There is pre-Colombian Toltec story about the birth of Huitzilopotchli as a full-grown deity because he had to immediately fight his 400 brothers and 1 sister who, because of the manner of his conception, were trying to kill their mother Coatlicue.
Huitzilopotchli went on to become the principle god of the Aztec Empire and the main pyramid is dedicated to him at Templo Mayor in downtown Mexico City.
Coatlicue, the Toltec Serpent Mother is also associated with Tonantzin, the Aztec Mother that became the model for the Virgin of Guadalupe. Her appearances during the first part of December, 1531 changed the dynamics of worship in New Spain.
The Virgin of Guadalupe is also a manifestation of the Virgin Mary, the young woman that became the Mother of Jesus one night in a late December. It is that moment in time we call Christmas that a baby and his destiny became all important to the world.
The process that led to his birth is filled with angels and common folks that come together to proclaim the beginning of a new era in the religious life of the Holy Land and its imperial master, Rome. The birth of the baby Jesus under the poorest of conditions also represents the beginning of an infant adventure that reached life and death extremes in his circumstance.
The Catholic tradition includes two key moments that highlight the glory of Jesus’ birth. In the first, the apprehension and frustration about the inability to find a proper place for the baby to be born is only a prelude to a night where both the human and the divine gathered to worship at the front of a manger that served as a cradle for the holy infant.
The second comes days later when the Magi Kings, also known as the Three Wise Men, brought gifts as part of their worship of the new born. The arrival of the Three Wise Men also provided the basis for a “second Christmas” that rivals the December 25th in many parts of Latin America.
In that tradition, the 6th of January is also celebrated as a day of gift-giving accompanied by the eating of a “Rosca de Reyes” or Three Kings Bread that has the figure of Baby Jesus embedded in several parts of the fare that is cooked in a circle. When the bread is sliced and served, anyone that finds a baby Jesus figurine in the slice has to make Tamales and serve them on February 2nd also known as Dia de la Candelaria that is a follow-up to the January 6th celebration.
Jesus’ baby adventure took him all the way to Egypt as one hunted for the slaughter. The Bible relates the story of King Herod the Great of Judea’s fear of being replaced and his subsequent effort to get rid of the Christ child by killing all first-born in Bethlehem.
Baby Jesus’ forced evacuation reversed the Old Testament journey the Jewish nation took from slavery in Egypt to the Promise Land. He also reversed the motive for the migration as this time he escapes tyranny in the Promise Land to find refuge in Egypt.
Above all, the celebrated baby experience of Jesus and his struggle to exist are a strong lesson for humanity about the necessity to confront the obstacles that stand in the way of reaching the richness of life and community. The story of the Christmas family is the story of the human and the divine and the every man hunger to understand God’s will.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of la Voz bilingüe. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
