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.

He has enough time, as it is still 25 days to the Hab’. He will sew for 20 days, until the start of the month prior to the New Year, known as the Tz’apil.  The Tz’apil is a month of only five days, which are used for purification in order to begin the New Year with a clean body, spirit, heart and mind – as well as with new clothes.

Ixkab’ thought of how sad it was when those machines came to town… “What are they called?… Singer?… What is the meaning of that name? It is not a Maya name, who knows in what language it is, these machines come from elsewhere. These machines are breaking with the tradition of our people. How is it possible that men, instead of sitting in the corridor, are paying a stranger to put together their clothes in these machines?” They say the machines sew better than the hands of the men, but Ixkab’ thought her husband did a better job, for he did it with love, just as she did when she wove the cloths. “Our daughter will feel that love, the love we have for her, my husband will feel the love I have for him… How can a metal, a cold metal give love to people? Surely people were wrong, our grandmothers taught us to weave joyfully and to imprint love to the cloths, our grandfathers taught the men to sew the cloths together with strength and love…”

“We must continue this complementing, as we were taught from the time of Creation, when Tz’aqol the former of matter and B’itol the giver of breath, when Alom the female energy and K’ajolom the male energy, when Tepew, who is stability and Q’uq’kumatz who is movement, when Uk’u’x Kaj who is the heavens and Uk’u’x Ulew who is earth, when Uk’u’x Palow who is salt water and Uk’u’x Cho who is fresh water, when Grandmother Ixmukane and Grandfather Ixpiyako’k created human beings with the nine beverages of maize. They taught us the importance of this complementing in order to have balance, to find peace.” Ixkab’s thoughts continued thinking of all the energies of creation and she concluded that women alone could not do the family’s clothing, both man and woman had to work together to complement each other. It is similar to having children, she thought, a woman alone cannot have children, a man alone cannot have children; love, harmony and complementing are necessary.

This short story is a reflection of the complementing of Maya men and women, values that have been with them since the time of Creation, together with the respect they have for Mother Earth, the solidarity and community service, all of which are the pillars of Maya wisdom.

This is the first 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.

 

“We sell ourselves to be able to buy that which doesn’t serve us, and when what we really need comes before us we no longer have the means left to acquire it”

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.

Today (today is the eternal present, the configuration of reality in the Najt which in the Mayan Tradition is the time-space) a wise man said that there are two types of beings: the ones who think they live and the ones who are conscious of their existence. He also said the latter have the responsibility not only for themselves, but to develop the planetary consciousness. This means that as sons and daughters of Mother Earth, as impeccable warriors of their own integrated awareness, they are responsible for helping to achieve the transition of the Planet as a living entity towards its own evolution.
As the Mayan elders say we are living in rough times – this is part of the prophecy. We don’t have to ask which prophecy, because in the end they all take the same path: the expected change to regain harmony with Mother Nature, to change the social and economic systems to something more fair and natural.

I was told by a wise man, “there is a fear of the drums of war, but we should be more frightened of living unconsciously, of having lived without transcending… and not completing our purpose in life.”

A woman was talking to me today of material needs and everyday life: “we need to substitute this reality, each day that we are in the material world, even though our vision points to spirituality”. There is much reason in her words since we live in a world where even water is sold to us.

My teacher Don Pascual told me it is about looking for balance, taking conscience, throwing out the superfluous. It is about not selling our life to be able to buy lots of things we don’t need, that only satisfy the illusion we were sold of feeling that we are someone, when in reality we have not yet noticed that we are already someone, part of creation and that we have a right to exist.

The celebration of the Wuakxaki Batz, (Mayan New Year) is the beginning of a new cycle of 260 days of the sacred calendar called by the wise man “Tzolkin”. As usual, during this holy celebration I approached the elder Grandfather, the Wise Prophet, who is always the one that gives us the guidance and the prophecies for each cycle.

I waited on a big line of all the ones who were searching for his blessing. As I approached, my partner Carlos Alvarado (my brother in the destiny of this infinite path that is the Mayan World), we asked ourselves why he had not given the message he always gives in this transcendent day. This message is a guide of prophecies and recommendations, that helps us orient for this new cycle, and which is our obligation to pass to the other spiritual people. After looking at us and turning his gaze to the woods, he looked to the sacred fire. After a deep silence, as he measured his answer, he told us:

“There is no prophetic message today. In the last years we have given prophecies, we have talked of the dangers to which we as humanity are exposed. We have called humanity to return to the path, to return to the natural order, to take conscience of the irreparable damage that we are causing to Mother Nature. We have called to the conscience of the leaders, the people that have the power to create a balance in the social and economical systems. How is it possible that our brothers throughout the world are starving and, even worse, millions of our children are starving, walking through the streets of the great cities, without a roof, begging for a piece of bread? What can we say? Is this the pride of our great civilization?”

