The Day the World Didn't End

This morning (at a painfully early hour) I went to a celebration and ritual to mark the beginning of the new Ba'k'tun. The ritual lasted several hours, not including the laborious act of preparing and carefully laying out the offerings, which included: tobacco, sugar, water, cacao, dried fruits, bread, sesame seeds, liquor, incense, herbs and hundreds of candles.

Each person placed many candles into the fire, each color representing a different element and/or purpose. The blue candles were to represent water, healing, the health of the community, and also to honor, protect and give strength to the comadronas (the midwives)! So, when it came time to offer our blue candles into the fire, my teacher Irma rushed over with a second handful just for me.

The Maya believe that this new era will bring with it a positive shift in global consciousness, not the end of the world. There has been a lot of celebrating and throughout the day it was possible to see the smoke from similar fires burning in the mountains, and the remnants of fire pits in the parks and on the street corners throughout Antigua.

12/22/12 an auspicious day, under a somewhat ominous sky.