We attended and participated in a Mayan spiritual ritual this afternoon with two Mayan spiritual leaders. We went to the top of El Baúl (the hill/mountain that we hiked a few weeks ago). This mountain is apparently a sacred Mayan ground. Here, the spiritual leaders made a cross within a circle with white sand. On top of the sand, one of the leaders built a mound out of balls and pallets of incense and wood. They lit the fire and explained that they communicate energy with the fire. The man laid 20 cards around the fire. On our bodies we have 20 fingers and toes and the Mayans have 20 parts to their year. The number 13 is very sacred to the Mayan people. We have 13 major joints in our bodies (ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbows, shoulders and neck) and there are 13 days within each part of the year. This represents 260 days, which is the length of time it takes for a baby to develop within a woman. We were each given two balls of incense, knelt around the fire, and the ceremony began.
The leaders began praying/chanting in Quiche (their indigenous language). They threw small pieces of incense into the fire as they chanted. We bent over and kissed Mother Earth 3 times. They prayed to the largest river in the US (the Mississippi) because great power comes from rivers. At this point we held one of our incense balls in our hands and moved them in circular motions. We were asked to think about pain or troubles that we had, and then we threw the balls into the fire.They asked each of our names and threw a candle in the fire for each of us. They then asked us to speak the names of loved ones who have recently died. A candle was thrown in for Granddaddy. We kissed Mother Earth three more times. They chanted more as they threw in more incense and stirred the fire. We stood and held the other incense ball in our hands while moving it in circular motions. After we threw these into the fire, we put our hands in a prayer position in front of our hearts, moved our left hand toward the fire to receive it's energy, and right hands over our chest to move the energy to our hearts. We then knelt, moving our left hands to our hearts and our right hand to the ground to give Mother Earth some of our energy. We kissed her three more times at the end of the ceremony.
The whole ritual took a little less than an hour and a half. The leaders told us that it was important to remember Mother Earth and give her energy. They said they were glad that we, as young people, were learning these lessons and taking them with us. They also assured us that the world is not ending in 2012. This year is just a meeting of numerous Mayan calendars. Instead of an end, it will be a new beginning.
After this ceremony, the whole group returned to the van in silence. It was wonderful.
Awesome!
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