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9-2022

Religious Syncretism in Spanish Latin America: Survival, Power,

and Resistance
Ian McGuckin
Grand Valley State University

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McGuckin, Ian, "Religious Syncretism in Spanish Latin America: Survival, Power, and Resistance" (2022).
Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts. 237.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/sss/237

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 Ⅰ
History and Problems in the Usage of Syncretism
When studying the history of religions as well as cultural encounters, the issue of
religious syncretism is frequently evoked; yet, the phenomenon itself is rarely defined
specifically by the scholars who study these religious interactions. This of no inherent fault of
theirs as the phenomenon of religious syncretism is only vaguely defined by the anthropologists,
sociologists, and historians of religion that specialize in its study.1 No single widely accepted
definition exists in the field of religious studies.2 Attempts to define, outline, and explain
syncretism have been met with stark disagreement and scholarly debate over the past several
decades. Although theories have emerged that begin to resolve the problems inherent in the
usage of the term syncretism, many scholars still avoid the term due to the history of political
problems with the term and the lack of scholarly consensus.
The term syncretism was invented in the first century A.D. by the Greek historian
Plutarch to describe the Cretans’ act of uniting in the face of a common enemy.3 This use of the
term derives from the Latin prefix syn with the word for the Cretans, kretoi, to create a meaning
similar to “as the Cretans did”.4 The modern definition of syncretism, however, has little to do
with Plutarch’s employment of the term. The modern usage of syncretism seems to derive from
the Greek verb synkerannumi—to mix together—creating the word that is now used to describe
religious mixture.5 The Latin translation of this Greek word, confusio, although referring to a
mingling or mixing, coincidentally alludes to some of the modern problems of utilizing syncretism
in the study of religion: confusion.
In the 17th century, during the Protestant Reformation, the term syncretism became
imbued with a negative theological connotation that many scholars claim still persists within the
usage of the term and study of the phenomenon today. The term was used polemically to
connote a “straying” from the orthodoxy by Protestant theologians.6 According to religious
historian Kurt Rudolph, “syncretists” were viewed as “sin-cretists” during this time period.7 This
connotation remained in place throughout the missionary expansion into the 20th century.8 This
led to a series of problems within the study of syncretism and thus to the complexities of the
term as a discriptor. Although not as common, syncretism is still used to delegitimize “impure”

1
In Charles Stewart’s exploration of syncretism in “Syncretism and Its Synonyms: Reflections on Cultural
Mixture”, he concludes that the best possible current definition was “the combination of elements of two or
more religions within a specified frame”. Although I do admire Stewart’s scholarship in the field, it can be
admitted, and he does, that this definition is relatively vague. His work represents the problem of definition
inherent in the study of syncretism.
2
Anita Leopold. “The Architecture of Syncretism: A Methodological Illustration of the Dynamics of
Syncretism.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques 27.3 (Berghahn Books, 2001) 40.
3
Anita Leopold and Jeppe Sinding Jensen eds. Syncretism in Religion: A Reader (Routledge, 2014) 14.
4
Anita Leopold, Syncretism in Religion, 14.
5
Luther H. Martin, “Syncretism, Historicism, and Cognition: A Response to Michael Pye.” Method and
Theory in the Study of Religion 8.2 (Brill Press, 1996) 216.
6
Anita Leopold, Syncretism in Religion, 14.
7
Rudolph (in Leopold 2014) (69)
8
Charles Stewart. “Syncretism and Its Synonyms: Reflections on Cultural Mixture.” Diacritics 29.3 (Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1999) 46.
religious change by Christian theologians.9 Understandably, this makes many scholars hesitant
to use the term due to its associations with Christian triumphalism.
The biases of Christian theologians seeped into the beginnings of the study of the
phenomenon of syncretism in the late 19th and early 20th century. One of the more problematic
biases is that of ethnocentricity.10 In its early scholarly l usage, syncretism was largely deployed
to signify a disruption to religious coherence and purity, specifically European religious
coherence and purity. This use of the term, especially in correlation with the study of colonized
cultures, effectively attempted to delegitimize the reception of different religions by subjugated
individuals, groups, and cultures. When employed in this sense by the initial scholars of the 20th
century studying the reception of Christianity by colonized cultures, the term signified a clearly
Eurocentric approach. The syncretic religion created by the colonized indigenous peoples was
judged by the standard ‘orthodoxy’ of European Christianity and marked as impure if it differed
from this ‘orthodoxy’.11 This usage propagated a system of judgements in which non-European
or even non-elite European religions and dialects of Christianity were devalued due to their
difference from the European standard.12
Due to its origins in theological essentialism, rooting out the ethnocentricity and bias
within the study of syncretism became a main focus of scholars during the 20th century. This
changed the notion of syncretism into a hotly debated topic and there became a tradition of
denouncing the most recent or accepted approach as theologically or ethnocentrically biased. If
we look at a series of three scholars who built on each other’s work from 1938-1970, we can
clearly see this pattern. One of the early scholars of syncretism, Hendrik Kraemer, argued that
syncretism be understood theologically as evidence that all religions are essentially one,
different interpretations of the same transcendent reality. However, he claimed that there was
one religion that was not inherently syncretistic: his own. Kraemer is a good example of how
syncretism was used to validate one religion and invalidate its opponents. He is also an
important example of how these biases can be hidden within the theory. In 1968, J.H. Kamstra
took up Kraemer’s views and argued for a return of syncretism to a non-theological usage. Soon
after, Michael Pye took up Kamstra’s viewpoints and argued about the biased errors of Kamstra
on “syncretism from without”, claiming that Kamstra saw outside sources as a threat to an
existing religion or cosmology.13 Specifically in the discourse between Kamstra and Pye, we can
see the speed at which the notion of syncretism changed and was challenged. Subsequently,

9
Luther H. Martin, “To Use ‘Syncretism’ or Not to Use ‘Syncretism’: That Is the Question.” Historical
Reflections / Réflexions Historiques 27.3 (Berghahn Books, 2001) 400.
10
Due to the origins of the study of this concept, ethnocentricity is not hard to find in this field. Nor are its
instances random as scholars who employ the term syncretism often make the same mistaken
assumptions.
11
The quotation marks utilized around the term orthodoxy here are a reference to the complicated notion
of Orthodoxy in European Christianity (as well as any religion). Many scholars also disagree with the
usage of this term as “orthodoxy” typically describes what is stated by those who control the religion,
rather than what is actually practiced and believed. In reality, the boundaries and centers of religion are
much less perceptible (if they even exist at all). For more on this topic, see Smoller 2014 “‘Popular’
Religious Culture” and Benavides 2001 “Power, Intelligibility, and the Boundaries of Religion”.
12
These religions are dialects to European Christianity’s “language” only in the sense that, as historian of
religions Gustavo Benavides puts it, “languages are dialects with an army”. The term dialect vs. language
here does not connote the relative validity but rather the relative power relations between the two
religions. For more on this, see Benavides 2001 “Power, Intelligibility, and the Boundaries of Religion”.
13
Anita Leopold, Syncretism in Religion, 14. Kraemer and Pye are both published in this source.
Michael Pye has been challenged on his understanding of syncretism due to his value based
labeling of “major” and “minor” religions as well as his view that syncretism is an unresolved and
temporary state of tension within a religion, ultimately reverting back to the idea of syncretism as
a deviation or threat to a religion and its stability.14
As illustrated above, the definition and study of syncretism was constantly changing and
evolving during the 20th century. Furthermore, as each new development was discovered to
harbor ethnocentricity, misconceptions about religions, or bias against so-called syncretisms,
many scholars lost hope that syncretism would ever have an unproblematic definition. Scholars
in the field such as Robert Baird and A.J. Droge called for the elimination of the term syncretism
altogether. They argued that, since syncretism is a natural characteristic of all religions, labeling
a religion as syncretic does nothing for our understanding besides indicating a cultural bias or
intent to delegitimize a religion.15 Although I empathize with their frustration over the term, I
agree with scholars Anita Leoplod and Siv Ellen Kraft in their arguments that the elimination of
the term syncretism does not eliminate the phenomenon and does not eliminate the
mistreatment of cultures in scholarly study either. So how do we proceed with the study of
syncretism while avoiding the problems of definition and bias? To start, it is helpful to look to the
wave of scholars in the 1990’s and early 2000's who took up the issue of syncretism. Many of
their conclusions give helpful advice on how to tweak the study to offer the most precise and
least biased study of cultural and religious interactions. Drawing on their scholarship, this paper
aims to create a definition, model, and approach to use in this study of Spanish Latin America
that fulfills two primary conditions:
a) Does not harbor a bias towards the dominant religion or culture
b) Portrays syncretism as a legitimate creation rather than a deviation

