The Stars on Her Mantle

 

We are about a month ahead of the Festival of Guadalupe, the Mestizo Madonna of Mexico. She is considered a Black Madonna because of her dark skin, and her image is a beautiful expression of the mixture of both Native and European features and symbolism. 

 

There are so many threads to Guadalupe of Mexico, that it would take hours to cover them all. In fact, I have written an entire book on the subject, The Virgin of Guadalupe, Mysterious Messenger of Destiny

In essence, Guadalupe of Mexico is a miracle, a story of evolution, of progression, of divine love and transformation. Her basic story is that she appeared to a Nahuatl Native on a series of days, December 9 - 12, 1531 to be exact, and the miracles surrounding her apparitions. On December 12th she imprinted her image on the cactus fabric Tilma (a poncho-type article of clothing of Nahuatl peasants of the day) in front of the Bishop of New Spain and his entourage. The image is on display in The Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Mexico, above the main altar. It has been constantly on display for nearly 500 years, as one of the most visited of all Marian Shrines in the world. This image has also been one of the most studied of all sacred items, being deciphered by chemists, physicists, photographers, you name it, and the only thing everyone can agree upon is that it defies explanation in earthly terms, other than the Virgin of Guadalupe of Mexico is a miracle.

 

The Virgin of Guadalupe is not art in the classic materialistic sense, meaning, an image comprised of a canvas covered with some sort of paint. Hundreds of years of materialistic scientific study, including modern computer  x-ray technology and chemical analysis, can not decipher what comprises this image that has inspired millions for nearly 500 years. But in a spiritual sense, Guadalupe is art, in that she conveys quite a message from the Gods. Guadalupe does this through every single fiber, every image, every aspect of the poetic narrative of her genesis, and most elegantly through her timing, the location of her apparitions, as well as her profound repeated statements of her apparitions to Juan Diego

 

Build me a Temple and Where are you Going?

There are many skeptics as to the nature of this image. One of the more interesting and accepted ones, is that it was painted by a Spanish artist schooled in Europe on the painting techniques of the day, about 60 years after the apparitions of Guadalupe. The "painting" was created to quell resistance to Spanish colonialism and insert the Catholic faith to the Natives in New Spain. 

Everyone is welcomed to draw their own conclusions as it is everyone's right to do so, but what I find most interesting in terms of refuting this notion, is the timing of the imprinting on the Tilma and the stars on the mantle of the Virgin.

With modern computer technology, we can plug in dates, locations and times and see how the stars were configured in the sky at any moment in history. If we look at the heavens above what is now called Mexico City at 10:40 am on December 12th, 1531, the exact timing of the miraculous imprinting of Guadalupe onto the Tilma, the heavens paint quite a picture. There is no way that an artist 60 years after the event could have known this. 

The heavens were pointing to the commencing of a new era in the evolution of humanity. The stars point to this. A tradition started nearly a century ago is to pray for 46 days leading up to the apparition of Guadalupe. There are 46 stars visible on the Tilma, hence the choice of 46 days, and each day leading up to the festival has a name (Star of Peace, Star of Hope and so on.) What is interesting is the symbolism of 46 in that it is the number of chromosomes in a human cell. Chromosomes are the essential structure, the template for creating a living being. In the number 46, for me, it points to the fact that Guadalupe is heralding the formation of a new structure for humanity, based on Cosmic Love.

As with all things, we have the freedom to choose this path towards universal and cosmic love.

What is your choice? Where are you going and what sort of temple will you be building to facilitate such a transition?