Lucky Charms of Belize

Belize's cultural diversity — Maya, Garifuna, Creole, Mestizo, Mennonite, East Indian — produces an eclectic charm tradition. The Garifuna people, descendants of Arawak, Carib, and African ancestors, have a living tradition of ancestor veneration and healing ceremonies (dugu) in which the ancestral spirits are propitiated for the health and fortune of the family. Garifuna healers (buyei) create specific protective objects.

Maya communities maintain traditional healing and calendar knowledge, and specific objects blessed by h-men (Maya shamans) carry protective power. Catholic devotion among the mestizo and Creole population centers on saint medals and rosary beads. The jaguar, the supreme predator of Mesoamerican cosmology, is the Belizean national animal and a symbol of power and protection.