(Mexico Atlas) Who are the 25,000,000 "White Mexicans," the Mestizos (blended, interracial, mixed race) of Mexico, and what are they called? Los Gueros, Hispanos, Creolos, or the gradients of mixing (Mestizo) with more European than Indigenous American blood. To find large numbers of White Mexicans, just visit the German dominated state of Jaliscoor the 100,000 blond-blue-eyed Plautdietsch and Spanish-speaking Mennonitesof Chihuahua (keeping their traditions and religion alive and well).
A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian Buddhist countries of Thailand (Siam), Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia (Khmer Kingdom), Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. They are normally in the form of small, roofed structure mounted on a pillar or a dais. They can range in size from small platforms to houses large enough for people to enter. Spirit houses are intended to provide a shelter for spirits that could cause problems for the people if not appeased. More
The nats (နတ်) are spirits, deities, god-like ancestors, poltergeists, unseen (invisible) beings venerated in Burma (aka Myanmar) and neighboring Southeast Asian Buddhist countries in conjunction with Theravada Buddhism.
Nats are divided between the 37 Great Nats, who were given that status by King Anawrahta when he formalized the official list of nats. Most of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths [1].
There are two types of nats in Burmese belief, nat sein (နတ်စိမ်း), which are humans who were deified after their deaths, and all other nats, which are spirits of nature (like the kami of Japan, elementals, spirits of water, trees, etc.)
Much like sainthood, nats can be designated for a variety of reasons, including those only known in certain regions in Burma. Nat worship is less common in urban areas than in rural areas and is practiced among ethnic minorities of Burma as well as in mainstream Bamar society.
However, it is among the Theravada Buddhist Bamar that the most highly developed form of ceremony and ritual is seen [2]. More: Nat (deity)
Folk Magic, Mahayana Buddhism, and Chinese Taoist syncretism
(Benebell Wen) Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism in Asian Folk Magic and Religion explained
Wait, what? We have our ancient Indigenous DNA still inside, with little Euro contribution?
.
Los Maya y Azteca tenian mucha sabiduria
(Now it) Scientists reveal shocking genetic origin of Mexicans: Maternal line almost entirely Indigenous, paternal line mostly European. Why? Mass rape, forced blending, "survival mating" with invaders, occupiers, and Spanish and other European colonial masters
Mestizo
Maya
Aztec (Mexicas, Mexicanos)
Toltec
Zapotec
Olmec
African Americans
Edward P. Vining: An Inglorious Columbus
Rick Fields: How the Swans Came to the Lake
Down with rapist colonizers of Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish Crown! St. Junipero?
Mexico? How big is the "United States of Mexico" (Estados Unidos Mexicanos)?
U Dhammaloka (Burmese ဦးဓမ္မလောက) lived from 1856–1914. He was an Irish-born migrant worker [1] who became a Theravada Buddhist monk.
He was a strong critic of Christian missionaries and a temperance campaigner who took an active role in the Asian Buddhist revival around the turn of the 20th century.
Venerable Dhammaloka (because "U," pronounced ooh, is not a name or initial but a Burmese honorific) was ordained in Burma prior to 1900, making him the earliest attested Western Buddhist monk in modern times.
He was a celebrity preacher, vigorous polemicist, and prolific editor in Burma and Singapore between 1900 and his conviction for sedition and appeal in 1910–1911.
Drawing on Western atheist (freethinking) writings, he publicly challenged the role of Christian missionaries and resisted attempts by the colonial government to charge him for sedition. More
(Beyond Explorer) DNA just revealed who the Indigenous "Aztec" (formerly "Mexica") Native Americans really were with an Austral-Asian signature from 15,000 years BP and a large mixing ground with waves of migration. Who were the Olmecs with their giant heads? Africans who came by boat or dark-skinned Indigenous tribes from the region?
Following an incredible performance of an unreleased Decessus track on national TV, Ignacia Fernandez stunned the judges and audience, bringing death metal to one of the world’s most traditional beauty pageant stages.
