Monday, August 07, 2006
Independant Study Paper, Summer 2006
The Growing Latina Population; What Does This Mean For Non-Latino Women In the Womens Spirituality Movement.
Imagine that you are an immigrant to America from Mexico. You speak perhaps some English and are not entirely comfortable venturing out of your neighborhood alone. Everything is foreign but the thrill of it is also inviting. You decide one day to go for a stroll and are walking by a store front. In the window you see beautiful images of women, both paintings and statues. Moons, stars and suns hang around the window frame. The colors are vibrant and inviting.
You decide to walk into the store. You would like to know more about the paintings and the artists and you are wondering what other things this store, so obviously centered on women, may carry. You wonder about the religious context, the popular culture surrounding stores like these and you are curious what they have that would be of interest to you.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if when you walked into the store, the owner or employee spoke enough Spanish to help you find what you were looking for? Wouldn't it be amazing if they had the cultural knowledge to recommend additional books to you? Wouldn't a Latina woman in this position find compassion, sisterhood and inspiration from this encounter? Wouldn't it be wonderful if she was also able to share her knowledge, her thoughts and culture with the other women in the store and inspire them?
Unfortunately, this does not often happen. If a Latina women where to venture into the local Goddess/pagan shops of some of the towns I have lived in, she would certainly find a friendly woman who wanted to help her, but she would not find many, if any, images of darker skinned Goddesses or Guadalupe. She would see images of white Goddesses, white fairies, and white Renaissance maidens. She would find maybe one or two books in Spanish in the used book section and no employee there would be able to assist her in even the most basic Spanish nor are they likely to have the cultural knowledge to understand what she see wanted.
My point is this; non-Latina women within the Goddess spirituality movement can become very caught up in their culture. This is not their fault since Goddess cultures from their European background are ample and nurturing. They usually see themselves as having little in common with a Latina woman and her Catholic church. Even if they do see the kinship between European Goddesses and that of Mary, they often times assume that is all there is or they consider it a little 'dark' as one friend of mine commented.
I know this because I use to be one of these women. I use to study all about European Goddesses but knew nothing of the fact that the Latino culture of my neighbors' was rich with feminine divine and that I could learn so much from these women who practiced a very devote Christian faith. I had no idea that some Latina women have embraced a variety of Goddesses including ones from their culture and others. I did not know that they have beautiful traditions that have maintained many of their native female deities.
But slowly over the course of a few years I began to realize how exclusionary the modern Goddess movement can be. Dominated by middle class, white, women we are not intentionally being exclusionary (and many of the women living in large, metropolitan areas such as LA and San Francisco have the benefit of a larger cultural interaction and are therefor usually hip to inclusiveness) but we have simply over-looked this huge, growing population of sisters next door to us - our Latina sisters.
In some areas of the US the Latino population is less then 5% - but this is rare. In Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Rhode Island, and Hawaii one out of every ten people you meet are going to be Latino. In Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Florida nearly two in ten people you meet will be from Central of South America. In Mew Mexico nearly half of the people you meet are Latino, in California, Arizona and Texas you will find three out of every ten people will be Latin American. In fact, between 1980 and 2000, the overall US population of Latinos grew by 141.7% (1).
There is no US census for religion but in 2001 the America Religious Identification Study found that a little more then .2% of the population in the US considers their religion to be Wiccan, Druid, Pagan, Earth-Religioust or Pagan Universalism. When compared t the 1980 survey, Goddess religions have grown by 1675% but you are still more likely to encounter a Latina woman in everyday life then another self identifying pagan (2). This is key. We cannot overlook these women when we go about our roles in our community, especially those of us who consider ourselves to be priestesses of the divine feminine.
Of course, we non-Latino women cannot possibly understand every aspect of the Latin American experience but I believe that it is absolutely crucial that we educate ourselves in the areas of Spanish language, US/Latin American history, terminology and culture so that we can better serve and be served by, our community. As my partner said this morning, "The Goddess doesn't speak English."