Ⅱ
Solutional Framework, Model, and Redefinition
One of the most important concepts to include in the redefinition is that of mutual cultural
exchange. John Elliot asserts that “...when one belief system engages with another, each is
likely to be forced into some degree of adaptation”.16 This perspective was first emphasized in
Hugo Nutini’s 1971 analysis of the cult of saints in Tlaxcala, Mexico. In this study on
syncretism, he attempted to emphasize the change not only in the people’s belief, but also in the
two pre-existing belief systems. This focus is extremely important to the creation of an unbiased
approach. Studies that ignore the mutual aspect of the phenomenon paint the indigenous
cultures as mixed or as adopting “prestigious” European traits and portray the European culture
as pure and stable by effectively ignoring or failing to report the opposing side of the cultural

14
Pye was challenged in Luther Martin’s “Syncretism, Historicism, and Cognition: A Response to Michael
Pye”.
15
A.J. Droge, “Retrofitting/Retiring ‘Syncretism’” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques 27.3
(Berghahn Books, 2001)
16
J.H. Elliott, “Religions on the Move” Religious Transformation in the Early Modern Americas, ed
Stephanie Kirk and Sarah Hivett (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014) 37.
Many scholars such as Benavides, Stewart, and Fernando Ortiz in his study of cuban culture have
asserted similar if not identical claims in their research. Perhaps the most relevant study dealing with this
cultural exchange aspect of syncretism is Nutini 1976 “Syncretism and Acculturation: The Development of
the Cult of the Patron Saint in Tlaxcala Mexico”.
exchange. Yet again, we see indigenous culture and religion portrayed as mixed and their
European counterparts as pure. Although the ethnocentric value judgements are not as explicit
in these studies as in the early studies of syncretism, one can see how this assumption leads to
ethnocentricity in the field of syncretism. This bias of exclusively focusing on the ‘encountered
culture’ in reporting or observing the encounter leads to labeling indigenous, colonized, or new
religions as syncretic but not the colonizing religion that was also a part of the interaction. This
leads to the false assumption that syncretism is only characteristic of these indigenous religions,
that they stem off of (and inherently, by this branch of logic, deviate from) the colonizing
religions whereas what has been proven repeatedly is that syncretism is a natural characteristic
of all religions.17
Thus, a successful model must clearly account for the exchange in both cultures. The
question of how to do this is challenging. Simply focusing on examples of syncretism in both
cultures is not enough. This study will argue and prove that, in colonial situations, there was a
greater need for the colonized culture to syncretize due to their need to survive the conquerors
who often required some aspect of conversion. By focusing specifically on elements or traditions
of mixed origins, our study will automatically reflect the biases of the colonial encounter as there
are usually more syncretisms created on the colonized side due to the need to survive.
Additionally, the conquering side refused to report the syncretisms in their own religion due to
their attempts to superiorize their religion, a process that the negative associations with
syncretism would have inhibited. In order to adequately account for and examine mutual cultural
exchange we must look for mutual cultural change as well. This entails, instead of a focus on
syncretisms, a broader focus that examines all religious change that is a result of the encounter
between the two religions. This will most importantly include the change to the two (or more)
original religions that interacted.
Instead of understanding syncretism in the genealogical sense of Figure 1 as scholars
have understood it in the past, incorporating an approach that accounts for mutual cultural
change creates the new understanding visualized in Figure 2. The genealogical model depicts
religions as stable structures; however our new model importantly describes religions as objects
in motion. When these religions meet and interact with each other, they collide and parts of
them shatter to form new religious formations. Many of these shattered parts may merge with
shattered parts of the other religion to make “blended” traditions or elements that have
previously been identified as syncretisms. This can be seen in the model by the shades of
purple created from the red and blue religious systems. But to focus on just these “blended”
religions misses the full picture. There are also new religious formations or trends that are not
blended by origin but are created/a direct result of the religious collision. Furthermore, the two
pre-existing religions, when they collide and bounce off of each other, are both changed in their
course. By emphasizing the mutual cultural change inherent in what has previously been
described as syncretisms, we end up with a model that describes syncretisms (blended religious
elements, traditions, or formations) as a result of the religious collision of two or more religions.

17
Although Michael Pye does harbor some ethnocentricity in his usage of the terms “major” and “minor”
religions, he did correctly assert that syncretism was a characteristic of all religions in “Syncretism and
Ambiguity” Pye 1971. This fact is also elaborated on in Baird 1991, Stewart 1999, Droge 2001, and Luther
1996 among many other prominent religious scholars.
However, this model also describes that these “syncretisms” are not the only product of the
interaction: new religious elements, traditions, and formations are created that are not of

Figure 1
 Figure 2
blended origins and the initial interacting religions are also affected. This model necessitates
that, when one seeks to study syncretism, one must study the full scope of the religious
“collision” or interaction rather than just things of blended origin. To unbiasedly study the
interaction of religions and the notion of ‘syncretism’ is to study all of the new religious elements
and formations, blended or not, as well as the changes within the pre-existing religions that
initially collided with each other. This study will adopt this perspective and utilize ‘syncretism’ to
refer to all of the religious change and creation that has its origins in the religious collision.18 The
focus of this study will revolve around the religious change and creation on all levels of belief
(individual, societal, systematic) that results from the religious collision rather than just the
creation of religious elements of blended origin.
Another extremely important focus within the study of syncretism is power. As the model
above describes, religious syncretism derives from an interaction between two or more
religions. Very rarely are these two religions of equal political power when they interact. This
power imbalance will affect how these religions react. Religious scholars such as Gustavo
Benavides, Andrew Apter, and André Droogers all affirm that the notion of power is an extremely
influential notion in the study of syncretism as it can influence the direction that syncretisms
take, almost like a gravitational pull. In terms of mutual cultural change, we must keep in mind
that, often, the power dominant religion will be less changed than the subjugated religion as it
does not have to adapt as much because it is the religion that largely controls the conditions of
the encounter. The model pictured above (Figure 2) indicates two religions with relatively equal
political power that create syncretisms with less political power (their respective power is
indicated visually by their width). We can alter the model to illustrate a religious interaction with
a skewed power dynamic if necessary:

18
I am hesitant to redefine syncretism as something other than a religious element, tradition, or
formation of blended origin based on this model (although I do think this model could have the
potential to do so); however, I strongly believe that this model has very important implications for
the study of syncretism.
 Figure 3
By drawing on some of the ideas of past scholars, we have created the above dynamic
model that eliminates the known biases from the study of syncretism. This model can accurately
describe syncretism based on conditions of power while also accounting for new non-blended
formations and the changes in the initial religions. This study of Spanish Latin America will use
this model as a methodological framework in which to analyze the scope of religious change
resulting from the encounter/collision of Spanish Catholicism and the various native and African
religions that were present in the New World.

