Link to the text of the Loa To The Divine Narcissus
Background
The “Loa to the Divine Narcissus” was written by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz around 1688 in colonial Mexico as a prologue to her auto sacramental “Divine Narcissus.” A loa was a traditional Spanish theatrical form – a short dramatic piece performed before the main play to introduce themes and gain audience favor. Sor Juana, writing from her convent in Mexico City, created this work for performance at the Spanish royal court in Madrid, using allegory to explore the encounter between indigenous Mexican religious practices and Spanish Christianity during the conquest period.
Plot Summary
The loa opens with indigenous characters OCCIDENT and AMERICA celebrating their “God of the Seeds” through ritual dance and song, representing Aztec agricultural and religious traditions. Spanish characters RELIGION (a lady representing missionaries) and ZEAL (an armed captain representing conquistadors) interrupt this ceremony, leading to conflict over religious conversion. After ZEAL conquers the indigenous characters through military force, RELIGION advocates for conversion through persuasion rather than violence, drawing parallels between indigenous beliefs about their corn deity and Christian Eucharistic theology. The piece concludes with RELIGION proposing to stage an allegorical play (“Divine Narcissus”) in Madrid to teach Christian mysteries through familiar indigenous religious concepts.
Historical Significance
The loa represents a remarkable literary achievement in colonial literature, as Sor Juana gives sophisticated theological arguments to indigenous characters while critiquing purely violent conquest methods. By drawing parallels between Aztec corn rituals and the Christian Eucharist, she suggests that indigenous peoples already possessed divine truth and deserved conversion through reason rather than force. This approach was quite bold for its time, as it validated indigenous religious thought and implicitly criticized brutal aspects of the Spanish conquest. The work demonstrates Sor Juana’s diplomatic genius – working within acceptable Christian missionary frameworks while advocating for indigenous dignity and promoting theological dialogue over religious destruction.