Tulum

At last, here we are on our final day of this action packed trip.  This morning, we departed for the Mayan site of Tulum, which is just down the coast from Cancun.  This was another crowded location, again because of its proximity to all of the resorts in and near Cancun. 

Tulum was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Mayans.  It is situated on the coast and served as a port for the inland city of Coba.  It is a fairly small walled site, with the main feature being the Temple El Castillo which is perched on a bluff overlooking the water. 

This city reached its peak between 1200 and 1400, and they even survived 70 years after the Spanish arrived until the old world diseases took their toll. 

Here is the Temple of the Wind God with several small altars in front.

More structures.

Look at the crowds!

I found the energy here to be quite refreshing and serene, carefree and easy.  Because of the ocean breezes, the air was clear and refreshing.  It felt like a wonderful vacation spot or retreat for the people farther inland.  Most importantly, I definitely felt that I had been there before, as all was very familiar.  What if I was that astronomer from Chichen Itza?  What would I be doing here?  As Venus was a very important “star” to all of the ancient people of the Americas, what better place to observe it rising than looking east across the water to the horizon!  I could almost imagine myself sitting on top of one of the tall buildings in the early morning hours waiting for Venus to rise. 

After a dinner with most everyone that evening, we said our goodbyes.  I have to say that the elevated energy of the places we visited stayed with me for several weeks after returning home.  It reminded me of the after effects of my travels to Peru and all of the sacred sites there.  Many thanks to you all for sharing in my Mexican odyssey!

Goodbye from one of the local iguanas.

Chichen Itza

What a difference a day makes!  When we arrived at Chichen Itza, it was a total mob scene.  This is the most popular Mayan site on the Yucatan Peninsula, mainly because of its proximity to Cancun, and it gets at least 1.5 million visitors a year.   I visited this area 2 different times about 40 years ago, when Cancun was just being built up as a resort destination, so this was kind of a shock. 

Even so, with a bit of effort, it wasn’t hard to get good photos.  Here is El Castillo, the centerpiece of the site.  This is where the serpent of light can be seen going up the side of the main staircase on the equinoxes. 

The massive ball court was clearly created for ceremonies and displays of pageantry.  Because of the way the game was played, it would have been impossible to get the ball through the ring mounted high above.  Note the ever-present serpent motif!

Mona and I then walked over to the infamous cenote.  This is the one where human sacrifices were made, as was discovered when it was dredged.  There are other cenotes nearby, and I am wondering if those were used mainly for drinking water? 

Here is the Temple of the Warriors with the Chacmool statue at the top of the stairway.

The structure that fascinated me the most was the Observatory. 

It is quite possible that I had another past life here.  A young man perhaps, dedicated to observing the movement of the heavenly bodies?  I am certain that when I was there many years ago, that we were allowed to go into the observatory, and also climb up on most of the other structures.  Those are all roped off now.

Past the observatory was a normal sized ball court. 

Further on down there were some buildings that looked quite megalithic to me, as their construction was a bit different form the rest.  Perhaps they were just much older. 

Sadly, we were reaching the end of our journey.   On to Tulum tomorrow.

Mayapan

The site of Mayapan was the last big city of the Mayan civilization.  After Chichen Itza declined, the walled city of Mayapan was built as a smaller version of its former capital, and was the Mayan capitol for about 200 years before its final abandonment in 1441.    

Once again at this site, there were only a few people other than our group walking around.  The area that has been cleared and restored is fairly small, but there were quite a few interesting features to be explored.  Its main temple, the Temple of Kukulcan, is a smaller version of the large one at Chichen Itza, complete, I am assuming, with the serpent of light that goes down the side of the staircase during the equinoxes.  There is a platform in front of that pyramid.

Next, we have what looks like an observatory, again a smaller version of the one at Chichen Itza.

Archeologists call this the Temple Redondo.

Now, this is hard to describe.  When you walk through one of the doorways into the observatory, you are in a circular hallway that goes around the outer wall on the inside.  The central pillar has 4 niches evenly spaced.  Three are inset into the pillar, and the 4^th had a locked gate on it, ostensibly being the entrance to the stairway that leads to the top of the structure.   The pillar goes straight up and then flares out to meet the outer wall, to accommodate this stairway inside of it.

