Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche

Symbol of the goddess Tanit , which is also used by the Church of the Guanche people

Montaña de Guaza in the south of Tenerife, "holy mountain" of the Guanches

The Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche (German: Church of the Guanche People ) is a neo-pagan religion that was founded in 2001 in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna ( Tenerife , Canary Islands , Spain ). Her followers see the goal of their religion in the salvation and expansion of the original religion of the Guanches .

The Guanche Church is similar to other neo-pagan movements such as Hellenismos and Asatru . In 2008 the church had approximately 300 members. It is one of the minority religions on the Canary Islands. In the same year it was the subject of the XVIII. Colloquium on Canarian-American History.

Faith

The organization was founded by a group of followers of the goddess Chaxiraxi , an ancient aboriginal goddess. The church teaches a religious and spiritual identification with the indigenous people of the Canary Islands.

From the point of view of the believers, the mother goddess produced various emanations in different places . In the Canary Islands she took the name Chaxiraxi ("The Confirmation of Heaven"), so that the Church of the Guanche people is closely linked to other neo-pagan movements, especially those who worship a mother goddess. For this reason the Church also uses the symbols of mother goddesses from other religions.

Religious celebrations

The organization carries out naming rituals and weddings and invokes the Guanches. In 2002 a wedding with alleged guanche rites took place on a "holy mountain" in the south of Tenerife, a celebration that had not been carried out in this way for five centuries, ie since the beginning of Spanish rule over the archipelago.

literature

• Néstor Verona, Alfonso García: Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche. In: Francisco Díez de Velasco (ed.): Religiones entre continentes. Minorías religiosas en Canarias. Barcelona, ​​Icaria editorial, 2008, ISBN 9788498880250 , p. 179 ff.
• Josué David Ramos Martín: La iglesia del pueblo guanche: consideraciones metodológicas . In: Francisco Morales Padrón (ed.): XVIII Coloquio de Historia Canario-americana (2008). Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2010, ISBN 978-84-8103-615-2 , pp. 1608-1630
• Jordi Buch Oliver and Pedro Silva: Historia misteriosa de España y Portugal. Europa Viva Publishing House, Madrid 2009, ISBN 978-84-937505-0-3

Web links

• Official website of the Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche (accessed July 17, 2015)
• Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche on the website elguanche.info (accessed July 17, 2015)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Religiones entre continentes. Minorías religiosas en Canarias. Editado por la Universidad de La Laguna, pp. 179-189
2. ↑ "Mas de tres mil anos de vivencia espiritual"
3. ↑ "Una religious invisible: la cosmovisión y creencias religiosas de los libios en su contexto historiográfico"
4. ↑ ^{a b} La Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche. Consideraciones metodológicas. Gobierno de Canarias.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Un 5% de canarios profesa una Religón minoritaria. La Opinión de Tenerife