We were up early to prepare for the ceremony. A shower and change into clean clothes seemed
appropriate. After a quick breakfast of
cornflakes in mosh, Kukumatz picked us
up at 7am.
We drove to a place owned by a friend of theirs, a Maya who
maintained a sacred space for ceremonies.
At the site Wilma said that Tata had finally agreed to see a doctor, so she would be doing the ceremony today. I’ll
describe what I can, but some things that happened and were said are Maya
secrets and I can’t discuss them,
while others are personal and I won’t
discuss them.
Wilma said that today is 6 Kawoq – a day of lightning, thunder, rain (all of which we had
plenty of yesterday &, judging from the sky right now, soon); for the
Ancestors; to accomplish work for humanity, to resolve problems and remove obstacles;
a day for those who intercede for health or to end problems. We told her that today is Lughnasad and what
that means in the Wiccan tradition.
The ritual space was rectangular, about 40 by 15 feet. At the East end was an enclosed altar, open
on the side towards the ritual space, about 6 feet deep and 5 and a half feet
high. This was filled with stone figures
and offering containers, pictures on the wall of Jesus and St. George, and a
stuffed owl with its wings spread on the North wall, and other things. The sculptures resembled those from Tata’s
altar room; in fact the central “figure” was a large rough stone with no
discernable carvings.
Towards the West of the space, was a small unlit fire laid
on the earth. This was specifically for
my healing work. In the center ritual
space was a larger fire circle. Before
we arrived, the circle had been marked with what appeared to be pine needles
and, within that, a circle of white corn meal. That circle it was quartered
more corn meal, with over that, a symbol.
To the southeast was a table about the size of a ping-pong
table heaped with bags and piles of items and offerings, some for the
construction of the fire and the rest to be offered to the fire once it was
going. As we watched Wilma took the
first of these: some sort of incense, shaped like little, squat volcanoes, and
packed in stacks inside wrapped palm (?) leaves. These she laid over the design that had been
marked. In the very center, she placed a
tied bundle of about 40 upright handmade cigars with long-wicked candles mixed
in with them. A similar bundle was
placed before the altar. This was followed
by layer upon layer of myrrh, blocks of chocolate, sweetgrass, palo santo, cacao beans, something we
didn’t quite catch that represented “money”, frankincense, various unknown incenses
pressed into unusual shapes, seeds, etc.
Greg and I had both stopped trying to count by this time to be present
in the ceremony. The layers included hundreds of small candles (velas) – some in colors for the
directions (East / Red, South / Yellow, West / Black, North / White) and some
representing Sky (Blue) and the Natural World (Green).
Once the fire was ready to be lit, Wilma donned a ceremonial
head-scarf and invited me to don my cord.
I then sat to the North of the central fire, with Greg to my right, in
the west. Wilma gave each of us a cloth
filled with velas and offerings –
both from her table and ones that we had brought (sage, tobacco, nuts, and
fruit) – to hold until the time was right.
She then moved between the fire and the table of offerings.
With a handful of burning velas Wilma then lit all three fires. She lit the central one and
those at the altar by lighting the cigars first. As she did this, she invoked / prayed in
K’iche’ Mayan. She kept adding offerings
to the fire and the fire kept getting hotter and hotter. Greg and I moved further and further back,
fearing that our personal candles would melt (or our pants catch fire). Wilma invoked the Ancestors – the
Grandfathers & Grandmothers – those of the Maya, of this place, and of her
visitors, Greg and me. The string around
the bundle of cigars burned through and the cigars fell over to the North &
South, indicating to Wilma that the connection between North & South had
been made and that our Spirits working together.
Wilma then instructed Greg and I to each make our own
offerings to the Ancestors. (I
understood it to be to my Ancestors and to those of the Maya. Greg understood it to be to his ancestors and
to those we had in common with the Maya.)
This was to be a time of offering, not of requesting, which would come
later. We offered from our hearts, with
humility, respect, and tears in our eyes. When Wilma made her own offering the Spirits
told her to sing. She told us that the
offerings had been accepted.
Wilma then took me to the smaller, healing circle, which
included purple candles. She told Greg not to watch the healing. Instead he
should be sure that our empty offering bags on the ground by the fire did not burn.
She did a cleansing, holding both an egg and a lime in each hand as she made
passes over my body, placing these in the fire after each pass. She paid special attention to my left hand,
arm, and the sight of my injury near the spine.
Soon the fire was full of eggs and limes.
After four passes, accompanied by K’iche’ prayers, she
directed me to sit next to Greg again.
As I did so, the first of the eggs in the fire exploded with a “pop” and
sent a eggshells lined up directly towards me.
Wilma took this as a good sign.
She gave us each a handful of white velas
so we could each give thanks to all
of the Spirits who had been with us. After
that the ceremony was basically over, but she said we had to wait for the fires
to go out. Greg asked if he could offer
a song. Wilma said “yes” and he sang a
heart-song that he sings in ceremony. (It
is “The Web”, by his friend Philip Caesar, and begins “Reaching out in all
directions…”) After he was finished she told us that she had stopped singing in
ritual years ago, but today the spirits had told her to sing. Our hostess from
the house then brought out a tray with glasses and a pitcher of orange drink,
made from the fruit from on a nearby tree.
(Greg and I, aware that this may have been made with local water, nonetheless
accepted the hospitality offered. We’ll
let you know the results tomorrow.)
Wilma explained that this had been an “introduction” – a
chance for me & Greg & our Spirits to meet theirs – and that the real
healing work was to come.
While drinking, I told Wilma about having met Tata for the
first time in Pittsburgh at the URI
Charter Signing. With a start, she said
that she had been there too and that
we must have met, as Tata had told her that he thought she and I had met. He
was right. In fact, I had purchased a
softball-sized chunk of copal from her that day, 12 years ago.
We also shared memories of Gary Smith, the Lakota
representative who had been instrumental in introducing me & Rowan
Fairgrove to various indigenous people before his death in 2003. [Tom, the scrawny hotel cat, just wandered
into our room and after a little coaxing is curled up purring in Greg’s lap
while I type. I think I have just taken
more pictures of the cat than of everything else on this trip combined. We are obviously both in serious cat-withdrawal.]
Wilma noted that the fire was not yet
out and that we should offer thanks for Gary,
the work he did, and the way he was responsible for bringing us together.
Once everything was done we asked if we could take a few
photos of the altar and of each other with her.
Greg asked to make sure it was okay to share the information about the
ceremony with others. She agreed, as
long as the photos and info would be shared with people who would treat them
respectfully. All together the ceremony
had been about three hours long. She
said that, if all was well, we would go to Tata’s special place tomorrow.
Wilma & Kukumatz drove us back to the hotel. She got out of the car to hug us “Hasta Mañana” and to say that we should
be sure to “pay attention to your sleep.” The import of this didn’t register with us until
we sat in our room and talked briefly, then woke! We had both dozed off almost immediately and
both had dreamed dreams with surprising similarities. We will tell Wilma about our dreams tomorrow,
and hopefully with Tata.
After our naps, we had a bite to eat in the hotel, studying
the K’iche’ version of the Maya day count in books and online followed by writing
this report. The rest of the day will
likely be uneventful.
More to come…
Blessed Be,
Don Frew (and his “stand-behind” Greg Stafford)
CoG National Interfaith Representative
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