Gabriela Jurosz-Landa - Transcendent Wisdom of the Maya: The Ceremonies and Symbolism of a Living Tradition

In honor and gratitude to Ahau And in friendship and gratitude to the Maya People of Chuwil

Hombro a hombro, pies a pies, descalzos y con cara al sol. (Shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot, barefoot and [always] facing the Sun.)

MAYA SAYING

TRANSCENDENT WISDOM OF THE MAYA

Transcendent Wisdom of the Maya bridges the Western scientific worldview and the spiritual world of the Maya brilliantly. Its wonderful photographs and detailed storytelling are very compelling. I have enjoyed time with the Maya in the Yucatan, and Gabrielas wonderful stories of weaving, dancing, healing, and divining brought it all back to me as if Id never left. Her description of her welcoming ceremony by the Quich Maya is a significant contribution to anthropological literature, and the New Era celebration in 2012 offers hope for our future. This is a heartfelt and genuine story of Maya life, a must-read for understanding their time cycles and culture.

BARBARA HAND CLOW, AUTHOR OF THE MAYAN CODE AND AWAKENING THE PLANETARY MIND

Gabriela Jurosz-Landas rich and enlightening book is a surprising spiritual journey to mysterious cultures, an inner-self journey, and possibly a road map for our cultures future survival. Her destined journey from her native Czechoslovakia to Germany to the United States and Guatemala, where she was initiated as a daykeeper (shaman-priestess), is fascinating. Gabriela generously shares deep knowledge and wisdom of the ancient Maya heritage as she takes us through the process of her initiation. I highly recommend this superb book.

ITZHAK BEERY, AUTHOR OF THE GIFT OF SHAMANISM ANDSHAMANIC HEALING AND EDITOR OF SHAMANIC TRANSFORMATION

This book brings to life glimpses of the ancient Maya sacred texts and artwork. It is a gift to see their ancient underlying beliefs live on through the Quich Maya of Chichicastenango.

ERIKA BUENAFLOR, M.A., J.D., AUTHOR OF CLEANSING RITES OF CURANDERISMO AND CURANDERISMO SOUL RETRIEVAL

Ancient Maya culture comes alive in Gabriela Jurosz-Landas Transcendent Wisdom of the Maya. The book offers many insights into centuries-old rituals and spirituality which are still lived today by contemporary Maya. Filled with personal observations from fieldwork, the author presents studious thoughts and goes deep into Maya mythology to contrast the Western worldview.

STUART A. GOLDMAN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF THE PBS SERIES JOSEPH CAMPBELL: MYTHOS

If you suspect that our technologically proficient culture is losing its soul, then dive into Transcendent Wisdom of the Maya where you will find an entrancing alternative to the relentless sense of urgency that dominates our times.

RAND FLEM-ATH, LIBRARIAN AND COAUTHOR OF ATLANTIS BENEATH THE ICE

Acknowledgments

F irst and foremost, my gratitude goes to my Creator and the protectors of my life (some of whom are Maya).

During my many years of involvement with the people in Guatemala, I met at least two people each day to be grateful to for allowing me to share a piece of their lives. That is a lot of people to consider, and in my heart I do so.

Explicitly, my heart and gratitude will always go to Don Toms Calvo Mateo, the Quichan leader who invited me to the 2012 celebrations and many others thereafter, took me on official encounters with the Guatemalan government and Maya regional leaders, granted me physical and spiritual protection, and, though we could only talk through our hearts or interpreters, taught me how to be grateful in the first place. Don Toms passed on in October 2017. May he rest in peace.

I am also indebted to my wonderful Nana Tomasa Pol Suy and her daughter Nana Sebastiana, who urged me to take the spiritual path of the Maya and led me through the process with love and feminine sensitivity.

I am grateful to Manuel Xiloj, the leaders right hand, for taking me under his wing. His sudden passing at a young ageone month after the chiefs deathremains a mystery. My friend, you are greatly missed. I thank his sister Josefa Xiloj for her friendship and support; Jos Luis Tigil for his eloquent teachings and friendship; the Maya administrations lawyer, Julio David Diaz Chay, for the intellectual-cultural insights he shared with me; and all the people of Chichicastenango for one way or another letting me participate in the life of their town.

I thank my supportive partners during the years of this journey, which is far from over.

I thank Professor Ferdinand Anders at the University of Vienna for portraying the Maya culture in a vivid way. I also thank my editors, Antoinette LeRoux, Jill Rogers, and Kayla Toher.

I thank my mother for being a liberal though strict educator and philosopher who, by example and in nightly conversations, opened a mental world to me that few are granted. I thank my father, who introduced me to the world of adventure and fostered courage above all.

In an abstract way, I thank Comenius, the grand Czech philosopher whose naturalistic conception of education has given me the means of explaining events and situations so that readers can experience them as if they were their own.

Foreword

THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE MAYA WORLDVIEW

Jos Luis Tigil NAB kaxbaltzij (Spokesperson of the Maya municipality)

A t the closing of the Oxlajuj Baktun on 12/21/12, one era ended, and a new onethe Jun Akabal or Jun Baktunbegan. The greatness of the Maya world is based on the wisdom of our ancestors; grandfathers and grandmothers, who left the history embodied in the writings and through the continuity of our spiritual guides, THE AJKIJ,

The ethical, philosophical, and mystical arguments of the Maya vision of the world and of life in the Maya culture are contained in many sacred books, including the Chilam Balam; the Rabinal Achi; the Codices of Dresden, Madrid, Paris, and Grolier; and especially the Pop Wuj. Strengthening the knowledge of the young indigenous authorities [by passing the ancestral knowledge on to them because the young indigenous authorities are educated mostly in the Western way and the elders are soon to be gone] is the means to knowledge for the world and future generations. The interlocution [exchange of knowledge from the elder generation to the younger] validates the full effort of the practiced traditions [those of the spoken word, action, traditions, and usage] as they were followed through millennia by the Maya people. There is evidence that to the Maya people the universe is a system of systemssystems in which diverse and autonomous units are articulated.

The grandfathers and grandmothers gathered under the shadow of AJAW (God) initiated the PIXAP to decide whether the knowledge of the Maya people should remain immersed in anonymity and be called all kinds of adjectives, such as INDOLENT, ILLITERATE, IGNORANT [as has been the case], or whether it was time to present the ancestral knowledge embedded in each of the sons of the Maya people, who have received the strength of the knowledge orally and through experiential living. The result of the great PIXAP was to start the process of extracting knowledge from the elders and present it to all people who want to learn about the Maya world, and especially to those who want to understand the Maya philosophyto understand the Maya world, you must think like a Maya.