Ixkotzij (flower woman) and her sister went with their mother to visit their grandfather, Kawoq. They visited him every 13 days, since he lived far away. The two sisters were very excited to see him. He was often smiling, as he liked to tease them, and he always answered all the questions the girls asked, even the most difficult ones. From moment they left the house, Ixkotzij began thinking of a difficult question to ask her grandfather. He taught them no to be content with an “I don’t know, just because, who knows”; or that type of answer. He said everything had a reason and they were entitled to know it.
Grandfather Kawoq had gray hair, which he was starting to lose. When you came into his house you could listen to an old radio playing marimba music. While Ixkotzij’s mother and sister where preparing food in the kitchen, she asked her grandfather the question she had planned for this visit. “Grandpa, why are people in the city saying that the world will end in 2012? What are all those Maya prophecies about? And how come you never told me anything about it? I think that is not fair, you never warned us.”
Grandfather Kawoq smiled and told her in a pleasant voice: “Our ancestors, the grandfathers and grandmothers, have never said the world is going to end. That’s why I didn’t say anything to you. Our grandfathers and grandmothers have taught us to take care of Mother Earth, to not destroy her. So the world is not going to end. Hasn’t your mother taught you not to waste water, to use just the wood that you need? Hasn’t you father taught your brother to cut the wood on a full moon so that it will last for many years, and to use the branches of old trees? Don’t you remember that as a child you helped pick up the branches from the woods so that we did not have to cut many trees? Our grandfathers and grandmothers have taught us these and many other things. They taught us to love Mother Earth, to ask her permission before we take anything from her, but they have never taught us that the world is going to end. I think that the people who are saying the world will end are saying so because they know deep inside that they are destroying Mother Earth, and they feel bad about it.”;
Grandfather Kawoq stood silently, meditating for a while, then he continued:
“In the big cities everything works with electric power – even the stairs work with electric power. They use it for the elevators, to carry their water, to wash and dry their clothes, and to cook their food. They use it for everything. What would happen if they no longer had electric power? There are many things they won’t be able to do. But what happens to us? Not much. If there is no electric power, our world continues to be the same. Our houses, at most, have two stories – not 40, 60 or 90 like the buildings in big cities. We bring our water from the river in pitchers. We hand wash our clothes. We enjoy drying them with the energy of Father Sun, because his energy and strength is imprinted on our clothes. We pick wood from the forest to cook our food and keep our house warm. But in big cities, if they don’t have electric power, their world somehow ends, because they are fragile. They don’t live in harmony with Mother Earth. Unlike us, they live away from her. Everything in their world is artificial. Their world depends on electricity, on fuel, on a car. We live in contact with nature. We take care of Mother Earth in the same way she takes care of us. Our world will not end, so don’t worry my beloved Ixkotzij.”
This is the second in a series of short stories written by Mayan Ajq’ij (spiritual guide) Lina Barrios from Guatemala. These stories are meant to share the knowledge and wisdom of the Mayan peoples with the world.
In order to keep the long-standing tradition, Ixkab’ (woman of honey) finishes the third and final cloth used to make a huipil (blouse) for her youngest daughter. Her heart is joyful, she has woven all the necessary cloths to make her husband’s, daughter’s and her own clothing. Early in the morning she will give her beloved husband all the cloths so he can begin putting them together to maintain the complement of energies. He will sit in their house, at the corridor, for 20 days with a basket full of threads to sew the huipiles, cortes (skirts), trousers and shirts, and he will have them ready before theHab’ (the New Year) so that the whole family will wear new clothes.
The Winter Solstice is the day in which the night is longer than the day. To many of the ancient civilizations this date marked the beginning of the year. The Maya Elders say that during this moment, the Sun is young and it is the perfect time to plan our purposes for this New Year. We must take this opportunity to ask for our personal and common wishes, bearing in mind that what’s most important is to ask for light and harmony, specially for Mother Earth; to pray for peace and spiritual growth.
“The light is within us; let us work for our destiny-our destiny to better the human race. Let us become more aware of our actions; let us be more compassionate to our fellow human begins and to ourselves.” This is a call for us to listen to our Mayan Elders.
Today, I have been contemplating life and the good fortune of being which we have been gifted. Why is it we exist? It is because existing has given us the awareness of our being and the ability to say we are alive and cognizant. Our consciousness is the alignment and harmonization of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being along with the confounded presence of reason, trying to fulfill all the empty spaces of life. All this while accepting the integrity within our soul and joining through the force of the real essence, which has been designated “spirit”. You simply have to feel it as a light, with the magical essence representing that which joins us to everything, to the original vibration, where the creation that leads to reality emerges.
For so many of those reading this, the lands of Latin America may seem like a distant place and the Amazon basin like a remote exotic location that bears little relevance to our everyday lives. The reality is this region holds great relevance to all of our lives, on both the physical level as well as a symbolic and spiritual one. The Kichwa community of Sarayacu, located in the central Amazon Basin in Ecuador, find themselves on the front lines in the struggle for preserving a natural and traditional way of life in the face of the continued drive to conquer Nature in the name of profit and greed. Sarayacu is a strong community, and one that survives to this day in part because of the citizens of the world who recognize they share an intricate connection with the people and have raised their voices to holdup the actions of petrol companies that would see the forest leveled and the people destroyed in the name of oil. Yet, unless the eyes of the world continue to carefully watch the unfolding of events in this region, and the stream of letters, emails and phone calls continue to flow to let governments and companies know who is watching, this place of life and magic can cease to exist.