What were they doing up there?  Stargazing perhaps?

  

There was a cenote behind the observatory.  A cenote is a limestone sinkhole filled with water.  Since drinking water seems to have been an issue for most of the sites on the Yucatan peninsula, having a cenote on the property was very important. We visited the cenote below after our trip to Chichen Itza the next day.  Clearly it was a big attraction for  swimmers of all ages! 

In the plaza in front of the main pyramid were 4 curved lines of stone that I found fascinating.

They faced to the south, and did not look like they were the remains of the foundation of a building.  I asked my inner guidance about that.  What if one were to put some sort of pole in the ground in front of them?  You would end up with a sundial for telling the time! 

There were several sets of columns where complete buildings had once stood.  These probably held up thatched roofs. 

The other very interesting features were near the smaller pyramid on the site.

First there was a monolith with what looked like a water feature carved out on its top. 

Then we have right in front of the pyramid’s stairway, two circular stone structures.

Farther beyond that is an altar platform.  It all lines up with the stairway and the monolith is off to one side.  This was clearly another kind of ceremonial space at the site.  I am guessing that these outlined spaces or pools were probably filled with water for the ceremonies. 

All in all, a very interesting site.  When I tapped into the energy here, it was all about science, measurements, and figuring things out.  This was the last site that we would visit where there were no crowds.  Then we were off to the very crowded sites of Chichen Itza and Tulum to finish off our trip. 

Uxmal

What can I say about Uxmal?  Huge, ornate, and impressive.  Wow!!!  This is a late Mayan site, as are most of the sites on the Yucatan Peninsula.  The entrance pathway takes you up to a very large pyramid with rounded corners.

On the front and back of this pyramid are stairways leading to some structures on the top.

The whole complex was built of limestone blocks, many of which have been intricately carved.  The detail work is everywhere. 

After visiting the courtyard on the back side of the pyramid, we went over to another much larger raised courtyard named the “Quadrangle of the Nuns”.  As is usually found, all of these courtyards are bordered by buildings or structures on all 4 sides.

What I found very interesting here was a series of carved panels that extended along the whole left side of the courtyard. 

On the far right panel of this series could be seen the head of the feathered serpent, Kukulkan, with a serpent tail dangling above it.

I thought this was strange, until I started looking at the serpent’s body.  Turns out that it started at the far right end with the head, and outlined every panel going to the left, then turning and coming back to the right, twisting and turning with itself, and coming back to the tail dangling above the serpent’s head.  Quite a piece of artwork! 

The next stop was the ball court.

Most Mayan sites had these.   Lined up on both sides at the bottom of the walls were carved serpent segments. 

The only hint as to their original location was the tip of the serpent tail dangling from one of the walls.  Clearly the serpent segments had fallen off of the wall. 

The energy of Kukulkan, or Quetzalcoatl must have had something to do with the ball courts, as this motif is seen in most of the locations.

The Governor’s Palace was just past the ball court. 

Out in front of this imposing building were 2 extremely important “shamanic” stone features.  The first was the double headed jaguar stone seat.  What a symbol of power!  This is where the king sat during important ceremonies. 

The second was called the Pillory Shrine.  It clearly had tipped over at some point.  Originally, via a sacred ceremony, this cone shaped monolith was anchored, or planted, point down into the earth to symbolize the king’s divine right to be fertile and fecund on the land, in other words, representing the phallic symbol being united with the earth mother’s body.  It was originally stuccoed and painted, and also represented the “axis mundi”, the center pole of the world.  It was believed to have been placed at the time that the palace construction was started. (If you look at the above photo of the back of the pyramid, you can see a similar monolith anchored there)

 The views from the Governor’s Palace took in the whole site.   

When I tuned into the energy here, this is what I got.  Uxmal was a conspicuous display or wealth, artistry, and power.  It clearly said “Look at me!  I am the biggest and the best.  I can beat you at anything, and will always come out on top. Do not challenge me!”  This whole site was designed to intimidate through egocentric male power.  I also detected a distinct separation between the elite and the commoners.   

This site was fairly crowded, but as the afternoon wore on, it became less so. 

Then on to Merida for 2 nights.