The people of Santiago Xalitzintla wake up well before sunrise to prepare their offerings to The Sleeping Woman. That is what the villagers call the Iztacchuatl volcano, just a short drive from their town in central Mexico. Iztacchuatl is no longer active. The name Sleeping Women comes from the fact that the silhouette of the volcano looks like that of a woman lying down. The local people have a large ceremonial meal at the end of the day. They also bring plenty of red flowers. They leave them at a stone altar on the side of the mountain. Hundreds of people take the three-hour walk to the mountain top twice a year to ask for the volcano’s aid and protection. To get there, they must walk along small rivers and pass through a pine forest. The villagers call on the Sleeping Woman to bring rain for their crops and to protect their harvests from bad weather. They also ask her to calm the ashy eruptions of her neighbor, the active Popocatepetl volcano.
