Reflections: Volcanoes
| Events: |
Nacimientos | New Year 2004 | My First Taller | Lenten Processions |
Places: |
Antigua | Outskirts of Antigua |
Topics of Interest: |
Volcanoes | Security Concerns |
One of Antigua's most distinctive landscape features is the set of three volcanos that loom to the south and west. One of these, Agua, has not erupted in historic times, but the other two, Fuego and Acatenango, are routinely active.
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Acatenango provided a week-long spectacle while I was here in 1973, and Fuego has been active now for several years. It had been spitting steam since we first arrived in December 2003, and last Tuesday we noticed that a red glow was visible at the tip of the cone, although nothing but steam and smoke was coming out. It has been cloudy most of this week, so we had not seen the cone as much as usual. Last night, however, when we went up to the roof terrace to see the sunset – itself an amazing combination of pinks, reds, oranges, greys, whites, and gold because of the volcanic ashes in the air – we observed a great plume of smoke from the cone. At that very moment the clouds cleared, and we saw that Fuego was indeed going into full eruption.
Giant bursts of fire and lava poured out. Glowing points of light that must have been boulders the size of SUVs tumbled through the darkening sky, and streams of red began to flow down the sides of the cone. We watched as throbbing flames shot higher and higher, throwing red and gold sparks and molten lava high into the air and down along the sides of the cone. The tip of the cone itself glowed red hot from the gushing lava. As the evening grew darker and darker, the golden lines on all sides of the cone lengthened and spread until the whole top of the cone was outlined in shining light. Clouds came and went, causing a heated luminescence to disperse into the night sky and obscuring the flares from the cone tip. But we could still hear the low growling and occasional booming that the mountain emitted.
The
impressive fireworks of New Year’s now seemed paltry compared against
forces that at such a distance so menacingly roared and belched. This brooding
image of fire and smoke and implacable power is part of many of the world’s
mythologies, and having seen Return of the King just days before
coming here, we were especially struck by its power even for people who
do not live in the shadow of active volcanos! But I particularly reflected
on the important symbolism of cone-shaped mountains in Mayan cosmology and
imagery. It was these powerful, and sacred entities that dot the highland
landscape across the Mayan world that were so central to spiritual practice
and mythology that they had to be recreated in the lowlands as massive stone
temples during the time of the Classic Maya Civilization. Still today they
evoke the sense of awe and humility before nature that are at the heart
of all ritual and spirituality in Mayan culture. Perhaps this eruption marks
a propitious beginning to my work here.
We set an alarm for early morning, hoping that the clouds would clear away over night, but the eruption had abated by morning. I expect it will be back!