507 Words
Mexico - Chiapas Chickens
The two women are young, perhaps in their early twenties. They stand barefoot on the cold stone of the town square in San Cristobal de Las Casas. At 2100 m, in this mountainous area of Chiapas, the winter sap in the pines runs slowly but like all the other barefoot natives, the women seem oblivious to the chill.
They giggle, poking and daring each other to move closer to the mysterious brightly-coloured objects in front of them. It is quite apparent from their actions that they have never seen balloons.
The mysteries of life unfold differently here. The village of San Juan Chamula lies 10 km northwest of San Cristobal. At 60,000 people it holds the majority of Tzotzil Indians for this area - descendants of the ancient Maya - and among Mexico's most traditional Indians. It was here that the resistance to the Spaniards and their conquering religion resulted in the killing of the Catholic priest. The people took back their religion but not before it had blended into a hybrid of Mayan and Catholic traditions.
Chamulans believe Christ rose from the cross to become the sun. The Catholic Church still includes San Juan Chamula in their numbers, only now, the Catholic priest arrives just once a year, to make fully Catholic all the marriages and christenings held without the official sanction the rest of the year.
The bright blue and white exterior of the church is in stark contrast to the interior. The murmur of prayers and ceremonies is muffled by the fog of incense and the thick carpet of fresh pine needles lying on the floor. The light is dim and golden, lit by hundreds of flickering candles. Parishioners kneel in front of the statue of John. Jesus, a minor saint, stands off to the side, and like the other statues, is dressed in fresh clothes and surrounded by mirrors.
The shaman stands in front of the believer as she sits, hands on her thickly-woven woolen skirt, on the church pew. The chicken egg is rolled over her blue-black hair, and moved closely over her embroidered blouse around her back and shoulders. The evil illness will be transferred into the egg and the egg buried to take the sickness away.
Nearer to the wall, another woman is seated while the shaman uses a live chicken for the same effect. It will be subsequently killed and buried as well.
Small blue crosses in front yards show how many times these methods have been used.
In San Juan Chamula, like everywhere else in the world, Coke adds life.
But here, the black liquid is used as a potion to burp out evil spirits. The stacks of red crates leaning against the back of the impoverished store and the black stumps of teeth in the elderly and babies, attests to its constant use as a spiritual aid.
Photography is forbidden in the church and not particularly welcomed elsewhere in the town. It doesn't matter.
The images are much too strong to ever be forgotten.
Make some memories: www.visitmexico.com
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