Samantha K.Hyde takes us on a journey through the Yucatan, Mexico to connect to the wisdom of the Mayan people, their Calendar & 2012.
I would like to share a little of this journey with you, a journey that allowed me to taste the mystical domain of the Mayan through the eyes of a shaman, an anthropologist and a cosmologist.
Some may consider traveling through Mexico in the wake of the Mexican Flu saga bad timing. I chose to trust in that timing & focused more strongly on my intent to experience & learn about the Mayan people & their wisdom. I knew that the way would become clear even though all archaeological sites had been temporarily closed due to the flu. On my arrival in Merida, the capital city of the Yucatan, my contact Trudy, from Maya Cosmic University, confirms that no programmes are running that week due to the closing of the sites. I decide that I am going to enjoy the Yucatan anyway!
I journey to the coastal town of Celestun & take a boat through the estuaries to behold the glorious site of hundreds of pink flamingos. Moving deeper into the marshes we come to the centre point – a fresh-water spring bubbling up from deep within the earth. A swim in the cool waters was a welcome respite from the 40 degree heat.
On returning to my hotel I find a message from Trudy asking if I would like a personal tour. One of the teachers working with her knew the guard who was currently stationed at a lesser known, but particularly sacred site – Aké.
Early the next morning I am greeted by Juan José, a Mayan J’man (Shaman) and my guide for the day. We journey east from Merida, through the town of Tixkokob, to the ruins of Aké, which was once a thriving ceremonial centre. I tip the guard and we have the entire site to ourselves! It is a sight to behold.
On the central platform stands thirty-six columns of varying sizes, composed of individual stones and pebbles.
The ruins of Aké are a striking anomaly amongst the whole collection of Mayan ruins, inconsistent with the scale and proportions found elsewhere, as these colossal steps seem built for giants, even if they were intended as a grand-stand. This has cast much speculation upon this unique archaeological site. Juan speaks of this sites’ connection to the ancient lost city of Atlantis. He says that Aké holds a balance of the masculine & feminine energies within it, whereas the better known sacred sites of Chichen Itza & Palenque individually hold the masculine and the feminine energy’s respectively.
Various accounts suggest that Atlantian survivors arrived 1st at the island of Cozumal off the Yucatan coast before proceeding to the Mexican mainland & building approximately 149 Yucatan cities including Aké & Izamal. Hieroglyphs speaking of ‘The City of the Transparent Crystals’ have been found in sacred books or codices found in various Mayan temples and pyramids.
From here we travel along a sacbe (stone road), apparently part of an ancient Atlantian route, to Izamal – also called la Ciudad Amarilla (the Yellow City). This is the city named after Itzamna, the Mayan God who is said to have come to the Mayab from Atlantis bringing its great knowledge and leaving it in the Mayan pyramids as a gift for humankind, a gift of spiritual rebirth. Twelve large pyramids once made this city one of the most impressive in the Yucatan.
Almost the entire town is painted yellow, giving it a unique atmosphere and charm. Remarkably, several Mayan pyramids survived the Spanish Conquest and still stand to this day. We circled Kinich Kak mó in Juan’s jeep, as this is the largest pyramid in the Yucatan (11 acres) and would have taken a little too long on foot. This impressive structure was aptly named after the Mayan sun God. Another impressive site was the Convent of San Antonio de Padua which was constructed in the 16th century by the Franciscans on top of the foundations of the gutted Mayan temple – Popol-chac.
When the Spaniards came in the 16th century the Mayan knew, for it had been foreseen and was depicted on their temple walls, that their people would move through a time of darkness. As their way was a peaceful one, acceptance and adaptation was their choice.
I had much to ponder after my day with Juan.
That evening, as synchronicity would have it, I meet restaurant owner & anthropologist Juan Gomez & more pieces of the picture fell into place. He offered to show me a site he was currently studying & my curiosity got the better of me!
Next day we drive to the cave site Achtunu’sil. I am stunned, not only by massive calcite formations, but also to see hieroglyphs on a 40 foot high ceiling! Juan was excited about this cave as it contains archeological material that can provide much information about Mayan cave culture, such as the remains of human bones and evidence of ceremonial use.
Juan tells me of an ancient text that was discovered in 1965 in a cave in Mexico. This was the Grolier Codex, one of the four Maya codices that make up the Popol Vuh or ‘Mayan Creation Myth’. These are illustrated hieroglyphic works painted in colored inks on long strips of the treated inner bark of fig trees and pleated accordion-style. I later learn that much of our understanding of this deep & complex legacy is based on this document.
The day ends with visit to a sacred cenote (underwater cave) which is hidden on private property. To access it we climb down a steep well, deep into the earth. As I bathe in these powerfully-charged waters, many questions are triggered within me……..Were the Mayan really direct descendants of Atlantis? And what do we need to understand from these teachings of the past in relation to our present & future?
Some glyphs have been deciphered, but there are many more “layers” to Mayan wisdom teachings that we have yet to understand, seemingly as our consciousness becomes more capable. And of course the big question: Why was this race of beings so obsessed with a time period (2012) that was thousands of years in their future?