But our calling has been mainly to the beings of Light, to the Spiritual Guides, to leave individualism , to bury the ego, to work in the purpose of saving Mother Earth, and hence the human race. The prophecies have been given, all humanity is conscious even though they try to live ignoring reality, it is very clear on their subconscious, as they say, in the occidental world. In our inner being we all know what we are living.

No one can ignore the prophecies and not see the destruction around them: the heartless wars for unsuspected economic purposes, the fundamentalist-religious confrontations, the new viruses, new and incurable diseases, plagues and of course the lack of balance in nature, hurricanes, inundations, droughts, earthquakes, starvation, etc.

However, it seems like we prefer to live in the dullness of ignoring reality and follow our lead into an abyss.

We, as the ones responsible for guiding humanity, see the indifference and the impossibility of changing each human being. Now, we are left with the ceremonies, meditations, and joint efforts with other elders and wise men of every great tradition.

Today, we only want to transmit the message of asking for something very simple:

“PLEASE TAKE ACTION! TIME IS RUNNING OUT”

“LET’S BE HUMANS AGAIN”

From the depths of the Andes, From the heart of the Quechua, Aymara, Amazonian nation of Peru, I send this message to you, children of the north, of the United States.Greetings, from one of the many natural representatives that are here in the region of the south. Together, with our communities, we are working on the small things and the big things that need to get done on a daily basis.

How much good will inspires me to express, through words, this message of solidarity and respect to you citizens of the north. And my heart flourishes to think that today, I’m sure you are more able to listen to the murmurs of brotherhood and reflection that the fresh winds of the south carry with them.

Who else but us, the Indigenous, know of the precious drops of blood that have been spilled so absurdly. Drops that can later on turn into rivers.

Who else but us the Indigenous, know of the bitter taste of impotency, of pain and tears. We also know well of the irresistible desire to hate and find vengeance.

But how beautifully and gracefully the natural world reveals itself to us. At the end of serene reflections, the towns that have wisdom, still, at the other side of the holocausts, end up understanding the real meaning of our precious lives here on earth, in this cosmic mother.

Our fear, if not controlled by us, could convert our existence into an accumulation of wrong knowledge and insanity. Uncertainty is given when the enemy lies.

Uncertainty governs and grows only when communities or individuals don’t know who they are and what they are doing in a world full of possibilities.

Perhaps this may be a good or appropriate time to make some reflections, with respect to some concepts and beliefs that, sometimes, we adopt as individuals.

By the mere way of living in a certain order of things, which could be looked at as being irreplaceable, and the only way, as well as a way of living in which one could be willing to sacrifice even our own spiritual, ethic and moral principles.

The Indigenous communities have a very heart felt worry regarding who it is that makes the politics, the economy and other rules of the game in the so called “modern” societies. For example, within the political directors of the modern world, the discourse on the disarmament and the fight against drugs are currently the trend.

But who is at the head of the big factories and laboratories of arms that supply the military arsenal to the countries in the world?

Is it not true that the value that weapons have are for horror and death?

Where do these un-superior chemists come from for the elaboration of the hard drugs?…And who are the owners of the banks that protect and wash the dirty money, for the protection of the laws of a secret bank?

If we search for the responsible ones, surely it would end up being the same ones that are satisfied with and benefit daily from the millions of cadavers, the victims of the drugs. And these may be the same ones that provide the scenarios for the next war or war related conflicts in the world.

And maybe this can explain why the mortal hate between the communities called “of God” and the others “the chosen ones.”

In our case, about 509 years ago, invaders arrived from Spain who justified their genocide with the argument of Christianizing the Indians. This is how they took over our lands and almost exterminated us for good.

Today the intentions are the same, although the methods have changed a great deal. Now, the transnational and economic corporations are the ones that act as the extended arm of the rich countries, where the small groups of power that have control over the towns benefit in the shadows of money and are protected by organizations of control and blackmail, such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.

In this way, they will attempt to strip the last piece of metal out of our mountains, the last tree out of our forests and contaminate or dry the last drop of water from our fountains.

Once we start to demand respect for our land, we are blamed for being separatists.

