Heavy saints and apparitionism; founding myths of a cult

Abstract

In different parts of the country there is a belief in images of saints that become heavy during their transfer to stay in a place where they want to belong and not reach another that they do not like or where they are taken to repair. Which results in the rooting of such images to a place and space of worship. In the same way, apparitions of saints and deities in numinous places are referred to, after which places of worship and pilgrimage are also established. Both beliefs are configured as founding myths of a cult and it is possible to find in these stories common, semantic elements that allow us to understand the meaning that people give to these hierophanies and theophanies. The analysis is based on ethnohistorical and ethnographic data of Hispanic and Mesoamerican tradition in the Mexico Valley and the Guerrero state.