Writing this paper was extremely difficult. I do not wish to be interpreted as saying that Latina women are missing or lacking something spiritual or otherwise that we non-Latina women can provide, I also do not wish to appear to be saying that non-Latina women live in a bubble and completely lack any knowledge or consideration of and for, the Latin culture. What I am basing this paper on is my own personal experience and what I have seen happen with my communities of Southern Nevada, Southern Utah and Northern California. I hope to stir some thought or dialog regarding our Latina sisters in the non-Latina women within the women's spirituality movement and hopefully inspire us within the community to better understanding, communication and kinship for the benefit of all involved as well as our community at large.
So where do we begin? I believe the first step is to have a basic knowledge of Latin history. We non-Latina women need to know where the Latina woman is coming from. Who are here ancestors? What are her people's greatest triumphs and deepest pains? What Goddesses live in her cells?
Latin American history is as rich and complex as many, especially in the America's. They are a blending of Native American and European blood and culture. Their native, thriving ancient cities and cultures were stolen, demolished, raped and pillaged by the invading Spanish colonialists who came to the South America in the 16Th century. Once free of Spanish colonialist rule many Latin countries had to defend themselves against the US. After Mexico, for example, declared it's Independence from Spain, the Mexican War of Independence, they had to defend themselves against the United States.
The Mexican American war or la intervencion norteamericana, as the Mexican people call it, happened after Texas became what was considered a break away province from Mexico. US westward expansion and political instability in Mexico clashed between 1846 and 1848. Essentially America wanted more land and Mexico had just fought a war and found it hard to hold on to what they had as well as struggling both political, economically and emotionally (3).
American expansion and greed where not the only reasons for going to war with Mexico. Mexico had abolished slavery in 1829. US blacks fled to Mexico where the Mexicans welcomed slave fugitives. 3,000 US blacks lived peacefully in Mexico. Posses of slave hunters from the US would routinely cross the southern border and kidnap black people to sell back home in America (4).
After an aggressive cam pain on the part of America the US congress declared war on Mexico, the US army invaded and occupied Mexico City, the capital. Mexico, under great duress, eventually relented and signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidigo to end the war. They were given the sum of $15,000,000 by the US for all of what is now California and Nevada and vast portions of Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming (5). When you think about what the resources of those land areas are and were worth; the silver in Nevada, the trees and gold and eventual tourist industry of California, the growing land in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming - we can all agree that $15,000,000 was essentially nothing to pay for such a territory. Add to that the military pressure of the US and I argue the land was stolen.
Many of us in the US have recently been bombarded by the topic of 'illegal' immigration. With this understanding of US history it is easier for us to see a different side to the classic immigration debate. For me I cannot possibly see Latinos' in the light that the media and conservatives portray them simply because I have educated myself to the history between the US and Latin America.
A few weeks ago a cousin of mine was circulating a petition on line to rally support against providing Latin immigrants access to social security benefits. This was my response to her actions; "We stole the Mexicans' land over 150 years ago in an illegal and immoral war, they are occupied people's living and working in an occupied land. They have every right to access benefits they have worked for all their lives but previously did not have access to because they used either someone elses or a fake social security number.
The native people's of this land, also called "illegal immigrants" are not the problem with our country or our government. Illegal wars, corporate welfare, tax breaks for the rich, ghetto taxes, corruption and general mismanagement of funds are.
I urge you to see the movie "A Day Without a Mexican" and think about how drastically your life would change if suddenly all these "illegals" were sent "home" to their US created reservation in Mexico. The US economy would grind to a drastic and sudden halt.
Reactions like this are racists and offensive. These are human beings, just the same as you, who have been put in their desperate position by our fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers. They are simply trying to survive and feed their families. Above all - LOVE thy neighbor. With Love and Light, Ayla Donnelly."
