February 08, 2004
Mexican musings
Next week, at this time, I will be in Mexico. I'm going to a seminar on internal family systems . It takes place at a yoga retreat/resort called Maya Tulumnear, of course the Mayan ruin of Tulum There's a quote later from that website, just in case you don't click.
Maya Tulum seems to offer all forty of the kinds of bodywork in which I participate. I'll be right at home. Oh, and I can try it the Mayan way. Lots of Papaya in the rub; tenderizes.
So, I'm going to a place that is steeped with sacredness. Not that I have ever done that before (with the exception of my little cottage, which is in a town founded by Spiritualists , an Indian sacred place, and has a Hasidic /Orthodox Jewish community and a Mormon "campground". Let's just say that I had no idea when buying the place thirty years ago. I needed a few incentives. Frankly, it was the price that did it.)
I actually have been to Tulum before, at least twenty years ago. It took two tries. On my first try, I was on a cruise ship, chosen because of it's destination, Tulum, and an elderly man fell, hit his head on deck (I saw it happen) and was taken to the ship's doctor, who had already treated one of our party incompetently. Many pints of lost blood later, other doctors aboard were paged, and it was decided to do an airlift. The ship had to turn back in order to rendevous with a helicopter, and missed Destination Tulum. However, the helicopter airlift off the deck was spectacular. I finally did make it to Tulum a year or two later.
Here's the only thing that I remember about Mayan culture from my preparatory studies at the time; one of the Mayan kings was cross-eyed. It was thought fashionable to be cross-eyed , so young men wore headbands with a single bead suspended on their forehead upon which they focused their crossed eyes. My mother always told me not to cross my eyes, lest it become permanent (that was a general instruction about any "face" I would make - be careful so it doesn't freeze in that position) I wonder if aall that practiced cross-eyedness worked on a permanent basis for the Mayans. A quote from the website:
"Religion was very important, as demonstrated by the numerous altars, temples and shrines in Tulum. Remains of mural paintings and other works show military and religious subjects, especially the Descending God, propitiatory ceremonies for rain and good harvests, and the worship of other deities associated with the fertility of the Earth. Tulum appears to have been a center of the worship of the Descending God, a deity who was venerated in other cities both on the coast and in the interior of the Yucatan peninsula. Some experts associate this god with the planet Venus, the setting sun, rain or lightning, but his true identity is not clear, since other scholars maintain that he symbolizes the go of bee-keeping the Bee-God, called Ah Mucen Cab in Mayan."
So bees again. "Bee Season" about calling the kundalini by chanting the Hebrew Alphabet and Abraham Abilafia , "The Secret Life of Bees" about the Black Madonna Both books read this year.
more Tulum images and more Thought it was funny.
Photo note: Does this look like a sacred place or not? It's not Mexico.
Posted by Dakota at February 8, 2004 06:48 AM