THE FEATHERED SERPENT

Author: Marcos Chamorro Guillén

THE FEATHERED SERPENT:

The White Road towards the North ("Xaman").

* The present article is the continuation of another titled: THE MAGICIANS.

"But at dawn they found them safe and sound, and they decided to put them in the Cave of Fire." 12 Without knowing how, the brothers also got rid of the flames and sparks that were everywhere in that place. see this those of Xibalbá despaired ".

Popol Vuh. Ancient legends of the Quiche. The magicians.

In due course, Grandpa Oscar arrives, supervises everything and finishes details. At last it solves the mystery of what my mission in the Temazcal will be. Third test I did not expect. The mission entrusted is powerful and I try to ask myself, may I? But I prefer not to even consider it. The grandmothers accumulate their incandescent energy, it's already too late for rehearsals. The participants arrive. The family is complete. I will do it.

Before the ceremony and gathered in a circle, the grandfather performs a ritual similar to that of the preparations * 13. In the sense of the clockwise he purifies us with Copal. At the end he embraces us one by one, he sits us down and hands us a shamanic musical instrument to accompany the songs during the ceremony.

To enter the Temazcal, you have to do it crouching, the only way to enter the underworld, the only way to get out of it, with humility.

Once inside placed in a circle, I realize the size and other details of the Temazcal, it is small and has the primitive design, without a seat, directly to the ground floor that will end up muddy. A little later I will know that this will make the experience much more intense.

Grandpa and I flanked the door one on each side. We separated the space just to place a Granny between the two. The grandfather says a few words to give an intention to the ritual. Make Invocations and requests. Tlazolteotl * 14 is waiting for us. We ask for the stones. This time there are 36 grandmothers * 15.

Luis from outside places one by one the stones in the entrance and I have to catch them by making a clamp with two wooden tools in the shape of slingshots of the size of 2 palms. With the grandmother in the tweezers I have to place her in a ritual order from the center of the temazcal to the different cardinal points, elements, paths.

Every time a Grandmother crosses the small door, we sing with joy: "Welcome grannies, grandmothers welcome"

Grannies are incandescent, the sticks I use to pin them too. Burn my hands, my chest and my face. Ardo Granny falls, I can not balance, I'm afraid I'm going to burn my grandfather. The sweat makes the tweezers slip from my hands. I feel the enormous weight of the stones on wrists and elbows. Grandpa watches me with attentive patience. I snort. The grandfather grabs the tweezers and with astonishing ease teaches me. I take air. After several attempts I can imitate him with all the concentration placed on the moment.

With the first 10 grandmothers placed in the central circle, we shout: "door" and Luis from outside closes us the door leaving us in darkness. There you see nothing and all the sensations multiply and the reality of union of the group is amplified. Egos dissolve in sweat and black. We are in the stomach of the earth and we are being digested.

The petitions begin, in the dark it is easy to do them from the heart, Everyone asks for something, everyone puts that intention. The grandmothers are there, ready to hear us. They all say Ometeot * 16. Then the songs arrive.

The grandfather sings, his voice is unmistakable, the song is beautiful, I do not know the lyrics; I can follow him, I do choirs, atmospheric sounds. The roar of a jaguar breaks, the rattle of a snake escapes from one of the shamanic instruments. Everyone connected there makes their instruments play or they sing when they feel they have to. Without vision Everything vibrates.

Nobody, nothing left over. We all participate On this trip we explore from the outside to the inside. From diversity to singularity. The energy that comes out of our mouths when we sing and the bodies next to each other, generate a heat that feeds back and joins that of the grandmothers.

This can last from half an hour to 45 minutes. When the alchemy of the cycle ends with the first element, we shout: "door" and Luis from the outside opens the door letting in some light and breeze that relieves us and relaxes us to face the next door, since this ritual is repeated with The other 3 elements and the complete ceremony can last from 2 to 3 hours.

On the trip, you dream of water, you cross galaxies, you stir like a snake looking for some freshness and air in the corners and walls of the temazcal and someone suddenly grabs your hand or hugs you. Magnetism, combustion and consolation in the center of the earth.

