Xochiquetzal: Mexico's Goddess of Love

Every ancient culture has one - a goddess so beautiful and alluring that mortal men fall to their knees in awe of Her; and wars are fought to gain Her hand.

To the Greeks, She was Aphrodite; to the Romans, She was Venus; in the misty dawn of Britain, She was Gwenhwyfar; and to the Norse, She was Freya. She is the Goddess of Love and Fertility and, in Aztec Mexico, Her name was Xochiquetzal.

Xochiquetzal (pronounced shOw-chee-KET-sAl) was responsible for all that is beautiful in Mexico. The white sand beaches; the towering pyramids; the breath-taking canyons, gorges and waterfalls; the glorious dawns and sunsets; the lush greenery of the jungle; the grace of the cloudy mountains; the sweeping vistas of its deserts; the mystery of its deep caves and cenotes; and the warmth of the Mexican people, all come under Her domain. If it is beautiful and Mexican, then Xochiquetzal has cast her eye upon it.

Her name translates broadly as 'sacred flower' or 'flower feather'. Xochi is Nahuatl for 'flower'; while the second part, 'quetzel', references the strikingly colored birds that still live in the highlands of western Mexico. In Nahuatl, 'quetzelli' means 'brilliant tail feather', which describes these vibrant birds very well. The goddess wore those same feathers in Her head-dress; and She was followed everywhere by an entourage of birds and butterflies.


'Xochiquetzal' by Midnightstouch
Every eight years, the Aztecs held a festival in honor of their Goddess of Love. All those attending it would wear masks replendent with feathers. They represented those birds and butterflies that would trail Xochiquetzal. Each year, this deity was the guardian of the 20 days of Xochitl. During this period, beauty and truth reigned. People would take care over their appearance; and would share compliments, but only if they were truthful. It was a great time for an ego boost!

Her holy days were times of celebration and dancing, as well as the more carnal activities. There was no judgement here. Xochiquetzal is the patron of all who love; She is the guardian of prostitutes. Every time the wild dance causes lovers to catch each other's eye, then look for the presense of Xochiquetzal. She is human desire; She is the dance; She is the romantic meal and the whispered words.


But this Aztec goddess doesn't leave when the union is made. She was also there during pregnancy and childbirth. She was the patron of young mothers everywhere.

However, this was the Aztec people, so some aspects of Her worship appear horrific to the modern sensibilities.

As the Goddess of Beauty, Xochiquetzal claimed the artisians, sculptors, craftspeople and silversmiths amongst Her people. Every seven years, this sector of society would meet to select the most beautiful young woman they could find amongst the population. She would spend a year living in luxury, as the very personification of Xochiquetzal. People would confess their darkest secrets and deepest desires to her. Her every need would be attended to; and she would wear the most wonderful clothes and precious jewels.

Then after the year was up, she would be ritually sacrificed, during the festival of Xochiquetzal. It is believed that her skin would then be flayed from her dead body and stitched into an outfit. This was worn by the chief, male artisian, while he wove his own craft. This would bring the Goddess into the beauty of his weaving and bless their community for another eight years.


Amongst the pantheon of Aztec deities, Xochiquetzal has a twin brother: the flower prince, Xochipilli. She had many lovers and husbands. The first was Tlaloc, the Rain God, as rain and beauty make all of the wonderful vegetation in Mexico. She was also famously abducted by Tezcatlipoca, a central God in Aztec religion. He created the whole world, until a jealous quarrel with Xochiquetzal's son, Quetzalcoatl, led to the destruction of it all. Fortunately for us, Quetzalcoatl then recreated the Earth, thus we have the planet to live on!

(Incidentally, when the Spanish attempted to convert the Aztecs into Christianity, they found resistance. The Aztecs, ironically, found the notion of a crucified deity to be distasteful. Those evangelizing friars only made headway when they learned about Tezcatlipoca, the sacrificed God. They were able to link Him with Jesus Christ and Xochiquetzal with Mary, His mother. Hence the Aztecs were Christianized.)

Mexico is a truly beautiful country, with some of the most exquisite arts and crafts in the world. It is certainly a setting for romance and love. Xochiquetzal may now be merged entirely with Mary, Mother of God, but, as the Mother of Quetzalcoatl, She always was. Next time a magnificient Mexican landscape opens up before you, and you are hand in hand with your lover, nod towards the nearest bird or butterfly. Xochiquetzal has you blessed.

