Nomadic Thoughts

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Saturday, September 01, 2007

Maximón

Tonight my friends and I are having a Maximón party up in Zephyrhills, FL (beautiful, sparsely-populated town just north of Tampa). While in Guatemala we became acquainted with one of the local folk saints, known as either Maximón or San Simon, depending on where you are and the specific practices. Wikipedia describes Maximón as:

a saint worshipped in various forms by Maya people of several towns in the highlands of Western Guatemala. The origins of his cult are not very well understood by outsiders to the different Mayan religions, but he is believed to be a form of the pre-Colombian Maya god Mam, blended with influences from Catholicism.

Essentially, Maximón is a life-sized mannequin or doll that is dressed up in any variety of clothing styles from traditional 18th century to modern neckties and sunglasses. He is propped up in a chair in a dedicated room, and dozens of candles are lit and baskets placed around him for offering of money and other objects. There are several interesting characteristics of the Maximón cult that I find fascinating. The most prominent is the offerings given to him by the local practitioners: alcohol, tobacco, fireworks, candles, and money are the most prominent. Each year the Maximón shrine is at a different house, with a different family responsible for his maintenance and making sure he receives the necessary offering so he will be pleased.

The Maximón/San Simon tradition runs very deep in rural Guatemala where we encountered him and I'm probably doing a disservice here by lumping the two together. There is a diversity of practices and beliefs associated with the cult and people are very serious about placating him with offering. The locals believe that if they do not do so they will not have their prayers answered. The prayers range from curing an illness to helping with revenge against a neighbor. In this sense, Maximón can be interpreted as both a benevolent and malevolent deity, although I've read that he is mostly viewed as the latter and you commit offerings to prevent Maximón from doing harm rather than entice him to do good.

The first photo below is of the Maximón in Zunil, a decent-sized indigenous town most famous for its shrine. It cost me five Quetzales to enter the shrine and another five to take his picture. You can just make him out in the back but the dozens of candles are quite prominent and created a hot, smelly atmosphere. The second photo shows a store right next to the shrine where visitors can purchase offerings. This is where I bought the alcohol and cigars shown in the third photo. The third is of the little Maximón shrine in my little apartment here in Tampa. You can see the little Maximón in his chair and I have placed a bottle of grain alcohol (too scared to even smell it), a candle with the Maximón story printed on the back in Spanish, two huge cigars (plus a Cuban), and some Quetzales. Finally, the picture at the beginning of the post is of a Maximón in Santiago Atitlan which we also viewed although I didn't feel like paying for another photograph. He is probably the most famous, my guess because the town gets the most tourists thus his photograph and story is overrepresented.

A Maximón shrine in Zunil, Guatemala. July 30, 2007:

Indigenous Maya woman selling offerings in Zunil. July 30, 2007:

Maximón shrine in my apartment:

So at tonight's party in Zephyrhills we are setting up a mini Maximón shrine complete with tobacco and alcohol, although this time there will be consumption of both by the "practitioners." We are even taking it a step further and buying some fireworks and firecrackers to celebrate. Welcome to the bizarre world of anthropology parties. Also, be sure to visit the world's first online Maximón shrine.

Posted by Will at September 1, 2007 11:14 AM in Honduras/Guatemala 2007

Comments

Posted by: aeortiz at September 1, 2007 12:06 PM

Posted by: Will at September 1, 2007 12:10 PM

Posted by: thumbprintaccess at November 16, 2007 01:24 PM