Who is the Virgin of Guadalupe? How is she an important part of Mexican identity?

The Virgin of Guadalupe is the Mexican version of the Virgin Mary, taken directly from Catholicism. She represents the return to the womb that Indians sought following the Spanish Conquest. The Indians no longer had any relation to the world, but Catholicism provided relief from that problem. Their conversion to Catholicism, motivated more by psychological need than religious belief, was a return to the womb of the Mother; in this case symbolized by the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is an important part of the Mexican's identity, because she serves as a check between the Mexican and the void of nothingness, which he fears. She holds him back from the edge. Her opposite, the Chingada, takes a man into the void, but the Virgin of Guadalupe rescues him. Thus, she plays an important role in Mexican culture by being the first and last refuge of security for him.