Remembering Ritual
About giving life to love and ending up loving life
When I first started studying with Francisco Puac - Maya cosmovision teacher and wisdom keeper at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala – I wasn’t entirely sure about what to call the Maya temples. People call them ruins, archaeological sites, ancient cities or sometimes temples. My teacher told me he prefers the name ‘ceremonial site’. Sure, these sites were cities where high numbers of people lived, and also they are massive energetic centers. Here’s why: the Maya temples were physical reflections of the extensive and expansive cosmic knowledge the Maya culture had developed. Their priests had journeyed in realms out of the physical and brought back knowledge about the architecture of the cosmos. They then translated the knowledge into a tangible structure for human awareness.
This translated itself on numerous levels: the different Mayan calendars (one of which, the ceremonial count, is 260 days long and helps to attune ritual and human consciousness to the larger cosmic cycles), the Mayan mathematical system (based on the number 20), physical architectural concepts representing the layout of the cosmic energies, as well as advanced agricultural systems. They also documented a lot of this knowledge (and myths representing it) using their evolving glyph writing, much of those scriptures burnt and decimated by the Spanish invader.
Before the domineering force of the dysfunctional patriarchal archetype decided to rule over earth, almost all the cultures on earth have been venerating a wisdom inherent to earth. A wisdom with true energetic power that was sacred and aware. The patriarchal forces somehow decided to undermine this sacred energy and cause havoc in the repression of its power. They have gone to great length in a long-standing effort to dominate a power that, if it is honored, creates harmony, balance and grounding, and it becomes a joy for the awareness to be of service to this energy. Ancient cultures were very much in tune with this, and they held sacred the so-called dark energy of the earth. The same energy that has been shamed, repressed and made bad by the church and the patriarchy for many years, leaving aimless the consciousness that is wanting to evolve together with this sacred power it is trying to dance with.
As we tune in to the power of our consciousness to serve love and evolve with it, we can start to soar. There is nothing better than that; there is nothing more fascinating and captivating than serving love. The service to love becomes an anchor for life to create through us the world we have chosen to incarnate in, but cannot see reflected yet as most people are tuned in to parasite consciousness as provided by the consumer model that creates an artificial sense of scarcity and urgency to perform or survive. Through ritual we can again connect to the true values of life such as connection, brother/sisterhood, creativity, peace, gratitude, connection and even bliss. We can connect to the rhythm and the pace of organic evolution, as deep down we have always known it to exist.
Many of the earth’s cultures have consciously lived the dual nature of spirit in body, and have understood that there only is real depth to existence when all polarities are honored and able to work together. They created ritual spaces to thank the ancient knowledge that was alive in the earth and the ether, and to communicate with them. And they created huge ceremonial centers for doing so. Look at the pyramids of the ancient Egyptians, the goddess temples of the Mediterranean legacies, the stone circles and power spots all over North Western Europe, the immense amounts of ceremonial sites all over the American continent and countless temples all around Asia. And then of course all the nature sanctuaries and native altars - known and unknown to us - all over this globe.
Ceremony has been a formal and informal part of human connection, and a big part of our identity as ‘earth beings’. Rituals are a place of remembrance and honor to who we are: part of a big breathing organism (earth) and part of a great cosmic web that always evolves. We are intimately connected with the rhythms and cycles of both earth and cosmos, and the Maya’s knew this through their astral journeys out of the body. They then created a tangible structure for tuning in to the cosmic and earthly rhythms. The Ceremonial Sites are massive places to offer rituals and honor the all-that-is that lives through us, and a reflection of that cosmic knowledge engrained in the earth. They then were super charged by many rituals and the intention they carried. This can be perceived very much when visiting the sacred sites.
Nowadays, many of the temples of the world have been forgotten. Many sacred sites are now called ‘archaeological zones’ or even ‘ruins’. They have even, in the most intense cases, become tourist attractions that mindlessly negate the true purpose and power of these places. The often needed income for the locals of these places, together with a global sense of disconnection and commercialization have turned these sites into profitable ventures. Guides will gladly explain archaeological facts and finds and entertain visitors, but the deep veneration of the wisdom, and the intimacy of the spirits of these places has been forgotten by a culture of parasite consumerism, and is now often not felt or understood.
What we aim to do during our sacred site travels, is to journey back to the place before that. We come with an intention to honor the sacred energies and embrace the gifts we may have for each other: they for us and we for them. At the temples, we create a short ritual using traditional ceremonial offerings, led by a local elder who knows the sites well. We offer our time and presence, our energy, to the sacred sites (luckily no human offerings J) where deep transformation may take place. We engage in a more in-depth interaction with the sacred sites and their spirits, and visit the place in a meditative and gentle way. For this reason, we usually go there on weekdays and arrive early, so the energy of the place can be felt properly before the arrival of more tourists. We also visit small sites and unknown places of power in different places and cultural areas of Guatemala, as an inquiry to the different ways the Maya-cosmovision and tradition have taken shape in contemporary daily life within the culture.
The ancient spirits of the land are present in any place on earth, whether in sacred sites or not. Whether in Guatemala or Zimbabwe or Russia or the Netherlands. They live and breathe the essence of a place, and wish to assist the people of that place with their transformational power. For that, they have to be remembered. Ritual and pilgrimage have been a way to do this since ancient times, and that is what we offer as a ‘contemporary travel agency’ J.
These guardian spirits I am addressing are real and they hold us sacred, they are there to help us and they love it when we thrive. They may come when we honor and appreciate them, when we recognize them and hold them sacred for their help and assistance. What this means is: these spirits are so wise that they won’t come and do anything we don’t want or we don’t ask for, because that would be violating our right to sovereign decision making. What we tend do in ritual is remembering their existence, honoring them, and receiving what they may have to give.
When we look at sacred sites as ceremonial sites, they are actually a place made for this veneration and so they become energetic centers. We are, as humans, an essential element in creating a space where love and awareness can ground on earth. We are conduits for love and we can channel intention powerfully, with the help of the guardian spirits and the ancestors. The ancient cultures knew this and like this created their temples: spaces where the divine is honored, where the greatness of life is recognized and remembered. In temples around the world, love and cosmic awareness was received, channeled, shared and activated. One can connect with the sacred sites and temples around the world and travel there, as well as connect to the inner temple of the body that carries its wisdom. One Spirit offers ceremonies and trips that facilitate both those aspects: more adventurous (outward) sacred site travels; as well as rituals holding space for reconnection to inner wisdom, power and love using ceremonial grade Cacao as a tool for journeying.
Interested in knowing more about Mayan cosmology?
Listen to an inspiring interview with Francisco Puac here
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