I’m still attempting to catch up with my blog, reporting from this Interpreter Foundation educational tour.
Our tour manager, Blake Allen, had attempted several times to make contact with the branch president in Panajachel, on the shore of Lake Atitlán, but was unable to do so. He tried again while we were there, but to no avail. We had hoped to attend church at Atitlán on Sunday, 27 October but, in the end, we decided not to do so on the basis of three considerations: (1) We might be a complete surprise to the local branch. (2) We might, accordingly, overwhelm the Saints there. They might not have known what to do when a small horde of non-Hispanophone gringos descended upon them. (3) We had a long day ahead of us.
So we decided to have a kind of testimony meeting aboard the bus, and that turned out well. It was, among other things, a good way to get to know each other.
We drove down from the Guatemalan highlands to the Pacific coast, near which we eventually crossed the border into México. The border crossing was incredibly slow and inefficient, with the main problem being almost entirely on the Mexican side. (Sorry, my Mexican friends!)
We spent the night of Sunday, 27 October, in Tapachula, México, a city that is located in the far southeast of the state of Chiapas. It is also a place that has been proposed as the area of Lehi’s “land of first inheritance.”
Now, though, jumping ahead: Checking out of the hotel this morning – Thursday, 31 October (Happy Halloween!) — we drove to an archaeological and zoological garden in Villahermosa called “La Venta.” It’s not the actual archaeological site of La Venta, but it features a large number of Olmec stone sculptures that have been brought in from elsewhere. Among these are the famous massive basalt heads, approximately 3400 years old, that may have been portrait sculptures of Olmec rulers (and that may once have been brightly colored). There are also free-ranging coatimundis and spider monkeys and birds of all kinds and turtles and crocodiles (including one extremely large fellow – or lady – who bestowed an exceedingly fetching and notably toothy smile upon us at a very short distance, albeit from behind a barrier). The general opinion of those who have given the geography of the Book of Mormon serious attention and who favor a Mesoamerican geographical model is that the Olmec are connected in at least some way with the Jaredites.
Before leaving Villahermosa, we drove by the city’s small temple and spent a few minutes taking photographs of it.
We then drove along what is called México’s “golden lane,” passing by both the “place where the sea divides the land.” The model favored by our tour organizer and guide, Blake Allen, and by his father, the late Joseph Allen, identifies that sea with the Gulf of México. We also drove by the “narrow neck of land,” which has commonly been identified as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec:
“And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.” (Ether 10:20)
Before arriving at Lake Catemaco, where we will spend the night tonight, we passed by a hill named Cerro Cintepec – the summit of which rises about 2500 feet above sea level — which is a part of the Cordillera Neovolcanica of México. (Alas, though, after a day of multiple police checkpoints on the roads and a huge traffic jam caused by one of them, as well as horrendously bad roads, it was already too dark to see it.) Cintepec — which means “corn hill” — may be the Hill Shim from which Mormon obtained the records that would serve as the basis of his summarizing history. The Mayan word xim , which would be pronounced “shim,” signifies “corn.” In the Qʼanjobʼal language, xim is a classifier used with nouns that are related to corn.
“Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people; and when ye are of that age go to the land Antum, unto a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people.” (Mormon 1:3)
According to the Wikipedia article on the locale,
Catemaco is a tourist destination, with its main attractions being the lake, remnants of the region’s rainforest and a tradition of sorcery/witchcraft that has its roots in the pre-colonial period and is mostly practiced by men. This tradition is well-known in Mexico and attracts clients from various walks of life, including businessmen and national-level politicians. Catemaco holds an annual event in March dedicated to sorcery, which can draw up to 5,000 visitors. . . .
Catemaco is known in Mexico for its community of brujos and brujas, which can be translated as ‘witches’ or ‘sorcerers’, as most are men but some are women. The history of magical practices here extends back to the pre-Hispanic period and may have survived because of its relative isolation, but Lake Catemaco is said to emit a kind of energy, along with the Mono Blanco Mountain that rises above it.
Tomorrow (Friday) is the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), by the way. I’m looking forward to it. But, interestingly, Catemaco has no particular connection to the Day of the Dead.
I wonder, though, if there is any connection between Catemaco and what Mormon has to say on the subject of witches and sorcerers:
“And it came to pass that there were sorceries, and witchcrafts, and magics; and the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land, even unto the fulfilling of all the words of Abinadi, and also Samuel the Lamanite. . . .
“And it came to pass that the Nephites began to repent of their iniquity, and began to cry even as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet; for behold no man could keep that which was his own, for the thieves, and the robbers, and the murderers, and the magic art, and the witchcraft which was in the land.” (Mormon 1:19; 2:10)
By the way, the Hotel La Finca, where we’re spending the night, is the best in the area, though it’s not remotely luxurious. (Dinner was good, however.) It’s where Mel Gibson stayed when he was here filming his 2006 movie Apocalypto, for which Dr. Richard Hansen (who gave one of the preparatory lectures for this tour) was the expert consultant.
Incidentally, I need to acknowledge for at least a moment the delightful outcome of the 2024 Major League Baseball World Series. I grew up a committed fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Still today, my favorite teams are the Dodgers and whoever is playing against the New York Yankees. (The San Francisco Giants are not far behind the Yankees in my disdain, though I think that the edge goes to New York. My antipathy toward the Giants is of ancient date: I had to admit respect for the great Willie Mays and for the late great Willie McCovey. But Juan Marichal was the devil.)
Posted from Catemaco, Veracruz, México
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