If we defend our identity, our culture and our original languages, they accuse us of being ignorant and wanting to go into the past.

When it comes to our spiritual practices, they become frightened, at which time they start to penetrate us systematically, with religious occults, with alcohol, with programs for “help”, even with terrorism that is occult.

Surely, the politics of control over us, the Indigenous, may be more direct. But it is undeniable that the towns of the world today, in one way or another, suffer from manipulation, exploitation or dependence.

This message carries the purpose to manifest our solidarity; inviting you to reflect together with respect to how many more are willing to help transform and re-focus things towards a system of life that is more natural, equal and of permanence.

Our only wish is for our children to live in a world that is diverse. A place in which all colors may share and work together. Without “powerful ones” that try to conform life, for the benefit of their greedy interests.

It is true that our Mother Earth is ill and is in great pain.

A lot of the time we don’t question who the hangman is. It does not heal to reproach.

It would be more precise at these times, to re-learn, to remember and understand again the language of our mother earth.

Let us all meditate profoundly on all of this, brothers and sisters of the North.

The communities and the individualism are but simply the projection of the cosmic intelligence and of it’s laws.

We still have time to re-learn the forgotten language of Pacha Mama.

Tenth Pachakuti-fifth sun of the Andean era.

This is a message delivered to the people of North America from Juan Santos in Peru. Juan Santos is a chacaruna, a “bridge person”, one who is a vehicle for the interim infrastructure of the present Indigenous movement. His work is to fulfill the social, moral and legal needs of the people according to their spiritual values and tradtions. He is one of the many people working with the Indigenous communities of the Andes. In the region of Cuzco he is committed as a dignitary dancer with the nations who make the pilgrimage to the sacred mountain of Qoyllor-Ritti. He is Quechua.

Mayan Ajq’ij Carlos Barrios talks with Joshua Samuelson about his first contact with the Mayan tradition, the meaning of Ajq’ij, his teachers and the dangers and climate in Guatemala during the civil war. We are greatful to Joshua for authoring and sharing this article.

Carlos, what is an Ajq’ij?

Ajq means lord and ‘ij the sun. The Lord of the Sun. Sounds great huh? But it’s just a simple man working with the energies in the tradition of the ancient people.

When was your first contact with a Mayan priest?