Ⅲ
Cognitive Selection, Focus, and Thesis
A very important theory of religious syncretism that this paper builds on is Luther Martin’s
theory of cognitive selection. Martin argues that the process of syncretism is a relatively
conscious one in which choices are made between elements of religions; an individual’s faith in
this theory consists almost entirely of elements consciously selected by the individual. He
argues that the process of syncretism is “erected on the constraints of cognition itself” and is
therefore not a random but a predictable process. Martin’s proposition implies that selectivity is
a function of the human mind and that the origins of syncretic ‘blending’ are derived from that
process.19 This theory has largely been accepted by recent scholars in the study of syncretism
due to its reinforcement by psychological research as “the activity of fusing, ‘mixing’, or
‘blending’, does not present a problem to the human mind”.20 Anita Leopold, historian of
19
Luther H. Martin, “Syncretism, Historicism, and Cognition: A Response to Michael Pye.” 221
20
Anita Leopold, Syncretism in Religion, 9
religions, evidences this by introducing the theory of conceptual blending proposed by
psychologists Fauconnier and Turner which describes that we create and store systems of
information and meaning cognitively by blending a variety of sources and information that may
or may not be contradictory. These psychologists claim that there are constraints to how we
blend so “we must look for the social rules and group interplays that constrain the
endless…possibility of conceptual blending”.21 Martin echoes this idea in his conclusion of his
theory on cognitive selection as he claims that syncretism is not an accident of cultures but
rather a specific selective cognitive process in which rules can be found to predict and explain
why certain religious elements are chosen/discarded. Essentially, if we can deduce, discover,
and evidence these rules, we can create a blueprint for syncretism (and potentially even religion
as a whole since syncretism is a part of a larger religious collision that motivates religious
change).
The theory of cognitive selection works very well because it emphasizes the agency of
historical figures. Rather than visualizing historical figures as passive figures who acquiesced to
the larger flow of religions, this theory describes them as active agents who create the flow of
religion consciously and intentionally by selecting the elements of a religion to keep or eliminate.
I will argue, and this paper will show, that this selection process is not constrained just to
blended syncretic scenarios but the entire scope of a religious collision as defined in the
aforementioned model. If individuals are able to select from the elements between two or more
religions to create their own “syncretic” belief, won’t other individuals also apply the same
process to a pre-existing religion over time, selecting which elements will be kept/eliminated and
creating new ones based on a predictable set of criteria? If we return to the model visualized in
Figures 2 and 3, we can use the theory of cognitive selection to predict the direction of the initial
and newly created religions after the collision.
In general, research into the cognitive aspects of syncretism have shown it to be similar
to foreign language acquisition in which new religions are judged through the lens of the religion
one holds, more specifically, the religion one learned during childhood.22 During the conquest of
America, natives who had grown up in Aztec society were much less likely to convert completely
than their younger counterparts who had little to no experience in pre-Spanish America but had
both sets of beliefs available in their societies (although the prevalence of them may have
differed due to Spanish repression of indigenous religion)23 Thus, it is not contrary to logic,
history, or past research to operate on the assumption that individuals most often gravitate
towards the religion they have been taught or currently hold in the face of a new belief system.
Using this assumption, we can create a framework that regards religious syncretism as a largely
conscious and agentic operation, drawing on and aligning with the theory of cognitive selectivity
proposed by Martin. By incorporating this theory, the model proposed in this paper will answer
the following questions to explain the religious change and creation that occurs after an
interaction/collision of religions: why are certain elements chosen to integrate rather than their
counterparts?; why are certain elements of a religion discarded?; why are other elements

21
Anita Leopold, Syncretism in Religion,148
22
Light 2000, Anita Leopold, Syncretism in Religion, 381.
23
J.J. Klor De Alva, “Spiritual Conflict and Accommodation in New Spain: Toward a Typology of Aztec
Responses to Christianity.” The Inca and Aztec States, 1400-1800: Anthropology and History (New York:
Academic Press, 1982), 348.
transformed?; why do certain elements stay the same?; why are new elements introduced?; and
finally, how do we resolve the power element that seems to be inherent within the study of these
syncretistic situations due to their colonial context but also due to the potential association
between power and religion as a whole?
To answer the above questions, I propose a heuristic model that derives from Darwin’s
survival of the fittest theory. The selection of religious elements in the scope of this study can be
predicted based on three factors: survival, power, and resistance. By aligning this heuristic
model with Darwin’s theory, the religious elements become more or less “traits” that help an
individual survive and prosper.
This paper will evidence these claims through a thorough analysis of Spanish Latin
America from conquest until approximately the end of the early modern period (1750-1800).
This area is well-suited for the study of syncretism as it was the point of encounter and clash
between myriad societies with large variations in religious beliefs. Africans and Indigenous
Peoples contributed to the large variety of religious and cultural elements. On the other end, the
Spanish colonizers brought a violent version of their Christian religion to America that was
relatively intolerant to the pre-existing religious beliefs of the subjugated populations. Spanish
Christianity was universalist, claiming that their god was the one and only true god for all
peoples.24 Thus, the Christian religion was imposed onto the subjugated populations with quite
cruel treatment towards those who did not accept it, necessitating a need for the subjugated
population to adapt their religious beliefs. As the Spaniards' right to the land in America was tied
with their duty to evangelize the natives, Christianity and conversion became central focuses of
the conquest. On the Spanish side of the conquest, their self imposed power and authority in
the New World was derived from their religious beliefs. This led to many new changes,
selections, and conditions of the religion that were used to bolster and cement their authority in
the New World. On the subjugated and non-European side, religion became a tool to enhance
survival as well as resist colonial rule often through bolstering an individual’s or group’s power.
Ultimately, what we see is a rich site for religious syncretism. There were a variety of religious
beliefs to select from in a society in which religion had an important role. The clash of beliefs
was well recorded through Inquisition records, memoirs, and other legal and religious records.
Individuals of both sides of the conquest either resisted, reinforced, or inverted the power
dynamics inherent in the colonial situation through religious selection and syncretism, and their
motivations for selection fell into the three aforementioned predictor categories.

