A Photo of a Postcard Inside the Templo de San Juan in Chamula
It is stricly forbidden to take any type of photograpy of the local people, in the church or at any rituals. Inside this church hundreds of flickering candles, scent of incense and pine needles surround the people who are kneeling and sitting on the ground. There are no pews nor places to sit inside this particular church. The people are here not to pray, but to cleanse. They typically bring a live chicken and egss with them as part of their cleansing process. The chicken is later sacrificed. They drink Coke and posh, a local pure alcohol drink, as part of the cleansing as well.
The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst... ... read more 