Decessus performs "Deliverance" with Ignatia Fernandez on vocals
In a heartfelt Instagram post, she shared that metal has always been “a refuge, a source of strength and purpose,” adding that the experience gave her a chance to “break down barriers, inspire, and show that you don’t have to fear the prejudices of others.”
Decessus covers Carcass' grindcore classic “This Mortal Coil” in 2021
Following that viral moment, Fernandez went on to win Miss World Chile and will now represent Chile and the global metal community at Miss World 2026.
Check out her band Decessus [Diseases?], who’ve toured and performed alongside Epica, Jinjer, and Insomnium, and listen to their track “Dark Flames” linked below.
Miss World Chile (Spanish Miss Mundo Chile) is a national beauty pageant that selects Chile's official representative to Miss World—one of the Big Four beauty pageants. The previous titleholder was Francisca Lavandero [1] of Los Ángeles (Chile), who represented Chile at the Miss World 2025 pageant on May 31, 2025, in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is now Ignacia Fernandez. More
(Rock Feed) Latin American (Chilean) beauty pageant crowd stunned by death metal performance
Latina Rosalia can sing, too
What about me? I can sing (Rosalia)
Rosalia Vila Tobella (born Sept. 25, 1992), is known mononymously as "Rosalía." She is a Spanish singer, polyglot, and songwriter. She has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles [4]. After being enthralled by Spanish folk music at age 14, she studied musicology at the Catalonia College of Music while also performing at musical bars and weddings. More
(ReligionForBreakfast) Writer: Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut.
Editor: Mark Henry. Executive producers: Daniel Cuevas, Jay Gotschalk, Producer: Lyndsay Ballew. Further reading:
R. Andrew Chesnut, Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, 2011. RFB Patreon community: religionforbreakfast.
In Buddhism, HOW can we transfer our merit (good karma) to benefit the grateful dead, the dearly departed, those who have gone beyond so that it gets to them today?
(Lady of the Library): Cinzia DuBois is a part-time, self-funded doctoral (Ph.D.) student and writer, YouTuber, and podcaster. She has been creating videos for over 15 years. On this channel she talks about dark and ancient history, literature, and folklore. On a second channel, she discusses productivity, personal development, her doctoral thesis, academia, and mental well-being.
Mictēcacihuātl ("Lady of the Dead"), in Aztec mythology, is a [goddess] death deity and the consort of Mictlāntēcutli, the god of the dead [like Buddhism's Judge Yama in the underworld also known as Yama in Hinduism] and ruler of Mictlān, the lowest level of the underworld [1].
Her role is to watch over the bones of the dead and preside over the ancient festivals of the dead. These festivals evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern Day of the Dead after synthesis with invading Spanish traditions. She now presides over the contemporary festival as well. In this respect, the pseudo-Catholic cult of Santa Muerte owes much to her. More
The third edition of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saintoffers a fascinating portrayal of Santa Muerte[female Saint Death], a skeleton saint whose cult has become the fastest growing new religious movement worldwide over the past two decades.
Although condemned by mainstream churches, this folk saint's supernatural powers appeal to millions in Latin America, the USA, and beyond. Devotees believe the Bony Lady (as she is affectionately called) to be the fastest and most effective miracle worker, and as such, her statuettes and paraphernalia now outsell those of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude, two other giants of Mexican religiosity.
In particular, Santa Muerte has become the patron saint of drug traffickers, playing an important role as protector of peddlers of fentanyl and marijuana; DEA agents and Mexican police often find her altars in the safe houses of drug smugglers.
Yet, Saint Death plays other important roles: she is a supernatural healer, love doctor, money-maker, lawyer, and angel of death. She has become without doubt one of the most popular and powerful saints of both the Latin American and American religious landscapes. More
What does it mean to be a "Mexican Buddhist"? Born and raised in Los Angeles, which is still in many ways Mexico just like it originally was, I went to visit my brother in Orange County. We had recently returned from skiing at Mammoth, where I would meditate in the snow for fun outside the sliding glass door. I didn't realize his young daughter would watch me. So as I'm talking to him in his very modern kitchen, she yells, "Tio! Tio, look!"
