Devotions, promises, and miracles: approach to dimensions of spirituality in popular sectors

Abstract

The aim of this article is to asses some of the expressions of faith of slums believers that account for a ‘lived religion’. It asses a widely widespread religious practice in marginal settlements: making a ‘promise’ to a religious figure. A practice linked to three other expressions of religious faith also analyzed: 1.To consecrate home through shrines, 2. The devotion of religious figures, and 3.The miracle experience. The data that supports the analysis comes from two sources: 1. A questionnaire applied in 2014 to a representative sample of 400 inhabitants of Buenos Aires slums; 2. In-depth interviews applied in 2011-12 to women living in poor settlements. These interviews enable us to delve into the poor women´s ‘miracles’ storytelling, in their daily expressions of faith, and the meaning of their devotions and promises. These interviews support the phenomenological analysis made of the underlying spirituality fed by such practices. The article discusses a theoretical framework to the spirituality category, by linking it to the cosmological and holistic dimensions present in popular religiosity expressions.