out on the property.  Once walls and terraces were in place, we designated areas which sheltered the garden or exposed it to the elements.  And then we planted like an artist dabs color onto a painting, a flourish here, a few dots there, a splash in the foreground, a foundation in the back.  And once that had settled, we looked and "Painted" some more.
      One of the most important things to remember when building and living sustainably is that the house a surrounding garden require your participation.  The most important payment that you can make is to Pay Attention.  So, doing something everyday, we Pay Attention to our house and garden, so that it gets full and complete maintenance throughout the year.  By doing a little each day, nothing is too hard and nothing is neglected.
Things to Pay Attention to When Caring for a Simple, Green Home:

1.  Every day feed the Compost Bins.  Our Worm Bin gets the Kitchen by-products and our Green Compost Bin gets the garden by-products and orange peels (because our worms don't like a lot of citrus).
2. Every day, channel the gray-water to a part of the garden (trees, bushes, etc.) that needs a drink.  Some of our gray-water is stationary, permanently directed to a specific location.  Some is directed by hose, to various parts of the garden, as needed.
3. Everyday, water something.  Until the rains come, that is.
4. Everyday, walk through your garden and see what it needs, a branch clipped here, a tree well weeded there.  By walking and maintaining the garden daily, you are stuck with a chore that keeps getting put off.
5. Once a week, flood the gray-water drains with a bucket (approx 5 gallons) of water.  The pipes are simple and direct and the flooding keeps them running freely.
6. Every week, rake the the dry compost toilet, to turn the "soil" and promote the composting process.
7. Every week, turn the Worm and Green Compost Bins.
8. If you are a serious gardener then, you are already planning the next phase of your garden, as the present one comes to fruition.  Every week, keep the garden up-to-date in terms of planting, maintaining, harvesting, digging.
9. Every 3 Months, check and refill the water in the Solar Batteries.  They get thirsty, too.  We check and fill ours on the Solstices and Equinoxes.
10. Every 6 Months, raise or lower the Solar Panels.  We do this at the Equinoxes, right after checking the Batteries.
11. Every day of every year, take time to enjoy the combined efforts of nature and your nurturing.

     For more information on Green Stuff and to See a bunch more pictures about the place we live, the homes we built [Which we are offering for Sale] visit our Website: Las Casitas: Dos Arbolitos; and Laberinto
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     Think Green.  Think Peace!