Traveling in Mexico: Step Back in Time in the Yucatan and Watch As

By: Larry M. Lynch
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:42:23
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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

According to the Mayan Calendar there is a 2,000 year old prophecy that predicts all humanity will perish on December 21st in the year 2012.

So, If you’re planning to visit, vacation, live or Teach English in Mexico, you’d better get hopping! ‘Cause time’s a wastin’ … there’s only six years and three months to go for humankind!

STEP BACK IN TIME AND WATCH AS …

The first rays of the sun reach across the shimmering cobalt seas of the Caribbean as a strikingly handsome young prisoner of war, arrayed in lavish plumes, adorned with gold ornaments and fine linen climbs purposefully up temple steps hewn from blocks of coral. Attendants, perhaps three on each side, ascend as well. They step up sideways, first left a few steps, then right a few more, imitating the “s-shaped” movement of a snake. Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god must not be offended. A warm wind tumbles sand along the palm-lined beach below. Huge flames of a ceremonial fire blaze from a watchtower that all may know the gods are being appeased. The signal will be visible even far out to sea by the Spanish ships of Juan de Grijalva in years to come.

The sun is brighter now, its rays painting the outside walls of the temple in brilliant color. The temple, a resting place for the gods, is deeply carved and painted with designs and figures in the brightest shades of red and blue contrasting the bleached white coral. Shining through a precision-cut square hole in the temple wall, the sun’s golden beams bathe the temple’s main room in breath-taking brilliance before exiting the building’s front where the chief priest, a black stripe painted across his face and a polished gold mirror on his chest, basks in the ever-brightening golden glow.

Throngs chant below, in the courtyard in front of the temple. Some dance with rattles made of “ayoyote” tied around their wrists, lower legs and ankles and sing in accompaniment to ritual drums and crude metal bells while loincloth-clad musicians beat tones on beautifully carved bamboo “Tponaztlas”. The young captive warrior, his body painted blue, stumbles ever so slightly, woozy from the intoxicating balche poured into him lovingly by four beautiful maidens representing the four Chacs, or rain gods, each associated with a cardinal direction and with its own special color. For a year now the youth has consorted with them and lived a life of utmost luxury, the finest of all the culture available to him. It is now the fifth ritual month of Toxcatl. The priest, arrayed to represent a god, possibly Tezcatlipoca, a wizard and a master of black magic, now spreads his arms wide as the warrior-captive nears the top of the altar steps.

The crowd is in a frenzy now, chanting, yelling, writhing in unison like a massive wave of the sea below. In front of the stone carved altar, smoke rises from copal incense burning in pottery vessels. Suddenly, the waiting attendants seize the youth, who, beginning to come to his senses and realizing with stark foreboding what is about to happen, vainly struggles against his burly captors. Prostrating him face up on the altar with his head pointed Northward, they spread-eagle and hold his arms and legs immobile. Running rivulets of sweat now streak the blue-painted torso. The priest raises his arms in salutation to the gods and crowd before ceremonially cutting open the sacrifice’s chest with a gold-hilted sacrificial flint knife and tears out his heart as an offering. The balche does its work in deadening the pain, but it is not enough.

The crowd cannot hear the victim’s screams above their own. The priest, altar and attendants are splashed with blood as the still-beating heart is tossed down the temple steps towards the ritual-maddened crowd. Pandemonium ensues. The gods smile. They are pleased.

Such may well have been the scene quite often in Tulum, situated only about two hours south of Cancun on the coastal road headed towards Belize. The ruins here are a definite must-see during your time here. It’s heavily commercialized now and a bit of a hassle to do the trip. You’ll need a guide ($150 pesos) and you can no longer climb the ruins like I used to. Until a few years ago, you could still see the bloodstains on parts of the altar and the original paintings on the coral carved walls. Despite costs and inconveniences, it’s still an interesting site to visit. If you’re really an early bird, sea-side caba?as thatched with palm are available a little further south near the biosphere reserve at Chac-Mool de Sian Ka’an.

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