When the 36 grandmothers accumulate, you are already living a completely unreal situation, but it is real, very real, you stop being you, you stop being real, you disappear in the dark. You die And dead you absorb the energy of fire to sing back to life. More live than never.

The mother of one of the Australians, had problems in the delivery and he has suffered a regression during the ceremony, he felt that he died, being more accurate, that he was not born. He left the Temazcal at the beginning of the second door. He has not been able to be reborn, but he has found what he has been looking for for a long time through Bufo.

As for me, I have entered into a trance from the third door, I do not know how the grandmothers moved. I had to help Gaya remember. The grandfather also went into a trance, he would confess later. At some point by pinching the stones together or through the voice, our energies merged into the same will, he felt it too.

The moment you waited so long to despair and stop waiting: it has arrived. The initiates are leaving the temazcal, it is the path of the serpent * 17.

By order I have to leave the last one. I try to incorporate myself by supporting myself in a Grandmother without wanting to, 1, 2 and 3 seconds and I realize that it burns, I put my hand away quickly. I lose my balance and I step on another grandmother, I feel the fire this time on the sole of my foot. I crawl as I can, I retort. I am outside already!

Then the cold water falls on my head, and a slap of air shakes me and makes me cry, like a newborn.

I look at my hand and my foot, waiting to see them singed. Surprisingly, and as expected, there are no burns.

The bowl of fruit that you take when leaving: Never a fruit will taste the same, it tastes like Paradise, it is a divine gift. Then the whole family goes to bathe in the Cenote that is near the temple. If we were on the coast we would go to the sea.

I have excused myself and I go to sleep, I do not have the strength to reach the Cenote. At dawn, I discover illuminated by a candle, that I am covered completely with red mud. I like it, I perish a real savage, but it's not a disguise this time.

I arrive at the nearest cenote with the first light of dawn, I want to cleanse myself. I am not aware of having awakened, I follow the waves of the fish. I jump into the water and swim to an island where I usually sit and meditate. And for the first time I see a turtle there, swimming happily, he looks at me and smiles as he moves his fins rhythmically. He looks like an old boy.

The meeting illuminates me, I consider it a sign. Symbol of union between two spiritual traditions that I love: For Mayans and Taoists, metaphor of the Universe.

A turtle keeps the door of the Temazcal of Xibalbá and yes !, there are turtles in the Cenotes, sometimes even alligators, if they are close to the mangrove. But in all this time I had not seen any here. I decide to take the message seriously.

The snake has to be feathered, the egg has been opened. The feathers will grow soon. The dragon must fly.

Surely if you have reached this height of the article you will wonder what consequences the ceremony has, what the signs mean and finally what will be the fourth unexpected test. You will find the answers in the penultimate article:
JAGUAR STAR

Notes*:

12 * It refers to the tests that the Lords of Xibalbá made happen to the brothers Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué. The tests to escape the underworld by obtaining immortality imply sacrifice and cunning and are levels to achieve enlightenment. The Popol Vuh says that there were many places of torment and punishment in Xibalba:

The first was the Dark Cave, in whose interior there was only darkness.
The second was the Cave of the cold, where a cold and unbearable wind blew inside.
The third was the Cueva de los Jaguares, where the jaguars turned, piled up, snarled and mocked.
The fourth was the Cave of the Bats, where there were only bats that screamed, shouted and fluttered.
The fifth was called the Cueva de los cuchillos, inside which were only sharp and sharp knives.
In another part of the Popol Vuh says that there is a sixth cave called the Cave of heat, where there were only embers and flames.

13 * OMETEOTL

I greet the directions.

East: Now we greet the guardians of the path of light; place where the sun rises; where the black and red dye blooms as a flower; Quetzalcoatl region the feathered serpent.

We offer you copal smoke, a touch of snail and a venerable touch of huehuetl.

Oste: Now we greet the guardians of the women's course; place where the sun descends; place of women warriors; region of the venerable lady of the maguey and the cloud serpent, place of Xipe Totec
the disembodied

We offer you ...

