Thank you Patrick for all the information on the wear and tear of the tilma over time. Since I do not have a copy of the book with me at the moment, would you mind looking to see if it contains the answer to my original question?
No, I don’t think Smith’s book delves into it. Though if my memory serves me right, a book called
A Handbook on Guadalupe has a section about it. (I had a copy once though have since lost it.)
What do the flowers on Our Lady’s dress represent?
According to the PDF I linked to earlier:
For Aztecs, flowers represent the experience of the divine. The single four-petalled flower over her womb is both the
quincunx (Flower of the Sun, representing abundance; it lay at the center of the universe), and Tepeyac hill. The cross-shaped flowers are the
mamalhuaztli, which signify new life. The nine large, triangular flowers, six below her heart, one on each sleeve and one on her bosom, are the Mexican magnolia, which symbolized the still-beating heart of human sacrificial victims. Because a pregnant woman wears them, her son is the final victim, because there are nine, the nine levels of the Aztec underworld are filled, no more human sacrifice is required. These nine flowers are also positioned so that, with the
quincunx as Tepayac Hill in the center, the geography of the surrounding mountains is correctly represented. Because her knee is bent, and because the triangular flowers also represent “maracas,” or rattles, she is seen to be dancing, and the profusion of flowers throughout her tunic represent a chorus of song. The leaf above the angel’s thumb is the poinsetta leaf, called “Flower of Flesh” by the Indians, which identifies her as the fair Flower of Our Flesh.
