I arrive in Mexico and am immediately transported back to my childhood 1950's America. There is a feel to Mexico, a vibrancy I have not seen since being raised Catholic in the Midwest. Named Mary in 1951 was common to say the least. There were eight Mary's in my grade school class. Amid all the non-sensical ideas of god tossed at my young brain the only one that stuck was my namesake Mary. In daily mass I only saw her. Her divine nature spoke to me on a very personal level. She was the Mother of Jesus and yet she was also my best friend in a world not so very friendly. In Mexico she is different. This is Mary and yet is not the Mary I know. Where is her baby Jesus?????
She is painted and tiled on many houses. In some there is an unknown man at her feet with roses. I have come to see this is a very different story. One I do not know. I am struck by the honoring that seems to happen at these street shrines. Fresh FLowers appear and candles are lit.
A Mexican friend tells me the story. A young male sheppard is given an apparition of Mary who asks of him to do her bidding in a specific honoring she would like. She produces a miracle for him with roses and her image on his cloak . No , this is not My Mary.
This is Mexico's ROCK STAR .
Everywhere her image is displayed, even on kleenex boxes. I want to understand her. In a country of macho ment who often beat thier wives ,I want to know who she really is.
Once I asked a Mexican man, "why do you adore this image and yet , go home to beat your wives?" He was stunned and simply said," I never thought of it that way."
So she the GUAD is an idol with no real flesh and blood embodiment?
As a young girl I had the polarity of Mother Mary and a doll called Barbie. Somewhere in between I struggled to find a feminine identity that had a real flesh and blood meaning inside myself.
What about the Mexican woman?? Was she the Revered Guad or the whore??
A Mexican woman friend describes quinceanera, the Mexican version of the coming out party.
" You pick some(usually) males to be your attendants. You are 15 years old. The dress is prom like and you wear flat shoes. First , you go to church for a religious ceremony and then there is a reception. At one point your father comes and removes your flat little girl shoes and gives you a pair of high heels. He announces to everyone that you are no longer a little girl but must now be known as a woman. "
Yes , I think that Mexican women also have the same polarity I had with Mary and Barbie,
Barbie of 1950's
St. Anne and her daughter Mary
We are the DIVINE MOTHER INCARNATE.
We produce Miracles (life itself)
We birth
We are the heart and soul of humanity
We are SHE
We are SHE in flesh and blood, and we are not empty paintings on walls and statues in churches.
Humanity must look to REAL DIVINE WOMEN to begin to honor life in that form .These are my eclectic musings on that subject.
On my journey to discover my own divine nature, I have been the virgin, the daughter, the wife, the whore, the mother, the sister, the bitch , the divine mother.
I AM A REAL FLESH AND BLOOD WOMAN!!
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