Enter Miguel Ángel! I was feeling particularly honored to have the opportunity to spend time with the renowned Mayan Cosmology & Calendar expert as I made my way to our meeting place at the Maya Cosmic University in the centre of Merida, where Miguel teaches.
Miguel spoke of 3 peoples who came from Atlantis – the Incas, Egyptians & the Mayan. The same hieroglyphics have been observed in all 3 cultures. He said that the word Mayan comes from ‘Ma’ few and ‘yab’ chosen. The Mayab – the chosen few.
I was surprised to learn that the Mayan actually have 20 calendars that address our relationship to our entire solar system. 3 of them are most commonly used – the Tzolkin Calendar (pronounced zol-keen) is made up of 52 weeks of 5 days and 9 full moons. It is the sacred moon calendar. To the Mayan, their Tzolkin Day Sign – the day in the 260-day cycle on which they were born – determines personal characteristics and spiritual destiny.
The Haab is the solar calendar. It is similar to our western calendar in that it has approximately 365 days and is traditionally associated with the cycle of the rains, agriculture, and harvesting.
The Long Count Calendar represents cycles of time made up of Baktuns which are about 394 years or 144,000 days. 13 Baktuns comprise one World Age cycle, currently we are in the 13th Baktun, which will end on December 20, 2012 or the Mayan Calendar date of 13.0.0.0.0. This World Age cycle began on August 11, 3114 B.C.
Each World Age represents approximately 26,000 years, or one precession of the equinox, starting and terminating at the winter solstice when the sun will line up to the center of our Milky Way galaxy – the galactic center; an event that only occurs once every 26,000 years. According to Miguel, these dates can be found enscribed onto temple stellas.
As Miguel spoke of the long-count calendar I felt a sense of appreciation of the ancient Mayans’ genius and particularly the day-keepers who tracked the sacred sequence of days. I also realized that The Mayan calendar does not really “end” in 2012, but rather, all the cycles turn over and start again, a little like a giant odometer of humanity on Earth - as it hits 100,000 kilometers all the cycles – large and small – turn over to start anew. The present world age will end and a new one will begin. Perhaps the use of the term ‘end-date’ has given rise to the mistaken notion that the Mayan calendar ends here. Mayan time is of-course, cyclic.
Due to a phenomenon called the precession of the equinoxes, caused by the Earth’s wobble, the apparent location of the Winter Solstice sunrise has been ever so slowly moving toward the Galactic Center. Precession may be understood by watching a spinning top. Over many revolutions the top will rise and dip on its axis, not unlike how the Earth does over an extremely long period of time. One complete rise and dip constitutes the cycle of precession, and lasts around 26,000 years.
The Mayans noticed the shifting of the positions of stars in the night sky over long periods of observation, indicative of precession, and foretold this great coming attraction. By using the Long Count, the Mayans fast-forwarded to anchor December 21, 2012 as the end of their Great Cycle and then counted backwards to August 11, 3114 BCE, the beginning of this Great Cycle.
Miguel tells me that the Temple of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza is said to be a physical embodiment of the Maya Calendar. It is said that here at Kukulcan in the Great Ball court will be the central stadium, or front row seat for watching this event transpire, and experiencing this transformation in December, 2012.
Professor José Arguelles says in his book The Mayan Factor that this time marks the earth’s passage through a ‘resonant frequency phase shift which will alter the molecular frequency and dissolve the world mental hologram’, which will prepare earth and humanity for ascension, or an evolutionary leap. The theory is that earth will align with the plane of the galaxy, other-wise known as the black hole, and pass onto the other side, causing a pole reversal.
NASA has detected that we have moved into a new ‘sun cycle’ & predicts intense solar activity, solar storms & other unexpected activity in 2011/2012 when this cycle peaks at solar maximum, however this happens every 22 years. NASA also predicts that we are due for an earth pole reversal. No doubt we will experience some instabilities and shifts, but how much of this kind of information gets blown out of proportion and sensationalized by the media? The movie ‘2012’ is currently in production, of course!
John Major Jenkins writes, in his book ‘Galactic Alignment’ , of approaching the end of Kali Yuga. In the Vedic doctrine of World Ages, Kali Yuga is the final age, the age of greatest spiritual darkness, and its end signals the shift to a new World Age. He identifies the galactic alignment in 2012 as the key to the timing of this transition.
Some say we will experience a total rebirth of the planet and our consciousness, at proportions so extreme that our linear brains cannot possibly understand, a totally new multidimensional consciousness that allows us to function in the fourth and fifth dimensions. Miguel suggests spending time at sacred sites will strengthen our energy bodies for the coming transition. Therapies such as SCIO Quantum Biofeedback and Quantum Laser powerfully assist the opening to what Deepak Chopra calls the Quantum field, a state of neutrality – our optimum balanced state.
To the Mayan this time is clearly about transformation & renewal not the ‘end of days’. Perhaps we really are slowly learning to become a people who care for and sustain the planet, thus sustaining ourselves. This is clearly the challenge of our times. We each need to let it begin within ourselves by keeping our awareness centered in our hearts and in the present; and our thoughts, words and actions aligned with our highest ideals, and be open to embracing change as we move toward this period of divine awakening.
In Lak’ech (Mayan salutation – ‘we are all one/connected/family’)