(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Legend of Talking Eagle and the Woman of Tepeyac Hill. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-12 On a chilly winter morning long ago, so the legend goes, a middle aged indigenous man left the home he shared with his uncle and started walking towards the Franciscan mission near his community. An ordinary man who'd seen a lot in his fifty-seven years. Including the destruction of his culture, his religion, and his people by colonizers from across the sea. Colonizers who brought strange and terrifying things that the native peoples had little to no ability to resist. Things like warriors encased in steel and mounted on horses, firearms, and perhaps most devastating of all, smallpox. Ten years had passed since the colonizers' catastrophic triumph over the indigenous people. Ten years of epidemics, brutal oppression, and death. It was a diminished, sorrowful, and resentful world in which that man walked. His name was Cuauhtlatoa. Talking Eagle. But these days he was known by the name bestowed on him by the colonizers' priests- Juan Diego. It was Saturday 9 December in the year 1531. And just when he might have believed that life no longer held any surprises for him, events began that day that would see his life, and the lives of most everyone living in what was now Mexico City, capital of New Spain, profoundly affected yet again. The path from his home to the mission took the man past a rocky, barren hill called Tepeyac. Once the site of a shrine to Tonantzin, "Our Sacred Mother", now just barren soil dotted with rocks, shrubs, and cactus. The Conquistadors had done their work well; no visible trace remained of the multi-faceted, many-named Revered Mother of gods and humans alike. Pre Columbian statue of the goddess known as Our Revered Mother, Mother Earth, Bringer of Sustenance, Jade Woman, and many other names. What happened next is related in a document titled Nican Mopohua (Here It Is Told). It's the oldest existing written account of the events, and written in Nahuatl, the language of the indigenous people of the region. The author was a scholar named Antonio Valeriano, who was able to talk to Juan Diego and hear the story directly from him. Nican Mopohua was first published in 1649, forty-three years after the author's death, as part of a larger work titled Huei Tlamahuicolitica (The Great Happening). Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoa. The tilma (cloak) he is wearing figures prominently in the story. The legend goes on to say that as he was walking past, the man heard music. Beautiful, celestial music like the song of a flock of heavenly birds. He climbed up the hill to investigate, and saw a young woman whose clothes radiated brilliant light. Valeriano writes- "Her perfect grandeur exceeded all imagination; her clothing was shining like the sun, as if it were sending out waves of light....her radiance was like precious stones...." The woman spoke to him in Nahuatl, his own language. Not only did she speak Juan Diego's mother tongue, she looked like him. She was a brown-skinned, dark-eyed, dark-haired person. Very like himself and everyone he had ever loved. She identified herself as "Mary, mother of the very true deity". And asked the man she addressed as "my little son" to tell the appointed bishop of Mexico City that she wanted a shrine built in her honor, there on Tepeyac Hill. This was no small thing she was asking. For an ordinary native convert to approach the bishop uninvited would have taken real courage; if he said the wrong thing or made a bad impression, the consequences could be severe. But Juan Diego tried. On 10 December he tracked down the bishop. And found that the bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, a very important person, was also a very busy person with a very full schedule. The bishop had no time to really listen; and what he did hear, he found very hard to believe. He told Juan Diego to come back another time. Later that same day, Juan Diego met again with the amazing young woman on Tepeyac Hill. And had to admit his failure to fulfill the mission he'd been tasked with, suggesting that someone else might be better suited for the job. She just smiled, repeated that she'd chosen him for a reason, and told him to keep trying. Mary appears to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill. (Side note- I am of course paraphrasing here. Aside from a few lines from an English translation of Valeriano's work, I'm not quoting any official version of the story verbatim.) Anyway. Juan Diego went back the next day and eventually succeeded in talking to the bishop. Bishop Zumarraga told Juan Diego to bring actual proof of his tale. If the fellow really was telling the truth it should be possible. And if not, this would be the end of the matter. Zumarraga sent two of his servants to follow Juan Diego, watch what happened, and report back with their observations. They, too, failed in their assignment. It