The Origins of the Guadalupe Tradition in Mexico

Historical writings on Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most revered sacred figure indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, focus largely on her cult's origins. Scholars disagree on whether reports of Guadalupe's 1531 appearances to the indigenous neophyte Juan Diego initiated devotion to her or whether the apparition tradition is a later invention that provided a mythical origin for an already existing image and devotion. This essay critiques the standard argument against a foundational apparition tradition as exemplified in the work of Stafford Poole. The reevaluation sheds light on the scope of early indigenous devotion and the genesis of belief in the apparitions.