Maximon

I recall promising to tell you more of the Mayan god Maximon. And as you well know by now , blog-mates, I´m a woman of my word, and so here´s the lowdown on said deity.
He´s basically a mixture of Mayan belief with a bit of Christianity thrown in for good measure (or possibly as an insurance policy, who knows?)
Anyhow, it seems that each village has its own Maximon, and his appearance varies greatly. Common to all though is the fact that he always smokes a cigar and people bring him gifts of money and firewater. He´s usually surrounded by an assortment of fairy lights and slightly past their sell-by date Christmas novelties belting out  old favourites such  as Santa Claus is Coming to Town  and Jingle Bells. (And you thought that Catholics sometimes go a bit over the top....)
Here´s a couple of pictures of him, to give you an idea.

This one is at Chichicastenango.

And this one is at Santiago de Atitlan (as if you care- though you should. We had to pay to take this picture you know.) The guy on the left is a (v.casual) shaman.

Should you need more info on this or indeed any other aspect of the afterlife, may I recommend this blog´s companion site, the very well informed, JHB´sBigTrip.blogspot.com?