Modern Mayan; dress for Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is a pre-Columbian masterpiece of architecture, art and science. Its massive complex of temples, pyramid, ball court and observatory bear witness to the magicians of water known as Mayan. Legend and myth combine in real time as your eyes feast on the carved stone and your pumping heart climbs the stone steps to the bowels of "El Castillo".  To see the Jaguar altar, with it's absorbed incantations, a primeval instinct shivers with the perceived presence of the supreme deity Kukulkan (also known as Quetzalcoatl) The chac mool is a once bloody reminder of the ritual human sacrifice in the temple of the warriors. To maintain order in the cosmos, the Mayan believed that blood and life had to be given back to the Gods (who had shared their blood with humans when creating life). And, peering into the sacred cenote, where prostrate 'victims' thrown in to appease the rain God Chaac, still echo.  I came to understand these actions were not malicious, more often it was viewed as a reward or a necessary act for all to survive.

Design and purpose are apparent everywhere; the position of El Castillo (the most famous landmark) causes shadows during the Spring and Fall equinox to move down the stairs  bringing to life the Feathered Serpents that adorn it's massive foundation. Touring the ball court you're told stories of the nature of play involved; legend suggests the winning teams Captain is beheaded, as an honor to his victory, earning a direct ticket to heaven. The people who designed and built the columns, farmed agriculture and reigned supreme over the jungle denizens were cosmologists of expanding intellect and a short yet sturdy physical stature. As the rental car wove through the snaking "libre" road which parallels the main highway we came upon a village. Plastic cisterns and corrugated roofs, weathered paint and worn fabric.  There was a family with a proud daughter who spoke a small amount of Spanish and no English, her language was a Mayan dialect.

She posed and I was impressed by her elegance and poise. We were in a jungle once inhabited by Toltec and Mayan. I had just toured an ancient wonder, a world heritage site filled with spirituality and mysticism and I wanted the thread intact; western influence be damned-style and appearance, BE Mayan...yet, in front of me was an Indian girl, language and traditions still shared with her ancestors, who possessed a dress, worn with pride, and a desire for all things the 21st century offers. I know the tourist route but I'm a traveler, I want the grit and the history, the anthropology, the eye opening reality that is...the was...in the now. But, life is not a reality show or re-enactments on the the history channel or a NatGeo documentary - everyone wants and they think what they desire. So, through a series of sign and gesture, I asked what I could do in return for the photo and , her Mother wanted to show me fabric. And, like all economies of barter, trade or sell, we had made a deal and I came away enlightened with a colored cloth and a few photographs. Her face represented a real and living image reflecting the cascading history of Chichen Itza.

EYES A FIRE

Thinking about death, this place opposing life, a potential void of even the concept of possibility. Lots of people have passed away. How many souls have come before us? What is there to be afraid of? My own stepbrother died and it was intense and yet time softened the blow. My material view springs from religion, sin and consequences, heaven and hell, catholic and everyone else - a theology designed to control and to assist in a 'better' life among the living but still, casting confusion on the questioning psyche. I realize there might be something, somewhere other than the mortal world of programmed illusion and shifting realities. Death is the great scale, the balance of all living things, the equalizer. Opposing theories; Religion: The meek shall inherit the earth. Evolution: The strong will survive. The sad will find happiness, the happy will find paradise. Is the energy flow and the frame of mind you possess when your soul departs the earth the energy carried through eternity, forever, infinite, permanent? If you die doing what you love, do you spend eons in the midst of positive force? Is how you die the form you take beyond death? Is there a malevolent/benevolent duality to death? Suicide, homicide, genocide, accident, natural causes. It is guaranteed. Why fear it? Why question it? To live a better LIFE?The end: Reincarnation; only return if you've learned from the first crossing. Monotheism; who would wish for anything more than to be seated at the right hand of God (i.e perfection)? Paganism, animism, atheism; what is there to even think about but life itself; every day is a good day to die because it is coming, and it is impartial, clearly marked and absolute. Everyone gets in for free and with a price. Sometimes, when I think about life and death, I see myself as a suggestion, a form of suspended animation in a world of spin cycle absurdity and manufactured chaos. My niece said the greatest fear for humans is...stage fright. Stage fright, death, everything is connected to everything else. When Michael Jackson died in June of 2009 his celebrity became the media, death became grand, and sad, and strange, exciting and history. . He left everyone behind. All deceased souls have this back story, they suddenly increase the size of the universe; they have passed into the unfathomable mystery that is death. That is power and vulnerability, the ultimate conquest of fear. Of course individual belief systems stoke the fires of perspective. Sleep with the fishes or dance an effortless rhythm with time? Who knows, live big, create experiences, the clock keeps ticking...