| Following the Trail of the Urban Miracle Seekers III. Praying to the Animitas There are thousands of animitas venerated at shrines in the cities and roadsides. Built like a house or church at the site of death, these shrines are decorated with crosses, candles and flowers. Most have metallic plaques with the names of the dead, as well as written testimonies of the miracles given by the animita. The testimonies appear in the form of letters, or sometimes as paintings representing the miracle. These objects narrate not only the miracles performed by the souls, but also their life and death. The transmission of miracle accounts and stories about the life and death of the animitas are passed on visually through the display of objects decorating the shrines, and orally through storytelling. Changes in the display of objects influence the stories created by believers, who receive these visual clues and recreate the stories about the life and death of the animitas. Although these individual stories change through time by narrating different types of death and suffering, the shrines remain as sites for the expression of injustice for those who feel disempowered. |
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©2005, 2006, 2007 Lydia Nakashima Degarrod All rights reserved. |