Ⅳ
Survival
Survival was one of the primary motivators for religious selection in this time period.
Non-Europeans and Europeans alike sought out supernatural beings to worship and religious
practices such as healing that would theoretically ensure their survival either literally or through
divine protection/intervention. This theory is affirmed by past scholars of syncretism. Ulrich
Berner, historian of religions, asserts that syncretism as a survival mechanism works well as
syncretism often occurs under environments of pressure in which groups have to adapt to

24
Tzvetan Todorov, The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other, trans Richard Howard (New
York: Harper & Row, 1982) 105.
survive.25 Fernando Cervantes, who studied the Latin American religions and conquest, claimed
that “religious concepts are rooted in specific ways of responding and reacting to the natural
environment”.26 According to these scholars, religious syncretism and potentially religion as a
whole has a correlation with the factor of survival.
In Spanish Latin America, one of the religious practices most connected with survival
was that of native and African healing. Healing in the New World serves as a strong case study
for the selection of religious beliefs based on survival, one that included both colonized and
colonizer groups. The Spanish colonies in America had little medical aid or personnel in
comparison to the large population of Europeans, Africans, and Indigenous Peoples living
there.27 The lack of medicine necessitated another source of healing. Native and African healing
methods were demonized and frowned upon by Inquisitors due to their association with magical
practices or the peyote hallucinogen.28 Yet, their help was often consulted in the New World by
Europeans and non-Europeans alike, regardless of the official perspective. Ana de Pinto, a
mulatto healer, consulted a Spanish constable named Bartolome de Ruiz. Ruiz reportedly
welcomed her treatments, despite the inclusion of prohibited hallucinogens and “witchcraft”
elements.29 In this instance, Ruiz chose to sacrifice his hierarchical position in the New World
(even if just for a moment) and submitted to a mulatto woman. He chose to ignore the prohibited
methods of treatment so he could be healed. When Ana asked him if he would drink her
concoction, he replied that “to have health, there was nothing he wouldn’t take”. Ruiz’s
statement mirrored the actions of many others in Spanish America as members of all sectors of
society routinely consulted indigenous and African healers due to the necessity of their service
for survival.30 Despite the official condemnation against magical healing practices, healers were
usually only denounced to the courts if the healer gained too much social power and, otherwise,
were tolerated by authorities31. This religious practice was embraced by almost all groups in the
New World, non-European and European alike, due to its positive impacts on survival. Healing
in the New World survived its persecution and prohibition because all peoples and castes of the
New World needed it to survive.
Similar to the issue of conversion, healing practices were complex in their origin.
Although Christian and occasionally non-Christian religious elites propagated an understanding
that Christian vs. non-Christian elements were mutually exclusive, individuals in Spanish

25
Ulrich Berner, “The Notion of Syncretism in Historical and/or Empirical Research,” Historical
Reflections / Réflexions Historiques 27.3 (Berghahn Books, 2001) 509.
26
Fernando Cervantes. The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain. (Yale
University Press, 1994) 160.
27
Joan Cameron Bristol, “From Curing to Witchcraft: Afro-Mexicans and the Mediation of Authority,”
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 7.1 (Spring 2006) 1.
28
Nora E. Jaffary ed, Mexican History: A Primary Source Reader, 122-123.
29
Joan Cameron Bristol, “From Curing to Witchcraft: Afro-Mexicans and the Mediation of Authority”, 1.
—----------------------. Christians, Blasphemers and Witches: Afro-Mexican Ritual Practice in the
Seventeenth Century, (University of New Mexico Press, 2007) 149.
30
Joan Cameron Bristol, “From Curing to Witchcraft: Afro-Mexicans and the Mediation of Authority”, 1.
31
Joan Cameron Bristol, “From Curing to Witchcraft: Afro-Mexicans and the Mediation of Authority”, 4.
The toleration of healers by authorities was linked to the need for their services; however, it was also very
conditional on the healers using just their medical knowledge rather than any magical or supernatural
elements (this will be discussed further in Section V). The common perspective was different and, in
many cases such as Ruiz’s, Europeans directly accepted and even welcomed the magical side of healers
and curanderos treatments.
America were more open minded to the sources around them. Native, African, mulatto, and
Spanish American healers did not operate their practice with religious blinders on, so to speak.
They selected from the vast variety of elements around them and this selection is more
accurately predicted by the factor of survival than the origin of the selected elements. Although
the tradition of healing had its roots in native and African tradition, healers also incorporated
Christian symbols and rituals to bolster the strength of their healing power. When Ana de Pinto
healed Bartholome de Ruiz, she invoked the Holy Trinity and made signs of the cross all over
Ruiz’s body. She stitched a bag filled with loose hairs with the symbol of the cross and sewed it
into Ruiz’s shirt. Within her healing ritual, we can see remnants of both Christian and African
religions employed simultaneously, undoubtedly to invoke the power of both traditions, thereby
maximizing the effectiveness of the healing.32 The powers of healing were convincing enough
that Spaniards occasionally would become healers. In Quezada’s study of 70 curanderos tried
by the Inquisition in the New World, 11 of them were Spaniards, testifying to its employment and
practice by all castes.33 When healers and curanderos were denounced to the Inquisition for
their magical practices, they often attributed their healing powers to the Christian god.34
Curandero Juan Vásques claimed he was visited by an old man with a cross whom he believed
to be Saint John who taught him the functions of herbs and the illnesses they treated. Juana
Agustina, also a curandero, claimed her healing powers derived from a guardian angel she
could communicate with35. By attributing their powers to the conquering god, curanderos and
healers attempted to legitimize their practice and avoid persecution by associating healing with
the Spanish supernatural power. The employment of Christian elements within healing was an
attempt to protect the necessary practice from persecution while also amplifying its effects by
associating it with the additional power of Christianity.
The practice of healing reveals a complex web of religious elements used for protection.
The religious practice of healing itself directly impacted and improved an individual’s health and
wellbeing and was employed for that purpose by all castes and races. Christian elements within
healing served to amplify this function while also protecting the practice of healing from
persecution, ensuring the survival of the necessary practice by legitimizing it. Finally, the
practitioners of healing, the curanderos and other healers, attributed their powers to the
Christian supernatural realm to protect themselves from persecution. This chain clearly
illustrates the variety of religious change and blending within this paper’s model of syncretism.
In some instances, healing was blended and imbued with Christian elements; in others, it was
strictly native/African in origin but utilized by Europeans and non-Europeans alike; while, in
other employments, it was described as a Christian practice by healers themselves in attempts
to reinforce and protect the religious practice within the politically accepted sphere of
Christianity. In reference to the model, these represent blended religious creations, non-blended
religious changes, and changes to the original religious practice all resulting from the interaction
of European and non-European religions. If one was to study religious healing in the context of
the definition of previous scholars–religious elements of blended origin–then the larger picture of
32
For more instances of healing with elements of mixed origin, see Bristol 2007, Chapter 5.
33
Noemí Quezada, “The Inquisition’s Repression of Curanderos” in Cruz, 1991
34
Nicholas Griffiths, “Andean Curanderos and their Repressors: The Persecution of Native Healing in
Late 17th and Early 18th Century Peru” in Griffiths (1999) 186.
35
Nicholas Griffiths, “Andean Curanderos and their Repressors: The Persecution of Native Healing in
Late 17th and Early 18th Century Peru” 190.
the religious change surrounding healing would be missed. This vast variety of religious
syncretism is underlined by the common denominator of healing: to protect oneself, to increase
the protection one had, or to protect the practices that protected oneself.
These religious elements that individuals selected and employed in the New World in
attempts at survival were not static. Rather, the elements underwent changes themselves in
order to serve the interests of the people, interests that were changing due to the conquest. If
one recalls Figure 2, this type of religious change to pre-existing elements is characteristic of a
syncretic scenario and, therefore, can equally be explained by survival. As these religious
elements were used to strengthen an individual to the times/environment they were facing,
these elements had to adapt to fit the new colonial situation, making their pre-conquest and post
conquest forms different.
The native mountain gods of the Andean peoples can be observed changing over time
during the colonization of the region. Before the Spanish, the mountain gods were symbols of
power and were unique to the villages that worshiped them. The mountain gods were viewed as
intercessors in the physical world, protectors of the people and town that they were patrons of.
Upon the arrival of the Spanish, the Andean mountain gods slowly began to adopt appearances
parallel to Catholic saints in their depictions: they would ride on horses, appear in white, and
carry swords. Their skills and authority were also adapted to reflect the changing colonial
environment. The mountain god of Hacas began to insist his patrons give him offerings in the
form of silver coins and his character transformed into one that represented the mercantilist
economy. Some of the mountain gods were fully transformed into white Europeans in their
appearance. These gods were viewed as divine lawyers with influence over the European world
order, advocates for the natives they derived from but did not appear as. Since Andeans
perceived their welfare as dependent on the influence their gods had on the material world, their
mountain gods were transformed to be able to exert influence over the new world order and
protect/fulfill the needs of their people in the changing situation.36
The change in the cult of Mary in the New World mirrors the Andean mountain gods as
Mary’s function was reinvented as a similar divine interceder. In fact, the cult of European saints
as a whole was often welcomed by natives due to their functions as “advocates and protectors
of material well-being, especially health and crops”.37 This function served as a bridging point
between Christian and native traditions as native religions often held gods or huacas to be
guardians of towns.38 Even the translation of Mary into the Andean tongue reflects her change in
function as one of her translations, as recorded by Garcilaso de la Vega, was “Our Advocate”.39
Due to the adoption of the Virgin Mary all around Spanish America, she gradually became a

