María de la Candelaria
Tzotzil–Tzeltal · mortal · Tzotzil–Tzeltal traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
María de la Candelaria, born María López, was the Tzeltal visionary of Cancuc around whom the highland rebellion of 1712 crystallised. She reported that the Virgin had appeared and spoken to her, and as the living voice of that cult she proclaimed a new dispensation in which the Maya would keep their own priesthood and king, drawing Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol towns into revolt against colonial and ecclesiastical authority before the rising was crushed. Her figure endures as a touchstone of highland religious memory, a mortal woman remembered as the mouthpiece of the Holy Mother.
Domains
- marian vision
- prophecy revolt
Powers
- receive the Virgin's apparition
- proclaim a native priesthood and king
Epithets
- la Virgen de Cancuc — the Virgin of CancucGosner, Kevin. 1992. Soldiers of the Virgin. University of Arizona Press. (secondary)
Sources
- The Tzeltal girl María de la Candelaria of Cancuc reported Marian apparitions and became the prophetess of the 1712 highland rebellion.: Gosner, Kevin. 1992. Soldiers of the Virgin: The Moral Economy of a Colonial Maya Rebellion. University of Arizona Press. (secondary); Viqueira, Juan Pedro. 1997. María de la Candelaria, india natural de Cancuc. Fondo de Cultura Económica. (secondary)