For many Atitecos, the central altarpiece at Santiago Atitlan is not merely a symbolic representation of the mountain of creation. It is a focal point for regenerative power, charged with the same animative presence that gives the saints in their niches the ability to bestow divine blessings. Ceremonies conducted before it related to rebirth are not therefore symbolic, but genuine creative acts in which time folds inward on itself to reveal the actions of deity in the primordial world.