the devotion to a living santo and his religious healing

252 Pages·2015·16.03 MB·English

THE DEVOTION TO A LIVING SANTO AND HIS RELIGIOUS HEALING:
AN INTERDISCPLINARY STUDY OF EL NIÑO FIDENCIO
AND HIS RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT

By
José Maria Villarreal

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

Chicano/Latino Studies - Doctor of Philosophy

2015
ABSTRACT
THE DEVOTION TO A LIVING SANTO AND HIS RELIGIOUS HEALING:
AN INTERDISCPLINARY STUDY OF EL NIÑO FIDENCIO
AND HIS RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT

By
José Maria Villarreal
This dissertation outlines a fresh approach to the inter-disciplinary study of El Niño Fidencio
(the healer) and El Niño Fidencio religious movement as seen under the conceptual lens of an
indigenized Christianity that distinguishes itself from mainstream Christianity. Apart from
consulting an extended body of literature related to world religions, religious theory,
curanderismo, popular religion and their analytical relationship to El Niño Fidencio, I also
employed the inside research methodology to conduct my ethnographic work. My extensive
fieldwork experience metamorphosed into a theoretical model centered on cultural rupture, and
indigenous practices as symbolic resistance. The inside research methods allowed me to live
among the devotees of El Niño Fidencio and participate in their rituals and ceremonies.
Taking this into account, I posit the following theoretical framework: El Niño Fidencio and El
Niño Fidencio’s religious movement represent a cultural rupture from mainstream Catholicism
and Western forms of Christianity as evidenced by Fidencista’s belief in the spirit world and the
belief that El Niño Fidencio is a living saint and at times seen as synonymous with Jesus Christ
by hardline Fidencistas. El Niño is accessible through the intervention of a spiritual medium
known as a materia.
El Niño Fidencio gained prominence as a popular traditional indigenous healer (curandero
espiritual) since his appearance in the early twentieth century. This time period represents a
period marked by turbulence and despair as Mexican President Elias Calles persecutes the
Catholic Church, challenging its accumulated wealth and authority. At the same, El Niño
Fidencio appears abruptly — becoming a messiah for thousands by addressing the material,
spiritual, and health needs of the poor, needs that the nation-state and the Church had failed to
fulfill after the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Subsequent to his death in 1938, Espinazo, Nuevo
León, México, was transformed into a pilgrimage community that ultimately gave rise El Niño
Fidencio religious movement, a religious insurgency that continues to persevere.
The dissertation is organized into an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion. I divide my
work into five parts. The introduction provides an overview of the study of El Niño Fidencio
and the literature review details the extensive scholarly literature related to this study. Chapter
one presents a biography of the life of El Niño Fidencio and traces the interconnections of his
emergence to the Cristero War. I delve into the Cristero War during the mid-twentieth century
and examine State and Church relations. I analyze how a healer like El Niño Fidencio
challenges these societal institutions. In chapter two, I present analysis of my ethnographic
research, focusing on of El Niño’s healings, traditions, rituals and ceremonies that shape his
character. Chapter three untangles the participant’s interviews and constructs conceptual
analysis. I trace the participant’s multiple views, challenging established mythologies and
ultimately bring the Fidencista perspective to a conceptual model. In the conclusion chapter, I
present theses to support the claim of El Niño Fidencio’s distinctiveness by emphasizing his
successful accommodations to gain religious space within mainstream religion.
Copyright by
JOSÉ MARIA VILLARREAL
2015
This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, the late José A. Villarreal and Maria M. Villarreal.
Thank you jefito, for teaching me the meaning of hard work in the cotton fields surrounding
Robstown, Texas. Your famous phrase “Nomas un surco mas mijo, no mires para tras” (just one
more row, don’t look back) has ridden my fear of hard work. To my madresita Maria
Magdalena who cured me with the finest backyard herbs such as mansanilla, te de limon and
anis con canela, gracias y perdóname por las mortifaciones que te di. Your faith in the almighty
kept you mentally strong even while facing the most difficult circumstances. Inclusively, to all
my aunts and uncles both on my father’s side and my mother’s side who always blessed me with
love, tamales and pan de polvo, gracias.
I also dedicate this work to my wife Mary Patsy Pena who had the patience to stand by me
while I completed my arduous Ph.d. program. In addition, I dedicate this work to my three sons,
José Canek Villarreal, Captain Sergio Villarreal (USA), Joshua Adam Villarreal, and all my
grandchildren, who include Alexandra Bianca Villarreal, José Canek Villarreal Jr., Casey Jo
Villarreal, Mikiel Villarreal, Marcos Martin Gonzalez, Martin Gonzalez, Michael Gonzalez,
Christopher Pena Jr., Andrew Pena, Angelina Pena, and Robert Pena among others.
In addition, I dedicate this dissertation to my late hermano, Eugene Godfried, a dedicated
activist, journalist and scholar, as well as to all of the people who have dedicated their life to
struggle for social justice, self-determination, freedom and love of humankind. I dedicate this
work to the many people that have molded me into a strong conscientious man; I ask forgiveness
if I did not mention your name and accept my well-meant love and appreciation to all of you
personally.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to all the spiritually conscious people that influenced me
to complete this dissertation. This dissertation belongs to all the Fidencista community in
Espinazo, Nuevo León, and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, México, as well as those in south Texas
and the Midwest. I am forever humbled and honored to have met the late materia principal
Comadre Cipriana Zapata in Espinazo. Thank you for sharing your life story about the many
years of being a disciple of El Niño Fidencio — your wisdom has touched so many lives. Thank
you to the late materia Alberto Salinas. You nobly treated those who suffered pain, ignoring the
fact that you also struggled with your own health issues. To the late Ramon Rodriguez, thank
you for leading us in beautiful chorus in El Niño’s trono in Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
Thank you materia Nieves Carrion, daughter Alicia and sons Emilio and Jesus for introducing
me to El Niño Fidencio at the Robstown, Texas trono. Your prayers uplifted me while I was
hospitalized. Alma Martinez, thank you for sharing your knowledge of El Niño and for
introducing me to Don Beto, and materia Madgalena. Don Beto, mil gracias for the countless
hours of personal testimony of you witnessing El Niño in life and for sharing your knowledge on
the preparation of traditional salves and cures. Materia Magdalena, thank you for attending the
spiritual and health needs of the poor in Piedras Negras, Coahuila; your involvement en lo bueno
exemplifies your dedication to El Niño Fidencio. I am also grateful to Dr. Stanley Bittinger who
has been my mentor throughout my academic career. Dr. Antonio Zavaleta, thank you for your
example of being both a scholar and a Fidencista; you motivated me to follow a similar path.
Special thanks to all the social activists of the Chicano movement in Robstown, Texas, as well
as in the Rio Grande valley, Crystal City, Austin, and San Antonio as well as those in Denver,
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Colorado and Lansing, Michigan. We are in solidarity with those who remained firm in the
struggle for a true democracy in México and in Latin America despite the reprisals. Our prayers
are extended to those who continue to seek the truth on the disappearance of forty-three students
from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, México. To the social activists who are incarcerated, but continue to
plant seeds of liberation in the state and federal correctional facilities, gracias carnales.
I am very appreciative of the Chicano Latino Studies Department at Michigan State University
and especially of my guidance committee members Dr. Dionicio Valdes-chair, Dr. Theresa
Melendez, Dr. Xuefie Ren, and Dr. Scott Michaelsen. You supported me during the most
turbulent times of my academic journey, challenged me to be the best, and instilled in me the
moral responsibility of being a Chicano scholar.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................x

