I first saw San Simón on the altar of a local curandera here, Paty Zacarias.

Paty has a very interesting altar, as most curanderos and curanderas do, but what particilarly drew my attention was a small statue of a man with a cigarrette pressed up against his face. I asked her who that was, and she said that it was San Simón. I asked why he had that cigarrette there, and she said that “you have to give him a cigar” (‘puro’). I supposed that she had her reasons for having substituted a cigarrette - and I suppose I was even thankful for that!

I have attempted to do some research on San Simón, and most of the information on the internet seems to point to a folk saint in locations such as Santiago Atitlan, and Zunil, Guatemala, alternately known as Maximon, which is the hispanicized spelling and pronunciation of a Mayan name. San Simón, is, then a syncretic folk saint, who is given a veneer of Catholic legitimacy but has solidly Indian roots. He is said to be connected with the cult of Nagualism (where the practitioners supposedly change into animal forms), according to some commentators, albeit it should be pointed out that most commentary which refers to that practice centers around Nahua speakers (Aztecs) as opposed the the various Maya subtribal groups.

All of this history and linguistic scholarship aside, San Simón has another life, so to speak, completely outside of Guatemala and the curanderas realm of Indian practices, in that he is part of a sort of “mojo” type of charm or spell in Mexico, where he is used by curanderos and curanderas such as Paty who have no connection to Guatemala, and no idea of what goes on there, and who probably would prefer to not even hear about it, I am quite sure. Curanderas generally believe that things are either connected to God or to the devil, and seeing as this one purports to be a saint, then he must be allied with God. That would be their logic.

My recent research has indicated that one common use which people have for appealing to San Simon is in order to deal with addictions and bad habits - especially smoking, but also drinking, gambling, of other complusive and damaging behavior.

This nicho is something you will not find anywhere. I commissioned it from a young Mexican artesana who I hired to work with me at Fausto's Art Gallery, whose name is Christian Solis. As you can see, she is very talented. I told her that she in fast on her way to becoming the Frida Kahlo of Ojinaga!

Christian, or Cristi, as we call her, has added some very nice detail to this piece. It is like the home of a curandero, complete with its altar and its images of saints everywhere. It also has some of the things that San Simon needs, like bottles of booze, for instance, and vessels for offerings.

This nicho stands on its own, so you can go ahead and set it up on your altar and get to work doing “trabajos” for people, if you want.

Here is the official prayer to San Simon, which was provided to me by a person who I understand to be into either Hoodoo or Santeria, I believe:

“Brother Simon, Brother Simon, Oh great Maximom, ye who has suffered so, do not allow this poor servent of yours to feel the same pain by losing my child. Do you not see, dear brother, how much I would miss him in the cornfield?

“I want to dream of you, Brother Simon, to know whether the white candle with its smoke and fire have reached you. I promise you, Brother Simon, that you will not go without your tortilla, cigar and glass of guaro as long as I live. Amen.”

Mind you, people do not pray these prayers because the words necessarily have anything to do with their own situation. Rather, the idea is that one believes that this is the specific prayer to which the saint will respond, even if it has little to do with the matter about which one is appealing to the saint.