Iximche

Last Saturday, Peace Corps took my training group to Iximche, the site of an ancient Mayan city that was the last stronghold of the Katchickel Maya when the Spainards took over.

A beautiful older Mayan woman performed a thanksiving ceremony for us, blessing us. She prepared a sacred fire full of sweet offerings-- incense, sugar, even blocks of chocolate. Hornets circled around her and us, but she told us to be calm and unified with nature, and she moved among them as if they weren´t there. No one got stung. As the fire burned, they gradually left.

The ceremony lasted for a couple of hours as she gave thanks to all of the elements of nature and the 20 "nuales", major Mayan spirits. We we able to place two sweet candles into the fire representing different elements (I choose green earth and white air) and give our personal thanks and also bless those in our lives that have passed away. It was long, but I felt very at peace throughout.

The ruins were also beautiful. They had a more ancient feel than those of Misco Viejo because many were partly overgrown, so they looked like large mounds of earth with traces of stone stairs and walls poking through. Several had beautiful gnarled old trees growing out of the tops. It was in a lovely place, on forested hillside, and you could even see the top of Volcán Agua in the distance. It was a peaceful way to pass a Saturday morning.