Gone, but not forgotten

 Over these past two weeks, I have been introducing you to the cultural and religious life of Guatemala here in Antigua. However, over this past weekend, I have been able to experience, how should we say, the beginnings of the ancestral heritage of this ancient nations. So, over these next few weeks, I am going to introduce you to the Mayan culture, its religious practices, and the influence that the Mayans continue to have today.

A group of us from Probigua had the privilege of going to Tikal, which is the ancient Mayan city. What most people do not know is that the people, or at least the cultural and devout spiritual practices, come from the Mayan nation. Tikal, was one of, if not the first of the Mayan cities to be established. It is dated back to about 600 A.D. (some other people say it goes back further to 1 A.D.) It is home to over 20 temples, with 13 of them being the main places of sacrifice. It is home to the Mayan ceremonial, culture and commercial center for the Mayan nation. The Mayan ceremonial and sacrificial rituals are centered around their belief in the gods of the cosmos. Their sacrifices include both animal and human. What is interesting about the Mayans, however, is how they center their culture, their way of life, and pretty much everything, around their ceremonial and religious practices.

While there, we were able to go to the top of Temple IV, which allows one to look over the entire city. After we had climbed to the top of the Temple, we were asked to keep silent in order for us to hear the animals (and trust me there were a lot of them). Now recon, we began hiking at around 3:00 in the morning, and got to the top of the temple at 5:00 for an hour of listening to the sounds of the jungle and to see the vastness of the great Mayan city. 

As I was sitting at the top of the Temple (not offering any sacrifices or ‘connecting myself with nature’) I pondered the religious symbolism between the devotedness of the Mayans and that of people today, in how everything- politics, economy, culture, and peoples way of life- was centered around their spiritual and ceremonial beliefs. Compared to today where there seems to be an imbalance between the world and Religions, or the Faith- where religion or religious practices have become, not the center or heart of ones own life, but an added ‘activity’ that can be practiced any time, or not at all. Politics, sports, and our own personal lives and values take precedents over our religious obligations, where we are given the opportunity to praise and thank Almighty God for the gift of life, the gift of community, and the gift of absolute true freedom. 

The Mayan people did not allow for their own lives to be obstructed be the nuance of the world, rather they incorporated everything around religion and their ceremonial practices. Both from the young to the elderly, they were spiritual people in their own way.

So, that gives you somewhat of a context of what is to come in the next few days. Come back and learn more as to how the Mayan influence greatly effects the Guatemalan culture today. 

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