The Mayan culture had always interested me and I studied their culture at school and by myself. Some history people told me that the Mayans disappeared and the present day indigenous people are just a not what the Mayans are just a degenerative version of what they used to be. At University, there was an opportunity to go to a small town called Todos Santos to work with a famous sociologist called Dr Nelson Alan. One morning I got up at 5.30, and I went for a walk in the mist. On this walk I saw a mysterious light and I walked through the mist to it. Once I got there I saw it was indigenous people who had created this fire and were putting these candles in the front of a type of altar, called a stella, a stone inscribed with the characters of the Mayan rite and the figure of a monkey. I saw a man and said good morning to him. He turned to look at me and then turned back and continued to make his prayers. At this moment I smiled and I said, “Why are you making your prayer to this stone, don’t you know there is only one God in the Mayan world, why a praying to this stone, this is primitive!” Again he turned to look at me and look deep into me, and he said, “Oh, you are with these people who came with the University, and you are the ones with the knowledge. It is such a pleasure to meet you. Good morning, my name is Pascual and I’m just a poor Indian. Would you do me the honor of telling me your name?” I felt stupid and replied, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be rude, my name is Carlos, and I came with the group from the university. My intention was not to disturb your prayers. I just wanted to ask why if you have a principal god why you are making a ceremony to this stone. He smiled and he said, “This stone that you see here is the representation of the Great Father, and this stone has the energy of the Great Father and when I make a prayer the presence of the Great Father is here. Do you have a picture of your mother?” “Yes.” “Could you show me please?” So I showed him the picture and he said, “Is this your mother?” “Yes, it’s my mother.” “Are you sure?” “Yes, of course” and he said, “No stupid man, this is a picture of your mother.” When you see this picture there is a feeling there, a connection, and that is the same thing that happens here. Here in this stone is the energy of the Great Father, of the Great Spirit, and you can be sure that he will protect our crops and us. I have this year the best crops I have in my entire life. I have extra money and I am so happy and I come here to say thanks to God. And I said, “Yes you are right, I?m going to leave and let you continue making your prayers.” He said, “Come back here, take these candles and talk into them and put them in the fire. You can’t come to the fire and leave like an animal. Say thanks to the representation of the divinity.” And so I took the candles and I prayed that we remain safe in that place, because at that moment there was unrest in the area, with guerillas etc. The next day I went back to the work we were doing with the sociologist, but in the next days I became more curious about this man I had met; I was impressed by his eyes. When he looked at me, he saw deep inside me, and I felt that this man knew me, more than I knew myself. I tried to find him again, and I forgot his name. I searched and searched but all the faces of the indigenous people looked the same to me in the marketplace and I thought, “How am I going to find this man.” But I felt that if I could find him, something important would happen. One month later, a young indigenous came to me and said, “Don Pasqual invites you to have dinner at his home.” When I went to his house we began to talk and then he took my hand and he looked for my pulse and closed his eyes for a few minutes then he began to tell me the history of my life. Events that I forgot, promises I made and never fulfilled. It was a complete history of my life, and I was very impressed. I asked him how he did that and said, “In your blood is the memory of your life, and your blood talked to me and I just repeated what it said to me.” “Why are you doing this for me”, I asked and he replied, “Because you have a big problem. When you were young you had the gift of divination, and you asked spirit to cut this gift from you, and now you are trying to recover this gift, to be a visionary. That’s the reason I called for you. I can invite you to work with us, in my tradition, and I can teach you. I don’t promise you will recover your vision, but you will learn a lot of things.”
During these times traveling was difficult. I went when I could and studied with him. I was the only disciple who wasn’t indigenous, and the others saw me as stupid, and as interrupting the group. They made me feel alone. I thought, well this is the price we non-indigenous people have to pay if we want to have access to this knowledge. I was impressed by the power that this man had but I knew nothing of the tradition. Don Pasqual was the leader of one of the most ancient clans, the Clan of the Eagles. The problems with the guerrillas made it hard to travel. The Army viewed sociologists and anthropologists as military objectives as since they believed they were putting bad ideas in the heads of the indigenous people. So I couldn’t go there for five years, but we would still find ways to meet up for him to teach me. When it came time for me to walk the Mayan path to become an Ajq’ij, Don Pasqual said, “Carlos, you can’t continue with me”, and I said, “Why not! I am ready. You are my Elder, you are my teacher.””No it’s impossible for you to continue with me, because you need to walk the path for one year and then work for me for 9 months.” “That not a problem, because if I am close to you I’m going to learn a lot” I replied. This is not the problem, the problem is that during this time you need to take a vow of abstinence.” And I replied, “that’s not a problem, I don’t eat meat, I am a vegetarian, and I can fast for 10 to 14 days with only water.” “No, the abstinence I’m talking of is a vow of sexual abstinence, and you can’t do it?”(laughs) “Of course I can’t do it.” So he sent me to Elder in another more flexible tradition that didn’t have these restrictions. But he taught me to work with the wind, the mist and the water, and how to bring rain (and it work with good success I suppose (rained in SF that day)). It seems that now the clouds and the rain follow me.

Was it a different clan that you went to, after Don Pasqual?In these times about 30 or so years ago, there were the clans of the jaguars, eagles, bees, and bats. But now with the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, globalization, many clans have been destroyed. In the 50’s, McCarthy made a plan for Latin America, designed to make the indigenous people into consumers. Part of the plan involved destroying indigenous traditions by giving money to different evangelical churches that then sent ministers to Latin America and especially Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Colombia and Peru to convert the indigenous people to Christianity. The CIA sold weapons to our governments, paid off the generals, and fostered corruption. They also gave out a lot of loans. We were not a poor country before these events. Nobody used to be interested in the dollar before, because one dollar was only worth ninety cents of our currency. Our economy was destroyed during the Cold War. Guerillas and the Army would set up camp on different sides of the most traditional Mayan villages. The first step was to kill all the Elders of the village so that the village was left without leaders. The guerillas would go into town asking for food, and of course if you have a weapon and you ask for food you get it. The next day the Army would come and say, “Who was the bastard that gave the guerillas food?” They would take these people and they would kill them, and then they’d ask for food for themselves. The next day the guerillas would come into town saying, “Who was the bastard who gave the Army food”, and so on. It was a game; the guerillas and the Army would never have confrontations. Then the fundamentalist priests from the Evangelical church North America would step into the picture. They were in on this whole game. They would make badges that say that a person is a member of the Evangelical church. The guerillas and the Army didn’t torture or kill these people. Of course, the people in the village see, “Oh if I have one of these cards and go to church and clap for two hours they won?t kill me.” This caused many indigenous people to accept Jesus, and this how things changed. They killed many of the Mayan elders and destroyed much of the tradition. There were some Elders who kept their mouths shut and survived, but people were scared to talk to them. It was too dangerous. This is how many of the big Mayan clans were destroyed. Only now is some of the tradition and knowledge coming back. However a lot of the tradition was lost. The Elders who did survive were often in the deeper part of the country, and they preserved the traditions. Now the Elders want to share this knowledge with all humanity because this is time for unity in the human race. All those walking in the path of light need to be united. We need to work together because otherwise humanity may destroy itself. The Mayan prophecies about the Dec 21 of the year 2012 don’t necessarily mean the world is going to end. It says that the kind of life we live, the economy and the society is going to change to a new type of humanity. Humanity with more conscience, more respect for the Mother Earth. This doesn’t happen instantly. This is going to take time. We hope that around the time of 2046 that there will be a new vision in place. At this moment we, as Mayans believe that a lot of humanity is going to disappear during this shift.

