From Stone and Bone to Graphic Arts…The 2,000 year old Journey of Popul Vuh Imagery.

Purpose of the Project: For Maya Youth to study the artistic media of the Popul Vuh from Stone Images to Contemporary Arts. Many, perhaps most, Maya youth are not familiar with the ancient origins of the Popul Vuh, their Creation Story. They all know the Popul Vuh and it is very sacred in their culture, but the origin site where it was first written (carved monuments) has been lost over time.

Proposed Particpants: 6-8 Maya Youth, ages 15-22, each community, from some of the following communities: Zunil, Momostenango, Santiago Atitlan, Tecpan, Chimaltenango. Each community will have the youth accompanied by 2-3 adults who can also participate in the project activities.

Foreign Particpants: Some foreigners could find it very interesting to participate in this trip. Advantages: it will be a cultural and scenic trip; a unique opportunity to learn along with Maya people; your participation can underwrite the cost of a student; you will be hosted by Maya Conservancy and its knowledgable Board Members. Participants could join one or more of the workshops.

Cost: Students will receive scholarships, lodging, food, and transportation. Adults will receive same and will be paid to accompany students. As this is a preliminary proposal, costs are not known, but $300-$500 a week per student is a likely figure.

Goals:

1) For Maya youth to acquire an historical grasp of the enduring Creation Story, the Popul Vuh , thru constant images in changing media.

2) To inspire individual artistic creativity.

Process: A Series of 3-4 day workshops led by different Artists and Artisans. The teachers will be experts in the Arts of : Stone Carving, Bone Carving, Ceramics, Painting, Murals, and Graphic Arts.

Time Frame: To hold the 4 workshops within a one year, or 1 and ½ year time frame. Tentatively Workshop 1 will be help August 9th -13th,2013. Workshop 1: Three days in Tapachula/Izapa. This will include: Visits to the archaeological site of Izapa that will introduce students to the 2,000 year old Calendar origins; and to the first Popul Vuh images, carved in stone monuments. Visits to the local Planetarium to understand correlations to the Night Sky and incidents in the Popul Vuh. Talks by Abelino Becerra and others. Visits to local museum to see monuments and other artifacts.

Workshop 2: A three or four day visit to see Copan and learn its history. Talks by archaeologist David Sedat and others to speak of the monuments and imagery of Copan. Workshops by local experts in stone carving and bone carving. Each student will work with a small flat stone for engraving an image. Each student will have a piece of bone(cow) to learn how to carve an image. A unique piece from Copan is the bone Cosmic Crocodile.

Workshop 3: Location to be determined. It will be necessary to have a kiln and a ceramics teacher. Possibilities are Antigua, Xela, Guatemala City. A four day workshop to have an introduction to ceramics. Shaping, mixing, firing of clay. The ¨textbook¨ will include 600 years of Popul Vuh images from the Classic Maya era. Perhaps students can learn some beginning steps of painting on clay.

Workshop 4: Contemporary Images of the Popul Vuh. Mural Painting and Graphics. A possible location in Xela with a Mural artist and a Graphic Arts Teacher. Perhaps An introduction to drawing or painting would be possible.

This proposal is preliminary. I welcome suggestions, comments, and expressions of interest in this project. Would you like to participate in person? Would you like to underwrite the cost of a Maya student? Other? Georgeann Johnson, President of the Maya Conservancy geojoh12@yahoo.com

In the days around the June summer solstice (6/20), The Maya Conservancy (TMC) sponsored an innovative symposium that brought together Izapa scholars and modern Maya representatives. Georgeann Johnson, president of the TMC and sister of Mary Lou Ridinger (of Jade Maya fame), said of the event: “Our recent trip to Izapa was exciting! We had two days of speakers, planetarium shows, and site visits. It was the first time that the dedicated ‘Izapanistas’, Garth Norman, Abelino Becerra (from Tapachula) and John Major Jenkins were able to meet and give a conference together. Speakers from the TMC board included Vincent Stanzione, John Major Jenkins, Garth Norman, Mary Lou Ridinger, Mark Van Stone; also a panel of Maya presenters headed by Roberto Poz from Zunil; Maya journalist Victorino Tejaxon; and local INAH representative Victor Ortiz. It was a lot of complex knowledge to try to absorb in two days, but we were happy that we were able to do as much as we did.”  15 travelers accompanied TMC on this trip and approximately 50 people from Tapachula joined our presentations and the trips to the site of Izapa.

