Home » Guatemala » Into Guatemala 1989 [Part 9 of 11 Parts]

Day 15 The Dusty Road to Seibal (continued)
<br>
Day 16 Flores and Lake Petén Itzá

Into Guatemala 1989 [Part 9 of 11 Parts]

Jo
2004-03-05 23:07:54

Displayed times (last time: )

terror that gripped the indigenous explorers who first dared these recesses.

Many caves in the Classic Maya lowlands and the Yucatan contain religious carvings and artwork, as well as remains of votive offerings to the gods. The photo above shows what appears to be a stone serpent's head at the base of the steps.

[Postscript, 1999. I have read many books that mention the "subterranean earth monster", but only recently did I appreciate what the creature must have meant for the ancient Maya. My wife, who grew up near Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico, told me of a curious custom still practiced by both indígenas and ladinos in her home town. When a house is to be blessed because it is new, or cleansed of evil spirits because of a gravely ill person who had stayed there, a curandero (local shaman) is called to perform a strange sacrifice. Reciting prayers in Tzeltal Maya, the curandero ties up a chicken and, holding it by the feet, bashes it against each corner of the house. After this exercise, the chicken is either quite dead or in a permanent coma. The curandero then buries the unfortunate bird in a hole near the center of the floor that he had previously dug for this purpose. The gruesome ceremony ensures that the perpetually hungry earth is appeased, and therefore, is not inclined to claim any more human lives-- at least, until it requires another chicken offering.]

=====================

[Photo 12]

On the flight back to La Capital, I made sure that I got a window seat. (Thanks, Madjid.) The mountains of the Sierra de Chamá soon rose majestically from the seemingly endless sea of verdure. My camera was ready, and I snapped a quick shot.

When Hernan Cortés was asked to describe the terrain of Mesoamerica, he crumpled a piece of parchment and threw it on the table. With modern technology providing us a bird's eye view, we could check out for ourselves how amazingly accurate he was.

I was both relieved and sad at leaving the difficult, but awe-inspiring, Petén. The late afternoon sun suffused the rugged landscape with a tragic glow. I thought of the Tikal ruins, crowned by the rays of that last eternal twilight that will always remain in my memory.