North: Now we salute the guardians of the course of death;
place where the sun sleeps; the place of the obsidian wind that cuts our faces like knives; Coatlicue region that of the snake skirt; course Tezcatlipoca smoking mirror.

We offer you ...

South: Now we greet the guardians of the thorns course
luminous; place where the sun sets in the middle of the sky; place of the portentous smoking mirror; course of Huitzilopochtli.

We offer you ...

Cosmos: Now we salute the navel of the cosmos, the beloved Father Sun, the eagle that ascends, that of arrows of heat.

We offer you ...

Earth: Now we greet our beloved Mother Earth, our lady with the skirt of serpents, mother of our sustenance.

We offer you ...

Gratitude:

Now we greet the guardian soul of the center; in the navel of the world, in the great Mexihco - Tenochtitlan; where the eagle unfolds,
where the serpent is devoured, where the fish swims, in the junction of the embraced waters, meeting place and meeting of the people of the four cardinal points.

14 * Tlazolteotl is Mother Earth, she is considered the goddess of the temazcal, and it is believed that she devours what we no longer use to transform her into a fertile land and transmute it into a new life. Within the temazcal, which is the belly of the earth, the steam makes us sweat and take out toxins from our body; the temazcal will devour them, will absorb that sweat and transform it into fertile land, ready to feed the new life.

However, the purification of our being within the temazcal goes far beyond the physical, because also the spirit undergoes a detoxification through the words we utter, negative thoughts that we eliminate, the tears we let loose, etc. The temazcal will devour those destructive thoughts and emotions to transform them into new energy; in a few words: we will live our own rebirth.

15 * The number of Grandmothers, varies according to the shaman and the type of ceremony. The followers of "The red road" get to put 56 stones inside the temazcal, without opening the door at any time from the beginning to the end of the 4 elements. In other occasions they are 36 or another number.

16 * "God of Duality", also called Moyocoyani, "He who created himself".
He thought and invented himself to constitute the principle and generate everything that exists. It is equivalent to the Egyptian Ptah and the Taoist Ying / Yang.
It was the first divine manifestation that gave rise to everything. In the Mexican autochthonous language, the word "God" does not exist as such. But in their own language the word "Ometeotl" encompasses the creator of everything, the principle, the only one.

Then Ometeotl, the generating principle is everywhere. He looks at us and finds us in whatever hiding place we are.
The sky represents its masculine part with light blue, if we observe during the day, and the feminine part during the night, with a dark blue color.

In other versions, that original creative couple, is reduced to a single divinity called Ometeotl that acquires a double side, on the one hand the male, Ometecuhtli, and, on the other, the female, Omecihuatl.
As a duality and masculine-feminine unity, it resides in Omeyocann, "the Site of Duality", which, in turn, occupies the highest place in the heavens. He / she is the parent of the Universe and how much is in it. As "Lord and Lady of Our Flesh and Sustenance", it supplies the universal cosmic energy from which all things derive, as well as the continuity of its existence and sustenance. Provides and maintains the oscillating rhythm of the universe, and gives each thing its particular nature.


17 * Enter and exit in a row in a clockwise direction.

THE MAGICIANS

Author: Marcos Chamorro Guillén


THE MAGICIANS:

The Red Road to the East ("Likin").

* The present article is the continuation of another entitled: THE GRANDPARENTS.

"Soon after, after the transparency of the waters, two boys appeared equal to the newly dead, they were not noticed by anyone, they vanished among the waves, leaving behind a faint trail of mist. a blue wake that showed several moments. "

Popol Vuh. Ancient legends of the Quiche. The magicians.

Little is missing and a thread of emotion and also of joy, unites us all, with its fine embroidery of sentimental nuances. The days of Ceremony the jungle is an immense bell that spreads its music through the cosmos.

Shamans of the 4 cardinal points arrive at the Temple of Xibalbá, real Shamans, it is to be thankful because a shamanic tourism has arisen and in parallel the false shamans, who abound in places like Palenque or Real del 14; also in the whole world, maybe in the Universe.

