Guadalupe, the Mother of Mexico, has a significant story:

The Spanish invaders landed in Anahuac (what came to be called Mexico) in 1519 and tried for over a decade to convert the Indigenous population to Catholicism, but the deeply spiritual Aztecs remained true to their own cosmovision. Then, in December 1531, in what was originally called Tenochtitlan and is now known as Mexico City, a mystical woman appeared to Juan Diego, a humble native and one of the few converted community members.

Juan was on his way to church when he heard someone singing atop Tepeyac Hill, an ancient shrine to the Aztec Earth Goddess, Tonanzin, or “Sacred Mother.” He stopped to listen. When the heavenly music ended, and he heard someone call his name, Juan climbed the hill to see who it was.

That’s when he saw her. The beautiful, brown-skinned glowing apparition was dressed in a long, blue-green, hooded cape scattered with golden flowers, bright stars, and an array of symbolic imagery. Under her cape she wore an even longer dress that extended below her feet. It, too, was covered with golden symbols. A black sash wrapped high around her torso displayed a blossoming belly.

The Lady said her name was—Tecuauhtlacuepeuh— which, translated from Nahuatal, the native language is “She Who Comes Flying From the Regions of Light like an Eagle of Fire.”

For three days, Juan tried to convince the local bishop that the mystical Lady was real, but the bishop wanted tangible proof. It wasn’t until her image appeared on Juan’s plain, brown poncho (called a tilma) that he became convinced and did what she asked, which was to build a church in her honor. He also decided that her original name was too powerful for the Catholic Church and renamed her Guadalupe.

It’s interesting that Guadalupe, as most of us call her, manifested on the very top of the Tonanzin’s shrine. The Aztec’s saw her as Tonanzin; the Catholics decided she was Mother Mary, and in the perfection of Life, Guadalupe became the uniting force of the people.

The best book about Guadalupe is The Aztec Virgin: The Secret Mystical Tradition of Our Lady of Guadalupe—written by John Mini. It’s become difficult to find, but I encourage you to try.

Guadalupe called me to Mexico in 2006, and that’s when I went to the Basilica of Guadalupe for the first time. Joined by a continuous influx of devotees, as I stood on a moving sidewalk and looked up at the gold-framed tilma, my heart spontaneously expanded. Deepened. And tears streamed down my face. I’ve visited Her over a dozen times since and always have the same unguarded response.

There she is—a physical manifestation of an aspect of the Divine Mother.

What could be better than that?

Thank you, Juan Diego, for staying true to your knowings and helping us grow our Faith. And thank you, Guadalupe, for loving us every second of every day.

This is an excerpt from my only channeling with Guadalupe—my gift to you on Her day. Receive it through your open heart. 

“I am your Mother. In the truest sense, in the deepest form and way.

I have come to care for you, as only a true Mother can.

Allow me to do my job. Allow me to hold you. Allow me to love you. Allow me to make the decisions.

Allow me to get you to where your heart is yearning. Allow me to arrange the logistics.

Allow me the joy of being your Mother, acting as your Mother, loving you as your Mother, caring for you as your Mother, and protecting you as your Mother.”

Happy Birthday 491st Birthday, Guadalupe!