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A Special Winter Solstice 2013 Program
A Spirit Keepers Journey co-sponsored by Kenosis and Kenosis Spirit Keepers. Photos from Previous Maya Trips Few peoples lived their spiritual mythologies in so graphic a manner, and left behind such abundant clues of the great leap to life beyond this one, and the places in-between, in their magnificent temples and symbols now being decoded.
How can we find meaning in the Ancient Maya world that we may translate into our own lives? What Maya rituals and stories survive — connecting the filaments from long ago? In a present-day Western culture bereft of such richness, how might we take a cue from this age-old culture and develop metaphoric pathways to enliven our own being? These are the questions that will frame our experiences and journey into timelessness.
We begin our program in the lovely colonial town of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, surrounded by high mountains, with its stately architecture, narrow streets and markets replete with beautiful Maya weavings and handicrafts. Here we are introduced to the elements of Maya culture and traditions. We also meet Don Sergio Castro, known as the saint of San Cristóbal, and learn of his humanitarian healing work. In a small hamlet above the village of San Juan Chamula we are invited into the home of Don Xun Calixto. Here he holds an audience telling of his curing methods. After a special ceremony of prayers and offerings we share a meal in the family compound. We engage with the village-at-large through the festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe, witnessing the processional of saints and spending time in the Maya church where curanderos conduct healing sessions — and many have deeply spiritual experiences.
Against the dramatic backdrop of Palenque we learn Ancient Maya Cosmology and the extent that the Living Maya are still shaped by their ancestors. Enter the curing room of Dona Panchita, curandera serving her people in Palenque, and receive a private clearing. Tat Apab'yan Tew, Maya Daykeeper and spiritual guide, begins his travels with us in Palenque, and prepares our way with a fire ceremony before we cross into Guatemala. Our travels culminate in El Petén, with in-depth experiences in Maya cosmology, ritual and music at Tikal. On December 21 we witness the sunrise solar alignments at the rarely visited Maya site of Uaxactún — whose ancient name means "Born of Heaven" — where the first astronomical observatory of the Maya World was discovered. An apt ending to our journey... knowing that commitment to such an undertaking is life-changing, unfolding on multiple levels, informing our future and those we touch.
GROUP SIZE LIMITED. RESERVE YOUR SPACE!
Contact us at 928-778-1058 or info@kenosis.net to arrange
Mexican photos ©2010 and 2012 Carla Woody. All rights reserved.
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REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME! Kenosis LLC - PO Box 10441 - Prescott, AZ 86304 - 928.778.1058 - www.kenosis.net | |||||||||||||||||||
We are honored to offer a special program focusing on the sacred traditions of Maya peoples. Through the timing of our travels we are fortunate to immerse ourselves in Maya Mysteries showcasing the spiritual strength of the Living Maya connected with their ancient origins. We offer you an intimate opportunity, unlikely to be found on your own, engaging with spiritual leaders and healers who serve their people — with the intent that we are all transformed and carry the beauty home.
In the Lacandón Maya rainforest village of Najá, we meet Don Antonio Martinez, the last elder faithfully practicing his indigenous rituals. He has graciously consented to share his traditions, and the sacred balché ceremony, so that they may be witnessed and live on.
Carla Woody, MA, CHT... author of Standing Stark and Calling Our Spirits Home... is the founder of Kenosis LLC, an organization based in Prescott, Arizona, supporting human potential through workshops and spiritual travel opportunities. She leads retreats internationally sharing an integration of NLP, subtle energy work and world sacred traditions. Carla is the developer of "The Re-Membering Process", a model for spiritual growth, and works with individuals and groups in areas of transition, relationships, spirituality and whole health. She first journeyed to Palenque in 1995 and has been drawn back again and again by the resident mysteries of the region. In 2007, Carla founded Kenosis Spirit Keepers, a 501(c)3 organization, working to preserve indigenous wisdom traditions threatened with decimation.
Apab'yan Tew is an Ajq'ij, a Day Keeper, spiritual guide, dancer and musician, of the sacred K'iche' Maya tradition from the village of Nawalja' in Sololá of the Guatemalan highlands. His ceremonial work most often takes place in caves, engaging the resident energies of the natural site and timing of the Tzolkin calendar in conjunction with needs of communities or individuals. During these times he becomes a living mirror and spiritual conduit.
Carol Karasik is a poet, writer and editor who has worked on books and films in the fields of anthropology, art, ecology, and educational philosophy. For the last fifteen years she has lived in Chiapas in order to experience her passion on a day-to-day basis — Maya culture. That immersion has recently produced a novel set in nineteenth-century Chiapas, as well as the text for Corazon Abriendo, a multi-media dance piece based on Maya weaving which is now being performed in the US and Mexico. She received a National Endowment for the Humanities award for her script on Maya civilization. As editor she has been involved in many publications such as Maya Tales from Zinacantán, Living Maya, and available in July 2008, Every Woman Is a World: Interviews with Women of Chiapas. She is also conducting research on archaeoastronomy at Palenque. Carol is a quintessential storyteller who conveys the lives of the present-day Maya in a way that is mesmerizing.
Walter F. Morris, Jr. (Chip) was born in Boston. In 1972 he arrived in Chiapas as a lost tourist. He was fascinated by the Maya and decided to stay in order to learn Tsotzil as well as the Maya textile and their symbolic meanings. He is a founding member of the Sna Jolobil weaving collecive and compiled the Pellizzi Collection of Chiapas textiles. He was awarded a MacArthur Prize for his work in archaeology and anthropology, and he has published several books on folk art, including A Millenium of Weaving in Chiapas, Living Maya, and Hand Made Money: Latin American Artisans in the Marketplace.
The Lacandón Maya live deep in the rainforest now known as the Lacandón Biosphere. Some anthropologists claim they are the direct descendants of the Ancient Maya who built Palenque, while others conjecture they came from the Yucatan to escape the conquistadors. Wherever their origins, the Lacandones have been rooted in the jungle for hundreds of years in relative isolation. Their appearance and native practices, which closely parallel the Classic Maya mythologies, set them apart from the Maya in other areas of Mexico. Their numbers are growing fewer, merely a few hundred, and since their t'o'ohil, or great one, Chan K'in Viejo passed in the late 1990s their spiritual traditions are nearly lost.
The Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya of the Chiapas highlands hold a rich tradition of religious festivals, curing rituals, herbal remedies and women's sacred medicine ways. Their healers are called through dreams and their everyday lives are infused with the esoteric metaphors that are documented in Classic Maya art. We will be fortunate to sample it all.
Maya fire ceremonies are offered to Mother Earth; to the four cardinal directions; to the first Grandmothers and Grandfathers and all our ancestors; to the rivers, lakes and seas; and to the powers of all animals and human beings in the universe.