On our optional trip to Lake Atitlan, we stopped to visit the town of Santiago where we were taken by our Trip Leader Manuel to witness the veneration of Maximon, also known as San Simon, a deity represented in various manifestations by the Mayan people that live in the highlands of Western Guatemala. Maximon is believed to be a form of the pre-Columbia Maya god Mam, blended with influences from Spanish Catholicism. Max is the Mam word for tobacco. The Effigy representing Maximon almost always has a lit cigarette or cigar in its mouth.