The conquest of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish brought with it a spiritual conquest. When the Catholic religion was introduced to the indigenous population, individuals attempted to bridge the gap between the two contrasting religions. Instead of erasing the Aztec pantheon completely, the gods were dominated by the Catholic saints and former reverence traditions were also transferred to the Catholic Saints. To legitimize this substitution of saints for the gods, comparisons between the Catholic saints and the Aztec gods were made. Tonantzin, the mother goddess of the Aztecs, then took the form of the Virgin Mary. Therefore, Tonantzin was substituted by the Virgin Mary because of the necessity to convert to the Catholic religion under a new political regime. This transition was legitimized ten years after the conquest of the Aztecs with the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Thus, the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe helped to further strengthen the idea that Tonantzin and the Virgin Mary were one in the same because both were associated with the same place of worship and ideas. The Virgin Mary now reigns as the Holy Mother in Meso-America, the same way Tonantzin once did.

In 1519, Hernán Cortés departed Cuba with 550 men. Upon his arrival on the Mexican coast, Emperor Moctezuma sent gifts of gold and silver to Cortés. On the coast, Cortés established Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (the Rich City of the True Cross). Cortés then marched into the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, carrying with him a flag that bore the image of the Virgin Mary. Emperor Moctezuma welcomed Cortés and his men. However, Cortés quickly turned on Emperor Moctezuma and demanded more gold and silver. Cortés left behind a few of his men and went back to Veracruz to confront the arrival of another Spanish expedition, which had intended to take Cortés out. Cortés captured the leader of the group and persuaded his men to return with him to Tenochtitlán. Upon arrival in Tenochtitlán in June of 1520, Cortés learned that his men had slain about 200 Aztec nobles. Cortés was forced to flee the city in the night, in the retreat known as noche triste (sad night). In May of 1521, Cortés returned and conquered Tenochtitlán, with the help of neighboring Native American tribes. Cortés destroyed “the most beautiful city in the world” and then desecrated all the religious sites in the nearby region. [1]

Following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the indigenous population of Meso-America was forced to convert to Catholicism. Churches were built on the sites of the old Aztec temples, and usually being built with styles incorporating Aztec designs. Reportedly, “Indians were baptized by the thousands” and churches were so full that ceremonies took place in an open courtyard. However, the Native Americans probably did not fully convert to Catholicism and remained loyal to their old gods at home. [2]

One of the sites desecrated by Cortés was Tepeyec Hill, which means "hill of the nose." Located about one league north of Tenochtitlán (Mexico City), Tepeyec Hill was a very sacred site to the Aztecs. At Tepeyec Hill was a temple dedicated to Tonantzin (Our Mother), the mother goddess of the Aztecs. It was the most important temple dedicated to Tonantzin and was believed to be the place where Tonantzin came down dancing with the moon, Cayolxaulqui, under her feet. Aztecs traveled from the cities and rural areas from all over the empire to Tepeyec Hill to hold sacrifices and feasts in honor of the mother goddess. [3]

Tonantzin was known by several names, including Cihuacóatl (wife of the Serpent). Tonantzin was also the lunar goddess of corn and the consort of Quetzalcoatl, and together they are the representations of the Ometeotl, the givers of life. She is also the sister of Huitzilopochtli and mother of the gods. Tonantzin is always depicted wearing white while holding a sash in her hands. [4]

It is at this site that Juan Diego, a native who had converted to Catholicism, saw the apparition that would come to be known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Juan Diego was born Cuauhtlatoatzin (eagle that talks) in the town of Cuauhtitlan, Tlayacac, which is about 14 miles north of Tenochtitlán. [5]

On the morning of Saturday, December 9, 1531, Juan Diego was walking from his home in Cuauhtitlan to the church in Tenochtitlán. On his way to the church, he passed by Tepeyec Hill. As he passed by, he heard singing coming from the hill. When he looked to the top of the hill, the singing stopping. Then, a voice began to call to him, saying: “Juanito, Juan Dieguito.” Diego climbed the hill in search of the source of the voice. At the top of the hill, a woman greeted him. The woman was surrounded by light and the area around her shined like jewels. Diego bowed in respect to the woman. Speaking in Nahuatl, the woman asked Diego where he was going. He told her that he was going visit her church in Tenochtitlán. She then told him that she was the Virgin Mary. She also requested that he build a church, in her honor, at this site. Complying with her request, he climbed down from the hill and hurried to Tenochtitlán. [6]

Upon arrival in Tenochtitlán, he went to the Franciscan Bishop, Father Juan de Zumárraga. Skeptical of the message, the Bishop told Diego to come back later, after he thought about the story. [7]

