Talks: “Myth, Mind, and Mexico” [] St. Paul’s

“Myth, Mind, and Mexico”

Thursdays in March

Marc Taylor, MA, EdS, LPC

St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6

By Miguel Rangel

St Paul’s Church is pleased to announce, as part of our Tuesday Lenten Series, Marc Taylor speaking on “Myth, Mind, and Mexico.” A donation of 50 pesos is requested for each lecture attended. No prior reservations are necessary. Marc began living in San Miguel de Allende in 2000. He has always been fascinated by people’s stories and began his study of Mesoamerican stories as a way to understand the roots of the culture he experienced here every day. He studied with primary sources to whom the ancient mythology was passed in the oral and pictorial traditions. He was mentored by art historians, anthropologists, and extraordinary clergy for whom the mythology is a living mirror of the psychological and spiritual respiration of the culture. Here he presents five lectures central to the Lenten and Easter passion. Marc earned an MS from St John’s University, an MA in Psychology, and an EdS in Counseling Psychology from James Madison University.

Feb 25: The title lecture is “Myth, Mind, and Mexico.” This is a basic introduction to the power and presence of mythology in modern Mexico. Several examples are described so that we can easily identify major mythological themes and engage with more depth.

March 3: “The Hungry Woman” begins the cosmological orientation to the divine feminine. It includes a story cycle that speaks to the advent of the recognition and power of the feminine, the ascendancy of masculine orientation, and the appearance of the great mother in the form of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

March 10: “The Fifth Sun” tracks the Creation Myth and the stories that form the cosmological underpinnings of the culture. It introduces the creation of humans and apocalyptic view of our life on earth, the need for blood sacrifice, the importance of the sacred calendar, and the community of deities.

March 17: “Of Rabbits, Eggs, and The Blood of Christ ”compares the synchronous Easter symbols and the symbols in Mexican mythology. For example, setting the date for the lunar holiday of Easter coincides with the story of why Mexicans see a rabbit on the moon’s surface instead of the “Man in the Moon.”

March 24: “Land Without Love ” compares the stories of Quetzalcoatl with the advent of Christianity in 1519. It includes a discussion of the presumed lack of a “Lover Archetype ” in Mexican mythology and how quickly this void was filled after the introduction of Jesus as the Archetypal Lover. The ideas of sacrifice as an act of love, Tenochtitlan as the New Jerusalem, and the role of the Spanish Church as the governing authority, are highlighted.