A black Jesus Christ (1)
Published Jan 10, 2019 12:05 am
LANDSCAPE
By GEMMA CRUZ ARANETA
Gemma Cruz Araneta
During their glory days, the Aztecs (a.k.a Mexicas) established military garrisons and temples to guard their vital trade routes. The commercial flow to the south, passing through Xicaltango, in what is now the state (province) of Campeche on the Yucatan Peninsula was protected by Yacatecuhtli, a black god. He was the Aztec patron for travelers, especially merchants who prayed for luck in business and protection from brigands and wild animals.
In the Fejervary-Mayer Codex, a very rare manuscript on deerskin that survived the iconoclastic Spanish conquest, there is an elaborate profile of Yacatecuhtli with an exaggeratedly large nose looming over a red mouth; that was probably why he was also called “Señor de la Nariz” (Lord of the Nose). Behind this black figure is a large X signifying the trade routes, well-trodden paths with footprints along the X. Yacatecuhtli’s arms are outstretched, as if directing traffic on the busy crossroads of commerce. There were also temples to Yacatecuhtli in Papaloapan, Veracruz, along the Gulf of Mexico and in the northern areas of Oaxaca state.
As you know, the early Spanish missionaries cleverly made use of some local beliefs and practices with remote similarities to the Catholic religion to facilitate the conversion of the natives. Because of his outstretched arms, the Aztec god Yacatecuhtli must have looked like the crucified Christ, even if he was black. So,he was one of the local deities that were purposely morphed into Jesus Christ.
King Philip II was probably apprised of this efficient amalgamation of pagan and Christian (now called syncretism), so he commissioned a famous sculptor to make a life-size Christ on the Cross. In fact, he ordered three, but we do not know whether they were originally black or were blackened through time. The image sent to a town in the Virreinato de la Nueva Espana (Viceroyalty of New Spain, now Mexico) never reached its intended destination. According to legend, it was sent by river transport, securely tied to a raft, but along the way, a terrible typhoon swept it to Otitlan, a remote town in Oaxaca, where it was lodged in the roots of a tamarind tree.
Since the miraculous arrival of the life-size crucifix in 1597, it was called El Señor de Otitlan; dark as Yacatecuhtli, it has held the townspeople in its thrall for 6 centuries. They flock to the image, wipe flowers, ocote twigs, bunches of herbs, wax tapers, towels and handkerchiefs on its feet and body, pleading for miraculous cures, a good harvest, safety from physical harm, endurance and fortitude, a happy life after death.
Like the Nazareno of Quiapo, the life-size image of El Señor the Otitlan is the object of fanatical adoration. You can only imagine the outrage when, in 1930, a group of bandits decapitated El Señor de Otitlan and burned parts of its body. When the townspeople found the “place of desecration” where their icon was almost turned to ashes, they built a modest shrine. To this day, they poke and dig around the plot for the ashes of the black Christ, a potent cure-all for their ailments.
El Señor de Otitlan was restored to his former glory, but after a few years, the severed head was mysteriously returned. Wild with joy, the townspeople encased it in glass. As they gaze at its woeful countenance, worshippers, women specially, are driven tears.
Another Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca, was also a protector of trade, but since he had a feminine side, the missionaries discouraged the cult by calling him “Señor del Veneno,” Lord of Poison. However, androgynous or not, Tezcatlipoca was an important patron of Aztec merchants, the ones who traded in the oldest and largest markets in Mexico, La Merced and El Volador, which supplied all the needs of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), the ex-seat of the Aztec empire.
There was a temple to Tezcatlipoca, which the Spanish conquistadores destroyed and replaced with the Porta Coeli church. The native Indians rendered forced labor for the construction of the Catholic edifice and were mortified that the Spaniards compelled them to use the very stones of Tezcatlipoca’s temple. In defiance, they purposely selected blocks with Tezcatlipoca’s images and embedded these near the main altar, so they could continue adoring him. Eventually, Tezcatlipoca was identified with the Cristo Negro enthroned at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City.
Like the Aztecs, the Mayas also had black deities that were transformed to Cristos Negros during the conquest and subsequent Christianization. One of them was the enigmatic deity Ek Chuac or Estrella Negra, the black star, also a patron of trade. In the Madrid Codex, Ek Chuac is shown with a black body, a red mouth and tongue, and with ropes on top of its head, the type merchants used to bind their products for transport.
In 1595, the Spaniards established the town of Esquipulas (now in Guatemala) where they enshrined a black image of a crucified Christ. Esquipulas was very strategic as it was in the crossroads of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Soon, natives attributed miracles to the Cristo de Esquipulas, believing that its black color gave it curative powers. To date, the Cristo de Esquipulas is the most popular of all the Cristos Negros in Central America and Guatemalans insist that theirs is the oldest Cristo Negro. The feast in his honor, which begins on 15 January, lasts for an entire week.
