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Published: December 4th 2007
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San Simon in His Shrine
The red candles are asking for love, and the black are lit to wish ill on someone else. We recently had the opportunity to see some of the religious activites that take place in and around Xela. One was in a little town called Zunil where the resident saint is called San Simon. He is essentially a manequin that is dressed in an assortment of clothing including a ties, a bandana, and sunglasses. Some refer to him as the evil saint, perhaps because you can visit him and wish ill on people. Or maybe it is because of the insane amounts of cigarettes and rum he consumes on a daily basis thanks to those who visit him.
The way it works is that you each time you visit San Simon you have to bring something with you by way of offering to ensure that he hears your requests. Apparently Marlboros and a local rum are his personal favorites. If you want, you can also burn candles in front of him of different colors depending on the type of request you are making. For example, if you want to fall in love you can burn a red candle. If you want someone to contract a severe case of gingivitis you burn a black candle, and so on.
All
San Simon Close Up
If you pull down that bandana on his face, he's got an open mouth that you can pout rum down, or put a cigarrette in. joking aside, San Simon is taken very seriously in Zunil. People are very devout in their dealings with the saint. We watched as a young guy brought in a few photos of people as well as candles and a cigarette to offer to him. We don't know exactly what his petition was, but we watched as a lady took the articles from him and prayed to San Simon, putting the photos in front of his eyes while she prayed, and then lighting the cigarette to put in his mouth. It was very serious. Some visitors even crossed themselves before, during, and after approaching him. We have even read that tourists have been beat up by the locals for making fun of the saint.
The next ceremony we saw had to do with the patron saint of Xela. Each department in Guatemala (there are 23 in all) has a patron saint. The annual celebration of that saint is quite a festivity. Xela's saint is La Virgen de Rosario, which is Mary, the Virgen of the Rosary. It was amazing to see people carry her image through the streets on what looked like a parade float. There was a procession of
Virgen of Rosario Parade
As seen from our rooftop. women shrouded in black and carrying candles in front of her. People directly before and behind her burned incense, and a band played music while the procession moved through the streets of Xela. It really was an experience.
We happened to visit Antigua last year with a group of students from our college during Holy Week. We were amazed by the colorful carpets that the locals make to celebrate different aspects of Holy Week using different colors of sawdust. They are incredibly intricate and quite large as well. We were pleased to find out that that tradition carries over into the month of the Virgen Mary here in Xela. Various colegios (private schools) participate in creating carpets that represent various things. We shot some pictures of the carpets that were created around central park.
We've also included a picture of the church that we are going to. It's called Palabra en Acción (Word in Action). The services are quite big, and very lively. The pastor, who is Guatemalan, is married to a woman from Arkansas, so he, she, and their kids speak English as well as Spanish. Their son, who is about 14, translates the sermon for those
Parade Continued
The smoke in this picture is from the huge amounts of incense waved from swinging buckets before the statue. in the audience that don't speak Spanish, or that need help keeping up. He brings me a little transmitter radio and ear bud each week. I (Sarah) love it because as the pastor speaks very quickly, it is hard to catch everything. Also, his son is so fun to listen to! At 14, he is the best translator that I've heard. We laughed because the first week we were there, we asked him if we should come find him to get the transmitter. He said that finding us is easy because in the church our hair stands out in the sea of black. I realized it was true when I was coming back into the sanctuary one time and had no problems spotting Drew's blonde head among hundreds of people.
We have found that Guatemala is such an interesting place because of the juxtaposition of Catholicism, Evangelican Christianity, Mayan religion, and superstitious belief. Devout followers don't mix the religions together at all. It is interesting to see, however, all these elements at work literally within a few miles from each other. We hope you enjoy the pictures we took.
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