Sarayacu is a community in balance, intricately tied to the jungle environment that survives them – not out of luxury, but out of necessity. There is a rhythm of life that mirrors the rhythm of the jungle. People wake at sunrise and sleep shortly after sunset. The pace is steady, not fast for the heat in the jungle forbids that, but not slow and lazy because survival demands otherwise. It is a rhythm that is so natural, after only a few days of living at such a pace the beat of our modern world appears to be so out of sync with what is natural, what is healthy that it seems absurd. One is left to wonder, on a global level, as the pace of modern society quickens to a deafening rhythm, what impact does the steady pulse of life in the jungle have upon tempering this hectic beat? This natural rhythm helps to produce a certain vibrancy that is evident upon meeting the people of Sarayacu. Only in ignorance would one dare call these a primitive or backwards people. On the whole, they are very intelligent – in both the traditional ways of life as well as having been educated in the western world. There is an honesty and directness that is permitted to shine through their eyes, because they are content in their way of balance and do not seek to undermine or fear being undermined in the name of material gain.
Beneath the feet of these people, below the territory of nature in its most pristine form, may lie that which has arguably been the cause of more destruction of man and nature in the last 100 years: oil. A consortium, led by Argentinean petrol company CGC, wants to find out if there is oil in the territory and has no qualms about removing whatever “obstacles” lie in their path of discovery and extraction. Sarayacu’s struggle with petrol interest goes back many years. In 1989 the community successfully repelled an attempt by the ARCO company to complete petrol exploration within their territory. According to the official Sarayacu website,
The methods used by the oil company and their supporters may lend insight into what would lie ahead for the community and region should they get their way. A campaign of intimidation, coercion and torture has been leveled against Sarayacu for the last several years. CGC has found an alliance in the Ecuadorian Government and its military that has set the stage for documented human rights violations. According to Marlon Santi, “the leaders (of Sarayacu) can never be tranquil. We are constantly receiving threats, and perhaps these threats are connected with the government.” Indeed, these threats have not always turned out to be hollow ones. In late February, 2004, Mr. Santi was preparing to travel to Washington, D.C., to present the case of Sarayacu before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. As he was in Quito preparing to make the journey, he was assaulted at gunpoint by an individual who claimed “You Sarayacu people will die like dogs.” Mr. Santi was pistol whipped and his travel documents as well as documents for the hearing were taken. Detention and the accosting of villagers happen illegally with an alarming frequency by the petrol company. There are two ways in and out of Sarayacu: by airplane and along the Bobonaza River, which has been the common route for inhabitants of the villages. CGC has established an illegal checkpoint on that river and often turns away villagers that have made the two day journey, preventing the community from raising its voice at national councils and in protests. In December, 2003 violence once again erupted as members of Sarayacu, including women and youths were assaulted at the checkpoint by drunken individuals with ties to CGC as they attempted to make their way to a March for Life and Peace in the city of Puyo. The actual situation was documented on video by one of the members of the community. The media in Ecuador and elsewhere has been used in a systematic campaign to discredit the community at every turn. The community has been labeled as “devils of the jungle”, as being irresponsible with the management of their own natural resources (the jungle itself), and even as “terrorists”, all assertions without any factual basis. This misinformation has been distributed to local, national and international media as well as directly to those who have expressed support for Sarayacu, organizationally or individually. Perhaps the most frightening unveiling of to what ends the petrol company, government and military are willing to go to lies in the recent military buildup surrounding Sarayacu and the discovery of a massive tract of explosives within Sarayacu territory. There are now several military bases on the perimeter of Sarayacu and military personal have been caught entering the territory while performing tactical maneuvers. We were told that recently, a large tract of explosives were discovered within the territory. Once a munitions expert was brought in, it was determined that there was enough TNT to level Ecuador’s capitol city of Quito. It was presumed these were brought in to clear tracts of land following a potential oil vein. This is just a small sampling of the devious tactics being used to undermine Sarayacu’s efforts of self preservation. With such a demonstration of disregard for either environmental concerns or human rights, what will become of the village should the petrol companies have their way?
The elders are saying that we need to work hard, that there is not much time left. They expressed that they are angry, because although they have delivered their messages and warnings, they are not being heeded and people are not taking them seriously. They say that we need to create consciousness and to teach this to other people. Of primary concern and emphasis is the environment. Humanity has the ability to take responsibility and to limit the contamination of the environment. They say that we can do things like write letters to our representatives, take action, whatever we can to stop this contamination. They gave warnings of floods, another heat wave in Europe, and bad things fro agriculture, especially in Africa. There will also be many other disasters. They warn that the Scandinavian countries can become frozen over, a process that will not happen over night but can take 5-7 years. They say that people working for the negativity are killing spiritual leaders. This happened to Don Antonio Esquinas in Santiago Attitlan, Guatemala as well as to elders in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. They are calling for unity of spiritual people and would like to see a gathering of spiritual leaders in the four corners region of the United States. We must pay attention to the prophecy of the serpent, whereby the energies must move to the south Andes. They are presently blocked in the four corners region. People need to develop their internal powers, now is the time. 2006 is a time where the energies for war and destruction are very strong, but we can stop this. The transit of Venus began the energies for a period ot destruction and confrontation. Orion is affecting the planet causing even greater destabilization. Since June 8th, the dark side has begun to show its face completely and we have begun to see more of the darkness. We will also be facing economic problems as oil is destabilizing countries. The elders are calling for a return to alternative, more natural ways of producing energy. We should continue to light candles at sunset, focusing on creating balance. We can use red, white and green candles for the environment. The elders have given all their prophecies, now the people need to take action.