At this moment in time, what are the most important teachings the Mayan world can offer us?There is a lot of interest in ancient cultures and spiritual traditions. It is important that people go deeply into these traditions. Many of these traditions, philosophies and ways of life are similar because they came from ancient mother honoring traditions, which in the Mayan world call Tula culture. Many people think their religion, their tradition or their project is the one truth, the only truth, when it is a just a part of the Universe, a part of a great truth. This is one of the most important messages of unity. They are all different manifestations of the same great truth. The problem is that many of these traditions are fighting. The leaders of these different ways need to go to deeper into their traditions and focus on humility and harmony. The Mayan tradition focuses on harmony, with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with the Mother Earth. We in the light need to come to a union against the darker forces. At this time the balance is with the other side, they are destroying the Mother Earth; they are making wars and propagating consumerism. We need a balance. A few people have millions of dollars and then millions are dying because they have nothing to eat. We need to respect each other as humans so we can in turn respect the animals, the trees and Mother Earth. This is the call of the Mayan elders. It is a simple message.

What’s your part in this mission?When I was a kid I had a dream. I saw many people from different nations, Native American nations, with feathers and pipes. When I got a little older I told my father what I saw. He showed me some pictures of Tikal, and I said, “Yes, this is the place.” Then I knew my purpose of life, my mission was to be vehicle of the knowledge of the Elders. When we had a gathering of the Elders in December of 1995, and at that moment I thought, “I have finished my mission for this life and I’m going to go to the lake, and I’m going to write and heal people and do divination and I’m going to be so happy.” But the Elders had other plans, they sent me out to the world because they think I understand Western Civilization, and the indigenous people, and they sent me out to be a spokesman for the tradition. Each of the Ajq’ij has a specialty, some of them are healers, and others can cut the bad energies, are diviners or work with the sacred calendar. My specialty is to work with the sacred calendar, the Tzolkin. The Tzolkin is a very good tool for understanding our own energies in relation to other energies around us. The elders feel this is a crucial time, if we don’t change our ways and respect our environment and Mother Earth we will destroy ourselves. We are living in the times that many prophets from different cultures have talked about with all the sickness, earthquakes, floods, drought, global warming and holes in the ozone. The Elders are trying to show people that it is time to change our ways, respect Mother Earth and the each other’s traditions. In the richer countries we see the faces of many people and they are empty and unhappy because they just a number, a card, a machine, and they don’t use the experience of the Elders. The Elders get put into a nursing home. This is big mistake because these people have a lot of experience and knowledge. The famous American dream is turning into a nightmare. This is why the eyes of humanity are looking to the ancient cultures to teach us how to preserve our world.

What else would you like to tell me about the life of a Mayan Priest?When I tell people where I went last month and I tell them Colombia, Paris or Italy, they say, “What a nice life you have!” They think that travel is happiness, but the life of a shaman is tiring, we are always in the role of service for humanity. We invest a lot of time and energy and there are moments when we feel tired, empty. We don’t have time to go sightseeing. We just go to a place and work and work. There are a lot of people who are angry with us because we are coming to awaken the people. But this is part of my destiny and I accept it. The best life for a Mayan priest is one where the priest lives in his/her community and heals people. I would love to do this, but my destiny is to travel and travel and travel. On the positive side we get to share with people and help people.

Who else, apart from Don Pasqual, taught you the ways of a Mayan priest?Don Pasqual is an Elder who really taught me and who helped me to develop my power. There was another important Elder who taught me called Don Isidro. He was really different than Don Pasqual because he was an academic man with a doctorate in international laws. He spoke 14 different languages. His house was a labyrinth of books and if you picked up a book and looked in it you would find notes relating to other books in the house.