Aside from Guatemala and Mexico, there are Cristos Negros in Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina, Panama, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Puerto Rico.
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Gemma Cruz Araneta
During their glory days, the Aztecs (a.k.a Mexicas) established military garrisons and temples to guard their vital trade routes. The commercial flow to the south, passing through Xicaltango, in what is now the state (province) of Campeche on the Yucatan Peninsula was protected by Yacatecuhtli, a black god. He was the Aztec patron for travelers, especially merchants who prayed for luck in business and protection from brigands and wild animals.
In the Fejervary-Mayer Codex, a very rare manuscript on deerskin that survived the iconoclastic Spanish conquest, there is an elaborate profile of Yacatecuhtli with an exaggeratedly large nose looming over a red mouth; that was probably why he was also called “Señor de la Nariz” (Lord of the Nose). Behind this black figure is a large X signifying the trade routes, well-trodden paths with footprints along the X. Yacatecuhtli’s arms are outstretched, as if directing traffic on the busy crossroads of commerce. There were also temples to Yacatecuhtli in Papaloapan, Veracruz, along the Gulf of Mexico and in the northern areas of Oaxaca state.
As you know, the early Spanish missionaries cleverly made use of some local beliefs and practices with remote similarities to the Catholic religion to facilitate the conversion of the natives. Because of his outstretched arms, the Aztec god Yacatecuhtli must have looked like the crucified Christ, even if he was black. So,he was one of the local deities that were purposely morphed into Jesus Christ.
King Philip II was probably apprised of this efficient amalgamation of pagan and Christian (now called syncretism), so he commissioned a famous sculptor to make a life-size Christ on the Cross. In fact, he ordered three, but we do not know whether they were originally black or were blackened through time. The image sent to a town in the Virreinato de la Nueva Espana (Viceroyalty of New Spain, now Mexico) never reached its intended destination. According to legend, it was sent by river transport, securely tied to a raft, but along the way, a terrible typhoon swept it to Otitlan, a remote town in Oaxaca, where it was lodged in the roots of a tamarind tree.
Since the miraculous arrival of the life-size crucifix in 1597, it was called El Señor de Otitlan; dark as Yacatecuhtli, it has held the townspeople in its thrall for 6 centuries. They flock to the image, wipe flowers, ocote twigs, bunches of herbs, wax tapers, towels and handkerchiefs on its feet and body, pleading for miraculous cures, a good harvest, safety from physical harm, endurance and fortitude, a happy life after death.
Like the Nazareno of Quiapo, the life-size image of El Señor the Otitlan is the object of fanatical adoration. You can only imagine the outrage when, in 1930, a group of bandits decapitated El Señor de Otitlan and burned parts of its body. When the townspeople found the “place of desecration” where their icon was almost turned to ashes, they built a modest shrine. To this day, they poke and dig around the plot for the ashes of the black Christ, a potent cure-all for their ailments.
El Señor de Otitlan was restored to his former glory, but after a few years, the severed head was mysteriously returned. Wild with joy, the townspeople encased it in glass. As they gaze at its woeful countenance, worshippers, women specially, are driven tears.
Another Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca, was also a protector of trade, but since he had a feminine side, the missionaries discouraged the cult by calling him “Señor del Veneno,” Lord of Poison. However, androgynous or not, Tezcatlipoca was an important patron of Aztec merchants, the ones who traded in the oldest and largest markets in Mexico, La Merced and El Volador, which supplied all the needs of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), the ex-seat of the Aztec empire.
There was a temple to Tezcatlipoca, which the Spanish conquistadores destroyed and replaced with the Porta Coeli church. The native Indians rendered forced labor for the construction of the Catholic edifice and were mortified that the Spaniards compelled them to use the very stones of Tezcatlipoca’s temple. In defiance, they purposely selected blocks with Tezcatlipoca’s images and embedded these near the main altar, so they could continue adoring him. Eventually, Tezcatlipoca was identified with the Cristo Negro enthroned at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City.
Like the Aztecs, the Mayas also had black deities that were transformed to Cristos Negros during the conquest and subsequent Christianization. One of them was the enigmatic deity Ek Chuac or Estrella Negra, the black star, also a patron of trade. In the Madrid Codex, Ek Chuac is shown with a black body, a red mouth and tongue, and with ropes on top of its head, the type merchants used to bind their products for transport.
In 1595, the Spaniards established the town of Esquipulas (now in Guatemala) where they enshrined a black image of a crucified Christ. Esquipulas was very strategic as it was in the crossroads of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Soon, natives attributed miracles to the Cristo de Esquipulas, believing that its black color gave it curative powers. To date, the Cristo de Esquipulas is the most popular of all the Cristos Negros in Central America and Guatemalans insist that theirs is the oldest Cristo Negro. The feast in his honor, which begins on 15 January, lasts for an entire week.
Aside from Guatemala and Mexico, there are Cristos Negros in Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina, Panama, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Puerto Rico.
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