Milagros: A Book of Miracles

This is the sweetest little book of miracles. Helps you understand the power of milagros and why they are left at shrines and sacred sites by believers. This is a beautiful tradition and living in the Southwest I too practice this ancient tradition. This is a powerful, beautiful gift to give to any of your loved ones! Thank you Helen Thompson & Paddy Bruce, Heather Tay

If you are looking for an (art-)historical study on Milagros, go for the excellent little book by Martha Egan (also available at Amazon.com). The short (6 pages) introduction on the history of Milagros in this book is based on the book by Martha Egan.This colourful, nicely presented book focuses on the role that (making) milagros could play in your own life (I find it a bit 'New Agey', but not too much). There are five chapters in this book, each divided into three parts (body, mind, spirit). Every chapter covers a part of our body:1. the head ('knowing is wisdom'),2. the heart ('how we love'),3. the hand ('your hands connect you to others'),4. the foot ('your feet support your journey through life'),5. the mouth ('our words are as good as our deeds').About half of its 95 pages are filled with full page Mexican style artwork. Small photographs of traditional Milagros are scattered throughout the text.In each chapter the author gives her view on the symbolical meaning a Milagro depicting this specific body part could have: its meaning for our body, for our mind, and for our spirit. She illustrates this with anecdotes from Mexican daily life: the 'mouth' chapter tells how a mother's offering mouth milagros to the Virgin Mary led to a cure of her son's deformed jaw (Yes! It is - after all- a book on miracles).The book ends with a chapter on how to make your own milagros. Another reviewer already expressed his (or was it her?) anger at the simplicity of the author's suggestions: cutting out a picture from a magazine and laminating it. If you really would like to make your own milagros, you will get enough ideas from the rest of the book. I believe this chapter was added just for those of us who are convinced (rightly so or not), that they have no creative talents whatsoever. So that even those among us who can barely hold a pair of scissors, can make their own little miracle workers.To sum it all up: there is not very much substance here. But it IS a cheerful, well-meaning little book on how to find hope and comfort in small things, and how to introduce some (home made) miracles into your life. I liked it. It will make a lovely gift for someone who could use some cheering-up, whether this will be a friend, or yourself.

If you've wondered about milagros and what they mean, this is a great book to explain the traditions. The illustrations are simple and inspiring if you're working with mixed media and want to head more towards authentic folk art. Finally, if you're a believer, the personal stories of how each type of milagro is used are very touching. This is a short book, filled with ample colorful illustrations, introducing you to milagros. For example, if you've seen little lips as a silver or golden charm and wondered what it meant, this book will explain. To dig deeper into religious and artistic traditions, you'll want a different book, but this is a fine place to start your exploration of these ancient talismans.

This is a nice book detailing history and meanings. I bought it as a gift.

compact and most informative. Beautifully illustrated.

Very nice little book.

Good book on the history of Milagros.

a really nice little book if you are interested in Milagros.

I bought this because I am studying Mexican folk art and looking for reference material and inspiration for creating my own art based on Mexican traditions. This book is really more like one of those little "inspirational" gift books that you see by the checkout in a book store. Taking one of the typical symbols of milagros (which most commonly take the form of tiny silver charms) - the hand or the foot or the head for example - the author then proceeds to offer their take on how you can apply this symbolism in "mind", "body" or "spirit" sections. The author just takes the concept of milagros and turns them into a coffee table book, and the illustrations are like a Hallmark version of Mexican folk art. Terribly disappointing.