In a week, full Moon, a recognized Colombian shaman will drive the Ayahuasca. Other times, the Lacandones come from Chiapas with their medicinal mushrooms. or the Huicholes bring the medicine of the peyote from Wirikuta, the Mayan grandmothers mix the habanero pepper with the cocoa, for their ceremony. Sometimes a couple of lovers join their souls following the Mayan tradition. The temple is alive.

Luis proposed me an experience before starting to fix the Temazcal. A visit to the heart of the Dragon in its earthly nature. A conditioning prior to the ceremony. We are about to enter a very special Cenote * 9.

Among infinite nuances of green, and shadows drawn by the midday sun between the roots that from the height look for the soil to raise its trunk; an imposing limestone arises.

The entrance of the cave is for thin, living the jungle is the most effective method of weight loss I know. Lightness is necessary, a way of life and the consequence of existing here more than a week.

We slide, we are absorbed. The water, frozen, reaches us below the neck. The soil, a sticky, soft mud, sinks beneath our feet. The tiny and unique ray of light that enters through the lips of rock, bounces in the water ghostly illuminating the reliefs of the ceiling with a vibrant fish shape. I can barely make out anything. It's time for the second test I did not expect.

Luis's voice resounds enveloping and reassuring: "Follow me Marcos, be careful with the rocks, see touching"

I follow him, we enter a cave inside the cave, I see nothing, I am guided by touch. The water reaches my neck and I do not touch the bottom, I cling to the walls, close to my body. I try to keep calm and move slowly, with all my attention on the opaque darkness.

The space opens, we are in a room, I know it by the echo that bounces in the vault and because I can swim. There is not a particle of light, absolute black, we float in the interior of the earth and here we are going to leave traces of our blind, deaf and mute astonishment, with silence as a witness.

At the exit some stalactites make me feel like I'm escaping from the dragon through their teeth. I'm impressed.

Once outside the Cenote the Pachamama shines with a dreamlike intensity.

Once in the Temple, we clean and harmonize the Temazcal with dedication. Everything has to be perfectly prepared for the sunset.

We choose the best trunks and prepare the big bonfire, we place the volcanic stones as the ritual indicates. We ask permission and we thank the guardians of the 4 cardinal points, of heaven and earth. We ask for inspiration and intention for the preparations of the ceremony.

We place candles, flowers, and aromatic Copal * 10 in bowls. We prepare medicinal plants that will burn with the Abuelitas. Each Abuelita has been conditioned in the convenient way. Luis has drawn with the hoe a Zen garden on the roads that lead to the Temazcal. The bonfire is burning. We are ready to travel the 5 dimensions * 11.

Surely if you have reached this height of the article you will ask yourself what the ceremony will be like, what the service will consist of, and finally, what is the point and where this trip is going. You will find the answers in the penultimate article: 
THE FEATHERED SERPENT.

Notes*:

9 * The cenotes are differentiated by their mouth, which can be small, medium or large and also by its height and depth. Those closest to the Maya Rivera are less high and deeper. The deepest ones are around Valladolid, in the direction of Tizimin, Rio Lagartos, Mérida and Tulum. The cenotes are caves connected to each other by a huge underground network that links all of Yucatan.

10 * The copal which means: resin or incense, is the name given to various vegetable aromatic resins. It is a very important element in the medical and religious tradition of Mesoamerica since pre-Hispanic times, since the smoke that comes off when burned was used by the civilizations of this area as an offering to the deities and as therapy for different physical and spiritual ills. Even today these uses are common within traditional indigenous medicine.

11 * The 5 stages in a Temazcal (from Blogspot Mexica 13):

First Stage, Preparation.

This stage, the ceremony prior to the Temazcal event itself, is carried out by the temazcalero of the place, who blesses the event, the place and the participants, as well as requests permission to the "great life giver" or nature to perform the event.

Each temazcal participant is previously purified with the help of incense, after which you can enter it. This stage is carried out, generally, outside the temazcal. It could be considered the only cold stage. Depending on the type of temazcal the ceremony can be short, 10 minutes, or extensive, up to 1 hour.

