Mayan ceremony

Contrary to some of what you may have read, the Mayan culture and people, while an ancient civilization, are still alive and well today. Like Native Americans in the United States, the Mayans may also be Catholic or Evangelical or whatever, but they still practice many of their ancient beliefs, which again, like the Native Americans, are firmly routed in the importance of respecting nature.

On Friday we took a field trip to our friend and colleague Yaniera's house in Solala. Yaniera's father is a well respected Mayan leader who spends much of his time fighting for the civil rights of Mayans in Guatemala. He is also a Mayan priest (for lack of a better word) and he took some time out of his busy schedule to conduct a Mayan ceremony for us. 

Before the ceremony, all the students received their nahuales. Nahuales are your spiritual guide or totem. A nahual is assigned to each person at birth and has a heavy influence on character and misdemeanor much the same way the zodiac does. However, unlike the zodiac, a nahual is specific to you and the day that you were born, not just the month you were born. Each nahual is associated with an animal of importance to the Maya as well as associated traits, qualities and tendencies.

During the ceremony, which essentially consists of Yaniera's father saying many prayers in Quiche over a bonfire built from many natural objects (and it smelled terrific!), each student was blessed when their nahual was prayed over...the blessing was for a good trip and a good life.

Following the ceremony, we shared a meal with Yaniera and her family, and then headed back to Xela for camps and a Friday night team dinner which was a cookout at the school. The entire cookout was planned by the youngest member of our team, Sebastian Weaver. We'll write more about that soon, but let's just say he was more excited about the cookout than most kids are on Christmas Eve!


As for the weekend, we're off to the coast on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday we'll visit Takalik Abaj and then play a game in Reu and on Sunday, it's games in San Felipe and then off to Champerico for a day at the beach! We'll update you soon with tales from those adventures.