36
Silverblatt 1988, “Political Memories and Colonizing Symbols: Santiago and the Mountain Gods of
Colonial Peru”. What is also interesting about this evolution of the Andean mountain gods is that the same
change occurred in various European cults of saints. Saints, in the European Christian religion, were also
viewed as divine lawyers and were transformed or created in an apotropaic way–one in which the saints
exerted influence over the individual’s lives and could assist them. This connection is a very prevalent one
for this paper as it reveals the possibility that religious selection and change could be predicted by
survival elsewhere besides the religious encounter in Early Modern Spanish America.
37
Gustavo Benavides. “Syncretism and Legitimacy in Latin American Religion” in Leopold, 2014, 204.
38
Father Pablo Joseph de Arriaga, The Extirpation of Idolatry in Peru, 25.
39
Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of the Incas: A General History of Peru Pt 2., 805.
general protectress of the natives.40 She was viewed as an interceder that, like the mountain
gods, protected and worked on behalf of her believers. The cult of the Virgin Mary in the New
World is particularly interesting because the changes in her were very clearly made for
survivalistic purposes, turning Mary into a supernatural ally and protectress. Clearly, these
elements that were Christian or Andean in origin were reinvented and repurposed over time to
serve the interests of survival, to protect individuals. Although their change is not explicitly
explained by the mixedness that previous scholars identified as syncretism, it is clear that these
religious changes were a reaction to and a result of the collision of the native/African and
European religions.
The conquest of America brought about extreme change in the lives of Native
Americans, Africans, and Europeans in the New World and created a dangerous and shifting
environment for all three groups. In accordance with Darwin, as the environment around
individuals’ change, they, too, change to adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. This
concept was extremely evident in the religious syncretisms in the New World. Conversion was
enacted, elements were eliminated, bolstered, and mixed, and the elements themselves were
changed and reinvented. Religious selection was a tool employed by the peoples of the New
World to protect themselves with religious elements or identities. To predict this selection and
the direction of the religious syncretism it would make, one can easily apply the concept of
survival. Be it physically, through healing, or symbolically, through the supernatural intervention
of the Virgin Mary, religious elements in the New World were selected, created and changed
based on their efficacy in guaranteeing protection, ensuring survival, and allowing their adopters
to eliminate negative or harmful influences in their lives.

Ⅴ
Power
The second determiner in predicting the selection process of syncretism in the New
World is power. Religious selection was often a social tool that individuals employed to gain
status or authority within a community or population. This was often done in the New World by
associating the individual with supernatural power through belief or through traditions in which
they communicated with or drew upon the power of the supernatural. In the New World, the cult
of saints was manipulated by Europeans in the New World to associate themselves and their
cause with divine strength, imbuing their victories with the supernatural. Spaniards invoked
saints before battles to gain their favor and secure the outcome.These saints were most often St
James (otherwise known as Santiago) and the Virgin Mary. Although there were often
disagreements about which version of the Virgin Mary assisted, she was often credited for
military successes in the New World.41 Inca chronicler Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala claimed
that “before every battle, they [the Spaniards] humbled themselves and with their weapons
actually in their hands appealed to their Holy Mary”.42 In Tenochtitlan, Spaniards under Cortes

40
William B. Taylor, “The Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: An Inquiry into the Social History of Marian
Devotion.” American Ethnologist 14.1 (1987) 20-21.
41
Joseph Kroger, Aztec Goddesses and Christian Madonnas: Images of the Divine Feminine in Mexico,
(2012) 133.
42
Don Felipe Huama Poma de Ayala, Letter to a King: A Peruvian Chief’s Account of Life Under the Incas
and Under Spanish Rule, Christopher Dilke, ed. and trans., (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978) 114
mass slaughtered native dancers after yelling “for Saint James and at ‘em men!”.43 Spaniards
connected their conquest with the power of their supernatural realm, hoping to gain that power
in order to emerge victorious. In one popular instance, their connection seemed to succeed.
During the battle of Cuzco, the Spaniards, outnumbered and trapped in the city, called upon St
James and St Mary to save their lives and defeat the natives they were battling.

“The Spaniards attacked the Indians with the same courage and ferocity, calling aloud on
the name of the Virgin and on that of their defender, the apostle St. James.”44

