Maintaining Tradition, Villagers Present Offerings to Calm Popocatépetl

Today is the Fiesta of Cruz Verde. Regardless of the fiesta's religious significance, it is also undoubtedly a traditional a May Day festival of renewal celebrating the mid-point of spring—falling, as it does, midway between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice.  

From the pueblo of Xalitzintla on the slopes of the volcano Popocatéptl, the people make an annual pilgrimage to a cave on the volcano's slopes in order to ask for rains to provide a good harvest and for protection against the hail that can damage houses and destroy crops. Caves are traditional symbols of fertility and wealth. Tlaloc (god of water) was believed to live in a cave. 

As Popocatéptl has become increasingly active, the villagers have modified their petition. To her credit, the reporter allows the people to narrate the event. The original CNN story in Spanish has a series of memorable photographs.

CNN Mexico:  Elvia Cruz

PUEBLA - A charro suit [elaborate, traditonal cowboy attire], band music, a pot of turkey meat with mole, bread, fruit and two bottles of tequila are part of the offering brought to the volcano by residents of Santiago Xalitzintla, a village on the slopes of Popocatépetl. The villagers brought the offering to the volcano to "calm" his increasing restiveness since April 13.

Turkey meat with mole to calm Popocatéptl

Led by Antonio Analco, the tiempero (person able to speak nicely to the volcano known as Don Goyo), community elders left at 5:00 AM on Wednesday from the town square. Riding in two buses they arrived at  the Pass of Cortés, which is the main access road to the volcano's slopes. 

They parked the buses and walked for nearly three hours until they arrived at the 'umbilicus' of the volcano, a cave located two kilometers from the Colossus, on the side facing Puebla. About 80 people, mostly adults, participated in the ceremony, according to the count taken by Gregorio Fuentes, mayor of Santiago Xalitzintla.

The people of this community, located in the municipality of San Nicolás de los Ranchos, in the western part of Puebla state, believe that by bringing him a little food and music, Popo becomes "content".

"All he (Popocatepetl) needs is a little company, so we decided to go. Usually we celebrate his birthday on March 12th—at the fiesta of St. Gregory the Great—and we take advantage of the occasion to ask him for a good rainy season for the crops. But this time we also asked him to calm down, that he not frighten our people, although most everyone is already accustomed to his noise," explained Analco.

The volcano became active again on Wednesday after almost a week of calm, reported the National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED).

The alert remains at Yellow-Phase 3, which means that travel within a 12 kilometer (7.5 miles) radius of the crater is prohibited, and that shelters and evacuation routes and facilities remain ready.

But the villagers of Xalitzintla set aside the recommendation not to approach the colossus and walked to within two kilometers (1.25 miles) of the crater.

"We come because we trust him. I talked to him (volcano) on Tuesday night, a day before our visit, and he told me everything was fine. Look, he just 'exhales' but he  doesn't do anything. He will not do anything to us because he knows that we love him, and we will bring his offering that he might be content," said the tiempero.

"[The tiemperos] have been chosen by the volcano and by the water spirits to control the rain and hail; in order to bring rain when needed and move away storms that damage crops and people," explained Analco, who is the tiempero in Santiago Xalitzintla.

Gregorio Fuentes, mayor of the community, said they left a black Charro "bridegroom" suit for Don Goyo, "that he might have a change, we know that he is fussy about his appearance and that he likes to appear well-dressed."

The mayor said that on May 3 they will also visit the Volcano Iztaccíhuatl next to Popocatépetl. This extinct volcano, at an altitude of 5,222 meters [17,132 feet], is also known as Woman Asleep or White Woman. According to Aztec legend, the two volcanoes are lovers.

In addition to this love story, the people of the region believe that another two mountains—located on the same mountain range and visible from outside Xalitzintla—are lovers: the volcanoes La Malinche [indigenous woman given to Hernán Cortés] and Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak in Mexico [5,636 meters (18,491 feet)].

"She [Iztaccíhuatl] is the bride of Don Goyo, but since she is always asleep, he goes with La Malinche, who also has an affair with the Pico de Orizaba. In ancient times, Pico and Popo threw incandescent stones because of La Malinche, but Izta never realized it, because she was always asleep," related the tiempero. Spanish original

Still Curious?

Excelsior, another Mexican newspaper, profiled El Tiempero, which I also translated. Once again, the reporter let the people tell their story. The result provides insight into an important segment of Mexican culture: El Tiempero, the one who sees and speaks nicely with Popocatéptl.

Last year we were in Pátzcuaro for the Fiesta of Cruz Verde. 