seemed that the man they were sent to spy on had vanished into thin air. Juan Diego however had met Mary a third time. Told her about his conversation with the bishop. And got a reply, with instructions to return to Tepeyac Hill the following day. Valeriano writes- "My little son, am I not your mother? Do not fear. The bishop shall have his sign. Come back to this place tomorrow. Only peace, my little son". Which had to have been a great relief. Until, that is, Juan Diego got home. And found his only living family member, his uncle, deathly ill. Early the next morning, on 12 December, Juan Diego made the decision to go find a priest and bring him back to the house. So that his dying uncle, Juan Bernardino, could be confessed and receive absolution before he passed. In an effort to put off meeting up with Mary again, he purposely avoided going near where he'd met her before. It didn't work. Fortunately for Juan Diego, the mother of his lord and savior, the Queen of Heaven herself, wasn't mad at him. Quite the contrary. She spoke kindly to her chosen representative. And assured him that even as they spoke, his uncle Juan Bernardino was completely healed of his illness. Valeriano writes- "...Am I not here, who am your mother?....Am I not of your kind?...Be assured, he is already well." She then directed Juan Diego to climb up to the top of Tepeyac Hill, pick the flowers he'd find there, and bring them back to her. Which he did. Armfuls of roses, lush and fragrant Castilian roses not previously seen in Mexico. Blooming in December no less. So many of them that he turned around his tilma, his cloak, still tied at the neck, and filled the apron thus made with the blooms. And headed back down the hill. He brought them to Mary, who arranged them herself, wrapped them back up in the tilma, and told Juan Diego to go deliver to the bishop the proof he'd demanded. Juan Diego delivers the flowers to Bishop Zumarraga...along with a surprise. Nobody expected what showed up in that floral delivery. The image of the woman that Juan Diego met on Tepeyac Hill was imprinted on the woven maguey fibers of his tilma. Bishop Zumarraga got his proof, and then some. The tilma image as it appears today. It's said to be nearly five hundred years old. The bishop was so impressed that he immediately took possession of the tilma. And had Juan Diego stay as his guest overnight. The following day, 13 December, Juan Diego returned home to find his uncle alive and well. Juan Bernardino had a story of his own to tell, of a visit from the radiant woman of Tepeyac Hill, who had instructed Juan Bernardino to tell the bishop of his miraculous healing. And that she wished to be known as Guadalupe. The tilma was first installed in Bishop Zumarraga's private chapel. Next it was moved to a church where it could be seen by the public. It drew large crowds and made a very big impression on everyone who saw it. A couple of weeks later it was moved again, to a small, hastily constructed shrine at Tepeyac. Eventually an ornate, baroque basilica was built to house it which opened in 1709. A still larger basilica was constructed two centuries later, opening in 1976. It is the centerpiece of a complex of churches, chapels, and shrines built on the sites of various miracles mentioned in the story, and is a place of pilgrimage for millions of visitors annually. A view of the basilica complex. The large blue structure at right is the basilica that opened in 1976. The week of 12 December sees some nine million people, come to view and seek inspiration from the image that appeared nearly five hundred years ago on the maguey cloth tilma of an indigenous man who was once known as Cuauhtlatoa. Talking Eagle. Her image is ubiquitous in Mexico, the American southwest, and anywhere there is a Latin American population. There is of course very much more to be told of this story; of mishaps, miracles, and sainthoods. Of the multitude of symbols (some indigenous, some Spanish) contained within the image. Books, videos, blogs, and websites abound with detailed information and articles discussing the story and the tilma itself. Many are reverential, others are skeptical. Some examine the enduring impact it has had on Mexican culture and identity. Others look at how it affected the indigenous peoples' acceptance of the new religion and how they eventually came to practice it. There are discussions about the possibility that "Guadalupe" is actually a corruption of a Nahuatl word meaning something quite different. A few even explore the idea that "La Virgencita"- more formally known as the Virgin of Guadalupe- and the ancient goddess Tonantzin might just be the same person. Today, 12 December, is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Thank you for reading. This is an open thread, all topics are welcome. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/12/2210072/-The-Legend-of-Talking-Eagle-and-the-Woman-of-Tepeyac-Hill?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/