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Aztec goddesses / Virgins
WP Anderson (andersop@SAIL.CUUG.AB.CA)
Tue, 8 Mar 1994 12:04:02 MST
Dear fellow subscribers,
I've just been reading Ake Hultkranz's "The Goddess in
North America" in Carl Olson's _The Book of the
Goddess, past and present_.
The article raises a number of interesting questions,
particularly concerning the Aztecs (not a people among
whom one looking for the Goddess would normally start):
1. Can such diverse Aztec deities as Coatlicue,
Tonantsi, Chicomecoatl and Xilonen be considered
manifestations / aspects of one goddess, *the*
Goddess?
Where can I find out more about Goddess research among
the Aztecs (and secondarily the Maya)?
References, names of authorities, other Internet lists
/ resources?
2. Though I've read accounts of the link between
Tonantsi, the Virgin Mary, and the Virgin of
Guadalupe before, it occurs to me for the first
time now that the Virgin of Guadalupe,
protectoress of the Americas is perhaps most
interestingly a *fusion of two goddess cults
suppressed* by antagonistic and rival patriarchal
cultures: the Christian and the Aztec.
Has anyone done any work in this connection? Could it
be fairly said that Tonantsi and the other goddesses of
the Aztec pantheon were actively reduced in status by
Aztec priests in a way analogous to the suppression of
Mariolatry by the Catholic Church?
To what (sociological?) forces then is owing the
incredible worldly success of these two heavenly
underdogs?
Opinions, sources and wild speculation (especially if
identified as such) warmly welcomed.
gratefully,
WP Anderson
isis@sail.cuug.ab.ca
--
andersop@sail.cuug.ab.ca (WP Anderson)
writer / student / teacher (on a good day): Calgary, Canada.
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