St. James thus descended in a clap of thunder and fought for the Spaniards “sword in hand,
mounted on a white horse”.45 According to Guaman Poma and Garcilaso de la Vega, he killed
many natives and assisted greatly in saving the Spaniards from death and defeating the Inca.
Similarly, the Virgin Mary descended from the sky and although she did not directly kill any Inca,
she caused a dust to fall into their eyes, preventing them from seeing and giving the Spaniards
that evoked her the upper hand.46 This story linked Spaniards with divine intervention and
protection and became legend, one that deterred future efforts of resistance against the
Spanish. St. James was gradually transformed during the conquest into Santiago, the killer of
Indians.47 Mary, similar to the way she was changed in native-Christian religion, became a
patron and motive of the Spanish military. These syncretic changes were enacted by the
Spaniards to visually superiorize themselves and to gain power by supernatural association.
The changes to Christian religion, as well as the very importance of it in the New World, can be
explained by their relation to the power struggle that was the conquest, making Christianity a
metaphorical toolbox from which Spaniards selected and modified religious elements to gain or
retain their power in the New World.
Christianity and the symbols that revolved around it became associated with power and
the dominant sectors of society in the New World. Although this power was intended by the
Spanish to be associated with themselves, natives and Africans adopted and reinvented certain
elements of Christianity to harness this power as well. The Mesomericans as well as the
Andeans had traditions of adopting the gods of their conquerors whilst retaining their own. This
was not simply to acquiesce to the new rule of their conquerors but rather a tradition closely
related to power. These groups believed that victory in battle demonstrated the “strength of the
victor’s god” and their adoption of this deity was an effort to associate themselves with that
43
Bartholomé de Las Casas, A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies. 50
44
Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of the Incas: A General History of Peru Pt 2, 801
45
Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of the Incas: A General History of Peru Pt 2, 808
46
Don Felipe Huama Poma de Ayala, Letter to a King: A Peruvian Chief’s Account of Life Under the Incas
and Under Spanish Rule, 115
47
The concept of warrior saints first emerged as another example of syncretism (as we use it in this
study). It was initially developed as a counter-rhetoric to the Muslim verse stating that Mohammed was
aided by Gabriel and 4000 angels. Although their function was changed or amplified in the New World,
both St James and St Mary as warrior saints had their roots in the Reconquista and the clashes between
Islam and Christianity. However, that does not cloud the claim that these syncretisms were enacted for
purposes of power because, even though their origins might have been in the Reconquista rather than
just in the New World, they were still developed to associate Spaniards with supernatural power and with
the intent of ensuring victory.
Joseph Kroger, Aztec Goddesses and Christian Madonnas: Images of the Divine Feminine in Mexico,
130.
power.48 Following the legendary battle of Cuzco, the Andeans initiated this process with
Santiago. The Spaniards made Santiago the killer of Indians, but the military might and victory
attached to him led the Inca and Andeans to integrate him into their pantheon. The natives
interpreted Santiago as a supernatural entity whose powers and blessing they could obtain by
worshiping him, a blessing they believed could be used to succor victory against the
Spaniards.49 Santiago was further connected with material power by Spaniard’s invocation of
him when using guns or other forms of firepower:

“When Spaniards wage war, they shout before shooting their arquebuses, which the
Indians call illapa or lightning, ‘Santiago, Santiago’”50

The arquebuses and firepower in general were weapons unfamiliar to the natives of Latin
America. They thought of these weapons as a form of divine power materialized in lightning, or
illapa in Andean. In De la Vega’s chronicling of the conquest, a native man named Rumiñaui
claimed that the Spaniards were armed with “lightning and thunder [...] and killed Indians at two
or three hundred paces.” The association between this new, unknown weapon and Santiago
directed many natives to adopt and worship Santiago to obtain the physical power inherent in
the firepower of the Spaniards.51 Over time, Santiago became merged with the Andean divinity
Illapa, the god of thunder and lightning who was linked with conquerors, power, and
domination.52 This merging created a syncretic overlap in which the two names could be used
interchangeably while also combining the respective powers of the two aforementioned deities
into one concept, theoretically enhancing the power by association of those who worshiped him.
The adoption of Santiago by the Andean peoples was an attempt to replicate the military might
of the Spaniards, both through supernatural intervention and through the material weapons that
were foreign to the natives. The adoption of Santiago relied almost entirely on his association
with military victory, the dominant society, and power.
The Virgin Mary was similarly employed by the Spanish in efforts to achieve victory and
strengthen their military. The Virgin Mary became a prominent symbol of the conquerors, a
conscious link established by the Spaniards. During the Reconquista, the Spanish would place
images of the Virgin Mary at recently conquered sites. In the first town that Hernan Cortes
captured, he commanded the natives to worship the image of the Virgin Mary and set her image
on the altar, continuing the tradition of St. Mary as conqueror.53 In Copacabana, an area recently
conquered by the Inca, the people faced a frost in 1582. To prevent it from destroying their

48
Fernando Cervantes. The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain, 42.
49
Irene Silverblatt. “Political Memories and Colonizing Symbols: Santiago and the Mountain Gods of
Colonial Peru,” 187.
The adoption of Santiago establishes a link between survival, power, and resistance. Natives adopted him
to gain his supernatural power while also using the aforementioned power to resist colonial rule and
survive potential violent encounters through divine protection.
50
Father Pablo Joseph de Arriaga. The Extirpation of Idolatry in Peru, 54.
51
David D. Gow, “The Roles of Christ and Inkarri in Andean Religion”, The Journal of Latin American Lore
6.2 (1980) 281.
52
Irene Silverblatt. “Political Memories and Colonizing Symbols: Santiago and the Mountain Gods of
Colonial Peru,” 175.
53
Joseph Kroger, Aztec Goddesses and Christian Madonnas: Images of the Divine Feminine in Mexico,
128
crops, they chose to honor a saint and selected St. Mary.54 Rather than selecting St. Anthony,
the patron saint of harvest or others with functions more applicable to their situation, the Incas
selected the Virgin Mary because her feast day was in that same month of February. The history
of the island of Copacabana created an imperial dimension to this selection. When the Incas
conquered Copacabana and the island near it, they transferred many natives away from their
place and used the island to distribute maize to the rest of the empire. When the Inca empire
came under duress, they created a cult of their sun god on the island of Collao just outside of
Copacabana to unify their people under a tradition . By establishing the Virgin Mary as the
patron saint of the island post-conquest, the Incas attempted to regain the authority they lost by
associating themselves with the conquerors once again. When this choice was being made, the
natives of the island, the Urinsaya, opposed the choice as they worried that their conquerors,
the Inca, associating themselves with a powerful conquering deity would be extremely harmful
to the Urinsaya. The case study of Copacabana is a very explicit example of syncretic selection.
The Inca quite literally selected Mary from a pool of other saints. Her function served a double
purpose: to ameliorate the physical conditions and survival of the natives and to increase the
social and political power of the Inca. The Virgin Mary was selected based on her applicability to
survival and power. By incorporating St. Mary into their belief, the Inca sought to restore their
previous conquering power.
Native caciques and leaders endured a similar stripping of power during the conquest.
The conquest had removed their spiritual legitimacy and their political authority, leaving them
with much to regain. The political piece was easier to satisfy as caciques could remain in power
over their people through the system of indirect rule the Spaniards established. Caciques could
be promoted to positions of gobernado, alcade, and regidor. Their spiritual authority was not so
easily regained. Before the conquest, caciques and other native leaders were the exclusive
parties involved in rituals that communicated with and allegedly satisfied their deities. This
linked them directly to supernatural authority that could not be replicated by others, earning
them a social prominence in their society as well. Some caciques continued to practice these
sacred rites for a few decades after the conquest, but the practice lessened dramatically as time
went on due to the Spanish campaigns against native religion. Unable to siphon power from
their religious customs, some caciques in the Chiapas region turned to Christianity to fulfill this
need. In 1582, twelve caciques led by Juan Atonal would meet in the night and call themselves
the 12 apostles. In their company were two women who renamed themselves as Santa María
and Santa Magdelena. The caciques, many of whom were considered to be model Christians
previously, blended powerful Christian identities and names with the native belief of
nagualism—that certain individuals could briefly transform into powerful, divine beings.55 The
caciques conducted rituals in which they would take the form and power of the supernatural
beings they were associated with, essentially becoming gods.56 To rebuild the spiritual facet of
their leadership and legitimacy, these caciques selected powerful symbols from Christianity,