Our Latin friends are very often portrayed so negatively by our government and by ultra-conservative, right wingers that it's hard for even liberal minded, compassionate people to maintain an objective view point, but when we are interacting with Latina women we must first understand why they are in the US and that this country belongs first and foremost to them and their families, making moot any discussion of so-called "immigration."
The history between the US and Central and South America is even more brutal then that with Mexico. Many books have been written on the subject and the author, Noam Chomsky covers it brilliantly in his books, articles and interviews. To review all of the US crimes against the people's of South America would require that this paper become at least several hundred pages long.
However, it is important to mention that we must at least understand that the US has committed heinous crimes that have resulted in brutal murder in the region. Because the US wanted to create societies that would import US manufactured goods, after World War II, it began to install fascists and Nazi collaborators in the place of either democratically elected leaders or politically unstable countries in Central and South America. Often this required extreme violence or softer measures such as subverting elections and withholding desperately needed food.
The US paid no attention to the fascist coup in Columbia, or the military coup in Venezuela, or the fascist government of Panama. However, the first democratic government of Guatemala, which based itself on Roosevelt's New Deal, elicited a response from the US CIA in 1954, which turned Guatemala into what Professor Chomsky terms a "hell on earth."
Relying on force the US has oppressed, murdered, overthrown governments, supplied arms to brutal radicals, and supported - politically and monetarily- systems which raped, tortured and murdered Central and South American people. This has happened in Costa Rica in the 50's, Guatemala in 1954, the Dominican Republic in '63 and again in '65, Brazil in 1964, in Chile in 1973 and nearly continuously in El Salvador.
It is crucial to understand that many Latin people in the US are here fleeing the murderous governments in their countries that the US installed and supports or supported. We must realize that although many Latinos are happy to live and work in a western country with much less direct violence then their homeland, they have come here seeking peace from the terror and poverty that the US has created in the name of cheap labor and a foreign market under our control (6).
Political histories are essential to understand the social debates, however they are only going to take us so far. We have to understand who these people were before the Europeans came banging down the door. In my Archeomythology class at New College of California in the Spring of 2006, we had a guest speaker named Silvia Parra who presented to us her heritage of Meso-American Goddesses. I was personally unaware at that time that records existed to tell us of the Meso-American divine feminine.
In native Central and South America they had eight especially sacred Goddesses. Tlazolteotl, was the devourer of filth, and Goddess of human fertility. She was an earth mother and birthing Goddess. Xochiqwuetzal, which means flower feather, is the Goddess of flowers, love, birth, charm, butterflies and birds. Chantico is the Goddess of hearth, volcanic fires, and home Goddess. Mictlancihuatl, is known as the lady of Mictlan, the Goddess of the underworld, life and death. She is the symbol of the sacred journey toward death upon which we all embark at the moment of our birth. Cihuateteo, is the spirit of the woman who died in childbirth. She strengthens soldiers in battle and seduces men. Hzpapalott was the obsidian butterfly and the first sacrifice of war. She was worshiped as a dead Goddess and shape shifter.
Mayahuel was the Aztec Goddess who had a fish child with the wind God and was the Goddess of alcoholic drink. Chalchiuhtlicue's name means jade skirt, she is the Goddess of lakes, stream, all waters, floods and the end of the world.
I passionately believe that by gaining even the most basic knowledge of the Goddesses who still reside in the cells, hearts and souls of Latina women today helps us priestesses see the Goddess in every woman.
When interacting with other cultures it's important to know what terms to use. The one thing I have found challenging as a white woman is terminology. Sometimes we repeat what we have heard others say not realizing that it is offensive. I used the term 'Hispanic' for years not knowing that there was a controversy surrounding it.
"Hispanic" is a colonial term, a term of disrespect. It was created by the dominant structure and used on the oppressed population in an attempt to homogenize them. Hispanic is from the word Espana but some people from Latin America find it offensive while others prefer it. I choose to use the term Latino, Latin or Latina which goes back to Rome and is, to some, more inclusive. Other terms I came across in my research were Chicana, Tejana, and Mexican/Salvadoran/Chilian
/Bolivian/etc. American (7).
