Chaxiraxi

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Image of the Virgin of Candelaria (Patron of Canary Islands) in the Basilica of Candelaria (Tenerife). La Virgen de Candelaria, en Tenerife, Patrona de las Islas Canarias, Espana.JPG
Image of the Virgin of Candelaria (Patron of Canary Islands) in the Basilica of Candelaria (Tenerife).

Chaxiraxi is a goddess, known as the Sun Mother, in the religion of the aboriginal Guanche inhabitants of the Canary Islands. [1] Chaxiraxi was one of the principal goddesses of the Guanche pantheon. She was associated with the star Canopus.

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As natives of the Canary Islands are believed to have originally been pre-civilization Berbers, it is conjectured that Chaxiraxi may have been adapted from the Punic-Berber goddess Tanit, and given a different name and set of attributes. She is also associated by some with the alleged appearance c. 1392, 1400 or 1401 of the Virgin of Candelaria on Güímar, on the island of Tenerife, carrying her infant, Chijoraji.

Present-day worship

Chaxiraxi is considered the main goddess of the neo-pagan religion the Church of the Guanche People.

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References

  1. Matilde Moreno Martínez: Relatos legendarios: historia y magia de España. Desde los orígenes a los siglos de oro. In: Castalia didáctica. Band 48. Editorial Castalia, Madrid 2007, ISBN   978-84-9740-221-7