How a Mexican spiritual leader preserves the sacred knowledge of the volcano known as El Popo

MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ

Moisés Vega has a distinctive job: The 64-year-old Mexican says he can speak the sacred language of volcanoes to ask for good weather and a good crop.

Mexico lowered the alert level on the Popocatépetl volcano by early June after its eruptions of gas and ash had drawn the attention of the international community. For Vega, though, the 17,797-foot (5,425-meter) mountain, known as El Popo, is a living being that never fades from his sight.

“The Popocatépetl is our father and the Iztaccíhuatl is our mother,” he said, referring to a neighboring volcano. “They are providers of water and we are not afraid of them. On the contrary, their exhalations are blessings because they give us life.”

There is no English translation for his profession, but among the inhabitants of the towns of central Mexico, men like him are called “graniceros.”

“Their work is based on the