I’m posting a link to a fascinating, in-depth article that examines the Guatemalan armed conflict (1960-1996) through the story of Kaqchikel poet and spiritual guide, Calixta Gabriel Xiquin. Calixta lost 3 brothers to the violence; she herself was one of the first Maya to attend university. Written by Mary Jo McConahay (Maya Roads), “Picturing Calixta” looks at the clash between liberation theology and Maya spirituality.
Writes McConahay: “In the 1970s and 1980s, [the] central highlands were contested territory among armed groups. They were also a battleground of faiths… Calixta suffered through the storm, and gravely distressed by the war within the war—among believers—left Christianity behind, to embrace Maya spirituality.”
Photo of Maximon church in San Lucas Toliman. Photo by Jessica O’Dwyer