Mexico's Volcanoes & Mesoamerican Mythology

     Volcanoes are impressive as awe-inspiring outbursts of the powers of nature. They arouse wonderment by their majesty, and they excite terror because of their devastation. 
     But once their activity has subsided, they leave behind as souvenirs fascinating rock formations, enchanting lakes, refreshing springs, healing waters, playful geysers, delightful waterfalls, sylvan mountain scenery, and often majestic snow-covered peaks. 

     The behavior of human beings, individuals or groups, sometimes resembles volcanoes' destructive activity and subsequent return to normal. 

Esperanza Yarza Carreón, Los Volcanes de Mexico (1948)

Professor of Arts and Letters
National Autonomous University of Mexico 

A distinguishing feature of Mexico's geography, the Volcanic Axis belts the country's mid-section (red shading). The Black Triangles (West to East) identify Mexico's largest volcanoes:

• Colima (active);
• Popocatépetl (active), linked by a mountain ridge to
• Iztaccíhuatl (dormant);
• La Malinche (dormant for 3,100 years); and
• Pico de Orizaba (active).

Mexico's Volcanic Axis with Four Largest Volcanoes:
Colima, Popocatépetl, Iztaccíhuatl, La Malinche, Pico de Orizaba

Stratovolcano (aka Continental-Margin)

Stratovolcanoes occur when one plate slides below another—a process known as subduction. A well-known example is the Pacific plate, which is sliding under the North American plate. These violently erupting volcanoes are characterized by long repose ('inactive' periods) between eruptions.

Popocatépetl is a stratovolcano. Effusive activity between 3,600 and 1,200 years ago (1600 BCE and 800 CE) produced Popocatépetl's present cone. Significant Vesuvius-like (plinian) eruptions occurred about 1,200 and 1,000 years ago (800 and 1000 CE), a time period concurrent with human habitation.

In 1993, following a fifty-year period of 'repose' during most of the 20th century, Popocatépetl again became an active volcano leading up to its eruption in 1994. Located about 70 km. (43 miles) from the center of Mexico City, the volcano with its smoking plume is easily visible on clear days from our front windows and small balcony.

Sunrise on Popocatépetl (Smoking Mountain in Nahuatl) with its north glacier
Photographed from our balcony (2011)

Another volcano of this type is El Chichón, which sits on the Chiapanecan Volcanic Arc that runs through Chiapas, land of Maya civilization. This geologic zone is thought to be the result of the subduction of the Tehuantepec Ridge, an undersea ridge that lies on the Cocos Plate off the Pacific coast of Mexico.

When El Chichón erupted in 1982 (March 29, April 3, 4), it killed about 2,000 people living on nearby slope. Explosive eruptions of magma (a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids) were accompanied by pyroclastic flows (superheated gases flowing about 450 mph).

Monogenetic Cinder Cone Volcanoes

These smaller volcanoes tend to form and erupt where there has been no previous volcanic activity. Cinder cone volcanoes erupt once within a volcanic field, then the activity shifts to a new location within the field giving rise to a subsequent eruption in the new location at a later time.

The activity of Paricutín in Michoacán, for example, is well-documented. A similar eruption in the same volcanic field occurred years before about 128 km. (80 miles) from Paricutín.

Paricutin's eruption in 1943 was anticipated by hundreds of earthquakes that occurred in the preceding two-week period. In one memorable 24-hour period, two hundred earthquakes were recorded. Once eruptions began, they continued for nine years. The effects were devastating: approximately 3,600 people were forced to move out of the region. But that wasn't the full extent of the impact.

Ash fall caused mountain slopes to become steeper, thus greatly accelerating soil erosion. As streams became clogged with ash, their carrying power increased and caused flooding. During the nine years of active eruption, crop cultivation was impossible at distances up to 35 km. (22 miles), although farmers who were slightly farther away reported improved crop yields during the years when ash fell lightly on their fields.

Mexico's Volcanic Axis "...abounds with volcanoes of the cinder cone type." The volcanic fields of northern Michoacán and southern Guanajuato are among the largest cinder cone fields in the world.

Click here for GoogleMap showing the string of cinder cone volcanoes running East-West across Mexico City's southern border.

What Happens When a Volcano Erupts

In 1990 the Geological Institute of the Autonomous University of Mexico published a report by volcanologist Stephen Nelson. Advocating increased scientific monitoring of Mexico's volcanoes, Nelson described in this paper the eruptive behavior of Mexican volcanoes and cited examples. I have added photographs to illustrate Nelson's description.

Eruptions are preceded by earthquakes and subterranean noises starting several months before the eruptions themselves (Popocatépetl, El Chichón, Colima). 

Popocatépetl blows his top - Ash Eruption (1994)
Notice the ratio of plume to mountain, which itself rises about
10,000 ft. above its prominence (base); then compare this plume to the
ratio of plume to mountain in the 2011 photo (above).