Manuel Pan Ju Lux is a Mayan Ajq’ij, or priest that comes from the village of Chichicastenango in Guatemala. Saq’ Be’ sat with Manuel while he spoke of his life and struggles upon his path that led him to becom an Ajq’ij and member of the Cofradia.

(Dictated to Saq’ Be’ by Manuel, Translated from Spanish to English by Saq’ Be’)

Born on September 15, 1974
Under the Mayan calendar, my personal sign is, Keb A’ka’bal; the darkness, with three special carriers. One which dictates me becoming an Ajq’ij.

I was born in a barrio named, Chitima. I am Indigenous, as were my parents. My parents were illiterate, as am I, but I am trying to take myself forward.

My father died in 1982, he was kidnapped. I was 7 years old. I had to start work at the age of 7 to get clothes, medicine and food. I did not go to school because I had to take care of my mother. We are four brothers and one younger sister.

Between the age of 12 and 15 I began to hang out with some youngsters that enjoyed drinking a lot. Then I met other young people that were catholic. I was with them for about four years. My body became ill around this time. I had no money. I went to the doctors and they said that there was no cure and that I was to die. My mother took me to an elder, Ajq’ij, to see if I was really to die. They began to say that I needed to become an Ajq’ij. My mother said this is why I was getting sick and that I must become an Ajq’ij. So, what I did was to gather with other Ajq’ij to perform ceremonies. Since that date, I was to serve only one god. When the elder Ajq’ij would see me carrying materials up to the altars, they would ask if I was an Ajq’ij or if I was making fun of their spirituality. I would say no, I am an Ajq’ij. “But at this age”, they would say, “this is not convenient for you”. What I had to do was think if it was better I was Ajq’ij now or if I should hide it until I was 45, 50 years of age? I began to talk with others that were conscious of my reality, other Ajq’ij. They said I had the carriers and there was the elders and that I needed to ask them for the strength and power, I needed to communicate with them, talk and ask them.

I felt the richness of the Mayan spirituality. It would be best if I go with the elders. I started to work more with them and they started to enjoy having me around. They told me I needed to hurry in getting my vara (medicine bag). They said with the age I had, I had a lot of power and strength plus that I liked working with people. They said that if they were to give it (the vara) to an older person, that it would be more difficult for them, that they would not have so much power and strength. I thought that once I became an Ajq’ij that people would come, but to the contrary, they did not. Here in Chichi there are many, many Ajq’ij.

Since I was a catholic I had a hard time believing in all of this. There was a confrontation, a meeting, between the catholic leaders and the Ajq’ij, to talk about me being an Ajq’ij and my dying. The catholic priest wanted me to choose a path, so, I surrendered to the road. I still needed age and experience and strength.

At the age of 20, I got married. Once I got married I became ill again. The doctors said that I didn’t have anything and the elders said that it time for me to receive the vara. At the age of 20 I became an Ajq’ij. I got together with a lot of Ajq’ij around the area. They helped me find my strength and force. I had to do/perform many ceremonies for the strength After I waited and I did feel the energy and strength. The elders told me to communicate with all the energies of the Mayan calendar. That on the day EE, I would do a ceremony to bring in the people. I did four ceremonies and the people started to come from all over the place. People of different religions and spiritualities. I am trying to preserve and maintain our spirituality. Slowly the other Ajq’ij that did not want me to be an Ajq’ij, saw for themselves, I did not have to convince them. I would go to all the places they would go to do ceremonies, I was able to get closer and talk with them and they also gave me the strength.

If I would of accepted the catholic path and not of the Ajq’ij, now I probably would be a catholic leader or an evangelist. But thanks to the Ajq’ij now I am completely surrendered to being an Ajq’ij. This is my job now, mostly. It was hard in a way becoming an Ajq’ij because some elders would think that you need to start competing, but this is not the case. People go where they are called, they search.

I don’t want to be only an Ajq’ij. I am aspiring to be more. The elders before did not like me but now they have full trust in me, along with two other friends. We want to take forward our spirituality, so that it won’t die. There are a lot of evangelical groups that want to do away with our traditions.

