Goddess of the Americas / La Diosa de Las Americas: Writings on the Virgin of Guadalupe

by Ana Castillo

The first book of its kind, Goddess of the Americas is a prismatic exploration of the mother goddess, the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, protector of the downtrodden - a perfect fusion of Aztec, indigenous, Catholic, and folkloric world traditions, who made her first miraculous appearance on American soil in 1531. Through a variety of forms - original essays, historical writings, fiction, drama, and poetry - the illustrious contributors to this volume examine the impact this potent deity has had on the history of Mexico, its people, politics, religion, art, and literature, and her influence beyond that country, in Latin America, North America, and Europe.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Catholic, Spirituality, Spanish Literature, Anthologies

Hardcover

First published October 29, 1996

About the author

Ana Castillo (June 15, 1953-) is a celebrated and distinguished poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, editor, playwright, translator and independent scholar. Castillo was born and raised in Chicago. She has contributed to periodicals and on-line venues (Salon and Oxygen) and national magazines, including More and the Sunday New York Times. Castillo’s writings have been the subject of numerous scholarly investigations and publications. Among her award winning, best sellling titles: novels include So Far From God, The Guardians and Peel My Love like an Onion, among other poetry: I Ask the Impossible. Her novel, Sapogonia was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She has been profiled and interviewed on National Public Radio and the History Channel and was a radio-essayist with NPR in Chicago. Ana Castillo is editor of La Tolteca, an arts and literary ‘zine dedicated to the advancement of a world without borders and censorship and was on the advisory board of the new American Writers Museum, which opened its door in Chicago, 2017. In 2014 Dr. Castillo held the Lund-Gil Endowed Chair at Dominican University, River Forest, IL and served on the faculty with Bread Loaf Summer Program (Middlebury College) in 2015 and 2016. She also held the first Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Endowed Chair at DePaul University, The Martin Luther King, Jr Distinguished Visiting Scholar post at M.I.T. and was the Poet-in-Residence at Westminster College in Utah in 2012, among other teaching posts throughout her extensive career. Ana Castillo holds an M.A from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D., University of Bremen, Germany in American Studies and an honorary doctorate from Colby College. She received an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for her first novel, The Mixquiahuala Letters. Her other awards include a Carl Sandburg Award, a Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in fiction and poetry. She was also awarded a 1998 Sor Juana Achievement Award by the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago. Dr. Castillo’s So Far From God and Loverboys are two titles on the banned book list controversy with the TUSD in Arizona. 2013 Recipient of the American Studies Association Gloria Anzaldúa Prize to an independent scholar. via www.anacastillo.net

Reviews

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

le doy todas todas las estrellas que están en el manto de la Virgen, es el mejor libro que leeré en el año.

te (...) Virgen María de Guadalupe La Santísima Patrona La Gran Madre de México La Morenita del Tepeyac Nuestra Purisima Señora La Emperatriz de las Américas La Reina de los Indios y de los Oprimidos.

frases:

ELLA HACE FLORECER SUS ROSALES MAS FUERTES EN LA TIERRA QUE MÁS LOS NECESITA (por eso mientras más ojete la colonia más bonito el altar) entre claxones o bocinas, veloces ambulancias, niños que lloran, gente que grita y baila y hace el amor, entre el trajín total de la humanidad con sus cantos, sonidos y lamentos son la base exacta para la música armoniosa del cosmos.

patrona de quienes están a favor del aborto, de los homosexuales espiritualistas afligidos con el SIDA, como símbolo femenino de la resistencia política para los activistas agnósticos.

nuestra fe se basa en los atributos, la imagineria, los símbolos, la magia y los mitos indígenas

escribir directamente desde mi panocha (es que nunca pensé leer esa frase de un libro)

De pronto la pequeña y ajada abuela Amelia nos demostró lo que era la fe. levanto la imagen de la virgen de Guadalupe sobre su cabeza y, agitando la como si fuera un estandarte, se abrió paso entre la atolondrada multitud en dirección a los oficiales de inmigración. los porteros, los mexicanos y unos cuantos soldados se persignaron. las barreras desaparecieron y nos hicieron pasar de prisa.

la fe en la Virgen ayuda a solucionar todo, desde la más profunda inquietud espíritual hasta los problemas cotidianos más pequeños.

almas realmente extraordinarias que viven en circunstancias ordinarias.

No es una Virgen como la de las otras iglesias. consigue siempre lo que se propone y protege a la gente que se atreve a luchar por lo que quiere.

cómo la mayoría de los agnósticos mexicanos debo ser un individuo bastante religioso

la religión en la posmodernifad está entre mezclada con la cultura popular y de masas

el mero mero no es Dios sino la Virgencita de Guadalupe.

