Maximon in San Andres

We were on our way to Antigua but had heard of yet another Maximon – this time in the town of San Andres. We knew that we had to make a diversion. We had little trouble finding him. In this little town, he’s got his own church. Not that we knew a little more about visiting Max, we stopped at one of the many stalls near the church to buy our gift for him. We bought a package of incense topped with coins.
While we were waiting in the line to pay our respects, we discovered that we were next to a couple from Boston! They were Guatemalans, living in Boston, and made this pilgrimage to Max a regular part of their visit home. As we made our way into the church, you could see long tables surrounded by people lighting candles in different colors. The color of the candle represented your desire-

white -- spiritual blessings, purity, healing, rest
blue -- peace, harmony, joy, kindly intentions, healing
green -- money, gambling luck, business, a good job, good crops
yellow -- devotion, prayer, money (gold), cheerfulness, attraction
red – love, affection, passion
pink -- attraction, romance, clean living
purple -- mastery, power, ambition, control, command
orange -- change of plans, opening the way, prophetic dreams
black -- repulsion, dark thoughts, sorrow, freedom from evil – or revenge

We saw a gorgeous woman- dressed in a suit and heels – lighting her candle. This saint wasn’t just for the local poor.

We approached the back of the church and saw an altar- at the top was a huge glass case surrounded by flowers and blinking Christmas lights. Inside was Max – same black suit and hat, with a mouth open waiting for his cigar (or maybe his shot of rum). We climbed the stairs to reach the glass case and left our offering to Max.