Milagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas

by Martha Egan

A driving force in folk religion, milagros, or ex-votos, are found in cathedrals, humble chapels in rural areas, and roadside shrines across Latin America. This book traces the use and artistry of these small objects, which are offered to saints and other popular deities by Latin Americans in return for favors or answered prayers. The book contains sixteen color and fifty black-and-white photographs, as well as numerous line illustrations.

Genres: Nonfiction

132 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1991

About the author

BIOGRAPHY: Martha Egan

I always intended to get serious about writing fiction at some point, says author Martha Egan. But it took a hideous experience with U.S. Customs to force me into it. The result was a semi-autobiographical novel, Clearing Customs, named Fiction Book of the Year for 2005 by Online Review of Books & Public Affairs. Her next novel, Coyota, won a Bronze Ippy Award for Mountain-West Best Regional Fiction in 2008 from the Independent Publisher Association. Her short story collection, La Ranfla and Other New Mexico Stories will be released September 2009. Martha Egan publishes fiction under her own imprint, Papalote Press: www.papalotepress.com.

She has been an importer and dealer of Latin American folk art since 1974 through her gallery, Pachamama, in Santa Fe. The Museum of New Mexico Press published her non-fiction books, Milagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas (1991) and Relicarios: Devotional Miniatures from the Americas (1994). Since 1991, she has held the honorary position of Research Associate of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. In 2004, she was the first recipient of the Van Deren Coke Award from the Friends of Latin American Folk Art.

She holds a BA in Latin American History from the University of the Americas in Mexico City and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Venezuela in the late 60s.

Egan volunteers with the Corrales Residents for Clean Air and Water, the International Folk Art Market, and hangs out with 43 nieces and nephews. She grew up in northeastern Wisconsin and is a rabid Packer fan.

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Reviews

[Astrid]

Reading this gave me the very specific feeling that I used to get in anthropology classes that would speak & speculate about the "meaning" of ritual practice. Speculating on mainly the "usefulness" of an item; fertility charm, blessing of crops, curing of ailments, etc. But I wonder if Egan would have felt that there was more to fill in the blanks with if they spoke more with contemporary native peoples of the areas described.

Spiritual tools & their specific meanings may only be known to the specific person who prayed over them, but one can definitely draw more conclusions if speaking to other spiritual peoples.

The Eye Motif in the Milagros. Why? "Holy mother, may I be blessed with Clarity to see the true path I must take, so that I may see clearly that of this world & the world unseen." This is a personal prayer I have done. It is very easy to imagine variations of this. You understand.

It was very meaningful to read of all of the different regions that have practiced Milagro use, as well as the spiritual trees & sites that are specifically mentioned.

I also love that a Milagro is, in its simplest form, a proof of Miracle, an answered prayer. You pray to the divine & the divine answers, here is a tangible charm to honor that answer.