Thanks to the generosity provided by Saq’ Be’ supporters and the hard work of Juan and Miguel Ignacio and their community, some amazing progress has been made on the construction of the Casa de los Nawales in Chichicastenango.  You may recall this past fall that Saq’ Be’ set out to raise funds to support this project.  We met our targets and were able to send funds to Juan and Miguel a few months ago.  They jumped right into the project, and have been sending photo updates of all the progress they are making.

The Casa de Los Nawales will be a physical space for the cultural and spiritual teachings through the philosophy of the Maya Calendar, Maya Cosmovision, and Maya Ceremonies to the youth and the peoples who are interested.

We’ve shared collages of the photos below and will continue to share updates, including the grand opening.  You can see the gratitude and groundbreaking ceremony, adobe brick making and construction progress.  Thank you to all those that supported making this dream a reality!

Well, it is that one time of year where we come forward to ask our friends to support the work of this organization in integrating living lineages in modern life while supporting their vitality in homelands.  This year, following our time in Guatemala, we are fortunate to have an opportunity to support a very specific project led by twin brothers, Juan and Miguel Ignacio.  They are ajq’ij and artists, native to

Chichicastenango, where they run Galeria Maya Pop Wuj.  Juan and Miguel wish to further their mission of creating opportunities for the young people and children of Chichi to interact with Maya art and spirituality by constructing a physical space to share cultural and spiritual teachings of the Maya.

The project costs around $2,500.  As a small organization, Saq’ Be’ is committed to this effort and is willing to match support for funds raised.

Below is a description from Juan and Miguel.  Please consider making your tax-exempt donation for this program.

GALERIA MAYA POP WUJ

Chichicastenango

PROJECT: CASA DE LOS NAWALES.

MEASURE: 6×5 mts.

ADDRESS: Casa No. 2-27 Barrio Chilima, Chichicastenango, Guatemaya.

OBJECTIVE:

The purpose is to promote and have a physical space for the cultural and spiritual teachings through the philosophy of the Maya Calendar, Maya Cosmovision, and Maya Ceremonies to the youth and the peoples who are interested.

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

The project emerges from the initiative of the members of Galería Maya Pop Wuj, as a need of being able to implement a physical space to safeguard the Nawales and to be able to treat patients with different needs for Spiritual healing.

This place already has an altar called KANBALAM, founded since 2009, at which ceremonial energies have already been activated.  Besides having the physical ceremonial and spiritual space, there is an Art Gallery MAYA POP WUJ, founded since the year 2001, which has been open and working towards the children and young people of Chichicastenango. The idea of this project is to be able to interact with Maya Art and Spirituality, to be able to maintain the poise and balance of each individual.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

This project consist of building a traditional house with a base of adobe and wood, which will be used exclusively for the nawales and for meditation.

I know it’s been a while since the last dispatch, and I’ve since returned to the US and my family recently joined me.  We had some incredible meetings, travels and planning for Saq’ Be’ since the last post:
We traveled to San Juan la Laguna, a town that has built its reputation with a plethora of weaving cooperatives, medicine cooperatives and painting galleries.  We began with a visit to the Ix Cacao women’s weaving cooperative, where they utilize traditional and natural processes to spin, dye and weave local cotton.  We also visited a medicinal plant cooperative, that featured a garden with a number of plants that are used for medicinal purposes, as well as a collection of teas, tinctures and other items.  The women running the center indicated that they have curanderas, midwives and hueseras (that work with bones) all on call.  The town also featured numerous murals and the galleries were filled with themes of Maya culture and tradition.  In this town, it was easy to have a felt experience of the way that the Maya tradition so fully integrates into identity and the projects that carry forward.

We were once again joined by Lina and her other daughter, as we journeyed to perform a ceremony in the altar of Nimaj Jay, a cave overlooking lake Attitlan.  This was, of course, a very special place and there were many ceremonies taking place the day that we arrived.  Some of the ceremonies used whole cans of chiles and even kinds of fireworks, which isn’t common, but are used to deal with serious conditions.

