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.
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