Diego left Tenochtitlán and went back to Tepeyec Hill. He climbed to the top, where the Virgin Mary had been waiting, and greeted her again. He told her that he went to the Bishop, but he did not think that the Bishop believed his story. He then told the Virgin that he was a poor man, of no real importance, and it would be better if she appeared before someone of importance. She reassured Diego that he was chosen to deliver the message for a reason. She told him that he had to return to Tenochtitlán the next day and convince the Bishop that what he saw was real. He again told her that he would do whatever she wished. Diego then climbed down from the hill and went home. [8]

The next day, Diego went to the church in Tenochtitlán. After mass, Diego went to the home of the Bishop again. Again, the Bishop did not believe Diego and told him that he needed a sign. Weary of Diego, the Bishop sent his men to follow Diego. They followed him out of the city all the way to the bridge near Tepeyec Hill. They lost sight of Diego near the bridge and searched the area for him. The men did not find Diego and returned to the Bishop. They told the Bishop that Diego must be attempting to deceive them and that he should be punished for lying. [9]

While the men are reporting their story of Diego to the Bishop, Diego was speaking to the Virgin Mary on Tepeyec Hill again. She told him to return the next day and she will give him the sign that the Bishop requested. [10]

When Monday morning came, Diego did not return to Tepeyec Hill. His uncle, Juan Bernardino, had become sick with the plague. A doctor came, but was of no help. Bernardino told Diego to go out and get a priest from Tenochtitlán to perform his last rites, since he would not live much longer. [11]

Before dawn the next day, Diego was on his way to Tenochtitlán when he came upon Tepeyec Hill. Thinking that the Virgin Mary would surely see him pass, he went closer to the hill. The Virgin Mary came down from the hill and went up to Diego. She asked him where he was going. He explained to her that he had to take care of his uncle the day before. She told him not to fear the illness because he was under her protection. She then cured his uncle. She then ordered him to climb the hill, to the place where they had met before, gather flowers, and then bring them back to her. He climbed the hill and found Castilian roses, flowers that would not normally bloom in the cold winter months. He cut the flowers and gathered them in his tilma (cloak). The descended the hill and went before the Virgin Mary again. She took the flowers from Diego and then put them back in his tilma. She told him that these flowers will be taken to the Bishop. She ordered Diego not to show the flowers in his tilma to anyone but the Bishop. [12]

Diego hurried to Tenochtitlán to see the Bishop once more. Upon arriving at the home of the Bishop, he met resistance with the servants. They did not allow him to see the Bishop, not only because it was too early in the morning but also because he was beginning to annoy them. As Diego stood there waiting, they noticed that he was holding something in his tilma. Because of their persistence to see what was in the tilma, Diego opened the cloth a little to reveal the beautiful flowers. Amazed by the flowers, which had bloomed out of season, they informed the Bishop that Diego had returned. Meanwhile, the men attempted to take the flowers from Diego, but every time they attempted, the flowers would disappear and turn into a painting on the cloth. [13]

When the Bishop had received word on what had happened, allowed an audience with Diego. Diego went into the room, knelt before the Bishop, and told the story of what had happened. As he ended his story, he released the bottom of this tilma in his hands, which allowed the flowers to fall to the floor. The Bishop and the men in the room dropped to their knees before Diego. An image of the Virgin Mary had appeared on the cloth of the tilma. The Bishop prayed to the image for forgiveness. He then arose and took the tilma from Diego, so that he could hang it in his church. The Bishop then invited Diego to be a guest in his house. [14]

The next morning, Diego showed the Bishop where the church was to be built. Diego then asked to be excused, so that he could go check on his uncle. The Bishop’s men accompanied Diego to his home. However, upon arrival at Diego’s home, they discovered that his uncle was no longer sick. Diego told his uncle what the Virgin Mary had said to him. The uncle said that she had appeared before him as well and told him of Diego’s mission. She also told them that she would be known as Holy Mary of Guadalupe. The uncle was invited to share his story with the Bishop as well. Diego and his uncle stayed with the Bishop until the church was built. The Bishop then placed the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the new church so that everyone could see its magnificence. [15]