Religious Tourism in... Cancún?

Cancún has been chosen by the Vatican as the location for an important gathering next year. From April 23rd to 27th, 2012, millions of ordained Catholic priests and lay people will descend upon the city from all over the world. The focus of the conference is be the pastoral care of tourists; and it will draw religious leaders from international resorts.



The VII World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Tourism is being organized by the Holy See. Now that the location has been decided, the Vatican have enlisted the assistance of the Mexican Episcopal Conference and the Prelature of Quintana Roo-Chetumal. The agenda is two-fold: 'religious tourism' and the spiritual needs of people temporarily away from their own parish.

'Religious tourism' is not a new concept. As long as one place has been set aside as holy, there have been pilgrims going to it. However, the last century has seen people moving in ever greater numbers away from their homes for a vacation. Their destinations are often motivated by the wish to visit a religious center or shrine; not always related to their own spiritual leanings. (Yesterday's mention of the Ix Chel Temple, in Punta Sur, attracts far more nominally Christian tourists, than young Maya women hoping to become pregnant.)



In the Catholic world, it would be forgiven for assuming that the number one draw is Vatican City, Lourdes (France) or Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal). It's not. It's the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico City. While it is heavily visited by international tourists (of all denominations), the massive lead it holds over the other sites is due to home-grown Catholics. Mexico is a huge, staunchly Catholic country; whose citizens find it easier and cheaper to visit a holy site which isn't on the other side of the world.

Mexico's ambassador to Vatican City, Hector Frederick Ling Altamirano, confirmed his country's willingness to host the event. The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Travelers was assured of the 'large sympathy' of the Mexican government, along with a promise of support.

"The realization of this event in Cancún confirms the excellent state of bilateral relations between Mexico and the Holy See, also confirming the convergence of views on the issue of tourism and its important human dimension."

So Catholics, consider this a head's up. If you were planning on having it large in Cancún that week, you could find yourself doing so under the guidance of thousands of priests. Finding someone to hear your Confession is not going to be a problem, which, given that this is Cancún, is probably a huge bonus!

Chalma and the Dark Lord of the Cave

Around the mountains, the pilgrims snaked. Their incense filled the air around them with thick, scented clouds, issuing out from burners. Their clothes and hair were colorful with the season's flowers. Once night fell, they lit their flaming torches and carried them high. It took days to reach the sacred spring, along the spiral ways, but this was the last rite before arriving at their destination.


Bathing in the waters, drinking them; cleansed inside and out and holy now. They thrice walked around the ancient Ahuehuete tree, hung through with offerings, flowers, fruit and little bags containing umbilical cords. They were ready to enter the sanctuary. The Dark Lord of the Cave was waiting.

Oxtoteotl is an Aztec deity. He's the God of War; the Destiny of the Night; the Dark Lord. His shrine is the back of a cave, which takes days of a snaking, spiral pathway through the mountains to reach. There is evidence of human sacrifice in His worship. He was one of the most popular Gods of the Aztec age. Pilgrims came from great distances to visit His shrine, above the modern-day town of Chalma, in Mexico State. He could heal; and He could protect.

In 1537, Augustian monks appeared in the area. They watched the thousands of pilgrims making their progress up the mountain-side. The religion was strong here, but two of their number, Brother Sebastian de Tolentino and Brother Nicolas Perea, were determined to smash it. This was their calling. This is where Christ should be.

They spread out amongst those gathered, evangelizing and talking about the 'Spanish God'. They visited the sanctuary and surveyed the dark, cylindrical shape of the Oxtoteotl stone. They saw the people dancing before him. The Augustian were appalled. For three days, they walked about the pilgrim paths, encouraging people to tear down the statue and convert to Christ. People laughed in their faces.


It was at night when Brother Sebastian de Tolentino and Brother Nicolas Perea climbed the mountain to the sanctuary for the second time. Their intent was clear. They were going to pull down the icon themselves. They would prove, with their bare hands, that their God was stronger and that nothing would happen, if they descrecated the centuries old sacred cave.