Ella nos cuida todo el tiempo. y entonces, como si fuera una niña chiquita, me meto entre los pliegues de su manto, me acurrucó y me duermo confiada y serena.

y muchos días estoy llena de gracia y hago grandes milagros y brillo como el sol y mucha gente me quiere.

ella es el origen de todas las cosas, la mujer serpiente Tonatzin.

la Guadalupana es el espacio temático de fundación del arte popular de México (por eso la empecé a amar, es el origen del arte nacional )

ELLA NO HA HECHO ESTO POR NINGUNA OTRA NACIÓN.

Maria, cuando te enseñaron a arrodillarte y a rezar ¿no quisiste pararte y mirar de frente a la realidad?

el verdadero poder subversivo de nuestra señora reside en su compleja simbología, en sus múltiples significados.

ELLA HABITA EN LOS OJOS, EN LA PIEL, AL LADO DE LA POESÍA.

en cuanto a mi, decidí apartarme de los asuntos espirituales, aunque debido a mi acidez espiritual, termine encontrando a la iglesia en las reuniones políticas, es los salones de baile, en los recitales de poesía, en los bares y cafés.


el catolicismo en si habrá asumido el aspecto de la Virgen de Guadalupe. piel morena.

Una intersección poblada de la ciudad de México(...) Heme aquí en la capital de la muerte. la vida bulle en torno a mi; sube desde el metro ola con ola; desciende las escaleras. hacía todos lados veo bebés, tráfico, comida, pordioseros, vida, vida que me llega como un rayo de sol (perfecta descripción de la CDMX, obvio estaría en un libro de la Virgencita).

entre los frijoles y el epazote, la virgen de Guadalupe y yo albergados algunos secretos.


14

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yhdistävä tekijä kirjan kolmellekymmenelle tekstille (esseitä, tarinoita, runoja, näytelmäteksti) on Meksikon suojeluspyhimys Guadalupen neitsyt (La Virgencita, La Morenita, Coatlalopeuh, Tonantzin...), jonka monimerkityksellistä ja synkretististä olemusta niissä tarkastellaan useista eri näkökulmista. Kokoelman koonnut kirjailija Ana Castillo huomauttaa valaisevassa esipuheessaan, ettei teos edusta perinteistä katolista pyhimyskulttia ainoastaan. Sitä vastoin teksteissä usein korostuu pyhimyksen vallankumouksellinen voima ja erityinen asema sorrettujen suojelijana, sekä usein kunkin kirjoittajan henkilökohtainen suhde tähän. Guadalupe/Tonantzin on ohittamaton hahmo mikäli Meksikon, USA:n chicano/latinoväestön tai laajemmin latinalaisen amerikan kulttuurihistoriasta on kiinnostunut.

Gloria Anzaldúan ja Octavio Pazin teoksista irrotetut kappaleet olin aiemmin lukenut, mutta muiden tekstien jälkeen ne asettuivat nyt uuteen kehykseen, vaikka kokoelmallakin alkaa olla jo ikää. Valtaosa teksteistä on kirjoitettu alunperinkin enimmäkseen englanniksi, vain pari käännetty espanjasta. Mielestäni hienoin teksteistä on Elena Poniatowskan "Don't go away, I'm going to bring you something" (kertomuksessa Luis Buñuel vierailee kertojan kanssa Lecumberrin vankilassa), joka päättää kirjan ja jonka luettuani on vaikea antaa kokoelmalle vähempää kuin viis tähteä.

Kirjoittajat on esitelty lyhyesti kirjan lopussa.

[Robertm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Xicano experience is not unique. Caught between two different worlds and not completely a part of either. It is the story of the human condition. We exist in a constant shift of what defines our culture and community. It is interesting that Guadalupe is at the center of these stories. She was once an image of shame for me, and then became a powerful image of who I have become, from self loathing to self esteem. Our personal mythologies are unique, and for those of us in the Latin community Guadalupe is a symbol beyond religion. I suppose this would not be as powerful for those for whom this is not the case. You either get it, or you don't. For those who get it, it is a nice little refreshing place of: wow, other people have felt this way. For those of you who don't get it, well it is a peek into something beyond your own experience.

[Rebecca MH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of essays providing a range of understandings and perspectives on Guadalupe. I wanted to read this because I was interested in exploring the concept of Guadalupana's. No essays in this collection ended up touching on that, specifically. However there was exposure to a lot of knowledge on this topic, history, cultural relevance, etc.

