Saturday, December 14, 3-4pm
Shelter Theater, Vicente Guerrero 4, San Rafael
$150

The Femininity of SMA - talk

The history, culture and traditions of San Miguel de Allende are marked by a strong, feminine temperament. With the arrival of the Spanish, they introduced the new God, Mary and saints they brought with them.

The European orientation toward power and control in the Church was too masculine to be accepted in San Miguel, and Mexico as a whole. The nurturing and consoling nature of the Virgin of Guadalupe stressed a less critical and more maternal and protective emphasis on the healing power of love. Guadalupe’s appearance began the first widespread acceptance of the new faith and the formation of a uniquely Mexican, and more feminine, Catholicism.

The multiple images of Mary in town each represent different aspects of the Virgin. Guadalupe, the most popular image of Mary, represents the birth of a new race and nation. She is seen to be an actual person, not a theological concept. For example, when I entered a taxi on a recent rainy day and asked the driver if he has avoided any accidents he replied “Guadalupe has ridden beside me all day and her eyes have protected me. With her here, you and I are totally safe.”

In addition to the Mary there are saints, Catrinas and the Otomi-made Maria doll contributing to making town uniquely feminine.

The Femininity of San Miguel de Allende will be featured at the Shelter Theater on Sunday, December 14th at 3pm. Tickets are available online.

Presented by Joseph Toone, Toone is Trip Advisor’s top-ranked historical tour guide and author of seven best-selling books on the culture and history of San Miguel in the San Miguel de Allende Secrets series. His tours and books are renowned for highlighting San Miguel’s unique traditions and celebrations that are an extraordinary mixture of an ancestral pagan past and the Catholic faith.

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