Church of the Guanche People
Encyclopedia
The Church of the Guanche People (in spanish
"Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche") is a neopagan
sect
founded in 2001 in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna
(Tenerife
, Canary Islands
, Spain
). According to its followers, the mission of this organization is to rescue and spread the pagan religion
of the Guanche
people. In 2008 the Church had approximately 300 members
It was founded by a group of Canarian devotees of the goddess Chaxiraxi
. The Church of the Guanche People performed baptisms and weddings according to what they know of Guanche custom. On December 14, 2003, a wedding held in accordance with purported Guanche rites took place on the island of Tenerife - a practice not observed for several centuries since the European domination of the archipelago.
The Church of the Guanche People is analogous to other organizations in other countries seeking to restore ancient pagan religions such as in Greece
and the Nordic countries
as Asatru
.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
"Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche") is a neopagan
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
founded in 2001 in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna
San Cristóbal de la Laguna
San Cristóbal de La Laguna is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands . The city is third-most populous city of the archipelago and second-most populous city of the island. It is a suburban area of the...
(Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
, Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). According to its followers, the mission of this organization is to rescue and spread the pagan religion
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
of the Guanche
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
people. In 2008 the Church had approximately 300 members
It was founded by a group of Canarian devotees of the goddess Chaxiraxi
Chaxiraxi
Chaxiraxi is the native goddess known as the Sun Mother in the Guanche religion. The goddess Chaxiraxi was one of the principal goddesses of the pantheon of the Guanches. Chaxiraxi was later associated with an alleged appearance circa 1400 or 1401 of the Virgin of Candelaria on Güímar, on the...
. The Church of the Guanche People performed baptisms and weddings according to what they know of Guanche custom. On December 14, 2003, a wedding held in accordance with purported Guanche rites took place on the island of Tenerife - a practice not observed for several centuries since the European domination of the archipelago.
The Church of the Guanche People is analogous to other organizations in other countries seeking to restore ancient pagan religions such as in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
as Asatru
Ásatrú
is a form of Germanic neopaganism which developed in the United States from the 1970s....
.