[Lauren Bugg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling and enlightening anthology.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, loving, and diverse collection of essays, stories, poems and reflection on the Virgin of Guadalupe.

[Kelsey Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Virgin of Guadalupe is that girl. One part of the holy trinity--the Tres Madres. I strongly recommend the writing of Cisneros, Castillo, and Moraga!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit that I mostly skimmed this book. Many of the essays, poems, and pieces of short fiction did not catch my interest. Much of what the contributors wrote is either New Age mystical nonsense or feminist interpretations of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Not there there is a thing wrong with either of those two lenses; they are just not for me.

A few of the essays, though, were quite good. I'm not sure what it is that I find so compelling about this aspect of Marian Catholicism, but I do. Perhaps Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds me of one of my favorite Celtic saints, St. Bridget, who--like Guadalupe--started off as a pagan goddess and was changed into a Catholic power. Guadalupe retains many aspects of the Aztec gods and goddesses who the conquering Spanish Catholics adopted to help control the natives in Mexico. Like the British in Bridget's in Ireland, though, in the end, the conquerors and colonial powers in Mexico are gone while the image of the goddess remains.

When I visit California, I see Our Lady of Guadalupe everywhere. She is even in our local parish, the white-as-a-snowbank church in the leafy-green suburb where I live. As the demographics of America continue to change, I expect we will be seeing more of her, which is fine by me. There is something in this image that speaks to my soul.

[Mark Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Castillo has done us a great service by collecting the essays and poems (and one play) within these covers. I learned a great deal and have a new-found respect for the value of the place of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It read like a cultural-mythic survey--I gained a sense of the mind of the peoples. I am glad that she collected writers from a wide variety of regions in Central and North America to contribute--it gave the book a sense of perspective. And I have a new respect for the value of myth kept alive in our technological, industrial age of geo-politics.

I laughed out loud when I read Felipe Ehrenberg's account of how his Grandma Amelia separated the mob while holding a portrait of the Virgin aloft in order to get through to the airport gate in time.

I raised my eyebrows when I read of his description of the famous portrait of the Virgin as being "an elongated, seedlike, vulva-shaped figure which offers unending possibilities of transformation" (p. 172-3). Just look at the cover of the book.

But I was moved, very moved, in reading Ana Castillo's own contribution to the book, her chapter called, "Extraordinary Woman." It could be used in any context to inform and instruct about the nature of women's rights in the context of culture.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ana Castillo In 18Goddess of the Americas 1D chicana author Ana Castillo shares her powerful devotion to La virgin de Guadalupe. Not only does she flash back to the most spiritual moments of her childhood, she invites other Latino writers to share their vision and love for this patron saint of the Americas. This collection of essays is impassioned, beautiful, and a little strange and unorthodox. Famous authors like Sandra Cisneros, Octavio Paz and Francisco Goldman check in with perspectives that have obviously influenced their writing.
I particularly enjoyed Castillo 19s account of the death and teen-age pregnancy. Her grandmother was a curandera who kept candles lit for San Judas Tadeo and La Virgen in her room, but she also knew how to mix important spiritual concoctions to cleanse the soul and the womb. Castillo takes us to a place where young girls and old women turn to La Virgen Guadalupe for a sense of peace and inspiration in a hard edged world.

[Reuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays about the virgin of Guadalupe written by a variety of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and even a couple of Guatemalans. The variety of writers provided a range of styles and vocabulary that provided challenging Spanish language practice, as well as many different perspectives--religious, cultural, and aesthetic--on the Virgin of Guadalupe. My copy was edited by Ana Castillo not Mariela Dreyfus, but the cover looks exactly the same as shown in Goodreads. My copy was first published in 1996; reprinted in 2000.

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is a fantastic read! Offering a huge variety perspectives on the cultural icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the book features poems, memoirs, essays and more. I particularly enjoyed Sandra Cisneros's essay on Guadalupe as sex goddess, and Gloria Andalzua's piece on the indigenous origins of Guadalupe was fascinating too.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non-fiction, collection of essays by Latino men and women about their personal reactions to the Virgin of Guadalupe and her cultural significance. Edited by Ana Castillo, a significant writer herself.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays written by well-known writers of Hispanic and Women's Literature concerning devotion to the Virgen de Guadalupe. These essays explore various aspects of the devotion to the Virgin: history, fascination, first encounters. Very well-written, entertaining, and informative.

[Gina Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://ginasblogging.blogspot.com/200...

[Teddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Retread,reread, reread. Repeat.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A diverse and thought provoking assortment of essays. It would be fantastic to add some updated material and reissue this creative collection.