Assimilation of Christianity and Mayan religion

     While in Guatemala I was extremely impressed how the Mayan culture is so alive threw out the whole country.  I've lived in New England most of my life and have been out west to Yellowstone, places that  share and teach the Native American culture but it's always has a feeling of being in the past like when you learning about the Romans or Egyptians.

     One of the place where the Mayan culture is very strong was in Chichicastenango.  Chichicastenango has a huge market and the amazing thing about this market is that threw out it there are three Christian churches that have been build on top of ancient Mayan temples.  In these temples the only people that are spouse to go inside of them are people of Mayan decent.  Here they practice a mix of both religions, also outside the temple/church they have Mayan ceremonies.

    Another place where the Mayan culture was really strong was in the towns around the lake of Atitlán. We stayed there in a gymnasia in Panajachel.  On a side note if you very go to Guatemala you should visit Panajachel, it's a big backpackers stop and very chill.  The 2010 NFL preseason had started, I was dieing to watch a game and I was able to go into a bar there and watch one, totally made my day.
    So around Atitlán there are towns that are fully populated by the Mayans and even have their own law separate the the government.  One of the days we were there we took a boat and visited a few of these towns.

     While getting on the boat a 7 year old little boy that made bracelets got on with us.  I asked him how many bracelets does he he make on a normal day and he told me about 7,  with us on the boat he ended up making 35.  He also knew how to make wallets, purses, and scarfs all by hand.

    While in one of the Mayan towns we had a chance to visit a shaman that was the host to the statue of a new age Mayan God.  People of the town visit the God, pray, and leave offerings of money, cigars, liquor, and many other things so the God will help them and grant wishes.

 
   They also have a shrine for the God right next to the towns Christian church.  This church was extremely interesting,  it displayed the assimilation of Christianity and Mayan the clearest I've seen any where.  The front steps look like an Mayan temple like the way the church/temples at Chichicastenango are.

  The quetzal bird is a huge spiritual symbol to the Mayans and the he altar has a quetzal engraved in it.

    The statues of the saints are made in the image of the Mayan people and are dressed in their typical clothing.

   They also have the God we vistit engraved on the altar.

     When we were on our way back from visiting all the towns we had a chance to jump off the boat and swim in the lake of Atitlán.

    Below are the great guilds we had from INGUAT that showed us just about every corner of Guatemala.