IV. Popular Folk Religiosity

Popular Folk Religiosity in the Hispanic Heritage in the Southwest refers to the unique blend of religious practices and beliefs that have evolved among the Hispanic communities in the Southwestern United States. This form of religiosity is deeply rooted in their history and mirrors their ethnic identity ¹.

Key aspects of this religiosity include:

Catholicism: Spanish explorers introduced Catholicism to the region in the early 16th century ¹. Despite the challenges, the seeds of Catholicism were planted and these scattered missions became the first Tejano parishes ¹.
Ethnic Parishes: In response to racism and a desire for their own worship spaces, Mexican Catholics in cities throughout the Southwest financed and built their own ethnic parishes in the 19th century ².
Religious Self-Reliance: A tradition of religious self-reliance began to take root among Tejanos due to the scarcity of clergy in the region ¹.
Folk Practices: Folk religiosity is embedded in the culture and permeates the way of expressing faith³. This can include superstitions, witchcraft, and the practices of groups like the Penitentes ⁴.
Arts and Crafts, Music, Dance, Foods: Cultural manifestations such as arts and crafts, music, dance, foods, religious beliefs, and values are also integral parts of this religiosity ⁵.

This form of religiosity is a reflection of the Hispanic community’s quest for self-determination and is a significant part of their cultural heritage¹ . Learn more1. tshaonline.org 2. oxfordre.com 3. mdpi.com 4. archive.org 5. sandiegohistory.org

Folk Religionists

An estimated 405 million people – or about 6% of the world’s total population – are adherents of folk or traditional religions. These are faiths that are closely associated with a particular group of people, ethnicity or tribe. They often have no formal creeds or sacred texts. Examples of folk religions include African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions and Australian aboriginal religions.

   A. Faith Expressions
   B. Devotions
   C. Icons
   D. Shrines
   E. Curanderismo - Herbal Medicinal Traditions

IV. A. Faith Expressions

There are several popular folk religiosity faith expressions in the Hispanic Heritage of the Southwest. Here are a few:

Ex-voto Paintings: These are modest narrative paintings offering thanks to religious figures prayed to in times of serious illnesses or tragic accidents ¹. They provide historical, ethnographical, and literary evidence of socio-economic circumstances ¹.

1. Ex Voto: Three Children Healed after Being Burned
2. Ex Voto: An Infant Healed after a Fall
3. Ex-voto: Man Recovered From Serious Illness
Retablos: These are devotional paintings depicting the patron saint of a family or a saint venerated in the village church ². They were first painted on canvas and wood, then on hand-hammered copper plates ².

1. Retablo of the Trinity
2. Looking at Retablos in the Church of Guadalupe, Mexico
3. Retablo of the Stoning of Jesus Ruis and the Prayer for his Recovery. 1926
4. Retablo to the Holiest Virgin of San Juan, for Rebecca Olvera
Pilgrimage and Procession: These are ancient religious practices that endure today in many cultures around the world ². They are a part of the tradition as it evolved in the Americas from the time of the Spanish Conquest to the present day ².

1. Arizona Catholics make pilgrimage to see Pope Francis
2. Do you know anyone from Tucson or southern AZ taking part in the annual pilgrimage/100 kilometer walk from Nogales to Magdalena,
Creation of Home Altars and Shrines: These are also ancient religious practices that are still prevalent today ². They are a part of the tradition as it evolved in the Americas from the time of the Spanish Conquest to the present day ².

1. The Shrine of St. Joseph of the Mountains in Yarnell, Arizona; Patron of Family Life!
2. Shrine of St Sharbel (Phoenix, AZ)
3. Our Lady of the Sierras Shrine (Hereford, AZ)
4. Home Altar | Catholic Home | Inspired Catholic Living
Direct Relationship with God or Saints: In popular, or folk, religion people can have a “direct” relationship with God or particular saints without needing a clerical intermediary ¹.

These expressions are not just about religion; they’re a narrative of resilience, adaptation, and the enduring power of faith ². They bridge the divine and the earthly in their daily lives ².

