Wisps
Sitting in the wooden room, listening to the old man talk, its as if we could have been anywhere. Not necessarily on top of a ridge in Guatemala, not necessarily in a small town called San Martin Chiquito (Little San Martin). The placelessness grew stronger as the clouds started to enter the building: what were wisps of cloud could have just as easily been smoke entering from a fire.
This man is a Mayan Spiritual Guide of the Mam tradition, and was merely talking to our group as a friend. He began speaking about the ways in which life is related to nature, and as an example spoke of the way that many Mayan names derive from names given to aspects of the natural world; for example women named after trees. However, this naming tradition changed “when the Spanish invasion came.” (Amazing to think of the Spanish arrival as an invasion upon a people who still feel it 500 years later). The coming of the Spanish brought many new things, including a naming convention consisting of hard to pronounce names such as José and Maria (which has in this generation progressed further to gringo names such as John and Mary). Only the Quiche people, one of 23 Mayan peoples in Guatemala, have retained their Mayan names.
He spoke also of the changes brought by music and movies to the Guatemalan culture and spirit. One more change brought by the Conquistadores. How now the Mayas are being more and more incorporated into el mundo a fuera through hearing and seeing things that are nor part of their culture. I found this interesting, really seeing from the point of view of a man who lives an hour outside of Xela, in a town of 2500 people, which has suffered invasion, dictators and civil war massacres, just really wants to be left alone to practice his religion and culture. However, he was also quite happy to share aspects of this culture with this group of foreign visitors, his guests.
We ended up at his house as part of a visit to Laguna Chicabal, a small volcanic crater transformed into a lake, which is a Mayan sacred site, surrounded by 20 altars representing the 20 Nahuales of the Mayan Calendar, as well as a generally beautiful place to hike and visit. Its also unfortunately a site of some intense civil war battles, and on our hike our guide pointed out old Guerrilla camps, as well as the mountains across the way where the army attacked from. We walked up through the corn fields that provide the town with some of its annual corn harvest, though our guide was quick to point out the harvest is not nearly enough. Coming to the lake after a two hour hike, we were lucky enough to get a beautiful view from the lookout spot just before the clouds came in and obscured it. After looking over the lake, we took 620(!) steps down and spent some time on the shore of the fogged over lake before hiking up and returning down, for a lunch of Caldo de Res (Beef soup – squash, carrots, potatoes, a chunk of beef and a delicious broth) and the aforementioned conversation.
On the hike our guide pointed out man medicinal plants, such as a tree whose bark contains a watery substance which is drunk as a cure for stomach problems. Also a beautiful, sweet smelling form of mint used for liver infections and flowers that can be used as soap. Its great to see how the Mayans learned to benefit from their natural world and incorporate it into their lives.
(I have since hiked back up on a second trip, this time led by the shaman dad. I appreciated being able to travel to the lake with the dad, seeing him pray and give appreciating to the lake, as well as telling some local Mayan cuentas or tales. He also baptized me with a Mayan name, which I can’t spell, but comes out more or less as Jorge Ve, and signifies a descending path with stairs.)
We took the hike with Rogelio of Chicabal Tours, based out of San Martin Chiquito, who is as a friend of mine and head of Conocimiento Para Todos (Knowledge for All) a small project which brings satellite internet to the tiny town in which it resides. The project is all volunteer, and is run out of the same small room we spoke to his father the Shaman in. Quite a site – a small wooden room containing 5 computers and a satellite internet connection, looking over a ridge out over mountains to the Pacific beyond. Rogelio teaches classes seven days a week to provide basic computer & internet skills to the children of the town who would otherwise have no way to acquire these skills. Seeing the dedication of this man, who received a scholarship and actually studied agriculture and computer science in Fresno for two years, is something to behold. He talked about how he could easily leave and find other work, but his calling is there in the town (and home) of his abuelos.
Truly a beautiful day, and inspiring to see people doing the work Rogelio is doing.
nancy says:
Dear Jorge Ve,
I realized that I never saw this post because it arrived when my Internet was down. What an extraordinary experience. And your Mayan name speaks directly to your depth.
Just wonderful!
July 17th, 2008 at 5:25 pm