Change is one of the constants in human existence.
Often developments and innovation bring advantages and ease (witness the
washing machine and how it has transformed housework,
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| Thor Washing Machine advertisement 1909 (1st know ad for an electric washing machine) |
or the creation of the
battery and our resultant dependence on it within our increasingly mobile world).
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| Voltaic Pile - 1st battery, invented by Volta in 1800 (in response to Galvani's twitching frog leg) |
However, for many the arrival of new approaches, often imposed upon them
without consultation or choice, is uncomfortable and difficult. Guatemala, and in particular the religions and
beliefs of its people, is an interesting case study in coping with change.
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| Mayans in traditional and modern dress |
From the earliest days of the Conquistadors, Guatemalan
people have developed ways of combining their traditional beliefs with religions and attitudes introduced by others.
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| Mayans dressed as Conquistadors Festival of Santo Tomas, Chichicastenango, Guatemala |
When the Spaniards arrived, along with suppression,
disease and destruction, they brought Roman Catholicism. It was perhaps
reassuring to the Mayans to see the worship focused on a cross (admittedly one
with a longer arm pointing to the south.) The Mayans have a symbolic cross,
linked to their creation story and understanding of the universe.
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| Mayan Cross as an altar From Tomb of Lord Pacal, Mexico |
They believe
that, after a few false attempts (using animals, wet clay and wood), the first
men were moulded out of maize flour mixed with blood. The Mayan mythology maintains that the Mayan
people themselves were made out of all colours of corn – white for their bones, yellow for
the flesh, black for their hair and eyes and red for blood.
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| Different coloured maize |
There are four colours
of maize (or sweetcorn/corn as we refer to it in the UK) – red, black, white
and yellow - these correspond to the colours of people. White is for the people
of the north, yellow is for the communities of the south, black represents the inhabitants to the west and the Mayans themselves believe
that they are red and that their direction is the east, with its close link to
the sun.
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| Ceramic lid of an incense censer, depicting King Pakal falling into the jaws of the underworld, below a Mayan Cross symbolising the Tree of Life, Mexico |
The Mayan cross, in use long before the arrival of
Christianity, illustrates these directional differences (as well as a green centre for growth and development) and it is considered to be a
depiction of the tree of life drawn
from Mayan cosmology. Mayan astronomers and shamen believed that the centre of
the world was the centre of the universe (and for many Lake Atitlan is the
world’s centre, where creation began, with mountains rising up from the primordial
waters to create the lake – interesting to note that the lake is in fact the
giant crater of a volcano erupted 85 million years ago that has filled with water of the millennia, before
being surrounded by volcanoes itself).
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| Lake Atitlán just after dawn |
Looking at the star-studded sky at night,
especially in parts of Yucatán where there is little light pollution, you can
see the Milky Way with ease – there is a large dark area near its centre.
Drawing lines to the north, south, east and west, you create a cosmic cross
with the earth at its heart and a link to significant objects in the night sky.
The Mayan knowledge of astronomy and mathematics was lost on the Spanish
invaders, but the power of worship for both communities was intense.
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| Mayan women selling flowers for worship on the steps Chichicastenango, Guatemala |
The Spanish catholic missionaries and
representatives of the Church were careful to place their churches and
cathedrals on traditional religious sites, where Mayans had worshiped for
centuries. In return, when ordered to build churches, especially on established
Mayan sacred sites, the Mayans would secretly include some of their own customs
and practice, such as a flight of 18 steps leading up to the main church in
Santiago Atitlán (18 is the number of months in a year according to the
traditional Mayan religious calendar), followed by a second flight of 20 steps (that
represent the number of days in each month).
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| 2nd flight of steps, built by Mayans, leading to Santiago Atitlán |
In many locations Mayan practices have been allowed
to continue or to blend with the in-coming Roman Catholic approach, to enable
an acceptable co-existence. St John the Baptist is (for obvious reasons)
associated with water – even now it is hard to tell when a Mayan prays in front
of an alter to St. John the Baptist whether the prayers are to him or actually to the
traditional god of water, the rain god Chac. Mayan prayers often involve
offerings, such as rum to purify, or flower petals to sweeten the message.
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| Mayan women selling flower petals to sweeten prayers Chichicastenango, Guatemala |
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addition to physical offerings, Mayans almost always use candles, which are equally common in Roman Catholic
churches and an essential act to accompany prayers, especially for the souls of
the dead. There are many such areas of overlap, or “synchronicity” as the locals call
it. Although Roman Catholic candles are
traditionally white, Mayan candles are symbolic and more vibrant than their Catholic
counterparts – various colours are used to represent different requests (green
candles, linked to the planet Mercury, are supposed to bring good business deals, influence over a
loved one, hope, employment opportunities and lottery wins – they are also
believed to overcome bad influences; black candles are associated with Jupiter
and are used to incapacitate enemies and prevent unwelcome gossip but they need to be used
with care as they can backfire on the user; red is the colour of the East and is used for energy, love and the
reduction of sadness and bad energies;
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| Mayan prayer candles in a chapel in Chichicastenegro |
white candles are linked to purification and aid memory and calm anxiety
as well as being used to protect children; yellow, the colour of the south is
energy-giving and encourages good health; pale blue is often used to support
students, as it is linked with mental capacity, but is also good for travellers
and those in need of money; dark blue is the colour of fortune; and purple
candles have traditionally been used to dispel bad thoughts and defeat
illness). The Roman Catholic churches that we have visited in Guatemala have all allowed the
use of multi-coloured candles as part of local prayer.
