Mayas complain of government banning rituals at archaeological sites

Mayas complain of government banning rituals at archaeological sites
2012 12 14

By Mark Stevenson | OttawaCitizen

Maya priests started off ceremonies aimed at marking the end of the current era in the Maya long-count calendar last week, with dancing, incense and rituals designed to thank the gods.

The Mayas performed the "New Fire" ceremony at a park in Mexico City, but complained they have been barred by authorities from performing rituals at their ancestral temples in the Maya region.

The Mayas measure time in 394-year periods known as Baktuns. The 13th Baktun ends around Dec. 21, and 13 is considered a sacred number for the Maya.

The estimated 800,000 surviving Mayas in Mexico are hoping for a better new Baktun than the one now ending, which began around 1618. It included the painful aftermath of the Spanish conquest in which Mayas and other indigenous groups saw their temples and sacred writings systematically destroyed and their population decimated by European diseases and forced labour.

"This is the ending of an era for the Maya, an era which has been very intense for us, in which we have had suffering and pain," said Maya priest Jose Manrique Esquivel, 52, who wore a feather headdress and body paint for the ceremony. For the new Baktun, he said, "we are praying the wars, the conflicts, the hunger to end."

The Maya survived all of that suffering with their pride intact.

"We were not conquered, we are still here, we are alive and so is our culture our language, our food, our history," Manrique Esquivel said.

Mayan Warrior in traditional dress

The priest, who is in agreement with most archaeologists and astronomers, doesn’t believe the ancient Mayas predicted the world would end with the close of the current Baktun. Some bloggers and astronomy enthusiasts have suggested the Maya calendar would "run out" on Dec. 21.

Despite the generally festive atmosphere at the ceremony, there was some discontent that the government won’t allow Maya priests and healers to perform their ceremonies inside archaeological sites like Chichen Itza, Coban and Tulum that their ancestors built.

"We would like to do these ceremonies in the archaeological sites, but unfortunately they won’t let us enter," Manrique Esquivel said. "It makes us angry, but that’s the way it is ... we perform our rituals in patios, in fields, in vacant lots, wherever we can."

Francisco de Anda, the press director for the government’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, which oversees archaeological sites in Mexico, said there were two reasons for the ban on ceremonies. "In part it is for visitor safety, and also for preservation of the sites, especially on dates when there are massive numbers of visitors."

[...]

Read the full article at: ottawacitizen.com

Share |

Latest News from our Front Page

No Bank Deposits Will Be Spared from Confiscation
2013 05 18
As alert Zero Hedge readers are aware, this week the EURO Politburo is busy debating the dodgy subject of deposit "bail-ins." The following article very succinctly explains this odious mode of fractal fractional reserve end-game chicanery. The author encourages all of you to share it with others. NO BANK DEPOSITS WILL BE SPARED FROM CONFISCATION By Matthias Chang Esq, futurefastforward.com (with author’s permission) I challenge ...

Big Bang: Biggest meteorite explosion rocks the Moon
2013 05 17
NASA scientists have recorded the biggest ever meteorite impact on the Moon, with an explosion equal to 5 tons of TNT. The event is part of ‘lunar meteor showers’ observed by astronauts of the Moon exploration program. The 40-kg meteorite measuring 0.3 to 0.4 meters wide traveling 56,000 mph slammed through the Moon’s surface on March 17, 2013. The explosion from the ...

Military Says No Presidential Authorization Needed To Quell “Civil Disturbances”
2013 05 17
A recent Department of Defense instruction alters the US code applying to the military’s involvement in domestic law enforcement by allowing US troops to quell “civil disturbances” domestically without any Presidential authorization, greasing the skids for a de facto military coup in America along with the wholesale abolition of Posse Comitatus. The instruction (embedded at the end of this article), which ...

Ancient Maya Pyramid Destroyed in Belize
2013 05 17
An archaeological group says it plans to take legal action. Despite its small size, the Caribbean country of Belize is known for a few outstanding characteristics: a spectacular barrier reef, a teeming rain forest, and extensive Maya ruins. It now has one fewer of those ruins. A construction company in Belize has been scooping stone out of the major pyramid at the site ...

Ginger: A Warming Herb
2013 05 17
Ginger is an Asian herb that is particularly well known to us in the West. Over time, and with trial and error, its stimulating properties and piquant flavor have been integrated into both our herbal “materia medica” and cuisine. Brewed as an herbal tea, ginger root is particularly helpful for those people who have underactive stomachs and difficulty producing adequate amounts ...

More News »