There is some speculation that the Virgin Mary would want to be called “Guadalupe.” Guadalupe was a Spanish name and she had appeared before Juan Diego and Juan Bernardino speaking Nahuatl. It is possible that she asked to be called Quatlasupe and not Guadalupe. The two words sound very similar and it would be very easy for a native of Spain to confuse the word Quatlasupe for Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe in Estremadura, Spain was an idol of the Virgin Mary given to Pope Gregory the Great to the Bishop of Seville, Spain, but it was lost for 600 years. The statue was named Guadalupe in 1326 when a Spanish farmer discovered the lost statue near a village named Guadalupe. It is more probable that the Virgin Mary would want to be called Quatlasupe, which means “one who crushes the serpent.” The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe helped to further the Spanish position that the Catholic religion was the correct religion and all the Native Americans had to convert, thus “crushing” the serpent. The image of the serpent here has two sides: Quetzalcoatl and Satan. Quetzalcoatl, the serpent-god of the Aztec religion, was wiped out by the Catholic religion, and Satan, which is most commonly depicted as a serpent, was removed, according to the Catholic Church, from the Mexican region. [16]

Symbolism not only appears in language, the use of Nahuatl instead of a Latin language, but also in the image itself. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is not that of a fair-skinned woman, as most Europeans had depicted her, but rather as a woman of darker skin. This made her seem more Native American in appearance than she did in other images. In the image itself, she is holding a black sash in her hands. The sash itself is associated with pregnant women and warriors. The specific symbols associate with warriors and pregnant women appear on each end of the sash itself. Beneath the feet of the Virgin Mary is the crescent moon, a symbol associated with Tonantzin. The sun’s rays emanating from the Virgin Mary was interpreted by the Catholic clerics as that of the Holy Spirit. However, the Aztecs interpreted this as another symbol of their own religion, the sun. All these symbols come together to represent not only the Virgin Mary but also elements of the Aztec religion as well. [17]

After the building of the Sanctuary of Guadalupe in 1533, a large cult of Aztecs, formerly associated with Tonantzin, now worshipped in the church. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún believed this new cult of the Our Lady of Guadalupe to be paganism hiding within the Catholic Church. He ridiculed preachers who referred to Our Lady of Guadalupe as Tonantzin instead of dios-inantzion, meaning Mother of God. Sahagún, like many in his time, had little tolerance for syncretism of the Catholic beliefs and the Aztec Beliefs. He believed the Catholic religion to be true, and everything else was false. [18]

That natives interpreted the conquest of the Spaniards as a new age in their society. With the Spaniards came death, disease, and war as well as the destruction of their religion, which revolved around the sun. This seemed like the end of the world for the Aztecs. However, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially her riding on the moon from the heavens, showed that new religion was a new era in their society and that the Virgin Mary had triumphed over the solar cult of Huitzilopochtli. Thus, the Virgin Mary became for them what Tonantzin once was, a protector goddess. [19]

The clerics at the shire of Guadalupe strived to convince the natives that the Virgin Mary was not a goddess but rather the mortal Mother of God which became a saint. Since the natives had difficulty grasping this concept, songs sung in the mass in the 1550s repeatedly reinforced the idea of the Virgin Mary as a saint, not a goddess. [20]

In the period between 1555 and 1590, there is an unprecedented growth in Catholic worship among the natives. This growth is believed to be inspired by the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Archbishop Alonso de Montufar appointed a diocesan priest to the shrine of Out Lady of Guadalupe in 1555 and commissioned a church to be built in 1556. Not only did devolution grow amongst the natives, but it also grew amongst the American Spaniards and the mestizos. The popularity of Our Lady of Guadalupe grew even larger in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries under the Franciscans and the Augustinians. The viceroys also promoted Our Lady of Guadalupe by building a road from Tepeyec Hill to Mexico City. [21]

The Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe speaking the native language at Tepeyac Hill helped to sell the idea that "Catholicism" was to become the religion of the Aztecs. As Catholicism begins to spread, there is a blend of the older Tonanzin traditions with that of the Virgin Mary. The syncretism in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma established that Tonantzin and the Virgin Mary were one in the same. Where the Aztecs once worshiped Tonantzin, they now congregate in a basilica to revere the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Guadalupe fulfilled her prophecy of being the one "who crushes the serpent" by slowly converting the natives using syncretism.

1. George Pendle, A History of Latin America, Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1971, 39-40; Patricia Harrington, "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth: The Mexican Virgin of Guadalupe," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 56:1 (Spring, 1988), 29-30; and William B. Taylor, “The Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: An Inquiry into the Social History of Marian Devotion,” American Ethnologist 14:1 (Feb., 1987), 10.

2. Ibid., 57; and George Kubler and Martin Soria, Art and Architecture in Spain and Portugal and their American Dominions: 1500-1800, London: Penguin Books, 1959, 69-70.

