[Buddha-l] New postage stamps with Hindu gods!

[Richard Hayes]

On Jan 17, 2010, at 10:32 AM, Katherine Masis wrote:

> In traditionally Catholic countries it is (or was) common to see postage stamps with the different manifestations of the Virgin Mary.  I haven't seen them in a long time here, but I remember collecting them as a child. 

Is the Virgin of Guadalupe popular in Costa Rica? One can hardly find a Catholic church in New Mexico that does not feature her. (Being rather fond of goddess figures, I even have one or two in my house, right next to Guanyin.) I have always associated the Virgin of Guadalupe with Mexico, but I encountered her in Andalusia, so I guess she might have come from Spain originally. The name "Guadalupe" in Extremadura is, after all, most probably derived from Arabic, so it makes sense the virgin of Guadalupe was of southern Spanish provenience.