Towards the end of my time in Guatemala, we had the good fortune to spend time with Don Domingo Sosa, Former Director of Academy of Mayan Languages, linguist and Tzu’tu’jil storyteller.  We did a Facebook live video with don Domingo, where he told a captivating story about nawalism – a man that would sneak out at night and turn into his nawal (animal).  We also filmed Don Domingo sharing numerous other stories, including traditional names for places around Attitlan (Attitlan and many of the other names are actually Nahuatl language, brought from the Spaniards), the nawal of the lake and much more.

Reflections

We first travelled to Guatemala to be with the Maya tradition in the late 90’s.  We are fortunate to have had this opportunity to return here for the past few months.   Speaking personally, it was a strong, innate calling that drove me to connect with this tradition, not to elevate myself above others, but to be able to live more fully into the responsibility of elevating those around me.  With about 20 years of this journey, my appreciation for the depth and practicality brought forth by the Maya tradition for us to elevate each other and to restore a deeper sense of harmony in the world continues to grow.   It is clear that the era we are in now is no less significant, and perhaps in magnitude of order even more so, that in it was in those earlier days.   The opportunity and responsibility for Saq’ Be’ to bring this knowledge and wisdom into the modern world in a deeply integrative way while continuing to nourish its roots is a calling that has not strayed in all this time.  As always, it will no doubt take time to integrate and make meaning of this latest experience – of the encounters, ceremonies, teachings, people and land.  Below are a few musings that have landed in these early days:

The weaving of culture and tradition into every aspect of life for the Maya people is incredibly evident.  In fact, it is so common, that I am sure many people miss it as a fish misses the water they swim in.  Threads of colonization, globalization, religious oppression and indoctrination have not burned the fabric of this culture, rather they have often somehow found their way to be woven in and make it stronger.

That ability to weave culturally seems in part due to a process I’d describe as slow integration, which aligns more with the normal speed of change (outside of outlier events) in the natural world.  This contrasts with a modern culture fixated upon rapid innovation.  I think the point of confluence in these two world views is a rich place of opportunity.

We were once again reminded about how depths to which the knowledge of the Maya tradition reaches.  It is rooted in its own form of science, a particular lens into how the universe works, grounded in a mathematical understanding.  It is often the role of the Ajq’ij and others to bring this level of deep understanding of increasing levels of complexity into the accessibility of simplicity for others.  Even amongst Ajq’ij, there are varying depths of knowledge, yet they meet at a certain point, whether or not the those depths have been plumbed by an individual.  For example, Don Pedro explained some of the mathematical reasoning behind the use of certain carriers for the years.  There is a robust debate amongst Ajq’ij about which carriers should be used (some consider that there was a change of carriers a few years ago).  Yet outside of those that are considered to specialize as calendarists, other Ajq’ij are able to carry on and fulfill their duties, accepting one argument or the other.  It is in the collective that the fullness of a tradition is held.   Without rootedness, beliefs and practices risk becoming superstition, corruptible in deviating from a deeper cosmological understanding.

It was also interesting to note that on several occasions, we explored not only the calendar of life (cholq’ij), but the lesser known calendar of death.  This latter calendar represents a part of a natural cycle that produces the ground upon which new life can be formed.  Yet in our modern society, we desperately try to subvert this cycle, whether it is in developing artificial means to prolong individual life (for those that can afford access) or in our societies and civilizations, failing to accept an era at its end so that it may give rise to what is to follow.  I believe we are in such a moment in terms of colonial civilization, where it has been unnaturally prolonged to the detriment of allowing the growth of our next way of inhabiting the earth as humans.  I am not advocating for destruction in any form, but perhaps with a deeper recognition of the profundity of transformation we find ourselves within, we may better steward the next evolutionary cycle for humanity and our planet.

It has been a full few weeks since the last dispatch.  While my time here is coming to a close, I’ll reflect upon some of what we’ve been able to accomplish through Saq’ Be’ in that time:

We welcomed elder Pichekiix (Mariano Xitumil) who was gracious enough to spend several days with us, sharing knowledge and wisdom.  We added to our video library with several additional hours of footage, delving deeper into various topics including understanding more about some of the other calendars our there, including a calendar of music (with 20 tones), seeds and more on the calendar of death.  He also spoke about diet, seeds more generally, and of the men of light and darkness.