They arrived to find it devoid of worshippers, but a miracle had occurred! In place of Oxtoteotl now stood a statue of the crucified Christ, with his skin burnt a dark black. The floor was littered with the fractured remains of the Aztec icon, smashed to smithereens. No-one claimed responsibility. No-one had seen the statue being conveyed up the steep paths. God must have done it. The friars reported that, as the first Aztec pilgrims arrived, they all fell to their knees in 'apostolic piety'. The holy brothers wasted no time in converting them to Catholicism.


(There is another version, which says that the friars sculpted the Oxtoteotl stone into a representation of Christ on the cross. It's black because the Aztec stone was obsidian black.)

In the years that followed, the mouth of the cave was enlarged and a shrine dedicated to St Michael was established there. The people still visited in the same way, climbing the paths with incense and flowers; bathing in the spring and encircling the Ahuehuete tree.


Inside the cave, they danced to the dark Christ now that Oxtoteotl had gone. They left their offerings and were cleansed of their sins. They petitioned for healing and protection. The Augustian monks set up a monastery to cater to their needs.

Over a hundred years later, in 1683, a huge church was built upon the canyon floor. The image of Christ was brought down from the sanctuary and placed into it. El Convento Real y Sanctuaria de Nuestro Señor Jesus Christo y San Miguel de los Cuevas de Chalma (The Royal Monastery and Sanctuary of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Saint Michael of the Caves of Chalma) stands there still.




It is the second most visited site of Catholic pilgrimage in Mexico (the first is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City). Mexico state tourist board estimates that over 2 million people per year make the trip to Chalma. 50,000 people per day is the norm. Most are Mexicans, but some people fly in from countries all over the world.

The town has a plentiful number of lodgings and restaurants, as a result of the demand from pilgrims. Amongst the attractions are the church; the 17th century monastery; the cave up in the mountains; and many organized events, including parades and open-air ceremonies, in addition to regular services held inside the church.


There is also a high emphasis on public safety and crowd control. Patrols watch from both ground and in the air, with regular sightings of helicopters. Experts on crowd control train their apprentices here.

A river of people. We are immersed in a river of people. The sanctuary of Chalma is situated at the bottom of a canyon in the heart of this village. The passageway down into that canyon is narrow, lined with hundreds of vendors selling food and trinkets and crucifixes.

A river of people. A river of beautiful brown faces. A river that murmurs with language not our own. Are we pilgrims... or are we just tourists today?

... If you are new here, this is a sanctuary full of people who love you even if you are a stranger - just as my friend and I were loved and cared for by a river of strangers in Mexico. You are God's Beloved.

'Chalma Pilgrimage: Baptism in Foreign Waters' by Rev Karen Christensen

The crowds become part of the spiritual wholeness. Time within them passes without incident.


But there is a tragic reason why Chalma has become so adept at ensuring the safety of its millions of visitors. On February 13th, 1991, a Holy Week ritual involved the signs from the ashes, smoke lifted from a ceremonial flame inside the church. As it took place, the news reached those outside that they were missing it. There was a sudden stampede of humanity into the limited space inside. Twenty people died and forty more were seriously injured, mostly due to compression force, as the crowd surged. It is a scene that Chalma authorities never want to see repeated here again. Security has been stepped up ever since, so that no God will receive another human sacrifice here.

Holy Week, Easter, Lent and the feast day of the Christ of Chalma (July 1st) are the times when most pilgrims are in the sanctuaries. The most devout will visit it three times during their lives. The area is so famous that it's a common saying, in Mexico, that something can't be done until someone has 'danced at Chalma'.


Each time, they leave with their petitions heard and their sins cleansed. They have walked the ways and danced to the Dark Lord of the Cave, be He Oxtoteotl or, more often now, the black skinned Christ Himself. They take the sacred holiness home with them. They are truly blessed, in this place of power.

Día de la Candelaria

Today, in Mexico, it is Día de la Candelaria (Day of Candles). The name of the holiday might be unfamiliar to those of other cultures, but the meaning behind it won't be. February 2nd has been celebrated throughout the world since ancient times. It might be called Imbolc, Candlemas, Groundhog Day or a host of other titles, but they are all marking the same turning of the wheel of the year. Spring is officially on its way.