The Dedication of Stelae 11 and 25

Heave … ho! The replica of Stela 25 is unloaded in Group A. It will be permanently placed in the same spot where it once stood 2,200 years ago. A b/w photo of the original Stela 11 as it stands in Group B, details enhanced by Garth Norman.

Stela 25 from Izapa contains astronomical references that visually portray a scene from the Popol Vuh in which Hunahpu’s arm is torn off by Seven Macaw. John Major Jenkins believes the stela embodies a dialectic between two parts of the sky – the Big Dipper polar region and the “head” of the Milky Way crocodile near Sagittarius. 

Both areas are “crossroads”, major Maya creation centers. Stela 11 is considered bymany to be a solar deity (First Father) in the “dark rift” or “birth canal” of First Mother, in the Milky Way. It is during our time that the solstice sun aligns with the crossroads creation center near Sagittarius on not only an Ahau day, but also a Winter solstice – the very focus of attention this year, on Friday, December 21.

The Maya Conservancy commissioned replicas of Stelae 11 and 25 that were created by stela carvers from Copán. They were delivered across two borders, from Honduras, through Guatemala to Mexico. On their June excursion to Izapa, the TMC donated both replicas to INAH officials. 404-680-9703 INAH’s regional museum in Tapachula. John has a short informative video to explain it all! Watch It Here

(Click here to download)

At this IMS this month, we’ll have Payson Sheets, Ph.D., talking about the ancient site of Cerén that was covered by meters of volcanic ash. So much has been preserved. Payson’s program article on page 3. We also have David Lee, Ph.D., who will talk about his 4 years of research at the site of El Peru-Waká. While exploring for ceramics, he discovered the tomb of a royal woman warrior. David’s program article is on page 2.

In June, we feature INAH-Campeche archaeologist Antonio Benavides Castillo, Ph.D. He is our June Explorer of the Month and has submitted an article about the site of Tohcok. We also have an interview with Antonio and Part I of another article by Hilario Hiler. This time, he recounts his visits to the villages of the Lacandon Maya. Once again, photographer Macduff Everton has given us permission to use a couple of his images. Thank you, Macduff.

                  JUNE 19-21, 2012

     Sponsored by Planetario de los Bachilleres; The Maya Conservancy.

JUNE 19^th-2 Ajmaq  5:00 p.m.  Welcome to The Planetarium, Queta del Pino.  Keynote Speaker,  Mary Lou Ridinger, The Maya Conservancy.

“Ancient Mesoamerican Trade Routes; Izapa as a center of

Trade and Cultural Diffusion.” 

6:00 p.m.    Planetarium show of” The Night of Creation”. 

JUNE 20^th- 3 No’j   …. IZAPA

                     6:00 a.m.   Sacred Fire Ceremony at Izapa.  Solstice.

                                      Names of MAYA ELDERS here.

                     7:30 a.m.   Tour of Group B, Dr. Garth Norman

                    Planetarium

                    11:00 a.m.  Mesa Redonda Conference   starts.  

                            Dr. Garth Norman  Talk and PPP presentations:

                 “ Izapa…the Birthplace of the MesoAmerican Calendars”     

              12:00 p.m.  Miguel Ratzan.  Musician and Storyteller

                   12:30pm  -  2:00pm     Comida

              2:00  pm:  Planetarium: Ing. Abelino Becerra.  The Influence of

                                        Izapa on Xochicalco, Teotihuacan, Tikal, an More.

                      3:30 pm:

                                       Dr. Ivan Azurdia Bravo.  13^th Baktun, Mathematical and

                                       Astronomical Approximations.

                    4:30p.m:   Dr. Victor Ortiz .  “Name of Talk”

                    5:30p.m.    Panel on the Stage.  Questions and Answers from

                                     the Audience.

