Progreso is a port city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, located on the Gulf of Mexico in the north-west of the state some 30 minutes north of state capital Mérida (the biggest city on the Yucatán Peninsula)

In May of 2024 a three-meter tall sculpture of the Greek God Poseidon, made of fiberglass, created by the sculptor Chapa Balam Díaz ,was erected approximately five meters into the sea as part of the actions of the Progreso City Council, headed by Julián Zacarías Curi, to attract tourism. Poseidon is one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.

Julián indicated its installation was to refer in particular to the trident of this Greek god, which has the power to alter or calm the waters, and “we want to show that in Progreso we can always have the waters calm,” he noted.

This did not sit particularly well with some of the more traditional inhabitants of the area as this is the land of Chaac who is the Mayan god of rain, thunder, and lightning. At the time threats were made to destroy the statue but things were left well enough alone.

It is believed however that the ruckus first began when the TikToker Vicky Wolff posted a video explaining the phenomenon: apparently Chaac had gotten upset with the Yucatecans for erecting a statue to another god (after Hurricane Alberto arrived just a few weeks after the statues erection in May of 2023, bringing heavy rains. Although the main states affected were those in the north of the country, the effects of the storm were also felt in Yucatan.)

Well things have taken a dramatic turn since then.

On July 1st a hurricane (1) formed off the coast of Africa and began making its way toward the Americas. Storms of this type are given names which run through an alphabetical cycle alternating between male and female names and this storm has earned the moniker “Beryl”

1. Hurricane – mid 16th century: from Spanish huracán, probably from either the Taino hurakán ‘god of the storm’ or the Mayan Huracán (also Hurakan, Jurakan) who is the Kʼicheʼ Maya god (U Kʼux Kaj, the Heart of Sky) of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities : also called a cyclone (in Australia) (also called a typhoon : late 16th century: partly via Portuguese from Arabic ṭūfān (perhaps from Greek tuphōn ‘whirlwind’); reinforced by Chinese dialect tai fung ‘big wind’) – is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure centre, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls.

Beryl is considered to be an historic storm of this type.

Beryl strengthened from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours, which only six other Atlantic hurricanes have done, with September 1st as the previous earliest date.

She is also the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005.

Beryl also marked the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933.

The storm has already made landfall in Grenada’s Carriacou island and has pounded the island of Jamaica leaving great damage and death in its wake. Late in the same day it hit Jamaica, Beryl increased to Category 5 strength, meaning it had winds of 157 mph (more than 250kmph) or higher

Well Beryl is now forecast to pummel the Yucatan coast and the opinions of the locals have changed

As of July 3rd 2024

The local Yucatecos are worried that the erection of this foreign deity has offended Chaac and in his jealousy he has sent this tremendous storm to punish the interloper.

A Facebook page was set up arranging for a (I would assume torch carrying) mob to “Go destroy the statue of Poseidon”

It has been reported though that “The event, which was intended to express discontent over the presence of the Poseidon statue, was not intended to be an act of actual vandalism . The idea was to symbolically hand over the remains of the figure to Chaac, the Mayan deity of water, as a way of appeasing his anger supposedly caused by the sculpture of the Greek god.”

So….Not an act of vandalism but more a sacrificial offering?

It has also been reported that locals have dismantled and removed the statue of the offending deity.

This should however be taken somewhat tongue in cheek because as of 7am (Perth Western Australia time) on the 4th of July 20024 the media and news outlet NMás (https://www.nmas.com.mx/) reports that the statue still stands.

Facebook (and social media in general) however can be quite confusing as it is also both variously reported that…..the images shown above of the dismantling of the statue were in fact taken during its installation……and that the statue has been removed, but only temporarily, as it is made of fibreglass and that it is standard procedure for installations of this type to be removed (and consequently re-installed) in times of storms such as these which would likely destroy the work.

Although…….

As of 07.07.24 at 4.56 am the statue had not appeared to have been moved at all (WTF Facebook??)

One thing we can however celebrate that social media has give us is the meme.

meme
/miːm/
noun
1.
an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations.
“celebrity gossip and memes often originate on the site”
2.
an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.
verb
create an internet meme from (an image, video, piece of text, etc.).
“there’s always one audience reaction shot at the Oscars that gets memed”

According to the eggheads…..The word “meme” comes from the Greek mimema, meaning something that has been “imitated.” According to Britannica, the word was first introduced by Richard Dawkins, a British biologist, in his book The Selfish Gene; his intention was for “meme” to sound similar to “gene.” In his book, Dawkins makes a direct connection between memes and biological genes by stating that both are in control of their own reproduction and thus have the ability to evolve and to be transmitted from person to person.

But never mind that shit. Lets check out some of the more amusing ones in this case.

or if we involve Christianity

A person must however hedge their bets

Hello Mr. Chaac, I was just going to remind you that the statue of Poseidon is in Yucatan and Guatemala is somewhat far away. Here we are fine with the rain as it is, more rain can destroy us. Please don’t get confused. I am attaching a map so that you don’t have the slightest doubt.

While we’re at it lets piss off Tlaloc too.

Although there are those that say this is not Tlaloc but his sister (or wife – very Game of Thrones no?) Chalchiuhtlicue.

Both are known to be deities of water and rain in many Mesoamerican cultures so I don’t think it really matters in either case.

Mexico certainly does have a sense of humour though

Chaac remains victorious