MEXICO CITY (CN) — Despite government pleas not to ascend Popocatépetl, Mexico's most active volcano, due to recent eruptions and spewing ash, some members of the small town of Santiago Xalitzintla gathered before sunrise to begin the strenuous five-hour ascent to the volcano's "navel" — a cave near the summit that serves as an altar — laden with offerings of flowers, fruit, bread, mole, alcohol, candles, crosses and clothes.
The ascent is part of an annual March 12 birthday celebration of the personification of the volcano, "Don Goyo," that aligns with the Catholic feast day for St. Gregory, whose nickname in Spanish is "Goyo."
The group met in town at 3 a.m., earlier than years past, to evade government vehicles expected to crack down on the ceremony if it took place later in the day.
"There's no other day for his celebration. This is the only day that he can be celebrated," said Maxie Agustín during the ascent, a Santiago Xalitzintla resident and one of four mayordomos, or older townspeople who are in charge of organizing important religious celebrations. The town of about 2,000 lies within the state of Puebla and is one of three that make up the municipality of San Nicolás de los Ranchos. Xalitzintla is the closest to the volcano, with the crater just 7.5 miles away.
This year's planning included free truck transportation from town up the volcano's steep base roads to the trailhead for the group of approximately 25 people, as well as hiring a band and providing food and drink for every participant. The people who chose to make the trek up to the altar included men, women and children of all ages: incredibly, a mother carrying her newborn baby, several people in their seventies, and an eight-year-old girl who had already made the trip twice before.
"We do this because this volcano could destroy us in a second. It could destroy everything around it. And we didn't go up last year, which was a mistake," Agustín said, echoing a common sentiment that the volcano's high level of activity was due to the cancellation of last year's ceremony.
Popocatépetl, which means "smoking mountain" in the Indigenous language Nahuatl, is Mexico's second highest peak. When it is particularly active, which it has been of late, its plume of ash can be seen from Mexico City 55 miles away.
A sizable volcanic eruption, which scientists say is certain one day, would unleash ash and water mixed with hot volcanic gases and rocks and destroy the towns within miles of it. Residents have been pleading with the Puebla government to make their evacuation route passable. They routinely perform their own evacuation drills and have historically resisted government relocation projects despite the volcano's imminent danger.
On Dec. 21, 1994, during a major eruption, the Mexican Army arrived armed, urging evacuation that saw many residents leave only to return days later to find no damage was done.
"Look though, we're here now. We're not in danger. The government says it's a big scandal to come up here. Where's the scandal? This is a Xalitzintla tradition. On this day, this is what we do," Agustín said, in front of the altar.
"It's most important that Don Goyo is content. That's why we bring the clothes and the food. We ask him for rain, we ask him for good crops for the season," said another mayordomo, Telesforo Agustín Lopez, near the altar.
Before the townspeople began their climb, mayordomo Germán Agustín distributed offerings and commented with a smirk, "Please don't upload pictures today. By all means, take all the pictures you want, just don't upload them today, we're not supposed to be here!"
The mayordomos are not the only ones who bring offerings. Every participant is told to bring something or to help by carrying up part of the collective offering, except for the band in charge of their clarinets, trombones and bass drums, which is considered its own offering.
"Remember, if you get hungry or thirsty on the way up, you can't eat that food, it's not yours!" said Agustín Lopez to the group before the ascent.
On top of the volcano, the altar was decorated, Catholic prayers were offered to Don Goyo, the band played and the group was told to dance and drink, especially if it was their first time participating in the ritual, to bring rain and good weather for this year's harvest.
In 1880, Mexican General Gaspar Sánchez Ochoa bought Popocatépetl to mine the volcano for its vast sulfur deposits, which met considerable resistance from the Agricultural Society of Santiago Xalitzintla.
Sánchez Ochoa did not meet his financial obligations and the volcano returned to public ownership and is now a national park. Due to active conditions, certain areas of the volcano can only be climbed with permission from the Mexican government.
On the slow ascent up the mountain, before the sun first appeared between the trees, the trucks were followed by a government pickup shining its lights on one of the trucks taking the group. It stopped in a turnout and wasn't seen or mentioned again.
Another group was also making an offering in the pass between Popocatépetl and its dormant bordering volcano, Iztaccihuatl. She, as the Aztec legend goes, was a princess who fell in love with Popocatépetl, one of her father's warriors.
Iztaccihuatl heard a rumor that Popocatépetl was killed in battle and she died of grief. But Popocatépetl returned and found his beloved dead, and so took her body into the countryside and knelt by her grave. The volcano still burns in rage at the loss of his love, "The Sleeping Lady", who rests forever beside him.
"They're going to charge you a ton," said Maxie Agustín in town the night before the ascent, referring to the other congregation.
"They always ask people for money. With us, we won't charge you anything. Just come as long as you help. That is the important part. This is our tradition, this is our identity."
As the band closed the celebration with "Las Mañanitas," the traditional Mexican birthday song, Agustín noted, "Look, Don Goyo's content. On our way up he was spewing ash and now he's not, and it's raining."
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