                    7:00pm:   Dinner sponsored by TMC

JUNE 21- 4 Tijax   7:30 a.m:  Tour of Group F,  John Major Jenkins

                   9:00 am:  Dedication of Replica Stelae to INAH,  Group A

                   10:30am:  Planetarium:  DVD of Understanding 2012, ML Ridinger

                   11: 00am:  John Major Jenkins, “Archaeastronomy and the Hero

                                     Twin Myth in the Izapa Ball Court”.  PPP

                                    12:30- 2:00pm      Comida

               2:00pm:  DR.  Mark Van Stone:  “It’s not the End of the World:

                              What the Maya Really Tell Us about 2012”

             3:00pm:  Vincent Stanzione:” Flowering Mountain Earth-

                    Suchitepequez Kotzil….Place of Cacao, the Sacred Grove, and Water”

             4:00pm:   Panel on the Stage.  Questions and Answers from the      

                                    audience

                4:30 pm:  Planetarium Show:  The Night Skies of

                            the 2012 era.

     5:00p.m.:  Break to visit exhibits;  wine and cheese

            6:00pm:  PANEL: of  Tapachula/tuxtla chico  citizens.

                           Topic: Collaboration among  business, NGO’s, and    

                                  government to build a Visitor’s Center at Izapa

We hired fundraising consultant Lauri Rose Tanner to give us critique and advice for fundraising.  The primary advice was to get our website updated and more user friendly.

FEBRUARY:

Rosangela and Georgeann worked on a preliminary update plan for the blog and membership levels.  We then turned it over to a web designer in Santa Fe and by March we had a much improved website.  www.themayaconservancy.org features an easy JOIN feature, a blog, a Recommended Books page which features books written by our Board Members, and a Membership Levels page.  Dr. Robert Sitler’s book, The Living Maya, came out, as well as Gaspar Gonzalez’es 13 B’aktun.  Later in the year, Board Member Francisco Estrada Belli’s book “The First Maya Civilization: Ritual and Power Before the Classic Period” came out.

MARCH:

Both Mary Lou and Georgeann went to New York for the annual Explorer’s club week-end including the inimitable amazing show for the Annual Dinner.  This year’s Honorary Award went to a fellow named Wade Davis.  He is an incredible explorer for our times.

In addition to exploring in Peru, the Amazon, the Himalayas, Central Asia, Borneo, and more, Davis’es great work is in promoting awareness of the threats to indigenous cultures and languages. To our knowledge he is the first person to be honored by the Explorer’es Club for his exploration of threatened cultures and their languages.  Davis is also a beautiful and poetic writer and Mary Lou has incorporated some of his tales into her cruise ship lectures.  From NYC, Georgeann went to Austin to attend the UT Maya meetings.  She was joined there by Board Members Garth Norman and wife

Cheryl, and Robert Sitler and wife June.  The Normans and Georgeann attended the excellent pre-conference workshop of Dr. Allen Christianson on the Popul Vuh.  Also we attended an afternoon of a presentation by Barbara McLeod on the latest deciphering of the Tortuguero Monument 6 and its infamous Dec 21, 2012 date.  Her rendering at that time was god “9 Bolon Yokte will come down and be investitured.”  While the epigraphers at the meeting debated the eroded glyph, Advisory Board Member John Major Jenkins was in Villahermosa photographing Tortuguero 6 in the museum.  For further info: http://www.thecenterfor2012studies.com/T6Monument.pdf

Garth and Cheryl Norman attended the Maya Meetings at the U. of Texas and were also in Allen Cristensen’s Popul Vuh workshop. Later in March, Garth presented a paper on the Izapa Calendar at the SAA Symposium in Sacramento, Ca.

APRIL-MAY:

Mary Lou began traveling to Tapachula every week for a series of lectures given by Abelino Becerra, a local Ingeniero who has mastered the knowledge of Izapa, its history and cosmology.  Between 75 and 100 Tuxtla Chico and Tapachultecos attended his lectures, and this has been of great value to increasing the knowledge and enthusiasm of the citizens for their site of Izapa.