3. Jacques Lafaye, Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe: The Formation of Mexican National Consciousness, 1531-1813, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974, 211; Miguel A. Hidalgo, "The Lady of Guadalupe: An Invented Myth or a Strange Reality?" http://laermita.org/ladyguad.htm; and Harrington, "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth,” 32.

4. Lafaye, Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe, 212-16; Hidalgo, "The Lady of Guadalupe;” Harrington, "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth,” 31-32; and Eric R. Wolf, "The Virgin of Guadalupe: A Mexican National Symbol," The Journal of American Folklore 71:279 (Jan. - Mar., 1958), 35.

5. Donald Demarest and Coley Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin: The Book of Our Lady of Guadalupe, New York: Coley Taylor Publishers, 1956, 115; and "Saint Juan Diego: A Model of Humility," Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Patroness of the Americas, http://www.sancta.org/juandiego.html.

6. Luis Lasso de la Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649, the Story of Guadalupe,” Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Patroness of the Americas, http://www.sancta.org/nican.html; and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 64-66.

7. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 66-68.

8. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 69-71.

9. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 71-72.

10. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 72-75.

11. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 76.

12. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 76-78.

13. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 78-80.

14. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 80-82.

15. Vega, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649;” and Demarest and Taylor, ed., The Dark Virgin, 82-86.

16. Lafaye, Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe, 217-24; and "Why the name 'of Guadalupe,'" Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Patroness of the Americas, http://www.sancta.org/nameguad.html.

17. Hidalgo, "The Lady of Guadalupe;” Harrington, "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth," 26-27, 34; and Wigberto Jimenez Moreno, “The Indians of America and Christianity,” The Americas 14:4 (Apr., 1958), 421-22.

18. Harrington, "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth," 32-33; and Stafford Poole, "Some Observations on Mission Methods and Native Reactions in Sixteenth-Century New Spain," The Americas 50:3 (Jan., 1994), 340-41.

19. Harrington, "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth," 34; and Moreno, “The Indians of America and Christianity,” 422.

20. Harrington, "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth," 34-35.

21. Moreno, “The Indians of America and Christianity,” 424-25; Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, “The Evolution of Marian Devotionalism within Christianity and the Ibero-Mediterranean Polity,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37:1 (Mar., 1998), 52-54; Taylor, “The Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain,” 9-11; Wolf, "The Virgin of Guadalupe,” 35; and Stephanie Wood, "Adopted Saints: Christian Images in Nahua Testaments of Late Colonial Toluca," The Americas 47:3 (January 1991), 275.

Demarest, Donald and Coley Taylor, ed. The Dark Virgin: The Book of Our Lady of Guadalupe. New York: Coley Taylor Publishers, 1956.

Kubler, George and Martin Soria, Art and Architecture in Spain and Portugal and their American Dominions: 1500-1800. London: Penguin Books, 1959.

Lafaye, Jacques. Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe: The Formation of Mexican National Consciousness, 1531-1813. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974.

Harrington, Patricia. "Mother of Death, Mother of Rebirth: The Mexican Virgin of Guadalupe," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 56:1 (Spring, 1988), 25-50.

Hidalgo, Miguel A. "The Lady of Guadalupe: An Invented Myth or a Strange Reality?" http://laermita.org/ladyguad.htm.

Moreno, Wigberto Jimenez. “The Indians of America and Christianity,” The Americas 14:4 (Apr., 1958), 411-31.

Pendle, George. A History of Latin America. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1971.

Poole, Stafford. "Some Observations on Mission Methods and Native Reactions in Sixteenth-Century New Spain," The Americas 50:3 (Jan., 1994), 337-49.

"Saint Juan Diego: A Model of Humility." Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Patroness of the Americas. http://www.sancta.org/juandiego.html.

Stevens-Arroyo, Anthony M. “The Evolution of Marian Devotionalism within Christianity and the Ibero-Mediterranean Polity,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37:1 (Mar., 1998), 50-73.

Taylor, William B. “The Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: An Inquiry into the Social History of Marian Devotion,” American Ethnologist 14:1 (Feb., 1987), 9-33.

"Why the name 'of Guadalupe'?" Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Patroness of the Americas. http://www.sancta.org/nameguad.html.

Wolf, Eric R. "The Virgin of Guadalupe: A Mexican National Symbol," The Journal of American Folklore 71:279 (Jan. - Mar., 1958), 34-39.

Wood, Stephanie. "Adopted Saints: Christian Images in Nahua Testaments of Late Colonial Toluca," The Americas 47:3 (January 1991), 259-293.

Vega, Luis Lasso de la, “Huei tlamahuicoltica of 1649, the Story of Guadalupe,” Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Patroness of the Americas, http://www.sancta.org/nican.html