In temazcales of dry heat, the stones are heated within the same temazcal, so this stage includes the extraction of the coal used for the heating of the stones. The area is then vented to allow the entry of fresh air not saturated with carbon dioxide.

In temazcales of humid heat, the stones are heated on a pile of coal to red hot, the stones do not enter until the beginning of the Second Stage or the first door.

Second Stage, First Door.

Once the event has been started, participants enter the temazcal upon verbal request for permission. This request is made both to the place and to the participants using the word "ometeotl" (It is usually pronounced ometeo) which means, in Nahuatl, "two energies".

Although the temazcales vary in form, there are rounds and squares, the entry and return of the temazcal is done clockwise, respecting what is known as the path of the snake.

In the dry heat temazcales, once all the participants have entered and are seated, the hot stones begin to enter, the members appreciate the entrance of each hot stone, which they call granny stones. Once all the stones have been entered (between 9 and 13) the entrance door is closed. As well as the superior venting of the temazcal.

In the humid heat temazcales the door is closed once the participants of the temazcal and the temazcacal have entered.

Before closing the door, the medicine that is going to be used, several herbs, are shown to each of the participants who receive them, always respecting the clockwise direction, so that the bowl that contains the herbs is passed from hand to hand by each participant, who receives them and blesses them in the aforementioned sense.

Start the first cycle, or first door with a presentation of each of those who are there, in which they mention their name and the reason why they are inside, that is, their motive.

The heat during most of the first door is a heat reminiscent of Turkish baths, since water is not used. At the end of the first door, a little of it is dropped on the stones, which raises the heat.

The heat within the temazcal rises gradually, the first door is then, the coldest of all (Between 23 and 28 ° C).

The Temazcal ritual is full of symbolism. The first door is known as the door of fire, is associated with the male and the color red and is supposed to be from 0 to 18 years old. The name of the first door is "Ce" which means "One", in Nahuatl.

The first door, like the rest of them, lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. In which the steam impregnated with the smell and the healing effect of the medicinal herbs is slowly sung and inhaled. A drum and a sea snail are used to make the music. Once the temazcalero considers that the cycle has been completed, the door number is mentioned, in Nahuatl, and "Puerta" is shouted. After which the door is opened, which refreshes the place.

The members can not leave once the door is closed until the door is opened, that is, until each of the 4 cycles or doors have been completed.

This means a confrontation with fears, darkness, heat and discomfort that can be felt is a confrontation with the participant's ability to control both their phobias and their restlessness, while breathing slowly to avoid burning.

As the heat radiates from the center to the edges of the temazcal and the convective effect elevates it upwards, the freshest part of the temazcal is found in the soil, where the temperature remains between 23 and 25 ° C. When a person can not stand the heat, they are thrown to the ground, where it is believed that the mother earth shelters you and takes care of you, by calming your anxiety due to the difficulty of breathing in that environment.

Third Stage, Second Door.

The gap between door and door varies between 15 and 30 minutes, time in which the temazcalero can use the word and share the philosophy of temazcal.

Once the door is closed again, the songs begin in nauhtl, followed by extra infusions of water on the hot stones. The above raises the temperature to reach about 28 to 35 ° C.

Depending on the type of temazcal it is possible that after singing there is a time of fight of the participants, who are also called warriors, that is, a time to face the heat.

The height of the temazcales can vary from one meter to two, which means that it can be standing or not. If this is possible, participants may be invited to perform exercises, however, it must be remembered that the increase in temperature and the lack of fresh air cause the heart rate to rise, which means that performing foot exercises is a great effort, especially because the head is very high which means a direct contact with the hottest part of the temazcal.

The second door is known as the water door, it is associated with life and the blue / green color, it is assumed to be between 18 and 36 years old. The name of the first door is "Ome" which means "Two", in Nahuatl.

Fourth Stage, Third Door.

