I come from an Hispanic background, where most people claim to be Catholic, but much of Hispanic Catholicism is based on superstition, but I want to focus on a single event which led to the conversion of an entire nation. There's a legend which states that a peasant, Juan Diego, who's unbaptized name was Quauhtlatoatzin, had visions which he claimed to see the Mother of God. She had instructed him to build a church in that very same location.
This vision of the Mother of God soon appeared on Juan Diego's Tilma, and this was a confirmation of the claims he had made. I'm not denying that any of this really happened. The Tilma still exists, though it should have been ravaged by time, long ago. This only brings up some questions. Who was this spirit Juan Diego had seen? Why did she call herself Guadalupe? Why did she instruct for a church to be built in that area?
The Church had always made an
attempt to convert people of other lands to
Christianity. That fact can't be denied. Juan
Diego himself, obviously made that conversion,
whether by force or free will. The true events
may have been corrupted and Christianized, as
it's often been done. It's hard to say for
certain. The name, Guadalupe, is obviously
Spaniard, and it's hard to reason why she
wouldn't speak in the native tongue, Nahuatl. The
theory is that the spirit may have spoke the name
Coatlaxopeuh, which is pronounced,
Qwah-Tlah-Suh-Peh, meaning Who crushes the
serpent. Observe how closely Qoatlaxopeuh
sounds to Guadalupe. Qoatlaxopeuh may have also
been a reference to destroying the Quetzalcoatl
("Serpent God") religion.
The
place where the church was built was sacred to
the Goddess, Tonantzin, who may be the true form
of Guadalupe. Often, the Church has built on
sacred Pagan ground for the sake of having
so-called heathens worshipping their own
gods through the Christian church, and over time,
this would allow for conversation. There are
clues which reveal a deeper understanding to whom
Guadalupe may have been. She refered to herself
as the Mother. Tonantzin was also the mother, and
considered a moon goddess. Can this also mean
that Guadalupe is a moon goddess? Here's a
question for you. In the image of Guadalupe, why
is she standing on the moon?