In her book Magic of Mexico, Mary Devine, Ph.D. examines the eternal mother of the Americas. Brilliantly written this book opened my eyes to the various aspects of Goddess worship and witchcraft in the Latin tradition.
For example there are witches in Latin culture called, Brujas. They work with magic, birth and death. They tell fortunes with tarot cards, use astrology, keep books of shadows, have methods of exorcism and spiritual protection, follow the dates of the sun and moon. They worship Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most famous Latin image of the divine feminine, who Devine says is a modern image of the ancient Aztec Mother Goddess Tonantzin.
According to Spanish history, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a Native American who had converted to Christianity named Juan Diego. This image appeared to him on December 9Th, 1531 and asked that a church be constructed on the sight. When she appeared to him again she grew a crop of roses in winter and imprinted his mantle with a brown skinned Madonna. The local bishop considered these miracles and built the church. This was how the shrine of Our lady of Guadalupe, or Luptia as she is sometimes known, was born.
One chapter of Devine's book is titled "A Bruja's ABC." Here you will find many words that I believe non-Latina priestesses should become familiar with both for symbolic and linguistic purposes. I will list and define some of the words I consider to be key.
Caldera: This means cauldron. This is familiar to European Goddess worshipers but it is also a symbol of the maternal principle used by the Brujas.
Caliz: This means chalice and is new comer to the faith of the Brujas making an entrance around the 1930 and is mostly used as a money collector and not the way European witches use a chalice.
Comadre: This means female friend and can be a form of address among the Brujas.
Cuchillo: This means knife and is a sickle-shaped blade used to harvest herbs.
Curandera: This means woman healer, generally an herbalist.
Diablera: This means a witch who worships Satan so be careful not to use this one incorrectly or you're likely to highly offend a Bruja.
Luna: This means moon and the moon is viewed by Brujas to be Guadalupe's celestial ship.
Manto: This means mantle, specifically the long azure cloak which covers Guadalupe.
Naipes: This literally means 'cards' and to Brujas refers to Tarot cards.
Santuario: This means a Bruja's shrine or altar, which is usually kept in the room were she receives her clients.
Tonantzin / Teteoian / Tiazolteotl: These are some of the names for the great Mother Goddess in Mexican magic who became Santa Maria and then became Our lady of Guadalupe.
Yerbas: This means herbs (8).
While speaking about language it would, of course, be wonderful if we Americans could become fluent in a few other languages especially Spanish. Only teaching one language in the US is largely a question of cultural emphasis. In Europe and Asia children start learning English in grade school and have usually acquired two or three other languages by the time they are in college.
In America we do not even offer foreign language education until high school. We skip the period when young children can so easily acquire a second or third language. Even at the college level, it is usually only required that you take one or two semesters of a foreign language.
This is starting to change as we see more and more grade schools in California offering Spanish immersion programs, however most non-Latino adults in our culture today do no know Spanish and learning a second language as an adult can be very difficult.
This is why I believe their should be more programs, classes and institutions offering both English and Spanish education to adults. Until this time we as individuals must make an effort to acquire a basic understanding of the Spanish language.
When I first moved to California I was at an ATM machine one day. I was using my card to with draw money. A woman behind me who spoke no English also wanted to withdraw her money but was having a problem understanding how to do so. She saw that I had the same card as her and tried to ask me to help her. We stumbled for a while and I understood what she wanted to know but I did not have the language skills to help her.
I walked away from that encounter feeling horrible. I was a college educated woman who had attended an International Studies program and had a degree in German, but here I had lived in the South West my whole life and my Spanish was so poor that I could not help this woman.
