Maximon, the cigarette-smoking, alcohol-drinking saint
Day 48: Santiago Atitlan and Maximon, saint of gamblers and drunkards
Fri 11 Feb 2011 - Fri 11 Feb 2011
25 °C
I've seen it all now.
In Santiago de Atitlan, Maximon's life-size carved wooden image is dressed in an odd array of Western clothing and is surrounded by candles, various offerings, and a number of ashtrays (for his cigarettes, of course), guarded by his very serious current caretakers (he moves home every Easter. He currently resides in a little house with Jesus in a coffin next to him - it's most bizarre).
Legend has it that this guy slept with the wives of every man in his village when they were off working in the fields. They became so enraged that they cut off his arms and legs. Quite how he became such a revered saint has escaped me.
John has arrived better prepared than me and kindly allows me to offer some of his cigarettes and alcohol so that I may witness this spectacle for myself. Here you can see Maximon smoking a cigarette (yes, that's right) and then polishing off some booze (is the guy in the background hoping we'll all sod off soon so he can help the old boy out with his new gifts?)
Presumably now Saint Maximon will be looking out for me in future...during which exploits might I ask? Stumbling home after one too many jaegerbombs? Watching over me when my friends pack me off home in a taxi as I'm no longer able to remember my own name? Or perhaps helping others to forget when I commit crimes against dancing? Well maybe that's not such a bad thing after all...we could adopt him as the patron saint of Club de Fromage, Islingtonites? I head back to San Pedro to contemplate this further over a beer.....
Posted by cmarks Fri 11 Feb 2011 20:03 Archived in Guatemala
