During this time, the sun begins to move north as the days grow longer and thus it is associated with birth. During the celebration the shamans open the shrine and remove a plaster statue of tonantsij in the form of the Virgin of Guadalupe; the statue is moved in a line of procession with fanfare in the form of guitarists and violinists who play sacred melodies along with young girls bearing lighted candles. The statue is placed in a house altar, that the villagers had already prepared beforehand and two other plaster statues of lesser significance are placed next to it: the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, which are believed to be important for the milpa to be productive. The Nahua religion is a creative blend of both the Catholic and costumbre religion, and although they have incorporated Christian beliefs and practices in their indigenous rituals, the basic belief system is very similar to what it was pre-conquest. The Curandero, or Shaman, is basically expected to tend to all types of illnesses and disease that are not covered by Hueseros or Parteras, including spiritually-related ones. This responsibility includes diagnosis, pharmacy, divination and ritual leadership. Nahua medicine is closely related to religion and divination, so the curer takes on a both medical and religious responsibility. In the Huasteca region, curers play a somewhat more broad part in the community, speaking at public rites and meetings having to do with crop fertility and church events. The Curer is usually at the same time respected and feared in the community, the result of the healthcare they provide, the knowledge they possess and the sorcery they are thought to be able to perform. A person chooses, or realizes that they are destined to become a curer by “signs” that curing is one's destiny. Among these signs are recurrent symbolic dreams interpreted by a curer or a miraculous cure from a disease. The person will then enter rigorous training and apprenticeship with an accomplished curer in the community, from which many don't graduate. The process is a complicated and arduous one, in which the master imparts knowledge on the student in exchange for gifts over six or seven years. The training, in all, consists of the learning of chants, altar construction, making suitable offerings to the spirits depending on the situation and knowledge of plants and their uses. Once a student has completed the training, they then must start their own practice and develop a loyal clientele, as daunting a task as completing the training. This can be a stressful and trying time of life because of the many implications and responsibilities that come with being a curer.