Denise and I met with Rafael of Groupo Sotz’il, a local art and dance company that uses modern interpretations of these forms as a way to maintain the Maya tradition and engage Maya youth (Kaqchikel) in a deeper connection and experience with the tradition.  Rafael shared a book the group produced, entitled Ati’t Xajoj  that does a fantastic job explaining the Nawales (animals) for each Ch’umil, including identifying the reason and source of information.   They even have a guide for animal dance movements to go with each Nawal.  This is an area we came into this trip interested in exploring, as there isn’t always consensus on the topic, yet we hope to incorporate information on the Nawales into some of the materials we offer. We discussed exploring ways that Saq’ Be’ and Grupo Sotz’il may partner and support each other’s work in the future.

We had the good fortune to spend time with Don Pedro Ixchop, whom you may recall, has contributed the prayers that are published in the Daily Ch’umil for each Trecena.  Don Pedro is the head of the Association of Maya Ajq’ij.  We were able to film a fascinating presentation of the initiation process for Maya Ajq’ij that was used before the current process of “walking 20 altars”.  Don Pedro also discussed how the Maya tradition is founded on a mathematical understanding of the world, and without that mathematical basis, much of the tradition can not be deeply understood.  We discussed his hopes for the Maya lineage moving into the world and ways for Saq’ Be’ to support its continued vitality here in the homeland.  He also spoke about each of the Ch’umil’al, the associated numbers, and offered a prayer in Kich’e.

In case you missed it, you can still check out the Facebook Live we did with Carlos Barrios.  In it, Carlos delivers a message for these times, discussing the energies that follow 2012, why we are in the time of “ego” and how precarious these years can be if we don’t pay attention.  He shared thoughts on the importance of connecting with water, and the intersection of understanding personal purpose and creating societal transformation.  Be on the lookout, we may have an opportunity to get in another livestream video or two while we’re down here!  By the way, check out this article from the archives where Carlos gave an interview discussing his path to becoming an Ajq’ij.

Let us know what seems interesting, exciting, relevant or what you’d like to learn more about in the comments below.

Until the next dispatch… Maltiox!

We’ve had a busy time since the last dispatch. Last weekend, Lina, Yamanik and their friend, another young lady that is also an Ajq’ij came to visit. We had a good conversation, and made some plans for a ceremony and to conduct an interview exploring the role and life as female Ajq’ij’ab in the Maya culture. The next day we met with Denise and were joined by Juan and Miguel, twin brothers who are both Ajq’ij and artists. We had some fascinating discussions and were able to capture quite a bit on film. This included discussions about Xibalba, the underworld as seen from a place of balance that predates the injection of catholic ideas of hell, and Juan’s initiation into its path and how it helps with curing. We also discussed the work they are doing with Kiche youth to keep the tradition alive, the development of their meditation space at their gallery, Casa de Los Nawales, and the role that Saq’ Be’ may play in supporting their efforts. We plan on seeing them again soon, and you’ll get a video before too long!

We then joined Carlos, Roberto and Denise on a journey up to Momostenango to celebrate the Maya New Year, 8 B’atz’. We had a fairly successful journey up the winding road from Attitlan to Momo, with just one child getting car sick :-0 We traveled to the altar of Paclom, considered to be the naval of the world. It is also the home of grandmother Ixmukane, where a thread was cast, and it was determined to be the center of the world. It is one of the oldest altars here, a key part of the origin story in the Pop Wuj. We knew there was a pilgramage walk the night before, with Paclom being the 4th altar in the 4 directions around Momostenango, where people were traveling by foot throughout the night and making offerings at each of the altars to arrive at Paclom in the dawn hours. We arrived at the altar towards the late afternoon, and purchased our materials for the ceremony just outside. It was quite a scene with more than a dozen fires going at once, the local Maya radio station blasting music full tilt, and at least a hundred people either participating in ceremonies or hanging out. There are some places where you can feel the ancientness, where the wisdom of elders has been imbued into the altars over millennia, and this was certainly one of those places. We had an amazing fire, setting up on a corner of the lower altar, along side other friendly and welcoming ajq’ij’ab and families. It was interesting to note as well several young Maya folk come up to Carlos out of respect for his work in supporting the rescue of the tradition. Even through the strong presence of Catholicism and synchretism, Evangelism, alcoholism, etc., it is clear that there remains a vibrancy to the tradition here in the homelands!