Volcanic eruptions are best considered as eruptive episodes made up of several eruptions. Eruptive episodes may last for days (El Chichón), or years (Paricutin).

Long repose (inactive) times between eruptions usually result in extremely violent activity when dormant volcanoes reawaken (Popocatépetl, El Chichón). 

Volcanoes that erupt violently can affect areas at long distances (Toluca, Orizaba). Ash falls (eruptions) usually accompany eruptions that produce lava flows (Xitle). 

Ash Eruption, El Chichón (1982)

Lava Crater at El Chichón (1982)

Finally, nearly all types of volcanic eruptions cause changes in existing drainage that may result in flooding even of areas at great distances from the actual intense volcanic activity (Paricutin, El Chichón). 

Mythology Arises Where Man Meets the Forces of Nature

We have to wonder how Mexico's early peoples explained these episodes of violence in their mythology, or worldview. An earlier post describes the ritual activity undertaken at Cuicuilco, an early agrarian community buried in lava ash when nearby Xitle erupted.

Perhaps a clue is to be found in the essential duality (life/death; creation/destruction; hot/cold; peace/war) that suffused the Mesoamerican Cosmovision (Worldview).

In the quotation introducing this post, Dr. Yarza characterizes volcanoes by underscoring their inherent duality: Volcanoes are capable of arousing in the thoughts and feelings of their beholders a sense of "wonderment for their majesty" and "terror in their devastation".

Popocatépetl in Snow-Capped Majesty of Popocatéptel
Photo: William Melson, 1968 (Smithsonian Institution)

Popocatépetl spewing Lava-Fire

A profound recognition of duality as an essential component of reality remains a powerful theme in Mexican culture. To this end, Professor Yarza invites us to focus not solely on the destructive aspects of volcanoes, but to recognize the creative 'souvenirs' left behind destructive volcanic episodes.

The adjectives Professor Yarza chooses to describe these volcanic souvenirs conveys their essential meaning:

"...fascinating rock formations, enchanting lakes, refreshing springs, healing waters, playful geysers, delightful waterfalls, sylvan mountain scenery, and ... majestic snow-covered peaks."

It is not possible for me to cite Yarza's words without hearing their echo in the words of an indigenous friend. In a discussion of increasing cartel activity apparent in the countryside surrounding Pátzcuaro, my friend matter-of-factly characterized the activity as el desorden, the disorder. Unspoken is the implicit duality:

Orden/Desorden, Order/Disorder, Creation/Destruction, Dormant/Active.

Lest I convey the impression that volcanic images are meaningful only to indigenous peoples, let me relate a similar conversation with a Mexican acquaintance de arriba (educated, upper class). During another discussion of cartel activity around Pátzcuaro, she observed,

"Most of the time it is quiet, but every once in awhile there are isolated, violent episodes."

I responded by likening the activity to the volcanic field around Paricutín:

"...most of the time it is quiet, but then a volcano erupts in a new place...like Paricutín."   

Her quick, surprised smile said, "Oh, I hadn't realized ... Jenny gets it."

A web site (scroll down) dedicated to descriptions, photos and even videos of many of Mexico's volcanoes includes a short (27 sec.) video of Popocatépetl's 1994 eruption. Struck by the sound of the eruption, I found myself asking,

"What might early peoples have made of such a ferocious display?"

One obvious explanation is that early peoples were forced to recognize both the possibilities and dangers posed by their natural environment. The rise of Mesoamerican civilization and the purpose of its mythology can be understood as pragmatic and ritualistic communal efforts to benefit from the potentials of this environment while seeking to influence and thereby protect themselves from the risks (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, floods).

In this sense, it would have made sense for common people and rulers alike to regard a volcanic eruption as an expression of their gods' rage. Conversely, a peaceful time between eruptive episodes might appear to constitute evidence that rulers and common people alike were acting in harmony with the requirements of their spiritually charged countryside. In fact, the value of maintaining a harmonious relationship with the natural environment remains a primary cultural value in rural Mexico. 

If we are open to their message, Mexico's volcanoes can teach us a lot.

Mesoamerican Culture: The Human Bond with Nature

Waking at sunrise one morning, I walked into the front room to check on the volcanoes Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatéptl. Checking the volcanoes has become my new morning ritual — akin to checking to see whether Mt. Rainier was 'out' when I lived in Seattle. On this day my curiosity was rewarded by seeing their outlines etched against the early morning sky.

Iztaccíhuatl (Sleeping Woman) reclines at the left. Her head nearly touches the left margin. A dip under her chin is followed by her breasts and folded arms, then her knees and finally her feet sticking up. Beyond her feet is a long, low ridge linking her to her warrior-suitor Popocatéptl (Smoking Mountain) at the right. At 17,167 ft. Iztaccíhuatl is the third highest mountain in Mexico. Popocatéptl's Sulphur plume is colored pink against the early morning light.