Alyssa's a Mexican Buddhist, too
I stick my head into the living room, where she is wearing a Peruvian cap with tassels seated in full lotus with perfect poise focused on her breath. "I've been practicing!" I didn't know what I was looking at. I thought I was the Mexican Buddhist (Chicano/a, Latin, Hispanic, whatever). Oh, to have had a phone camera in hand at that moment! In lieu of that, we've tried to reenact the moment with a mannequin.
Happy Mexican Independence Day (El Grito deDolores, "The Cry of Dolores [Hidalgo]," whose name literally means "pains"), which is NOT today. That's on Sept. 16th every year.
It's largely celebrated only in South Mexico, mostly in the state where an important act of colonial resistance took place. Here in Middle Mexico (Los Angeles, SoCal, extending from San Diego up to about Fresno), we celebrate the 4th of July after the 5th of May (lit., Cinco de Mayo) in much the same way. But they're not the same, and no one cares.
The Avian (Eagle) Bird People?
In the ongoing fight to resist European colonial occupation and exploitation, it's important to remember a "free and sovereign state" called Puebla in the United States of Mexico (Mexico's official name, Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is celebrating today. Is it the arrival of Buddhism? No, most Mexicans have no idea that la Dharma arrived in California, the Southwest, and Mexico in ancient times long before Christianity, Catholicism, or Columbus' aftermath the Conquistadors.
"Mexico" [a, b] is officially called the United Mexican States [c] and is a country in NORTH America, not south, not even central. But to distinguish it from its two other parts (the USA and Canada), it sometimes gets referred to as Mesoamerica.
It borders the USA to the north, Guatemala and Belize to the southeast, while having maritime boundaries with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico (which would seem to be part of the Atlantic Ocean) to the east.
Racism/colorism in Mexico?
Where did Mexico's racist "caste (casta) system" come from? Spain
Mexico covers 761,610 square miles (1,972,550 km2) [12] and is now the thirteenth-largest country in the world by land area, having had a giant portion of its land occupied and stolen by the USA.
With a population exceeding 130 million, Mexico is the tenth-most populous country in the world (possibly the largest country if its annexed land and population were restored) and is home to the largest number of native Spanish speakers [1].
Its religion would likely be Buddhism (due to the influence of early Buddhist missionaries from Afghanistan and China because the West Coast from BC to Mexico is the mysterious land Chinese Buddhist explorers found, wrote about, and named fUSAng), Indigenous shamanism (animism, polytheism), or Native American spirituality were it not for colonial imposition of imperial Roman Catholicism, which rode in on the back of the Virgin Mary and her local appearance as La Virgen de Guadalupe). The Buddhism that thrives there today is a recent arrival, likely unaware of earlier missionary work.
AI, what is Cinco de Mayo? - Let me explain, Gringo.
The Mexica speak Nahuatl
Mexico City is the capital and largest city, which ranks among the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. (Los Angeles, a Mexican pueblo and city for most of its history, is similarly large -- a megalopolis on par with its Asian twin Bangkok in Buddhist Thailand).
Mexico is also the northwesternmost country in Latin America.
The human presence in Mexico dates back to at least 8,000 BC. Mesoamerica, a great cradle of civilization, was home to numerous advanced societies, including the:
Aztec Mexica goddess: Queen Cali
Olmecs,
Maya,
Zapotecs,
Teotihuacan civilization,
Purépecha.
Spanish colonization overthrew and enslaved the dominant Aztec Empire (from Aztlan, possibly Atlantis or Great Tartary), establishing the Southwestern European colony of "New Spain" (full of soldiers and priests from the Iberian Peninsula) with its capital at Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).
Mexico became a major center of the transatlantic economy, fueled by the massive mining of silver that changed the world economy and the forced labor of Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans [descendants of Afro-Caribbeans, Olmec-Africans, Black skinned indigenous peoples of the Americas and/or Polynesia?]
Who's the current imperial power around here?
The 1810–1821 Mexican War of Independence ended colonial Spanish rule and led to the creation of the First Mexican Empire, which quickly collapsed into the short-lived First Mexican Republic. In 1848, the new USA (an extension of British Empire) stole nearly half the territory of Mexico during what the U.S. calls the "Mexican–American War." More
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