Our Visit to Maximón

 

One of our last trips before leaving Guatemala in 2020 was to Santiago Atitlán, an indigenous village on the shores of beautiful Lake Atitlán.   Up one of the narrow alleyways we found a home in which a gathering of people were visiting a famous folk saint named Maximón (pronounced Mash-ee-món).  Maximón’s origins, like other practices in Guatemala, are found in indigenous Maya and Spanish Catholic beliefs.  He is also known as Saint Simón.

Maximón is considered a grantor of favors and miracles, and receives supplicants from many walks of life, including Maya shamans.  But like a Greek god, he embodies paradox—he is a defender of virtuous couples but can be a womanizer; he is a saint but also a trickster; he can help overcome numerous problems but can also help exact revenge.  He grants blessings of health, love, or a good harvest in return for material gifts.  His preferred offerings are moonshine, hand-rolled cigarettes and money (cash of course).  

His wooden effigy resides in a different family’s home every year and is dressed in standard male haberdashery of the region (see photo).  His human attendants spend their days smoking and drinking by his side, and it is considered a high honor to host him. He is brought out during Holy Week and paraded through the streets before being placed in a different home for the following year.  

We understand there are shrines to Maximón throughout Mexico and Central America as well as Florida, New York and California.