Chiapas: A cradle of ancestral wisdom

by Francisco Retana Favela (Mexico)

I didn't expect to find Mexico

In the summer of 2016, I undertook a trip to southern Mexico that made me fall in love even more with my country and really appreciate the culture that this land comprises. I went mainly to support indigenous communities in Chiapas and artisans in the area as part of a social service program at my university. I think I learned more from the locals than they did from me. The work of the artisans of the Maya area is one of the most beautiful and dedicated jobs I have seen in my life. They dedicate days, months and even years in the elaboration of their textiles, which are also loaded with history and symbols that are inherited from generation to generation, there lies all the beauty and wealth of their work. Unfortunately, in Mexico, the work of indigenous artisans is usually less valued and cheapened by people just because they are indigenous, but I am proud to know that at design festivals in other countries they appreciate their work a lot because they really value handmade work. Among the cities and communities of artisans I visited, I went to San Juan Cancuc, the poorest municipality in Chiapas. One of my most precious memories, when I reach the community, was to see a girl without shoes and only underwear and a torn blouse, very happy playing with a leaf of a plant in a puddle formed by the rain simulating that she was sailing with a boat, I loved to witness so much happiness in the simplicity of life. The population was really small, and they lived practically in the jungle, the landscapes between the mountains were spectacular, and I visited a healer, the only one in that region. He had kilometers of crops of different plants, and he knew specifically the benefits of each and how to mix them to heal various discomforts and diseases. Being a healer is a profession of honor and a sacred legacy, in order for being taught all the knowledge about the properties of plants, their father must speak with Mother Earth through dreams to grant them the gift of healing. In Chiapas, there is great respect for shamans and healers and an amazing syncretism between Catholic beliefs and mysticism, perhaps like nowhere else. In San Juan Chamula is where you can appreciate even more remarkably this syncretism that they practice with fervor. The church of the town, dedicated to San Juan Bautista, apparently on the outside is like any Catholic temple, but there are not benches inside because they pray on their knees and there are only herbs all over the place and even chickens for the rituals with animals they practice like the ancient Mayans. In addition to customs, beliefs, knowledge about the Mayans and astrology, I learned some interesting facts about the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayas, the most important text that is preserved of them that narrates the creation of the world. I was also amazed and proud of the diversity that exists and that so many dialects and cultures are preserved. And definitely what will continue to surprise me the most about Mexico, is how different it can be between one State and another, in a very contrasted way, both socially and in its ecosystems. The weather is very different from the north to the south of the country, there are 12 types of ecosystems and seven of them in Chiapas. In some places, it seemed that I was in the Amazon, in others in some forest in Germany, in others in a lake in Canada or New Zealand, in others in some cloud forest in Colombia, in others in some waterfall in Vietnam and all these ecosystems are located in Chiapas, a state that wherever you look, you can see landscapes worthy of a postcard. Honestly, at the beginning of the trip, I didn't think it would change me and expand my awareness of myself, other people and the value of hard work, culture, traditions, and diversity of Mexico.