Folk -religious belief and practice in central Mexico: Re -construction of tradition and the dynamics of folk -religious plasticity

Folk-religious belief and practice remain strong in the face of growing foreign and national tourism, as well as a burgeoning foreign expatriate population in the San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico region. Based on the study of a folk-religious cult that revolves around a primary and omnipotent sacred cross, this dissertation examines and explicates some of the dynamics involving this cult and its followers with regard to the local region, while also proposing a recognition for the dynamics of folk-religious plasticity that allow for the persistence of pre-Hispanic indigenous tradition and ideology, and are the result of a historically created 'profound' Mexican culture ( Mexico profundo) as it is defined by Guillermo Bonfil Batalla (1996).;My proposed research paradigm for the dynamics of folk-religious plasticity is derivative of longitudinal ethnographic research where observations of rural campesinos and more urban and semi-urban mestizo groups, and some of their select rituals and ceremonies involving the sacred cross (and its recent and mysterious 'vanishing'), revealed numerous re-constructions (i.e. structural and ideological changes) of folk-religious practice and/or beliefs; socio-cultural processes that are observable and applicable to other regions of Mexico and Latin America. Detailed descriptions of these rituals and ceremonies, and some of their diachronic changes, are provided as case study examples with regard to Correa's (1998, 2001) suggestion that we consider the adaptability and ambiguity of these folk-religious symbols in the face of a constantly interacting global and colonial world. Indeed, these case studies buttress the proposed neologism of folk-religious plasticity (as opposed to adaptability) to enhance the body of literature concerning Mexican folk-religion and the changes that occur within it, and they contribute to the discourse concerning these issues within the anthropological discipline. This study not only argues for a more current description of cultural persistence through change, but it offers new insight into the dynamics of a constantly changing world.