Learn more 1. mdpi-res.com 2. mdpi.com 3. nps.gov 4. doi.org

IV. C. Icons

There are several popular folk religiosity icons in the Hispanic Heritage of the Southwest. Here are a few:

Retablos: These are devotional paintings depicting the patron saint of a family or a saint venerated in the village church ¹. They were first painted on canvas and wood, then on hand-hammered copper plates¹. The tradition traveled north to New Mexico, where artisans painted retablos on wooden panels ¹.
Frida Kahlo's Spiritual World: The Influence of Mexican Retablo and Ex-voto Paintings on Her Art
Ex-votos: These are modest narrative paintings offering thanks to religious figures prayed to in times of serious illnesses or tragic accidents ¹. Complete with written tales and dates, ex-votos provide insight into the everyday culture and lives of the people of Mexico in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries ¹.
Santos: Santos are a significant part of New Mexican Spanish religious folk art ². They illustrate the Santero’s art and describe the traditional roles of santos in both religious and secular life ². Santos and Saints is a guide to New Mexican Spanish religious folk art (santos) of the last century ².

These icons are not just about art; they’re a narrative of resilience, adaptation, and the enduring power of faith ². They bridge the divine and the earthly in their daily lives ². The book is richly adorned with photographs and illustrations that bring the vivid colors and delicate craftsmanship of the santos to life ². Learn more 1. uwyo.edu 2. archive.org 3. nga.gov

IV. D. Shrines

Shrines are not just places of worship, but also serve as a testament to the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the Hispanic community in the Southwestern United States. They offer a unique blend of Spanish and Native American influences, reflecting the diverse history of the region ¹ ². Here are some popular Hispanic folk shrines in the Southwestern United States:

El Santuario de Chimayo: This is a small shrine located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Chimayo, New Mexico¹. It has been a place of worship since before its construction in 1813¹. For generations, American Indians, Hispanics, and other people of faith have traveled to the site of El Santuario to ask for healing for themselves and others, and to offer prayers of petition and of thanksgiving for favors received¹. Today, it is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage centers in the United States and one of the most beautiful examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in New Mexico¹. It attracts over 300,000 pilgrims from all over the Southwest and elsewhere each year ¹.
Home Shrines / Altarcitos: In cities and towns across the Southwest, Hispanic Catholics have crafted and maintained home shrines where images of saints like Santo Niño de Atocha stand next to images of Guadalupe, Jesus, and Saint Jude, and where candles burn in homage to Jesus and the saints ².

Learn more: 1. nps.gov 2. oxfordre.com 3. nga.gov 4. jstor.org

SHRINES IN ARIZONA

El Tiradito, 418 South Main Avenue; One lot south of the southwest corner of Main Avenue and Cushing Street, south of the Tucson Convention Center., Tucson, Pima County, AZ
The El Tiradito shrine is significant for its role in the development of the rich Hispanic folklore and folk customs that developed in what is now the American Southwest between the time of Spanish contact with indigenous populations in the late sixteenth century to the present day.
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The Hispanic folk customs represented by El Tiradito are an example of Sonoran Catholicism, a term used to describe the blending of Catholic doctrine with local customs within the Arizona-Sonora borderlands, resulting in local saints and rituals. The customs and circumstances associated with the shrine are similar to others located in northern Mexico, but El Tiradito is the only known example of its kind remaining in the United States. The shrine maintains a high level of integrity regardless of the aesthetic changes that have occurred over time (see History below), as it still functions according to its original intention. El Tiradito is an important element of the surrounding Hispanic cultural landscape that is preserved in Barrio Libre, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
La Santa Muerte (“Holy Death” or “Saint Death”)
La Santa Muerte (“Holy Death” or “Saint Death”) is an extremely popular Mexican folk saint who is not recognized by the Catholic Church, even though her devotion shares much of its structure, behavior, and worldview with Catholicism. A personification of Death, she is frequently represented as a robed and hooded skeleton, holding a globe of the Earth and a scythe.
SHRINES IN THE SOUTHERN ARIZONA DESERT PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL HYATT
Photographs in this series were made, in association with geographer Juanita Sundberg, for a New Cultural Landscapes grant funded by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. These shrines are located along migrant trails. As migrants pass through the southern Arizona desert, they interact with and transform the landscape in small, yet significant ways through the shrines they create and the things they leave behind. At these shrines we find Virgin of Guadalupe bandanas, photographs, books, rosaries and prayer cards, coins, candles and more. The presence of Guadalupe here, a central figure in Latin American folk Catholicism, is a testament to the importance of faith for individuals willing to risk their lives to help support loved ones back home.
Tucson’s Shrine - “El Tiradito”
One of the less well-known of these folk saints is El Tiradito, “the little one who was thrown away” in Tucson, Arizona. His current shrine has been operational since the 1920s, but the devotion to him is older than that. Accounts vary as to El Tiradito’s origin, but many mention a man who was killed fighting over a woman he loved.

