Simon DelaPlaya

Rochester, New York, United States

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San Simon sometimes called “Hermano Simon” by those who adore this folkloric saint from Guatemala.  Represented in the image of a man of means dressed in black with his cigar in his mouth and a baston in hand sitting in an old style chair and his bottle of “Aguardiente” called guaro by the natives of Guatemala, he also has his bag of gold coins with him.  In truth this spirit is not a Catholic saint at all as such he is of Mayan pagan origin the face he wears is of a 20th century man this was done as to adapt to the lives of Mayan peasants that adore this spirit.      In truth his named derived from the older names this deity used be addressed by, in pre-Columbian times he was called “Mam” it meant “ancient one” later known as Maximon pronounced “Masheemon” *1. Then Maximon became known as Simon or San Simon, this trend was started when the missionaries tried to convert the Maya from their old pagan beliefs.  Hence they started to refer to him as San Simon, the plot then became for the missionaries to associate San Simon with Judas Iscariot.  This was an attempt to make the ancient deity unappealing to the Mayan peasants.  Silly enough this backfired on the missionaries, when the peasants started to view their beloved folk saint as a greater hero.          The story goes that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus of Nazareth for thirty pieces of silver, well since the Missionaries forced the belief of Judas Iscariot being Maximon this soon became a good thing.  For in the Mayan Pagan mind Judas/Simon was a hero because he took the thirty silver coins and gave them as charity to the most needy of the people*2. In a sense this attempt by the missionaries was to make Maximon appear like “the devil” since Judas was labeled the devil, this is because Mam or Maximon is known to be a Powerful Underworld deity.    It is well known, that in pre-Columbian times Mam was considered symbolic of the "black water, bitter water," the primordial sea*3.  Hence his dark overtones for the dark waters spawned all life; however this does not mean that he is an evil deity.  The good vs. evil is a conception of the Judeo Christian theology and that is not a part of traditional Mayan pagan belief.  Darkness and light both have their places just like Night and Day are cycles of life hence an underworld deity like Maximon is not necessarily evil, however being that he’s dark in his nature he is separated from deities of light it is the balance of nature.       Something I did not add earlier is, that because the missionaries made Maximon out to be Judas Iscariot, a person will find that in many of the prayers offered to Maximon by his devotees he will be addressed as Judas/Simon in some parts of the prayer *4. Maximon is a very important deity to the Mayan people of Guatemala his blessing is required for their annual renewal festival. Also there appears to be two sides to this Deity just like night and day.

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