Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Travel and Religion
Cerro La Vigia

Cerro La Vigia

Last updated on: November 5, 2024 at 4:13 pm by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

Cerro La Vigia 2024-11-05T16:13:08-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This hill, Cerro La Vigia, near the town of Catemaco, in the Municipio de Santiago Tuxtla, Veracruz, México, has been proposed by some adherents of a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon as the location of the final Jaredite and Nephite battles. I think they may be right. If so, the Nephites knew it as “Cumorah,” and the Jaredites knew it as “Ramah.”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

I’m afraid that, owing to the demands of our travel schedule and other factors, I’ve been recounting our adventures somewhat out of order. I apologize for that. But it can’t really be helped. In fact, I’ll backtrack a little bit in this entry, yet again.

On Friday, 1 November, we were up characteristically early. We had breakfast right on the shore of the remarkably pretty Lake Catemaco and, across the water in the distance, were able to see Cintepec, the small peak that might be the Book of Mormon’s Hill Shim. (The previous night, we had arrived after dark and, so, were unable to see it.)

Then we drove to a vantage point from which we could look out over the town of Santiago Tuxtla and, behind it, Cerro Vigia, which is probably the leading candidate to be the location of the final battle of the Nephites and, before them, of the Jaredites:

2 And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle unto the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant unto us that we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle.

3 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites did grant unto me the thing which I desired.

4 And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites.

5 And when three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away, we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah.

6 And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni. (Mormon 6:2-6)

Please note, by the way, the important fact that Mormon buried in the hill that he mentions all of the records in his possession except for those that I handed over to his son Moroni. Those are the plates, presumably, that Moroni ultimately buried in the hill in western New York nearly three and a half decades after the cataclysmic final Nephite battle and that, in the early nineteenth century, he delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

And here is a reference to Cumorah (aka Ramah) in Moroni’s account of the final Jaredite battle:

11 And it came to pass that the army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred.

12 And it came to pass that they did gather together all the people upon all the face of the land, who had not been slain, save it was Ether. (Ether 15:11-12)

After looking out over the likely site of the destruction of both the Nephites and the Jaredites — fittingly enough, on the day celebrated in México as the “Day of the Dead” (the Día de (los) Muertos) — we continued through a large area of ponds and marshes that can, I think, be plausibly identified with “the waters of Ripliancum” as mentioned in the Book of Mormon. I’m told, too, that the area through which we passed was described among the Aztecs by a term, in Nahuatl, that bears the meaning of something like “exceeding large waters”:

7 And when Coriantumr saw that he was about to fall he fled again before the people of Shiz.

8 And it came to pass that he came to the waters of Ripliancum, which, by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all; wherefore, when they came to these waters they pitched their tents; and Shiz also pitched his tents near unto them; and therefore on the morrow they did come to battle. (Ether 15:8)

When we reached Veracruz, we enjoyed a good early dinner in a Mexican chain restaurant called Vips, walked around the beautiful little Veracruz México Temple nearby, and caught an evening flight to Mexico City, the last destination of our tour. It’s been interesting to see the temporary Day of the Dead Shrines, and the costumes, and the holiday face painting. The holiday is a combination of Halloweenish fun and somewhat solemn memorials to the departed dead. I would imagine that the particular mix varies from person to person, from family to family, and from place to place.

Montañas, agua y nubes Catemaco, Veracruz (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

Incidentally, a bit of trivia: I mentioned the other day that Mel Gibson had lodged in the same hotel (La Finca) on the shore of Lake Catemaca where we stayed last Thursday night. He was filming his 2006 Mesoamerican-themed film Apocalypto. (He both produced and directed it.) The hotel has a beautiful setting on the lake and is quite adequate and clean, but it is not at all luxurious. Evidently, Sean Connery had already stayed there during the filming of his 1992 movie Medicine Man. And, now, the hotel can add Larry Ainsworth, Steve Densley, Brant Gardner, and Verlanne Johnson — volunteers, all of them, with the Interpreter Foundation — to its list of distinguished guests.

Posted from the Ciudad de México, México

Travel and Religion

History and Religion

Previous Post

November 2, 2024

"Birthplace of the Gods"

Next Post

November 3, 2024 Greeting a Prophet in México

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"DP: “But Mr. Sutherland worries about the fact that our time, when we can communicate ..."

Theodore Brandley

Learning more about a region of ..."

"Another class of memories are of individuals who previously lived. Some of these remembered individuals ..."

PlasmaMiasma

Accounts of Premortality?

"Sutherland's lecture sounds interesting. He seems to restate the Washington consensus that trade brings peace ..."

B. Wilson

Learning more about a region of ..."

"In a meeting today, I learned another important reason why accurate (or at least as ..."

the PROBLEM

From Serbia’s “White City,” Belgrade

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What animal is mentioned in Proverbs as having little strength but great wisdom?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ant Ox Bear Lion