eBOOKS

Shrines and Miraculous Images by William B. Taylor
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780826348531
Publication Date: 2011-06-15
The vast literature on Our Lady of Guadalupe dominates the study of shrines and religious practices in Mexico. But there is much more to the story of shrines and images in Mexico's religious history than Guadalupe and Marian devotion. In this book, a distinguished historian brings together his new and recent essays on previously unstudied or reconsidered places, themes, patterns, and episodes in Mexican religious history during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. William Taylor explores the use of local and regional shrines, and devotion to images of Christ and Mary, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, to get to the heart of the politics and practices of faith in Mexico before the Reforma. Each of these essays touches on methodological and conceptual matters that open out to processes and paradoxes of change and continuity, exposing the symbolic complexity behind the material representations.
Guadalupe in New York: Devotion and the Struggle for Citizenship Rights Among Mexican Immigrants by Alyshia Galvez
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780814732144
Publication Date: 2009-12-01
Every December 12th, thousands of Mexican immigrants gather for the mass at New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day. They kiss images of the Virgin, wait for a bishop's blessing--and they also carry signs asking for immigration reform, much like political protestors. It is this juxtaposition of religion and politics that Alyshia Gálvez investigates in Guadalupe in New York. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a profound symbol for Mexican and Mexican-American Catholics and the patron saint of their country. Her name has been invoked in war and in peace, and her image has been painted on walls, printed on T-shirts, and worshipped at countless shrines. For undocumented Mexicans in New York, Guadalupe continues to be a powerful presence as they struggle to gain citizenship in a new country. Through rich ethnographic research that illuminates Catholicism as practiced by Mexicans in New York, Gálvez shows that it is through Guadalupan devotion that many undocumented immigrants are finding the will and vocabulary to demand rights, immigration reform, and respect. She also reveals how such devotion supports and emboldens immigrants in their struggle to provide for their families and create their lives in the city with dignity.
Sagrado: A Photopoetics Across the Chicano Homeland by Spencer R. Herrera; Robert Kaiser (Photographer); Levi Romero; Luis Valdez (Foreword by)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780826353542
Publication Date: 2013-10-30
Un lugar sagrado, a sacred place where two or more are gathered in the name of community, can be found almost anywhere and yet it is elusive: a charro arena behind a rock quarry, on the pilgrimage trail to Chimayó, a curandero's shrine in South Texas, or at a binational Mass along the border. Sagrado is neither a search for identity nor a quest for a homeland but an affirmation of an ever-evolving cultural landscape. Embedded at the heart of this remarkable book, in which prose, photographs, and poems complement each other, is a photopoetic journey across the Chicano Southwest.

E. Curanderismo - Herbal Medicinal Traditions

Curanderismo is a folk healing tradition that has deep roots in the Southwestern United States, Latin America, Mexico, and among Native American people ¹. This tradition involves the use of elements of nature, including herbs, to create remedies and perform ceremonies ¹.

For centuries, indigenous peoples have established an innate relationship with the environment through the study and practice of ethnobotany, also known as traditional ecological knowledge ¹. This knowledge has been maintained through stories, language, art, and ceremonies that incorporate plants, contributing to the maintenance of health and cultural practices ¹.

Curanderismo includes holistic treatments for various ailments, such as intestinal blockage (empacho), spiritual cleansings (limpias), laugh therapy (risa terapia), shawl alignments (manteadas), and the preparation of medicinal teas (tes medicinales) ¹. Practitioners of Curanderismo, known as Curanderas, may also serve as a midwife (partera), folk chiropractor (sobadora), and herbalist (yerbera) ¹.

So, Curanderismo is not just a historical or cultural concept, but a living tradition that continues to be practiced and studied today ¹ ² . Learn more: 1. santafelibrary.org 2. news.unm.edu 3. abqinternational.org

eBOOKS