54
Here we see the employment of saints as cultivators of well-being discussed in section 2
55
Nagualism revolves around the idea that each human has a spiritual guardian. Some guardians are
more powerful than others, the lesser being called tonalli and the more powerful being called naguales.
The individual’s who are the most powerful and worthy have the ability to turn into their spiritual guardian,
becoming their divine form and deriving supernatural powers from this.
56
Kevin Gosner. “Caciques and Conversion: Juan Atonal and the Struggle for Legitimacy in
Post-Conquest Chiapas”, The Americas 49.2, (1992) 125
perhaps some of the most powerful names besides Jesus himself, and reinvented their function
to gain power via a private and superior relationship with a supernatural entity, a function that
had previously delivered them social prominence and political power.
The conquest of America created a situation of tension and struggle for dominance. The
Spaniards sought to assert their superiority through warfare; however, they often put down their
arabesques and used their Bible as a weapon instead. Religion was used as a means of
asserting authority and gaining power in the New World, a justifier of violence and a controlling
tool. Eventually, after the Christian Europeans became the dominant power in Latin America, the
Christian religion became associated with this power. Non-Europeans selected, reinvented, and
blended elements of Christianity with their own religion in an attempt to appropriate the political
power of Christianity. The conquest of America was both political and religious simultaneously,
imbuing the latter with the power struggles of the former. The syncretic religious practice and
selection of individuals reflected their desires and motives to elevate their status, gain
supernatural power, or to stabilize their pre-existing power. Religion in the New World became a
tool that revolved around the struggle for power, one that both dominant and subjugated groups
manipulated for their own gain. The collision between the Christian and native/African religions
in the New World created a vast spectrum of syncretic belief that revolved around the
inescapable concept of power; beyond just involvement, this struggle for power fundamentally
changed the religions involved.

Ⅵ
Resistance
The final predictor of religious selection within this model is resistance. The subjugated
populations were almost always the groups involved in this form of selection. Oppressed
individuals and groups chose religious elements that helped them resist the status quo.
Elements of the conquering religion were often repurposed as symbols of resistance and
rebellion. This link is seen in devil worship in the New World. Devil worship was often a means
of attaining power, either political power or power over one’s circumstances.57 Some natives and
Africans clearly had further motivations for worshiping the devil: he stood in opposition to the
god of the Europeans, providing natives with a symbol to oppose Spaniards in the same
fashion.58 The Devil initially was used as a facet of resistance to perpetuate native traditions.
57
This phrase “power over one’s circumstances” is used here in connection with power seeking. But we
can see how this may be connected to survival as well. As expounded on in Section 4, elements were
often chosen due to their ability to influence one’s circumstances in a way that affected their survival. This
took form in the ability to influence crops, protection, etc. In Section 5, we discussed how elements were
chosen simply due to the power they had in general, whether or not they could achieve the desires of
their user. While the motivations for this power may be different (survival or desire), we can see here how
survival is linked to power as, to survive, one seeks out powers they can appropriate or invest in to
influence their survival.
58
Native and African devil worship can also be explained by another visible power that is not resistance.
We discussed earlier how many non-European practices of sacrifice, cannibalism, and magic were
attributed to the Devil in the New World. This association was conveyed to the natives and Africans
directly, instructing them that their practices were demonic. The natives and Africans, however, did not
necessarily have a concept of the devil, or a singularly evil deity, in their cosmologies. Instead, deities
were believed to act in both good and bad ways. Since natives and Africans saw their religious practices
(i.e. cannibalism, sacrifice, magic, etc) as essential to the stability and prosperity of their society and
Since the Europeans claimed native traditions were demonic, they embraced this association
and embraced the Devil himself. The Devil became the deity that protected their “idolatrous”
rituals and eventually became synonymous with the deities worshiped in these rituals. In the
instances of the naguales, the cave guardians discussed previously, they invoked the Devil
alongside the worship of their tutelary deities until the two eventually became merged. Over
time, however, the Devil began to shed his associations and synonymizations with these native
deities and became a separate entity, one that fought against the Spaniards and emerged “as
the chief opponent of the status quo”.59 Spaniards imbued the Devil with supernatural power
that natives and Africans could appropriate and draw from. But more importantly, Spaniards
adamantly opposed the Devil and feared him. Their obsession with the Devil in the New World
provided an opportunity for subjugated groups to benefit by invoking his presence. Slaves and
natives manipulated the concept of the Devil into a weapon that could be used to
psychologically hinder their Spanish oppressors. By worshiping the Devil and invoking his
presence, natives and Africans inverted the power relationship in the New World through fear.
Insert . Due to his place and emphasis in the Christian faith, as well as the strong association
between him and natives in the New World, Spaniards were ultimately afraid of the Devil,
despite what was officially said about his lack of power over God. By working the Devil into their
rituals and practice, natives and Africans weaponized this fear to psychologically inferiorize the
Spaniards.
On the opposite end of the Christian cosmology, the Virgin Mary was similarly
reconstructed (or repurposed we might say as Spaniards had already imbued her with this
function) to become a symbol and patroness of native resistance. This is a logical furthering of
the function of Mary as a warrior saint for the Spaniards. By accepting this function of Mary,
adopting it, and worshiping her, natives sought to employ Mary’s warrior powers in their own
struggles against Spanish oppression. The first employment of St Mary in connection with native
resistance was only a few decades after the original conquest, during the Taqi Onqoy movement
of the 1560’s. This movement was a nativist, religious focused revolt that believed that the
native gods/huacas would return and do battle against the Christian God and His saints. Even
though the movement sought to pit the two cosmologies against each other and regain the right
to the land, many of its female followers renamed themselves “Santa Maria” or “Santa Maria
Magdelena”.60 Within this blended syncretism, St Mary was invoked not through worship but
rather by name and connected explicitly to native resistance to Spanish colonialism and
Christianity. One might call the usage of Mary as a source of power against the religion she
derives from ironic; but this assumes the native employers to be unaware of Mary’s importance