This is a story dictated to Saq’ Be’ directly from Mayan Ajq’ij Manuel Pan Ju Lux concerning the history and traditions of his home town of Chichicastenango in the Homelands of Guatemala

The story of the Church of Santo Thomas in Chichicastenango, Guatemala; Pascual Abaj; the story of the town of Chichicastenango and the Cofradia

As told by Manuel Pan Ju Lux
Translated from Spanish to English by Saq’ Be’

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Church of Santo Thomas

The church bell is more than 500 years old and is made of gold. The Church of Santo Thomas is different from others in Guatemala. There are twenty steps that lead to the entrance of the church. The twenty steps signify the twenty days of the Mayan Calendar. Starting with the first step leading out of the church is the Ajaw (nawal/spirit/energy) Bat’z (the first of the 20 signs of the Mayan calendar) towards the last step, Ajaw Tz’i (the last of the 20 signs of the Mayan Calendar). The ancient ones left these steps here. It is a Catholic church at the same time it is a Mayan church. Why? Because before the Spanish invasion, where there is now an altar, there was a Mayan altar, where the ancestors would celebrate their ceremonies for the dead ones. In the middle of the church, where there was another altar, this one was to remember the principles of the town. At the entrance of the church was another altar to remember the entire town. It was there that the elders would perform ceremonies to ask for whatever it was they wanted. When the Spaniards came, they wanted to do away with these altars. The Ajq’ij (Mayan spiritual guides) and the principles said that this was a Mayan church as well as a Catholic church. That is why nowadays we still burn incense outside and inside the church.
The Evangelical people want to do away with this church as do the Catholic people. They do not like it because the Ajq’ij comes to perform ceremonies, to burn candles for the dead ones, to remember all the years. For example, the Catholic priests do not like it when they are performing a mass and the Ajq’ij also come to perform their ceremonies. But these ceremonies have been happening since long before the time the Spaniards arrived.
Nearby there is also a “flying pole” where there used to be a cemetery. Recently they have found bones that are a thousand years old. So the Ajq’ij are also doing ceremonies there.

Pascual Abaj
According to my elders, the people that made this church had the force. It was made by important people. When the elders began [the work] they searched for people [to build the church]. The church is made out of adobe. They started to bring the adobe to build the church, but [whenever they started to build] it would always come down on them. Some of the people would say this was happening because of a lack of ceremonies. Others would say “We’ve done ceremonies, what else is missing?” The elders would say, “You know that, in this place, where there are three altars there were the nawales (spirits) of the altars and they do not want to be removed. This is why the church can not be built.” A big, heavy man would come here with the principals saying his name was Pascual. They would say “he must have a Mayan name.”
Pascual went to speak with the principles and told them that he knew the church could not be built – but if they left it up to him, the church would be built. So they left it in Pascual’s hands. He then started, with others working with him.
The principles did not know who this man Pascual was. They say that he would finish his job and walk on the path towards the current site of “Pascual Abaj (located a short walk from the church)” and then he would disappear. He would also be able to do a lot of work; he would be able to lift things that would be too heavy for anybody else to do. So the principles would say “Well, what is he? Is he human? Could he be something else?” One day, they said “let’s find out who this man is; he is a man of value.” So, they followed him on the path. He would disappear. “Where is it that he lives? Where is his home and where is his family?? they would ask. In those times, the path to Pascual Abaj was more lush, with more trees around, so they could not find his house.
One day they followed him to exactly where he would disappear and right there was a stone. The principles then went back to tell the rest of the people that Pascual was converted into a stone. Once the church was finished, Pascual never returned to being a human. From then on, the elders say that the stone would be called “Pascual Abaj” (Abaj means stone in Quiche). Ever since then, elders and others have been doing ceremonies at that site.

