I went to Rancho de Chimayo last sunday where I lad a chat with author, Patricia Trujillo-Olviedo and purchased her book; CHIMAYO. This pictorial essay of Chimayo gives one a feeling of the antiquity of the place and how through time Chimayo has retained its cultural roots. This richly illustrated  book of authentic photographs of the periods mentioned is a kind of a "whos who" in architecture, agriculture, culninary arts, weaving and the spiritual tradition there through time within of the valley of which we all love. Of particular interest to me was the meaning of the reredos behind the altar at the Sanctuario.The main image in the center is Nuestro Senor Esquipulas the "Black Christ" of the Maya of Guatemala.

Trujlillo- Olviedo goes on to say that the Christo is hung on the "Maya Tree of Life",  or World Tree Cross of the Maya which is unique to Mesoamerican cultures  According to the late Linda Schele; the horizontal bar represents the ecliptic and the verticle bar the north south axis. According to Mayan myth The World Tree with the three hearth stones represented by stars in the Orion constellation. I recommend this book to the "Plebe" interested in the multi- cultural history of New Mexico.

Allan MacGillivray, III