ultimately as a good thing, when the Devil was introduced in correlation with these practices they
understood him as a positive deity since he represented parts of their traditions they valued highly.
Although this explains a lot of the early devil worship in natives and Africans, it is an explanation that is
highly situational and did not last once these practices (cannibalism, etc) fell out of importance in native
belief. This is an important factor to examine when examining non-European devil worship; however, this
paper will focus on the concepts of power and resistance as cognitive motivators for religious syncretism
rather than situational explanations.
59
Fernando Cervantes. The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain, 94.
60
Here we can see yet another connection between resistance and power. Christian symbols were
utilized in native resistance but they were also employed to harness and gain their power. Jeremy
Mumford argues that they renamed themselves “in order to be revered as saints”. The connection
between resistance and power in the New World was an intimate one.
to the faith, ignorant of this connection and irony. Rather, the natives consciously selected the
name Santa Maria to incorporate into their resistance, employing a powerful symbol of the
Christian faith as a weapon against them. In fact, some of the earliest native understandings of
Christianity recognized Mary as the singular most important and powerful factor in Christianity.
Thus, her employment in this revolt could be an attempt to harness the power of and invert what
was understood to be the most prominent figure in Christianity as a weapon against the
Spaniards who worshiped her, one of the few supernatural weapons Spaniards were likely to
comprehend and react to.
Due to her earlier function (both by Europeans, natives, and Africans) as a general
protectress, Mary was seen as an intermediary. She was consulted when her believers had
troubles, both spiritual and material, and she was believed to come to their aid. In the New
World, this meant she would often intercede in the European/Spanish legal system to aid her
non-European believers.61 This constructed Mary as an intermediary between the
Americas/Americans and their Spanish rulers. As her belief progressed, she was utilized again
in her warrior saint fashion–but this time in service of the American natives.62 Although the Taqi
Onqoy rebellion employed St. Mary in a more basic fashion, just employing her name, the
Southern Mexican revolts of 1712 invoked, through practice and belief, her more complex
authority over both the Christian supernatural realm and the material realm of Spain. In the
Chiapas region of Mexico, a native girl discovered an effigy of the Virgin Mary in the woods.
Claiming that the effigy could speak to her, a chapel was soon constructed and natives from the
surrounding regions traveled to hear the girl translate what Mary had said to her. The Virgin
allegedly claimed that both the Spanish God and the Spanish King had died and were to be
replaced by “an Indian king of kings who had come to reward native people for their sufferings
and trials”.63 Preceded by years of neglect and clerical corruption in the region, this statement
from the Virgin catalyzed the Southern Mexican Uprising of 1712, led by Sebastian Gomez.
What was also interesting is that the Virgin communicating through the native girl instructed the
natives to take up arms against “the Jews in Ciudad Real” who were allegedly trying to regain
control of Christianity.64 These “Jews” in Ciudad Real were actually Christian Spaniards. The
labeling of the Spaniards as Jews and enemies of the Christian religion illustrates how natives
adopted Christian elements, down to their very language and connotations, and repurposed
them to oppose and resist Spanish religious and political authority.
Towards the end of the era of Spanish colonialism in Mexico, St. Mary (primarily in the
form of the Virgin of Guadalupe) became a symbol of Mexican nationalism. When Michael
Hidalgo marched on Mexico City in 1810, he adopted the image of the Virgin Mary as the
symbol of his resistance.65 During this independence struggle, Mary was also employed by

61
William B. Taylor, “The Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: An Inquiry into the Social History of Marian
Devotion” 20.
62
She was reinvented by all non-Europeans here, Christians and non-Christians alike. Some scholars
argue the belief of her as an American patroness during the 18th-19th centuries was led by Creole elite.
This still represents syncretism for the purposes of resistance and illustrates that it occurred on multiple
planes of oppression! Furthermore, there were many other examples of Mary being used in native
rebellion specifically.
63
Robert Wasserstrom, “Indian Uprisings Under Spanish Colonialism: Southern Mexico in 1712”, 50.
64
Robert Wasserstrom, “Indian Uprisings Under Spanish Colonialism: Southern Mexico in 1712”, 50.
65
William B. Taylor, “The Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: An Inquiry into the Social History of Marian
Devotion”, 22.
smaller priests to invoke “her protection against the peninsular Spaniards”.66 Smaller groups of
Mexican rebels during the Independence movement used Mary as well to justify their
destruction and violence against the Spaniards. José María Morelos, during his revolution from
1811-1814, similarly employed Mary as the symbol of his revolution, utilizing her as a divine
justifier and a unifier of the Mexican people. Beyond the scattered rebellions and revolts during
the 18th century, the Virgin Mary became a divine patron of Mexican resistance and nationhood
during the 19th century. By following native and, eventually, Mexican employments of Marian
devotion and worship, a very clear path emerges centered around the factor of resistance. In
the Taqi Onqoy, Mary was understood as a source of power in Christianity, and invoked only
nominally in connection to resistance. In the Southern Mexican revolts, Mary’s function as a key
figure in the Christian cosmology and a superior entity to all humans (including the king) was
understood and used to diminish the Spaniards power and authority by invoking Mary’s divine
superiority. Finally, Mary’s functions as a divine warrior and a general protectress were
combined with her function as a patron of the people to create a divine unifier and justifier of
Mexican rebellion. The evolution in this understanding makes sense chronologically: as more
time passed, natives and Mexicans became better versed in Christianity and its complexities
and rules. The commonality between these three significant points of Marian devotion share the
same denominator of rebellion and utilized what they understood about the Virgin Mary to
accomplish this goal. Natives and Mexicans consciously took and retooled what they
understood about Christianity at a specific point to serve their purposes of resistance against
the Spaniards.
The belief of subjugated groups in the New World was certainly not a passive
acceptance of the enforced religion alongside the status quo. Rather, the religion of natives,
Africans, and women in the New World was an active effort to understand and interact with the
divine while also redefining social values and societal inequities to better suit their needs.
Resistance connects the previous factors of survival and power together to create a rich and
complex system of religious selection in the New World that was dependent on these factors but
in varying orders and mixtures. An argument can be made that the evidence presented to
explain subjugated groups’ power seeking through religion could also function as resistance as
they were attempting to regain control or power that the colonial rulers did not allow for.
Subjugated groups in the New World created religious syncretisms by actively participating in
the gradual change of religious elements into modes of resistance. Be it the adoption of the
Virgin Mary as a revolutionary symbol, the repurposing of the Devil as an enemy of the New
World hierarchy, or the employment of magic to create personal liberties, subjugated groups
directed the religious change resulting from the colonial contact into a rich system of religious
resistance.

Ⅶ
Conclusion
Survival, power, and resistance dominated the New World, both the religious aspect and
as a whole. Religion, and more specifically syncretism, served as a legitimate tool in which
people attempted to resolve their dilemmas related to these factors by interpreting and

66
William B. Taylor, “The Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: An Inquiry into the Social History of Marian
Devotion.”
interacting with the divine. Religious belief in the New World was a selected amalgamation of
elements that served this specific function. As historian of religions JDY Peel notes, “prayer is a
recipe”.67 It is a recipe in which ingredients are added, mixed together, and chemically changed
to achieve a desired result. In the New World, prayer and religion as a whole were recipes to
improve survival, gain power, and resist colonial structures. Returning to the questions this
study sought to answer, we can conclude that the religious elements present in New World
syncretisms were selected, blended, and evolved in direct correlation with their efficacy in
influencing and improving the three factors of survival, power, and resistance. But what further
conclusions does this allow us to make? Does all religious syncretism revolve around these
three factors or just those inherent in the Latin American region? Is there a connection between
these three factors, or even one of them, to religion as a whole? Certainly, this study
necessitates further research into these questions to test the applicability of this argument to
other regions, time periods, and scenarios of religious interaction. However, stepping outside
the disciplinary box of a historian, this study begs the question of how it applies to the present
day, how it applies to us. How do we choose our religious beliefs? Do individuals in present-day
also select their religious beliefs based on power? It is very easy to fall into the trap of
examining historical subjects as ignorant, simple, and lesser than us and therefore easy to think
that we are inherently more developed and that our religious beliefs and selections cannot be so
simply described by anything other than truth. However, if this study reveals anything about our
present-day religion, it is that it might be worthwhile to examine and question: why do we
believe what we believe?

67
J.D.Y. Peel, “Syncretism and Religious Change.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 10.2
(Cambridge University Press, 1968).
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