INTRODUCTION — The Study of El Niño Fidencio ..........................................................1
Introduction .........................................................................................................................1
Literature Review.................................................................................................................5
Curanderismo ................................................................................................................6
Official vs. Unofficial Religion ..................................................................................13
Religion and Healing ..................................................................................................18
Oral Tradition ..............................................................................................................21
Cultural Rupture ..........................................................................................................24
Symbolic Space ............................................................................................................29

CHAPTER ONE — The Life and Times of El Niño Fidencio ...........................................34
Biography ...........................................................................................................................34
State and Church Relations ...............................................................................................36

CHAPTER TWO — Ethnography: Healing Traditions, Rituals, and Ceremonies ..........64
Introduction .......................................................................................................................64
Methodology .....................................................................................................................66
Cultural Settings ..........................................................................................................67
Structure of El Niño Fidencio Church ........................................................................71
Main Ritual: La Limpia ...............................................................................................74
Selection and Training of Materias .............................................................................85
Sacred Sites .................................................................................................................87
Oral Tradition ..............................................................................................................89
The Role of Elders in Oral Tradition ..........................................................................89
Religious Socialization of Children ............................................................................96
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................98

CHAPTER THREE — Symbolic Resistance: Interview Analysis ..................................100
Introduction .....................................................................................................................100
Cultural Rupture ..............................................................................................................103
Traditional Practices ........................................................................................................113
Symbolic Resistance .......................................................................................................120

CONCLUSION — La Tierra Santa de el Niño Fidencio (The Holy Ground) ...............129
Cultural Rupture ..............................................................................................................129
Fidencista Ethos ..............................................................................................................132
Community Building ......................................................................................................135
Transnational Implications ..............................................................................................138
Symbolic Resistance ........................................................................................................142

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APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................144
APPENDIX A — Guiding Questions ...........................................................................146
APPENDIX B — Figures ..............................................................................................220

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................................229

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. “El Niño Fidencio trono in Robstown, Texas”....................................................221
Figure 2. “Jose M. Villareal participates in the the rites of passage” ...............................222
Figure 3. “Jose M. Villareal completes the rites of passage” ............................................222
Figure 4. “A small child passes El Pirulito, a sacred site of El Niño Fidencio” ................223
Figure 5. “The transnational aspect of El Niño Fidencio movement; pilgrims visit the
tomb of El Niño” ..................................................................................................223

Figure 6. “The tomb of El Niño Fidencio in Espinazo, Nuevo Leon, México” ..................224
Figure 7. “A “trabajo,”or work, prepared by the late Materia Alberto Salinas to protect
a couple from witchcraft and negative energies” ................................................224

Figure 8. “Artifacts, like this Fidencista Espada, are comonnonly used in
El Niño Fidencio rituals” ....................................................................................225

Figure 9. “Materia Magdalena puts Don Roberto under a sleeping trance known as
‘poner Abajo’” .....................................................................................................225

Figure 10. “Don Roberto after being put under a sleeping trance” .....................................226

Figure 11. “Children participate in a Fiedncista religious ceremony by receiving
cookies from Materia Magdalena”......................................................................226

Figure 12. “Sacred crystals, like piedra iman, are used for cleansing in
El Niño Fidencio rituals” ....................................................................................227

Figure 13. “Sacred charms, like this collection of personal artifacts, are part of
El Niño Fidencio tradition” .................................................................................227

Figure 14. “Artifacts, like this Spiritual Sword, are commonly used in El Niño rituals” ....228

Figure 15. “El Niño Fidencio temples, sites, and research locations in the
U.S. and Mèxico” .................................................................................................229

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