INTRODUCED BY THE SPANISH CONQUERORS IN 1524: Lent and Holy Week have changed in Antigua, Guatemala

Semana Santa procession (César Tián/Revue)

By Elizabeth Bell  http://www.antiguatours.net/

¨Lent began this year on Feb. 22 with Ash Wednesday, and March and April bring some of the largest processions in the world up through Easter Sunday on April 8. Antigua’s celebrations used to be considered second only to Seville, Spain, but during recent years, these celebrations have been considered by many the largest in the world.

Introduced by the Spanish conquerors with the first procession for Corpus Christi in 1524, processions for Lent were first sponsored by city authorities and various guilds. Inspired by traditions from Seville, they evolved their own characteristics over the centuries. One major change is certainly the size of the floats (andas) carried by the members of the religious brotherhoods/sisterhoods (hermandades) throughout the streets of Antigua and surrounding areas.


The largest float in Antigua today is carried on the shoulders of 100 men. Carriers—referred to as cucurruchos and cargadoras—come in from all over the country for the processions for the Fifth Sunday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, which each have more than 6,000 carriers. The robes have changed since the 1800s as have the name of the hermandades, which were previously called cofradías. Children’s processions have also increased over the past few years. The spirit of Lent and Holy Week remain much the same—if not even more embedded in Antigua’s culture.


My favorite part of this season is carpet making. Residents make exquisite carpets out of dyed sawdust, pine needles, flowers and vegetables. If the procession is going to come by your house, your friends and family invite themselves over to make the carpet. While designs emerge out of the materials and many are spontaneous, there is no competition in carpet making. All carpets are of equal importance and not all carpet makers are Catholic. Completed moments before the procession walks over it, they are ephemeral works of art that last through people’s wonderful memories and what must be millions of photographs taken each year.

Most of the sculptures have been in processions since they were carved here in 1650...¨ please read it all, by Elizabeth Bell HERE

·  Thanks to Revue Magazine, Guatemala´s English-language Magazine, HERE
·  Thanks to Elizabeth Bell, Award winning historian, Books by Elizabeth Bell, HERE
·  Thanks to César Tián, photo

WINTER SOLSTICE 2012: The end of a Maya calendar cycle and a rebirth of the Maya culture for the new cycle

Elizabeth Bell, Author, Historian and award winning Notable Citizen



The new b’aq tun begins on the winter solstice 2012
¨Calendars reflect how cultures and societies view the organization of time and space over the centuries. Many calendars have emerged and many have disappeared or been modified: the Julian calendar, the Republican calendar, the Gregorian calendar and the Maya calendar to name a few. Each one involved astronomical calculations and incorporate harvests and religious or spiritual fiestas.

I remember in the late 1970s, we all studied how it would be the “End of the World for the Maya” in 2012; we thought it was “pretty neat” as to how it tied into other doomsday calculations of other cultures. With very little bibliography by Maya writers at the time (in fact none in English), we continued to believe that indeed the world—at least in Mesoamerica—would end in 2012. I have recently referred to this as a “California spin.” Watching a recent TV program on the subject, I noted that the experts were all from California. I wondered why a Maya expert was not a participant!

Talking to the experts, we find it is the end of a Mayan calendar cycle and a rebirth of the Mayan culture for the new cycle. Some great references include: The Order of Days: the Maya World and the Truth about 2012 by David Stuart (Schele Professor of Mesoamerican Art and Writing, University of Texas/Austin), 2012: Science & Prophecy of the Ancient Maya by Mark van Stone, Ph.D., and Ri Rejqalem Kisamaj Ri Ajk’ Exelom Chuqa ‘Ri Ajq’ija by Calixta Gabriel (Maya spiritual guide/Thesis Universidad Rafael Landívar), which are all outstanding. Also, refer to the Dresden Codex.

The Maya Long Count calendar started at 13.0.0.0.0. (not “0”) in 3113 B.C. and comes to a complete cycle at the winter solstice this year. This marks a new cycle. There are two calendars that work together. The solar year (365 days), known as haab, has 18 months (20 days each) and a five-day period before the next year. A day (q’ij), a 20-day month (winäq), a year (tun), a 20-year cycle (katun) a 52-year cycle (tzolkin) and so forth up to the end of a b’aq tun (Kakchikel spelling). The sacred calendar, known as tzolk’in, has 13 months (20 days each), for a 260-day count. Each day has a nawal, look yours up in the calendar. The new b’aq tun begins on the winter solstice 2012—time for another fiesta but this one will be BIG!  please enjoy it all,  by Elizabeth Bell, HERE

·  Thanks to The Revue Magazine, Guatemala´s English-language Magazine
·  Thanks to Elizabeth Bell, award winning historian, author and notable citizen
·  Thanks to http://antiguatours.net/