Phyllis M. Alexander

November 2, 2000

The portrait of Mexican Americans is layered in shades of ambivalence. Aside from the fact there is evidence that they can not really be classified as a migratory culture in that the land where they tend to migrate once belonged to Mexico, they can also lay an earlier claim to the land as Native Americans. The Spanish Europeans who settled in the area that became Mexico evolved as the dominant culture over the oral culture of the Native Americans. Nevertheless, there is evidence of ambivalence among the Native Americans to the dominant culture of the Spanish in what is arguably one of the Mexico’s basic texts, the story of the Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531. The Virgin of Guadalupe does not fit the usual model of the Virgin as she appears to believers, the biggest change being her native appearance. She is of the dominant culture’s religion, and yet she is not. Her appearance is one of only eight worldwide that have found acceptance by the Catholic Church (Apparition 48). Moreover, she is a symbol of the native culture as well and has reverence in the eyes of both Mexicans and Mexican Americans that remains evident to date.

Notably as well, Bless Me Ultima, a modern work of fiction set in New Mexico, depicts not only ambivalence toward the dominant culture of the United States, but also remnants of the same ambivalence toward the Catholic Church found hundreds of years earlier in the native culture of Mexico. Ultima, one of the principle characters in the novel, practices the ancient art of Curanderismo, an approach to healing which encompasses the body, mind and emotions along with the soul and the spirit (Curandera 1). Ultima practices the four types of Curanderismo. She is a Yebera, who heals with herbs, a Sobardora, who heals with hands, a Partera, who practices midwifery, and an Arbolaria, who heals the effects of witchcraft. Legend says that a child who cries in the womb will be given the "Don" and become a curandera. "Don" means the gift from God.

(La Curandera 1).

Therein lies the contradiction of the curandera, she cannot be categorized as only a pagan icon, in that curandera has respect for and practices the religion of Catholicism along with her healing (Blessed or Evil). Similar to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the character of Ultima, a curandera, defies easy classification as either of the native or dominant culture. The myth of the Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531 and Bless Me Ultima arise as cultural narratives of ambivalence, with elements of both resistance and assimilation in their characters, which elude definition by dominant culture’s standards.

Juan Diego, the native peasant to whom the Virgin of Guadalupe appears, and Antonio Marez, the young boy who is to become an apprentice of sorts to Ultima, exhibit similar ambivalence, with one important distinction. Juan Diego becomes more enmeshed with the dominant culture as a result of his experience by becoming a life long proponent of the Catholic faith (Blessed Juan). Antonio, on the other hand, seems to veer away from the ideal of the Church as he questions its true power in certain matters of spirituality.

When Antonio’s uncle becomes very ill under the curse laid by the Trementina sisters, known "brujas" or witches, the boy questions Ultima as to why his grandfather didn’t call for Ultima sooner. She replies, "The church would not allow your grandfather to let me use my powers. The church was afraid that—" (Anaya 97). Antonio understood what she would not say was that the priest feared that the people would put too much faith in her healing powers. The little boy was left with conflicting feelings regarding the primacy of the church, wondering if Ultima’s power, as a curandera, might actually be the stronger of the two.

Interestingly, the Virgin also takes on the dual role of a healer and a native in the apparition story when Juan Diego tries to resist her one morning in favor of finding a priest for his uncle who is very ill. She appears, nevertheless, on his alternate route, and says,

Although the Virgin is representative of the church and hence the dominant culture, she has the ability to heal that the priest does not. The incident bears a resemblance to the healing of Uncle Lucas in Bless Me Ultima in that the Virgin becomes the healer outside the auspices of the church. Notably, as well, she refers to herself as one of Juan’s kind, lending credence to the idea that she is of the native culture. It would seem that she is showing Juan that her power is not from the church, but from a higher power, God. While this idea doesn’t negate the power of the church exactly, it certainly points out a conflict within Juan Diego with regards to the power of the Virgin and the power of the church. Do they exist as one? Or could they be, in some instances at least, mutually exclusive of each other?

Antonio encounters a comparable conundrum in the story when Tenoria Trementina comes for Ultima, claiming that she is a witch and must be destroyed. Narciso suggests the two needles in the shape of a cross test to prove her guilt or innocence. During an ensuing attack by Ultima’s owl upon Tenoria, Ultima walks through the door, and thus proves that the curandera’s power is not evil. She is exonerated, and the crowd dissipates. Antonio, notices, however, that the needles, which had been placed above the doorway prior to Ultima’s exit lay on the ground. He notes, "Whether someone had broken the cross they made, or whether they had fallen, I would never know" (Anaya 135). Ultima arises as an ambiguous figure as a result.

Certainly, it can be argued that Ultima attends church, and, for that reason, enters the holy places without a problem. But Anaya poses a nagging question as to why the needles were lying on the ground; why did Ultima walk through the door when the fray with the owl and Tenoria was taking place, rather than before or afterwards? Once again, while Ultima does not seem to go against the ideals of the dominant culture, as represented by the church, she never embraces it fully enough to remove all question of the origins of her powers, enhancing the conflict in defining the curandera.