The third door is considered the hottest door of all, it is to this one that the true power of healing is attributed. The temperature that can be reached ranges from 35 to 40 ° C. However, the temperature can even be overcome. So breathing slowly can help prevent first-degree burns in the nostrils. Using a bandana or a small cloth blanket on the head will help keep the upper part of the ears warm, sensitive to heat.

The third door is known as the door of the earth, it is associated with the woman and the color yellow, it is supposed to be between 36 and 54 years old. The name of the third door is "Yei" which means "Three", in Nahuatl.

The herbs used in this door are supposed to be the most effective for curing diseases. It is customary to drink mead or teas with healing properties during this stage.

Fifth Stage, Fourth Door.

The fourth door turns out to be as hot as the second, however, and because the sensation of heat and cold is relative, it feels much cooler than the second.

The fourth door is known as the door of the wind, is associated with death and the color black, it is assumed to be between 54 and 72 years old.

This door is presented as the decline of heat, the maturation of thoughts occurs in it, which can be used perfectly to meditate and come into contact with oneself. Participants often lie on the floor to feel a gradual return to normal temperature.

The end of this door also means the end of the temazcal ritual although in some traditions it is considered a fifth and sixth door. People leave the temazcal crouching, or squatting, the return is done respecting the clockwise direction. When it is made close to the ground and with its head in front it is considered as a birth. Since it seems that the temazcal was giving birth to the participant of the ritual, in addition, it is considered that he has already died in the fourth door, which means to return to life.

Once outside, the warriors or participants are bathed in fresh water, which suggests the last fight against the last of the fears, the fear of sudden change, the thermal shock, the abandonment of the state of comfort that the maternal womb supposes.

It is also the way to close the pores of the skin that opened with the heat. The ceremony is closed by drinking mead or sharing a lentil soup.

Since knowledge of the temazcal tradition is transferred orally, the event may vary from region to region.

THE GRANDPARENTS

Autor: Marcos Chamorro Guillén


THE GRANDPARENTS:

The Yellow Road to the South ("Nohol").

* The present article is the continuation of another titled: DAWN IN THE INFRAMUNDO.

"Know and do not forget that we, the Procreators, must leave. Know also that we will return at the appointed time. Remember now that together we leave the bosom of the distant mountains that rise beyond where the sun sets. Understand, finally, that the moment has come when we should return to the place from which we started. "

Popol Vuh. Ancient legends of the Quiche. The grandparents.

My name is Marcos, I am an organizer of spiritual retreats and part of the LOV community, eternal scholar of tai chi and passionate about the different spiritual traditions of the world.

Right now, I'm lying in a hammock on the beach of Holbox Island, Yucatan, Mexico. An island in the Caribbean. I can not think of anything I follow the movement of the pelicans, their hunting maneuvers. The frigates, beautiful robber birds, try to snatch the treasure from the food. The shade of the palm trees refreshes me and the dull sound of a freshly fallen coconut, put the iguanas to run wildly.

I have finished uploading the last announcements of retreats in Yucatan to bookyogaretreats.com and two weeks ago I rest here, of so much exploration and adventure. I see sunsets, swimming among colorful fish and whale sharks, in bioluminescent waters of a crystalline emerald color.

I am in Paradise, but something worries me. The magic of the sorcerous Goddess Ixchel * 4 clouds the mind with constant pleasures. Ixchel has a lot of power in these islands, her magic trapped me in Isla Mujeres and she does not let me go.

Something tells me that i have to move, but where, how and why? Will the Goddess let me go? I realize that tonight there will be a full moon, a door opens in heaven, today it is or it will not be.

At that moment Luciano appears, a masseuse friend and he talks to me about an eco village in the jungle. A place that you can only access if you know someone inside and that is full of shamans and magical people. A difficult place to find despite only being a few kms from mass tourist centers. That same morning we decided to go.

We arrived there and entered with effort but fluidly, thanks to the fact that at the entrance to the jungle we met our family in Xibalbá.

