Maximon , The bad boy Saint of Guatemala

Mah-shee Moan. The name is probably derived from a Mayan God of the underworld, called Ma-am.
San Simon is his Christian name, though he is not recognized by The Church.( "The Church" always means the Roman CatholicChurch in Colonial Latin America, Though lately aggressive evangelicals are making the colonial Catholic Empire seem gentle.)
The Church  had once thought to rehabilitate Maximon. They attempted a make-over by naming him for the apostle Simon-Peter.
 At a (not much) later date,The Church thought better of it, and ordered its Priests to destroy any Maximon images.
Thus Maximon , San Simon went underground. His effigy and surrounding shrine is moved yearly to a different chosen household.
The  reason for Maximon's continued popularity under under The Church's strong disapproval  may lie in the rituals of his veneration. One shows one's devotion to Maximon by drinking beer or liquor with him in his shrine. If one has a special favor to ask Maximon, one sets out for a long night of worshipping  in the shrine with a LOT of spirits or beer.  Other pious devouts of Maximon will be sure to join the worship. There will probably be singing and dancing if it goes on long enough.

The Church, noticing that parishioners were spending a lot more time with Maximon than in the pews, tried another approach. They taught that Maximom (alias St Simon) was really Judas Iscariot,  the very bad apostle.
As a response, ,Maximon's  followers cheerfully dress him up in his Sunday best, take him out of his shrine and hang him in from the church building every Easter season.
 This is not a conflict for Maximon, or for those that love him devoutly. Its well known among them that Mayan Gods of the Underworld do not stay dead. So really, a hanging is no big deal.

 Maximon alias San Simon alias Judas Iscariot is an outlaw saint ,unauthorized, but nevertheless popular for his miracle working properties, and his love for alcoholic drink,  and cigarettes. And most notably,for his  outstanding lusts.


 He is sometimes called, "our grandfather, and is represented by a manikin of sorts made of a  bundle of rags , wrapped around an ancient green stone carved as a heart. No one ever sees the stone heart.
He wears a wooden mask, and sports old fashioned western clothes, a hat , and usually sunglasses.'

He's got a wicked sense of humor. One of Maximon's tricks is turn into a beautiful woman and in that form offer food and drink, and pleasures of the flesh., to unsuspecting men. At the culmination of his love-making, Maximon returns to his old man form and laughs at his gravely disappointed lovers.
 The food and drink he offered will have become piss and feces.

Do not piss off Maximon. Drink up.

Maximon has following in his native Guatemala.....and also a small but devoted  cult in Melbourne , Australia.

Yes. Melbourne, Australia.   I dont know how this came about , but I suspect it is tied to the rituals of his veneration  which are particularly popular in Australia.

Maximon has a facebook page !  Now EVERYONE can venerate him.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maxim%C3%B3n-San-Sim%C3%B3n/34289107373

Equinox

Tomorrow, here in the Northern hemisphere ,  The hours of darkness will be equal to the hours of light.
We'll be half way from the lightest days to the darkest days.  We're only Halfway, for an instant , before our half of the Earth will be increasingly driven toward the dark, and the cold.
The Paiute people who lived right here , in the northern Great Basin,  would only tell certain stories , the Coyote stories , The chaos stories, during the months when thunder slept.

This will be a good season to tell what I know , and what I've learned about those other Gods
Stay tuned.

a lying god

Because there is no light without darkness. Anyone who tells you different is lying.

Its been lying too long. Lets have a little darkness for a change

The Peacock Angel

Yezidi are a sect of Kurdish people from Northern Iraq .

This is the story of how they came to follow the Peacock Angel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A shepherd was bringing his sheep home after a days grazing, to a cave in the mountains where they bed for the nights. 

As he drove the ewes and lambs into the shelter, the sky was split by lightning.

 The ground quivered. The mountains roared. The shepherd looked up, and  prayed for his life.

There he saw a fierce angel standing in the sky, bearing a terrible huge spear in one hand, and a ratty blue  bundle in the other.  The whole sky  seemed to turn inside-out, as the angel hurled the ragged blue object to the earth below.

Wind toppled trees. The valley shook.

Then it became calm again.

The sheep settled.

Cicadas buzzed.

The shepherd stood up, and looked down into the valley. He saw an object more brilliantly blue than anything on earth until that time. He walked toward the color, and saw that it was a beautiful bird. A peacock. 

The bird was barely alive. The shepherd wrapped the beautiful dying bird in his coat, and took it to a stream where he washed its wounds. He carried it to his cave shelter. He sang songs to the bird. He dropped warm ewes milk from his fingers into the bird's mouth. He tended the ruined peacock all night long. The bird wept. The shepherd wiped the tears.

In the morning, the peacock was recovered. The peacock spoke to the shepherd. He said, " Don't be afraid. You showed me kindness so I will bless you and all of your children."

"What are you?" asked the shepherd.

"I am the Spirit of Evil", said the bird. "I was thrown out of heaven by my brother, the Spirit of Good. Heaven has conquered me. I must continue here on earth. I will spread sorrow among people. I will plant conflict in their hearts.  Teach your children to react gently toward evil, as you have done to me. Be compassionate towards evil, in yourselves and in others. Always sing songs to me. Tend me , as you tended me last night."

The Peacock Angel rose and flew away.