Candeleria, Imbolc and all of the rest aren't interchangeable festivals, but they do share many of the same themes. In astronomical terms, it takes place at the mid-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. In agricultural areas, it's the moment when seeds are being sorted for planting, while ewes lactate in readiness for lambs. It's the quickening of nature preparing for spring. It's an awakening, after the slowing down for winter. It's a bounce in the step, because the darkness is all behind us and summer beckons in our future.

In Catholic Mexico, Candeleria naturally resonates around the Holy family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. February 2nd is 'Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin' in the Catholic calendar.

This was the day when Mother Mary ritually cleansed herself and her infant, then presented him at the temple. As a Jew, she would have been bound by temple law, which stated that a woman was unclean for 40 days after giving birthday. Candeleria was when those 40 days ended.

Accordingly, this is often celebrated by Mexicans as a day of renewal and purification. It is a time to visit church themselves, for Mass and a blessing. This includes taking candles into the church, so that they can be returned home and lit there to extend those good tidings into the home. Hence the name, 'Day of Candles'. This point will be emphasised by a family meal, where everyone gets together. After all, what blessing is more significant than being surrounded by loved ones?

Of course, this wouldn't be Mexico, if all of this didn't turn into a party somewhere along the way! Some holiday-makers, especially in Tlacotalpan and Veracruz, could well find themselves being joyously welcomed into a full-blown fiesta. Street parades aren't uncommon. It's all good fun, so please do join in.

The Underground Nuns

When the Convent of Santa Monica was searched, in 1934, it revealed an amazing secret. It was full of nuns. That might not sound so startling, insofar as convents are generally the first place that you would look for nuns. But this particular convent had been supposedly empty for 70 years; and it was in a land where all monasteries and convents had been seized by the government, their very existence rendered illegal.

An intricate system of tunnels, secret chambers and hidden passageways allowed the nuns to stay out of view. Their exterior doors were bricked up. A secret door, affording access from a private residence next door, allowed supplies to pass in and out. They lived and worshipped in utter seclusion; even their dead were buried in a small interior graveyard, away from prying eyes. Their tiny cells contained planks, stretched across blocks, as beds. Amongst their meagre possessions were self-flagellation instruments, which were used to bring themselves closer to Christ. Thus the small order of Augustine nuns went on for seven decades, before they were discovered.

Mexico is a Catholic country; however, it also has a Constitution that separates church from state. The Reform Era, commonly viewed as the period 1857-1876, laid the foundations of this. To do this, the government of the time needed first to reduce the traditional power of the Catholic church. A whole series of laws were passed, restricting clerical privilege, disabling church courts and many other measures designed to place church power into the hands of civil authorities.

Then came the Law for the Nationalization of Ecclesiastical Properties. It ordered all religious orders to hand over their monastries and convents, which were then distributed to local farmers. If the church refused, then these lands would be seized and sold by public auction to the highest bidder. Nearly all of the country's religious houses became secular in this way. But not the Convent of Santa Monica, in Puebla.



It had been a convent since the seventeenth century. Before that, several other female institutions had been operating on the site. In 1609, a home for wayward Spanish women had been built on that spot. It was under the patronage of St Mary Magdelene. Donations for its upkeep had diminished over time, so the home closed down. In 1682, it had briefly been a refuge for Spanish widows and orphaned girls. Then they too moved on and, in 1688, the Augustinian Recollect Convent of Santa Monica was founded.

The day to day lives of these nuns would have been silent. They did not sing, even during High Mass, nor speak aloud. Theirs was a contemplative life, assisted by a small religious library. They undertook rigid fasts or else ate only water, bread, fruits, olive oil, and wine. They practiced severe penance, for which the self-flagellation tools found afterwards would have been used. They walked barefoot, or in sandals, with any other mode of footwear forbidden. Their daily routine was one of intense worship and meditation, but there were moments of relaxation too. The Chocolate Room was set aside for recreation.



It is thought that the local authorities knew all along that they were there, but that a blind eye had been turned. Or maybe just the first officials knew and, disagreeing with the national edict against them, had helped them prepare the convent for concealment. There were certainly city folk who sneaked in food and the other necessities for survival.

However it worked, it all came to an end in 1934, when a local official ordered a search of the premises. The Augustine nuns were evicted from their convent and the building passed into state hands. It is now open to the general public and houses the Museum of Religious Art. There are some fine architectual features, some dating back to the very beginning of the 17th century; alongside exhibits from the time of the nuns.