Alfombra, Santiago Atitlán, Semana Santa 2006

Belltower

Mayan Religion

cayuco

SantiagoAround the Lake Atitlán Today History Weaving Art Mayan Religion The Cofradias Maximon Semana Santa The Yearly CycleFeria Social Projects Local Business Tienda Santiago Links Photo Archive 2005 Disaster Music Festival Virtual Maximon

Maximon

Lealo en Español

CentralWhen the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in America, one of their main drives was to eliminate the native religion, as it seemed to them the work of the devil. The Mayan concepts of life and death were just too outrageous for them to be able to understand them. Although 500 years of opression have passed the mayan religion managed to dsurvive hidden under the trappings of the Catholic church. The recent incursion of the evangelical religions into the area has threatened the native religion, but in Santiago the yearly cycle of rituals is still followed. This is part of a mayan concept; that humans have their place and duty in the greater sceme of things, and, in order to ensure that the sun is going to cross the sky and the seasons are going to change, it is necesary that the humans do their part. This includes taking part in certain rituals and accepting some sort of sacrifice to the greater good. There are a great number of religious celebrations in MaximonSantiago. It seems like there is always a marimba singing in the air and firecrackers exploding and informing the people that something is getting ready to happen. Check out the Cofradia page to understand a little about the native religious and social organization, find out about a real living nahual on the Maximon page, experience the incredible beauty of the highlight of the spiritual year on the Semana Santa page, and get a glimpse of the internal workings of the Yearly Cycle of religious eventscofradetixel