We were again joined by Lina and her daughter, Yamanik, for a ceremony at an altar on the other side of the lake in Cerro de Oro. As you can see in the pictures, this was quite an impressive and ancient place, where we had an amazing ceremony that went into the night.

Coming up, we plan to do a couple of interviews with Roberto, one where we ask him to draw upon his deep experience with Andean cultures and work with UNESCO to discuss the relevancy of traditional knowledge in modern times, and another where he dialogues with Carlos comparing Andean and Maya wisdom and cosmology. We also plan on meeting with Domingo, Mariano and Don Pedro before long, traveling to meet hueseras and learn about plant medicines around the lake, as well as more journeys, more ceremonies and more wisdom.

Maltiox!

Well, here is my second update with assorted musings from our time spent here in the heart of the Maya lands.  I’ve been reflecting upon the importance of the work we are doing with Saq’ Be’, and its particular relevancy in this moment in time.  We’ve always worked to open pathways for individuals to develop themselves more fully in accordance with their life purpose by integrating living, ancient wisdom.  We’ve also been long committed to supporting the vitality of these living lineages in their homelands where it is essential they continue to flourish.  I think there has also been a desire to be a resource to transforming the collective, at community and global levels.  This seems like the kind of moment where this is critical.
We are seeing increasing recognition of a void created by the collapse of colonial civilization.  I believe there is a space opening in the collective consciousness for the need to develop cosmological alternatives that lead us down a path of restoring the ability of our human and ecological systems to more deeply integrate and grow their evolutionary potential.  In essence, by appropriately connecting to and drawing forth from the living wisdom rooted in our past, we can collectively unleash our shared potential to fulfill humanity’s deeper purpose upon this earth, in restoring increasing levels of order and balance.

We are truly fortunate to have the opportunity to be here, where the lineage of the Maya lives in such a way that it can be felt permeating through the very fabric of the people and in this place. Hopefully we are able to convey some of that felt sense back to you here.

OK, back to the experiential part, here’s a bit of what’s been happening the last few days:
– Yesterday we went to spend time and make offerings to Maximon in Santiago Attitlan.  It was an honor to spend time with the Tilenal and Cofradia, and to share in this sacred space.  As we were making offerings and generally hanging out, I had a few further reflections: We may be facing a time where we have to stand for our communities, in the same way as Ri Laj Mam.  For many of us, it is becoming a time to defend the people, to stand for a deeper justice for all, and to overcome the problems of a time of transition.  We are fortunate to be able to offer prayers to Maximon, asking  draw upon this wisdom, guidance, protection and strength.
– 8 Tijax – Another ceremony – Horay!  This time, we were joined by Carlos, Denise, Roberto (from Colombia) and Domingo (a traditional storyteller we’ll be interviewing) for a special ceremony at a Maya altar upon the shores of lake Attitlan.  Maltiox!
– We opened the Kat trecena yesterday with a greeting in our kitchen from a spider that trapped a scorpion in its web.  Perhaps this represents the trapping of a potential problem so that we could deal with it (don’t worry, both spider and scorpion were relocated).

Coming up: Lina will be joining us this weekend, and Denise will be here as well.  Next week we will spend time filming and discussing with Miguel and Juan from Chichi – twin brothers, artists and ajq’ij’ab.  Tuesday we’ll be traveling with the crew to celebrate Waxaq’ib B’atz’ in Paclom.  And, we’ll see what else arises along the way!