History of Chichicastenango

Chichicastenango is made up of 76 communities with more than 120,000 inhabitants, 99 percent of which are Mayan. The language spoken is Quiche. During the Spanish invasion, the Spaniards wanted to do away with our traditions. The ancestors had “Camawuiles” – the images of some Ajaw made of jade. The Spaniards told them these idols needed to be done away with, that they needed to be thrown out. Well, the Spaniards did not destroy them; they took them back with them. In exchange, they brought back the images of saints for them. “Your idols are the devil,” they would say, “here our images are from Jesus.” Some elders refused to accept this and said “This is not ours.” These elders died because of saying this.
Others began to say “We need to accept these, but what do we do?” Along with the Spaniards came the priests. In the Mayan spirituality, there is a baptism, only it is mentioned differently. The priests would ask the Indigenous if they had been baptized. Then the priests and the Spaniards would say, “The ones that get baptized with water will be allowed to live and those that do not [get baptized with water] will have to die.” The elders say that the priests brought the cross and bible with them in the right hand and a sword in the left hand. Those that did not receive the baptism would be killed. Then the Spaniards said, “Those that accept these images will be allowed to live, those that do not will be killed.” They said the ceremonies are ‘devil work’ (‘brujeria’), and that they can no longer be performed. “You must now do processions now, go to church, go to the priest in mass.” The elders didn’t know what to do. They had to accept a strategy.
Saint Thomas is the patron (jefe) of Chichicastenango. Here, we have the image of Saint Thomas, this we left in place of the carrier of the day. Underneath [Saint Thomas] the image was marked ‘Job Tzi’kin (the day carrier for Chichicastenango). This was to hide our culture, our traditions. When the Spaniards would come around and ask where Saint Thomas was, the people would reply: “Here he is.” The Spaniards would ask, “What have you done with him?” The people would respond, “Did processions, went to mass.” In reality they would do ceremonies with these images knowing that they were really honoring the Nawales.
This kept happening throughout the years, this is how our traditions were preserved, our culture, with these images.
The Spaniards formed the Cofradias. You can keep your customs, they would say. But come to these images, come to these festivities. They did not like seeing ceremonies being done. If they saw any elder performing any ceremonies, they would kill them, so they had to go to these festivities. We accepted these images.
“We must do ceremonies,” the elders would say. Sure enough, even though they were forced to accept these ways, they also did not stop participating in their own ceremonies. So again, when the Spaniards would come around and ask what they were doing, the people would tell them what they wanted to hear. “We are worshipping these images.” The Spaniards would say, “Well done!” Meanwhile, they had just finished their own ceremonies. This is how they had to preserve a lot of the richness of the Mayan spirituality. A lot of people died in those times, especially many Ajq’ij.
In the Cofradia some Ajq’ij took part in this and accepting the images so that our spirituality would not die. This way our spirituality would be disguised. They felt as though this was not enough. “There are twenty carriers [in Mayan spirituality], one for each day. We have to worship them as well. We will ask for twenty saint images. Each one will hold a corner for each of the twenty days.” They would perform ceremonies on special days, they would light candles for certain images (saints), but they would know that underneath the images were the signs of the days.
So this came with us and now this culture is accepted. It is like inside the Mayan there are two cultures living, the Mayan and the ‘Roman’, we’ll call it. It is a tradition. Every ceremony that is performed, the Ajq’ij needs to go to these images. Why with the images? The elders say that it is because of the images that we now still have our tradition. If it wasn’t for the images and the Cofradia, we would no longer have our tradition.

Cofradia

In each community, there is a principle that is directed by the community. The principles of the communities select a principle for the town. He is in charge of finding the first group of Cofradias (Cofradias consist of six men and six women). When there is a problem in the community, this is the group the people would go to. They are the authority of the town, like a judge. They are the final word. They seek for the rest of the Cofradias. They perform ceremonies. For thirty years, a lot of people wanted to play this important role, to maintain the tradition.
Since there is a lot of Evangelic influence nowadays, a lot of the tradition has been lost. So the people do not want to take part in a Cofradia. To do so would mean that they would have to practice Mayan spirituality, and that they would have to be a part of the principles of the community for the town. They are Evangelist people that do not want to practice Mayan spirituality. Instead, they want to do away with this.
A Cofradia consists of six men and six women. They need to be husbands and wives. The men play the marimba, the drum and make preparations for activities. The women make the atole (a drink made from corn) and prepare the alcohol. They take out the images on the procession.
I realize that if the Cofradia ends, the Mayan Spirituality will be affected. There are a lot of Evangelist churches and radios. Myself and others are trying to organize the elders so that there are more activities happening. For example, a radio show with talks about medicinal herbs, about the sacred Mayan calendar, and we could speak in our own language (Quiche). We know that this is not a traditional part of our culture, but thanks to this we still have our culture. In Chichicastenango, people want to do away with the culture and the traditional language. Fortunately, there are others that do want it around. We want to bring together elders with the youth, so they know about the tradition. But what to do to rescue our tradition.
Right now there is only one Mayan program broadcast on a Catholic radio station. They charge the Indigenous Q400 (approx. $55 US) for a half hour. They (Catholic) too now want to do away with our culture. It would be good to get donations for a frequency to have more Mayan programs. We could talk about:

1. Tradition
2. Education
3. Workshops with the Ancestors
4. Ancestral Teachings
5. Music

The elders can not participate now because they do not have money.