Here's a close up of Popocatéptl, don Gregorio, don Goyo.  

Standing guard over Iztaccihuatl is her unrequited lover, snow-capped Popocatéptl (Smoking Mountain) in all his glory! At 17,800 ft., Popocatéptl is the second highest mountain in Mexico and rises about 10,000 ft. above the Valley of Mexico (altitude: 7,000 ft.).  Photo courtesy of Reed

Like other agricultural peoples around the world, Mesoamerican culture regarded man as inextricably linked to the land, Mother Earth, and to the naturaleza (natural world). The geography of Mexico is such that early peoples were subjected to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes from the East (Caribbean) and cyclones from the West (Pacific Ocean), floods and drought.

It is little wonder, then, that vulnerability to the vicissitudes of nature gave rise to and reinforced a profound dependency on the seasonal arrival of las lluvias (the rains) to assure the corn crop. A widely-repeated dicho (saying) captures this traditional wisdom:

Sin maís no hay país (Without corn there is no country).

A short walk around the corner from our apartment yielded yet another discovery. Growing in a protected space in the middle of Escocia [Scotland] Street is a specimen of the national tree of Mexico, the Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum).

This Montezuma Cypress grows practically in front of our neighborhood Tiendita de Abarrotes (Grocery Store).

The Montezuma Cypress occupies a unique place in Mexican cultural consciousness. These words, written recently to introduce a paper discussing Mexico's national tree, capture not only its symbolism, but its emotional power as well:

"Old Man of the Water...what would our country and our culture be without you; endearingly Mexican [emphasis in the original], you bury your roots in the depths of the soil in order to extract from it the vital essence that gives you life." 

The phrase 'vital essence' refers to the Mesoamerican concept of the Life-Force, believed to give life's energy not only to the natural world but to the seres humanos (human beings) who are its inhabitants. It is believed that water carries this Life-Force, as epitomized in this traditional dicho (saying):

El agua es vida  (Water is life).

In Mesoamerican culture, work was traditionally regarded with pleasure, even considered to be a privilege, because it enabled human beings to maintain a harmonious relationship with the land and with the natural world. A Purhépecha friend, relating stories of her childhood spent helping her father in their fields, expressed this pleasure when she observed,

"Those days in the fields were fiesta days; we were always exploring something."

Today, the Montezuma Cypress is harvested and used for wood beams and furniture, among other uses. Based on the testimony of my friend, it is reasonable to believe that today's artisan woodworkers maintain this ancient connection. Contemporary legends about how artisans approach their work support this view.

Water was sacred in the Mesoamerican cosmology; it was believed to carry the Life-Force to the natural world — plants, animals and man. Cypress trees generally require a lot of water; many times they grow in swamps.  But because of its adaptability to many of Mexico's different ecosystems, the Montezuma Cypress is found throughout Mexico — from sea level in Montemorelos, Nuevo León, to Mexico City at 7,000 ft.

The sacred role of water in the Mesoamerican cosmology draws our attention to the writer's use of the nahuatl (language of the Aztecs) word ahuehuete, which translates as 'Old Man of the Water'. It is probably not too much of a stretch to imagine that 'Old Man' is a veiled reference to the ancient water god. In any event, the writer's reference to it demonstrates the value accorded to the ancient meaning by contemporary Mexican cultural sensibility.

The Tule Tree is named for the town where it grows, Santa Maria de Tule, Oaxaca; it is probably the most famous Montezuma Cypress. Scientists estimate that it is more than 2,000 years old. With a diameter of 37.5 ft, 35 people holding hands can barely encircle it. It is said that five hundred people can be sheltered in the shade provided by the canopy of the Tule Tree.

Here is the classic photograph of the Tule Tree. With a 14-meter diameter and a circumference of more than 45 meters, encircling the leafy juniper requires more than 30 people holding hands, as shown in the image.

With the sacred ceiba tree (Tree of Life in Maya cosmology), the ahuehuete is an element of the natural world inextricably linked to Mexican culture stretching from prehispanic to modern times.

To the Aztecs, the combined shade of an āhuēhuētl (Montezuma Cypress) and a pōchōtl (Ceiba pentandra) metaphorically represented a ruler's authority. As a demonstration of the power and presence of government, the Aztecs planted Montezuma Cypress trees along important avenues traveled by their kings.

These magnificent trees are not uncommon in our new neighborhood of Coyoacán (Mexico City). Whenever we come upon one, we smile at each other — mutual recognition of the irrepressible vitality of the Life-Force.