Now with life, work, school and a growing family I still find it hard to get free time to study Spanish language just like so many of my friends. The key to beginning this journey, which I will explore further in another paper on Spanish Linguistics, is that we must not feel that we need to be 'fluent Spanish or nothing'. Even understanding the basics will help so much in community interaction.
That's why I strongly advise non Spanish speaking women to read an introduction to Spanish like Spanish for Dummies, to own a pocket Spanish to English dictionary, and to watch or listen to Spanish media for at least and hour a week, even if you don't understand what they are saying.
I have found that just watching the news in Spanish (for those who have TV) every night for a half hour can very quickly improve ones understanding of the language. The vocabulary used in news programs is fresh, up to date, and you usually have a general familiarity with the news headlines, thus making your understanding more complete.
Having this history, language and spiritual knowledge in hand we can move on to the benefits of friendships and community. We can also learn more about as well as have a great appreciation for the wonderful Latina women in the community who have made such a difference.
Women like folk singer and songwriter Joan Baez, who's father is from Mexico. She led a generation of women to political activism with her haunting voice and grass roots lyrics. We can read about and be inspired by the life of Lucy Parsons, a Mexican and Creek Indian anarchist and labor organizer at the turn of the century who aided causes on behalf of all women and minorities.
There are so many artists, singers, musicians and poets that we discover in the Latin American community. Frida Khalo, Isabel Allende, Julia Alvarez, Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, Eva Peron, Ellen Ochoa are but a few such artists (9).
Yolanda Lopez is an artist who focuses on the Virgin of Guadalupe who is the spiritual mother of her culture. She is shown in the paradox of being both a symbol of empowerment and of women's oppression. She uses images of the pre-Columbian Goddess as well as Guadalupe and comments on the sociocultural history and meaning of the image for Latino people (10). Truly Yolanda is a priestess in her own right!
Those of us in community roles, particularly that of the divine feminine are recognizing the rise in the Latino population and it's influence, contributions, and needs. It can seem overwhelming to embark on learning Spanish, and to non-Latina women we can often times find ourselves stumped for ways to reach out to our community sisters.
The point of my research and the writing of this paper is simple, we need not overwhelm ourselves with trying to know or understand every minute cultural detail nor do we need to be fluent in Spanish before we reach out to neighbors.
A basic understanding of the key points I have reviewed in this paper is a great starting point. Increase your awareness of your surroundings. Are they inclusive and welcoming to women of color? Try out what Spanish you do know, or admit that you don't know it but try to communicate anyway, a friendly smile and the gesture of communication goes a long way to starting up a friendship.
Be sure that your women's group postings are also in Spanish, use a translation website to place a small synopsis of your event/workshop or meeting in Spanish at the bottom of your flyer. Many Spanish speaking women would be happy to come to your event, even though they don't understand every word you say, it shows them, even those who don't come, that you consider them a vital part of the community too.
So what does the growing Latina population mean for us in the women's spirituality movement? My answer is increased awareness of our actions to promote inclusion. These include; learning some Spanish and having a basic knowledge of Latin history and culture, especially the spiritual culture of Latina women. It isn't about making a huge life change, it's about taking some small steps, every day, to bridge the gap and bring women together. After all isn't that what the women's spirituality movement is all about?
1. Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies. Graduate Center, City University of New York. Based on the 2000 Census.
2. Complied by Pagan Pride Project, Inc and based on the "America Religious Identification Study" by the City University of New York.
3. PBS.org
4. Immigration's Echoes by Mumia Abu-Jamal, Santa Cruz IMC, Tuesday August 1st, 2006
5. PBS.org
6. Chomsky, Noam, What Uncle Sam Really Wants, Odnian Press, Berkeley, CA, 1992.
7. HispanicMagazine.com
8. Devine, Mary, Magic of Mexico, Llwellyn Worldwide, St. Paul, MN, 2000.
9. www.womenshistory.about.com
10. Gadon, Elinor, The Once and Future Goddess, Harper San Francisco, New York, NY, 1989.