Likewise, in yet another example of ambivalence, shown by deference to the native culture, the Virgin of Guadalupe allays Juan Diego’s feelings of unworthiness when he is unable to convince the Lord Bishop to do the Virgin’s bidding. Juan Diego suggests that the Virgin should find someone of higher status to convince the Lord Bishop, and she responds,

Hear me, my son, it is true that I do not lack for servants or ambassadors to

whom I could entrust my message so that my will could be verified, but it

is important that you speak for me in this matter, weary as you are; in your

hands you have the means of verifying, of making plain my desire, my

will…" (de Vega 477).

The Virgin chooses Juan Diego not despite the fact that he is of the native rather than the dominant culture, but because of it. Such an act could be construed as an attempt on the part of the Virgin to bring the natives into the dominant culture through Juan Diego. Might it not also be possible, however, that the Virgin, by appearing as she does in a fashion that Juan first believed was of the "ancients" and in the form of a native image, is giving recognition if not a degree of reverence to the native culture?

Similarly, Ultima, as representative of the native culture, acknowledges the importance of the church when she realizes the danger that Antonio might face from Tenoria Trementina because of her. To keep him safe, Ultima gives Antonio her scapular, which is a "sacramental" or an imitation of a garment that is part of a religious habit consisting of two tiny pieces of cloth conjoined by string and worn over the neck (Scapular 543). When she gives Antonio her scapular, she says,

I want you to wear mine—She took the thin string and placed it around my

neck. . . but this scapular held a small, flattened pouch. I smelled it and its

fragrance was sweet. . .Ultima smiled, I have had that since I was a child. It

will keep you safe. (Anaya 124)

By giving Antonio the scapular, a Christian symbol of protection, Ultima exhibits reverence for the power of the church. However, she also expresses a respect for the old ways. The bag of herbs indicates the power found in the medicine of the curandera. Ultima has accepted the place of the church in ruling behavior, and has in that regard assimilated to the dominant culture. Nonetheless, the pouch of herbs, which she wears along with the scapular holds, at least, equal status in her mind, and thus Ultima resists total acquiescence to the dominant culture. Additionally, by giving her scapular to Antonio, she highlights his place in her esteem as one who can understand the old ways as well as the way of the church. In his acceptance of her gift, Antonio becomes an advocate of the curandera, and his ambivalence is established as well.

Comparably, Juan Diego, the native, becomes an advocate of the Virgin, the symbol of the dominant culture, when the Virgin chooses him as her voice. In her message, which Juan Diego is to carry to the Lord Bishop, she says,

My xocoyote, all these flowers are the sign that you must take the Bishop in my name and tell him that with this he will see and recognize my will and that he must do what I ask, and you are my ambassador worthy of confidence. (deVega 479)

In giving the gift of the flowers to Juan Diego, the Virgin elevates him to the status of her messenger. He, though of the native culture, becomes one to be heard and respected within the dominant culture.

Throughout both stories, evidence of ambivalence bleeds through the belief systems. The Virgin, albeit dark and native in appearance, exerts dominance over the dominant culture as reflected by the character of the Lord Bishop. He knelt before the native image of the dominant culture icon, weeping and begging her to forgive his refusal to honor her request as soon as Juan Diego had related her will. Juan emerges as the one who truly knows the will of the Virgin over the man ordained by the dominant culture to know the same. The story leaves the reader with the question of whether the natives might not have a clearer understanding of the will of God by virtue of their acceptance of the magical ways of the pagan culture. Juan Diego readily accepts the vision from heaven. The Lord Bishop, a minister of the church, does not.

Alternately, Antonio, who is destined to become a priest in the beginning of the story, becomes to Ultima what Juan Diego becomes to the Virgin. Ultima, as a curandera, is an advocate of the old ways just as the Virgin is an advocate of the religion of the dominant culture. Nevertheless, though it would seem that the Virgin is of the dominant culture and Ultima is of the minority culture, neither can be defined only in those terms. The Virgin of Guadalupe illuminates the need for acceptance of all cultures within the realm of the church, even though that church is an emblem of the dominant culture. Ultima, on the other hand, exemplifies the ways of the minority culture, while recognizing the need for a reverence and practice of the religion of the dominant culture. Training an analytical eye on the two symbols of culture, the Virgin of Guadalupe and the character of Ultima reveal a mystery of mixing assimilation and resistance within the unique minority culture of the Mexican Americans that only the dominant culture feels the need to explain.

Works Cited

Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me Ultima. New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1994.

"Blessed Juan Diego: Model of Humility". 29 Oct. 2000.

de Vega, Bechiller Luis Lazo. "History of the Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Later. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 475-82.

"La Curandera: Blessed or Evil." 5 October 2000.