In the southeastern state of Chiapas (Mexico), there is a small colonial town of San Cristobal de Las Casas, which in recent years has become a magnet for many tourists and anthropologists. A third of the state's 3.6 million inhabitants are direct descendants of the ancient Maya, speaking at least nine different dialects. The most common dialect is the Tzeltal.
The people living in the villages around San Cristobal are proud of their origins and possess ancient spiritual and medical practices. Numerous "white shamans" who were fans of Nibiru who came to Chiapas mainly from the USA tried to master these practices. As a rule, they were not as lucky as Carlos Castaneda, who managed to learn the amazing magic of the Indians.
Ten kilometers southeast of San Cristobal, on the shore of a dry lake in the village of San Juan Chamula, there is a Catholic church built in the 18th century. The facade of the building is typical of the colonial style of that time, the walls of the church are peeling, chickens and turkeys are swimming around in the dust. Mass has not been held in the old church for thirty years, but if you look inside, you will find yourself in a wonderful world of spirits.
Local shaman Hernandez Gomez conducts excursions around the lake and takes visitors to the church. The entrance to the temple is decorated with stucco, depicting multi-colored butterflies, as well as sea shells. It is semi-dark in the church, only a little light penetrates through narrow lancet windows, in addition, candles are burning. The air is heavy with smoking gums and incense. The floor is covered with pine needles, the walls are decorated with cypress branches. In the central nave, there are four earthen bulls, half life-size, with two candles fixed on their backs. There are many mirrors on the walls, the Indians believe that the devil is afraid of his reflection and therefore will never enter a room where there are mirrors.
The church does not have the usual crucifixes and sculptures of the Virgin Mary. Instead, stone masks with a diameter of about half a meter hang on the walls. Chunks of anthracite are inserted into the empty eye sockets of the masks, the mouth twisted in a sinister grin. The masks depict spirits - antares. It is to these spirits, in which local tribes believe, that the former Catholic Church is dedicated.
Every year on December 31, the inhabitants of San Juan Chamula make something like a procession around the dry lake. During the procession, the faces of the Maya descendants are covered with masks resembling those that hang on the walls of the temple. This holiday is dedicated to antares. After the completion of the procession, the shamans, entering the temple, read prayers and ask the antaras to send the locals a happy year. Then four specially selected young men, called majordomo, cut their wrists with a sharp knife and collect the blood in a special clay jug, which is then buried in front of the entrance to the church. The holiday ends with a plentiful meal, libations and dancing on the square in front of the church.
It is a great honor to be a butler. Those young men who have been honored with this honor for several years in a row are respected by their fellow villagers and often become shamans.
It is interesting that the local cult is syncretic, it includes elements of Catholicism. The church has a sculpture of Saint Juan, the patron saint of the village, this saint is also worshiped by the inhabitants. In addition, Saint Isidore, the patron saint of rain, is popular in Chiapas. According to legend, Isidore was a simple peasant, distinguished by his hard work, he worked even after sunset and on weekends. As a reward, God slept for Isidora as the angel's helpers. During a severe drought, it was only thanks to the prayer of Isidore that it began to rain, and the harvest was saved.
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Hernandez Gomez talks about Mayan philosophy during his excursions. According to their concepts, all living beings are filled with energy. At any moment in life, a person releases or absorbs energy. If the exchange of energy is balanced, the person is healthy and happy, if not, he is sick or depressed. Local healers, called curanderos, are conductors of divine energy and can regulate the disturbed balance of energy exchange. Curanderos advise to smile more often, especially when communicating, in this way a person opens his energy channels. Curanderos, who possess ancient healing techniques, can diagnose various physical and spiritual illnesses by pulse. They also focus on obstetrics and fracture treatment.
The usual visit of curanderos to the patient begins with a conversation. Then for a long time, for an hour, the healer listens to the patient's pulse. The curanderos then gives the patient candles of various lengths and colors, which should be lit the next day in the church at a specific time. White candles are intended to get rid of heart disease, red to improve blood composition, yellow to treat infertility and fever, black are prescribed in extreme cases, when the patient is dying. Gomez usually explains to tourists that golden candles lit in a local church at certain times attract money and wealth.
Sometimes tourists are allowed to be present during the wellness rituals held at the church. During one such ritual, Gomez held eggs over the body of a sick woman lying on the floor, and then broke them on her forehead. Thus, he tried to draw out the bad energy from the woman's body and transfer it into eggs. Sometimes the shaman folds the chicken's neck over the patient's body. In general, chickens play an important role in the Mayan religion. Their blood is sacrificed to the antares. According to the beliefs of local residents, preserved from antiquity, if you want your wish to come true, you must give a live rooster or treat a person you don’t like with a chicken meal.
One third of the population of the 3.6 million state of Chiapas are direct descendants of the ancient Maya.
In the local tradition, a special drink made from swamp reeds and pine cones is very popular. If you drink a lot, the drink has an analgesic and hallucinogenic effect. With this drink, Gomez explains, shamans and curanderos are able to travel to the higher worlds where the antares spirits dwell. There they have the opportunity to ask the antares about something, for example, about the patient's recovery.
Ivan Rybakov