The family: The grandfather shaman Oscar and his family. Gaya, an expert in the construction of ecovillages and Luis, who has been helping grandpa in everything for the past two years, nobody knows that jungle like him. We offer ourselves as volunteers in exchange for hospitality, shelter and food. We have no expectations, just help and learn from the experience. They show us the place and the work plan.

That same night on the roof of the fantastic building where we are going to sleep, with the stars and the Moon watching us attentively, the grandfather Oscar, welcomes us with a ceremony in a circle, the little tobacco, in which there is little smoke and share a lot Then he takes us to the tower and shows us the greatness of the Pachamama * 5.

The eyes of the Shaman are deep like Cenotes * 6, and his velvety voice says phrases without meaning for me. Not understanding the grandfather is irrelevant, I have felt his love and he has transmitted to me that while he is with him, he will share with me his knowledge. I do not get over my amazement, at all times he addresses me as "Master". I try to take on this new title without vanity, the first test I did not expect.

The days pass hot, physically hard and really intense. At noon we stopped for a while and purified ourselves in a cenote. The family is expanding, two new volunteers have arrived, Claire and Joana. We spend the nights watching what UFOs look like. Claire is sure they are, me too.

 We have already learned a lot from eco construction. The first days I was lost all the time and at all hours in the jungle, something wonderful, because you are revealed unimaginable places, cenotes, caves, enigmatic sculptures, houses and temples. There in the middle of everything, you feel the most fortunate of the shipwrecked.

Knowing your jungle neighbors is part of the magical process, since you are finding them. A couple of 50-year-old spiritual adventurers have come from Australia. They want to do ceremonies with natural medicine and also know the Mayan shamanism. Tonight we will do a Temazcal ceremony with our new friends.

In my third ceremony of Temazcal, Luis has quoted me before to teach me the preparation of the bonfire, the invocations, permits, and intentions, and finally the placement of the GRANDMOTS * 7; The Grandfather has asked me to serve as assistant at the ceremony. I said: YES. I feel full.

Surely if you have reached this point of the article, you will wonder how my experience as a shaman's assistant will be. Does it require special preparation? and finally, is the Temazcal something more than a simple sauna * 8? You will find the answers in the following article: THE MAGICIANS.

Notes*:

4 * In Mayan mythology Ixchel was the goddess of love, pregnancy, water, textiles, the moon and medicine. She is the wife of the sun god.

5 * The term "pacha mama" is formed by two words of Quechua origin, "pacha" means Universe, world, time, place and "mama", that same, mother. The divine feminine of the Inca Empire gives form to Nature, draws it as a woman, thanks her. She is not a virgin, she self-fertilizes.

6 * A cenote is in a few words a cavern with water and an entrance to the Maya underworld.

7 * Grannies are the volcanic stones that are introduced in the Temazcal, they keep the memory of the planet, the memories of the pachamama, adored in the Mexica pantheon as the Coatlicue Goddess, the snake skirt, the mother earth, fed by the Goddess Chalchiuhtlicue, the one with the jade skirt. Goddess of the living waters, sweet and of the maintenance, responsible for nurturing the world for their subsistence.

8 * Temazcal therapy is based on the fact of causing sweat in our body through medical vapor. Sweating, by itself, already has a high curative value, but also, inhaling the vapor greatly increases the healing capacity of the temazcal. This vapor is produced by the contact of herbal water with red hot stones. Each herb has different medicinal qualities: for example, chamomile helps to cleanse the eyes and restores good digestion; while eucalyptus will help to fight respiratory diseases, etc.

In general this ritual serves to relax, cleanse the skin, purify the body, strengthen the heart, purify the blood, cure many diseases, open the mind, develop perception, find solutions to problems, meditate and also to keep healthy family ties, community and culture.

