LOS PEREGRINOS EN BICICLETAS

Here I am in Oaxaca several days earlier than I had planned. Last week, Aurora and Javier found that they needed to go to Oaxaca for a project they are working on with a community here, and there wasn't funding for plane tickets. So they asked if I would like to ride with them Friday instead of taking the bus on Monday as planned. I had to scramble to get some things done that I wanted to finish before leaving, but I managed to get myself ready in time.

It was of course much more pleasant to have the company of Aurora and Javier than to ride alone on the bus. We evidently made record time, arriving in Oaxaca in 8 hours, because of a new highway that entirely bypasses Mexico City. Along the way we saw many, many groups of bicylists riding along the shoulder of the highway led by trucks decorated with shrines. They were either going to or coming from the Basilica de la Virgen de Guadelupe in Mexico City. Saturday, December 12 is El Dia de Guadalupe in all of Mexico, and many people make yearly pilgrimages to her church in Mexico City. The Basilica was built on the hill where Juan Diego saw the vision of the Virgin Mary in the 1500s. So many people from all over Mexico make this pilgrimage that they have to assign different days to different pueblos to make their visit.

One cannot overstate the importance of La Virgen de Guadelupe to Mexicans and to Mexico. Back when the Conquistadores arrived, they had two objectives: finding gold and treasure and converting the indigenous people ("pagans") to Christianity. Many orders -- Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits and others -- found rich ground to impose their religion. But the indigenous peoples were pretty resistant; they had no choice but to go along with what was being imposed on them, but they continued to believe deeply in their own gods which were mainly related to nature: corn, water, animals, fire, earth, the sun. The vision of the Virgin appearing to Juan Diego, an indian, helped the people incorporate Christianity into their own belief systems. When you study closely the shawl of Juan Diego onto which the image of the Virgin was imprinted and which hangs in the Basilica, you see many symbols and images which are definitely pagan and not Christian. Surrounding the Virgin are rays representing the sun, she stands on the crescent moon, and on her cloak are stars and the number of stars has importance. There are other symbols too numerous to go into.

The Spaniards built their cathedrals and churches on top of the places of worship of the indigenous peoples, but they couldn't completely bury the soul and spirit of the people. The indians were forced into slave labor to build the grand cathedrals, but often they carved images that, unbeknownst to the bishops, were from their own belief systems. Viva la gente!!