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Nine Milagros
The word milagro means "miracle" in Spanish. Traditionally, milagros are small religious charms fabricated out of gold, silver, or tin, which the faithful believe are endowed with spiritual or magical powers for healing and for helping restore and preserve well-being and balance in their lives or the lives of those for whom they pray. A given milagro can be interpreted in several different ways. For example, a milagro of a leg might be used as part of a prayer or vow for the improvement of some condition associated with a leg—such as arthritis. Or, it might refer to a concept such a travel, the leg implying walking, which implies any form of travel. A head might represent a person, a person’s head, the mind, the spirit, or a condition such as a headache. An axe milagro might be associated with prayers for a forester’s safety or suggest that a relationship should end. Milagros are often offered by the petitioner to a favorite saint as a reminder of a particular need or thanks for a prayer answered, and attached to a statue of that saint. In Mexico, where their use is most prevalent, entire altars are coated with tiny milagros and statues of saints are festooned with them. The use of milagros is an ancient custom in the Hispanic world, traceable to the Iberians who inhabited the coastal regions of Spain between the 5th and 1st centuries BC. Tiny bronze amulets, nearly identical to contemporary milagros, have been found in numerous archaeological sites in Spain. Although the custom is not as prevalent as it once was, the use of milagros continues to be an important part of folk culture throughout rural Spain, as well as other parts of the Mediterranean basin, especially Italy, Crete, and Greece. Milagros accompanied the Spanish into the New World. As is true of many aspects of the conquistadores' Hispanic Catholicism, the custom of offering milagros to the saints dove-tailed with Native American religious practices, which included the use of amulets, talismans, and votive offerings. Today, in Brazil, where African influence is strong, milagros are primarily used as amulets, and are worn about the neck or wrist. In coastal regions of Peru, milagros of fish, fishing boats (some nearly life-size), and fishermen are found in seaside chapels to help fishermen obtain good catches and return safely from the sea. In Guatemala, milagros have a talismanic function and are used, along with coins, coral, and glass beads to decorate silver chain necklaces known as chachales. These nine hand-painted tin milagros might be connected with worries over a heart condition, or represent the love that one person feels for another. They also represent a devotion or petition to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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