DAWN IN THE INFRAMUNDO

Author: Marcos Chamorro Guillén


DAWN IN THE INFRAMUNDO:

The Black Road, towards the West ("Chikin"). * 0

* The present article is the first of a series of 6 with narrative and spiritual continuity, grouped under the title: CHAMAN

"Then there were no people, no animals, no trees, no stones, nothing. Everything was a desolate wasteland without limits. Above the plains the space lay motionless; while, on the chaos, rested the immensity of the sea. Nothing was together or busy. The one below had no resemblance to the above. Nothing stood up. There was only the muted tranquility of the waters, which seemed to be tumbling down into the abyss. In the silence of the darkness lived the gods that are said; Tepeu, Gucumatz and Hurakán, whose names keep the secrets of creation, of existence and death, of the earth and the beings that inhabit it. "

Popol Vuh. Ancient legends of the Quiche.

It dawns in the Portal of Xibalbá *1. A humid cold current runs through my skin, I curl up in the hammock while the echoes of the last dream slip stealthily leaving traces that leave with the breeze, traces that leave subconscious clues trapped in the mosquito net.

Something I know: Last night I dreamed, I lived, and I felt this first beat that magically describes the sacred book of the Maya *2. I think that I would like to draw it, but the description is so exactly inabarcable, that it is impossible for me to represent it.

I look around me. I can see the immensity of the jungle losing itself on the horizon in the direction of the four cardinal points. The wind moves the treetops, which are caressed. Together they all look like a green ocean.

From the tower, with the eyes of the eagle, I give thanks for life.
And life responds to me with its immeasurable song. Birds, monkeys, reptiles, insects. Everyone has something to tell me and although everyone speaks at the same time, their uncivilized voice vibrates through my understanding, I can feel their wild message.

Under the tower to the roof of the top floor of that fantastic building erected by and for universal spirituality.

It is an eco-building of unimaginable design, but the improbable but possible reality is that someone imagined it and raised it. Someone made it possible, precisely for other intentions, to initiate us into the power of INTENTION. Everything in Xibalbá is intention, that is why that majestic space of inspiration, healing and learning, remains erect in a hermetic equilibrium.

Barefoot, feeling the irregularity of the surface, suspended on a third floor, with the leaves of the trees now surrounding me, I immerse myself in the Chi Kung.

An hour later I head to the work center, next to the Temple of Xibalbá, Temazcal *3 and the improvised kitchen in the jungle. There little by little, in a calm and constant way, as the sun rises, we will all arrive on time, to reunite the family, to embrace each other, to prepare the fruit together and to have breakfast.

The day is heavy and rewarding. The work is hard. We are building yurts, domes and toilets inside the jungle. We do it in a respectful way with the environment. We have made that pact of mutual protection with the jungle.

Logically every time I clean a jungle terrain, scorpions and spiders appear. For weeks I thought about leaving and looking for comfort every day, now I'm barefoot. Nothing attacks me, and all poison becomes medicine. Every second I have more energy. The body is also changing. A supernatural force feeds me.

Everything is medicine in the jungle, and also food and raw materials. Last night the sky fell in the form of a tropical storm, today will fall fruits that will feed us and branches of trees, which give us beams of hard exotic wood for the construction of the eco village.

Surely if you have reached this height of the article you will ask who I am, where I am and what I am doing here exactly. You will find the answers in the following article:

THE GRANDPARENTS

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Notes*:

0 * In the direction of Xibalbá there was a crossroads, one of each color representing the four cardinal points:
The Black Road, towards the West ("Chikin").
The White Road towards the North ("Xaman").
The Red Road to the East ("Likin").
The Yellow Road to the South ("Nohol").
The Black Road was the one that led directly to the city of Xibalbá.

1 * Xibalba is the underworld, the underworld ruled by the divinities of disease and death: Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé.

2 * Maya: was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Mayan peoples, which stood out in America for its hieroglyphic writing, one of the few fully developed writing systems of the pre-Columbian American continent, as well as for its art, architecture and systems of mathematics, astronomy and ecology.

3 * Temazcal: A temazcal (from Nahuatl temazcalli, 'house that sweats, from temaz, 'sweat', and calli, 'house'), has a semi-spherical shape and is usually half-buried. Inside you participate in a purification ceremony in relation to the elements, in which a certain amount of incandescent volcanic stones are placed in the center, they are moistened and the door is closed leaving the attendees around, in the most absolute darkness