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| Candles and incense for sale near Church of Saint Thomas Chichicastenango, Guatemala |
Recently the Mayans have become more overt – when
the Roman Catholic church in Santiago Atitlan was destroyed in the severe
earthquake of 1960, fragments were stored and the then parish priest, an
American named Father Rother (more of him in another post), commissioned local
artisans to build a new altar and screen.
Certain carvings have been added to
the decorations, ones that one would not normally expect to see in a Roman
Catholic cathedral. With a high degree of freedom the wood carvers and
craftsmen (two brothers - Diego Chavez Petzey and his younger brother Nicholás
Chavez Sojuel) included significant Mayan imagery: like a Christian triptych
there are three parts to the altars at Santiago Atitlan – to the Mayans the
triple altars within the church represent the three volcanoes that overlook the lake and the main
altar is clearly shaped like a mountain. On the main screen, to the the right hand
side there is an image of St John the Baptist walking up the exterior,
but on the left there is a Mayan Sharman replicating his pose.
There are local caves
used for worship up in the hills surrounding lake Atitlán, particularly the
hill that is thought to resemble the head of a sleeping Mayan,
and it is
probable that the image of the shamen reminds Mayan worshipers of trips into
the hills to pay respects to ancestors, elders and ancient gods. An interesting
piece written
by Allen J. Christenson describes the Chavez brothers’ influences and inspiration and
provides explanations for some of the carvings. Traditional Mayan images
abound – the Quetzal (the symbol of Guatemala, the name for the local currency
and a sacred but living bird) is shown on the pulpit,
either giving or
receiving the Holy Word. Perhaps most surprising of all is the inclusion of
Maximón (pronounced Ma-shi-mon in the local dialect), a local folk saint, amongst the saints and
biblical figures carved on the altar, he can clearly be seen in a panel which
also depicts a traditional deer dance.
Maximón is an interesting character – in many ways
he is the badass boy of sainthood. Stories vary as to his identity – by turns he
is considered Satan, a saint (referred to as San Simon), Judas, or a relic of
pre-colonial Mayan religion. An elderly man standing near the shrine we visited
simply stated that he is a friend of the saints. We were fortunate in that we
were taken to meet him in person. He sits between two guards in a smoke-filled,
candlelit room that reeks of rum and Quetzalteca , the local hooch.
Dressed in slightly antiquated Western attire, wearing a stetson and a
surprising number of ties, he looks a little as though he might be suffering
from toothache - a handkerchief is tied round his face and under his chin. He
sits silently, observing while he chomps on a cigar.
He is a carved effigy and
the simple wooden mask is reputed to conceal his actual face (we were told that
it is carved of fine jade, but that Gringos are not allowed to see it, due to
the first mask having been stolen by the Spanish and the replacement purloined
by a priest in 1950’s, who donated the jade mask to a French museum – it was
only returned in the late 1970’s). Maximón’s current visible mask is said to be
the fourth carved since the original theft – it is made from Tsaj’tol tree wood
(the wood which gave from to the wooden beings of the second creation in Mayan
legend).
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| Mayan Jade Mask, 600 AD |
Maximón is viewed as a badly behaved but socially-concerned
grandfather for the people; providing protection and granting wishes and at
times playing tricks. He resides with a local clan for a year before relocating
in Holy Week – the new host home being elected by the group of 12 brotherhoods
or “cofradias” (which are family-based clans in distinct neighbourhoods,
established by the Spanish to aid town governance). Due to the complexity of
Maximón’s reputation – a mixture of benevolence with occasional mischievousness
and even malevolence, people are loathe to relinquish worshiping him, just in
case he takes the desertion personally and decides to be vindictive. It’s
better to be safe than sorry.
Roman Catholicism, combined with traditional Mayan
beliefs has been the dominant religion in Guatemala until the late 21st
century. However, evangelical churches started coming, to provide aid and to
establish missions, after the 1978 earthquake. Currently 40% of the rural
population have converted to evangelical churches. We flew in from Dallas with
a group of 23 from a US church who were going to Guatemala for a week to build
houses for the rural communities.
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| Evangelical mission to Guatemala from St Luke's Church, 2013 |
In exchange for converting and agreeing to
donate 10% of their annual income (a traditional tithe) a native Mayan can
receive a new house and potentially a better standard of living. Superficially
this seems a good deal, but how does it work when the majority of the rural
communities and many of the urban-based indigenous people still follow the old
beliefs?
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| Mayan mask depicting a rising soul emerging from the Jaguar's jaws |
The answer is “synchronicity” – in effect hedging your bets by
entwining beliefs or practicing obeisance to both (but perhaps being more open
about one than the other, so as not to risk losing your new home). Corruption
is rife in Guatemala (from the top downwards: the past vice president’s
secretary was exposed
for corrupt conduct by the UN and the deputy standing with the preferred
candidate, Baldizón, in September’s elections has just been accused of money
laundering, thereby potentially knocking them both out of the running). Hence
people do not expect the government to make their lives easier – it is more
probable that prayers will bring prosperity.
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| Wherever we went in Guatemala Baldizón hung over us like and ever watching god - an inescapable influence in rural pastures or in towns |
In this complex, often immoral and demanding
environment apparent duplicity is simple and an effective way of coping with
change – utilising a subtle combination of the old with the new. Some activity
is perhaps just deception for personal gain, but this is ingrained in the national
psyche – after all, Maximón himself was/is tricky to deal with and encourages tricksters.
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| Small effigies of Maximón for sale in Santiago Atitlán shops - mouths agape for cigarettes |
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| In a traditional macho environment old habits die hard |