JUNE:

Mary Lou continued attending the Abelino Becerra workshops in June.  At the end of June, Georgeann, and Martha Donnelly flew to Tapachula for two reasons.  One was to sign the official papers of the Mexican non-profit, Museo Izapa; Mary Lou, John Mann, Georgeann, and our accountant, Gloria Galvez, are the officers in this association.  The purpose of this non-profit is to gather funds from Tapachula citizens and other Mexicans.  We now have the appropriate non-profits in Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States.  The Maya Conservancy, of the USA, is our principal fund-raising branch.  We all attended the 4th workshop of Abelino Becerra…on Maya Cosmology.  And we are all impressed with the depth and breadth of his knowledge on Izapa and the Soconusco coast.  His presentations have really galvanized the interest and understanding of the local citizens.  We then went out to the property for Martha and John Mann to measure trees and landmarks on the 2 acre parcel with a future Visitor’s Center and small museum in mind.  Martha is a landscape architect by profession and an architectural design artist by inclination.  Her plans for a botanical garden, Visitor’s Center, and small Museum are on our website.  Martha has been a welcome addition to our “team”, and has donated time, money, skills, and great enthusiasm to our efforts.  Also on this visit we attended the local Rotary Club meeting.  Mary Lou gave a talk there on the importance of Izapa and building a Visitor’s Center.  The idea was warmly received, as were we.  The local Guatemalan consul in Tapachula, Mexico has offered to help us get 2 day visas for the Maya spiritual guides to accompany us.

JULY:

Board member Laura Rodriguez went to Momostenango to learn some Quiche and study the Tzolk’in with Tat Rigoberto and others.  Mary Lou met with archeologist Hector Neff who has studied the ceramics of the Soconusco coast.  Hector had participated in a LIDAR survey of Izapa.  This technique can “see” through vegetation (tree canopies, etc) and it has revealed that there is a huge area of Izapa that is still “under the ground”.

AUGUST:

Mary Lou flew to Tuxla Guiterrez to meet with Emiliano Gallega, the director of INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia).  The meeting was to ascertain the property lines of “Rancho Guadalupe”, the parcel she bought for a future museum.  The result was that part of the parcel is inside INAH’s jurisdiction, and part is outside the jurisdiction.  So we can build on the private part, as well as have Sacred Fire Ceremonies there.   AUGUST 12TH, 3114 B.C., THE NIGHT OF CREATION in the Maya Cosmology /Calendar.  Martha and Georgeann again flew to Tapachula for this event.  Mary Lou, John Mann, Diego Dougherty, Rosangela, Laura, and others drove up from Antigua for this event.  We held a Sacred Fire Ceremony on the property at the perimeter of Group B in the zone of Izapa.  There were problems with visas for the Momostenango elders, but we were fortunate in contacting Zunil elders who had appropriate visas. Roberto Poz, Ixquiq, Don Pascual, and Sofia  created a wonderful ritual and about 70 people from Tapachula and Tuxtla Chico participated.  In the afternoon we were invited by the Planetarium staff to attend a show that replicated the Night Sky of August 12th, 3114 B.C.  What a wonder to see Orion, the “Turtle”, the Dark Rift, etc.  We also were shown a different show that was programmed by John Major Jenkins to show the Night Sky of Dec 21,2012.  The precessional cycle of 26,000 years was explained and one could see the Winter Solstice sun slowly crossing the Dark Rift of the Milky Way.  (This is all from our own earthly perspective, of course.)  It is a fortunate coincidence that Tapachula has a planetarium to help understand the ancient and contemporary Night Skys.  Laura Rodriguez stayed behind in Tapachula after this event.  She had a very busy week and, with the help of Edgar Laura met with several groups of business and civic leaders to help explain the goals of The Maya Conservancy. This social networking was invaluable to TMC as it helped lay the groundwork for future fundraising and educational efforts.

SEPTEMBER:

Mary Lou went to the Explorer’s Club of Southern Florida to speak about Maya Cosmology.  She also went to San Miguel Allende and and gave talks there about Ancient Mesoamerican trade routes and “Understanding 2012″.  Also she and Jades, S.A, were doing the preliminary work for the October conference on 2012 travel.  The Normans were back in Chiapas in September.  Garth was invited by the Governor of Chiapas to be a keynote speaker at a conference called “Chiapas—Corazon de Mesoamerica”.  On short notice they were able to prepare a PP presentation on the Izapa Calendar and its far-reaching influence throughout the Americas.  While in Tapachula, Garth attended a Town Council meeting where he spoke about his many years of going to Izapa to study the stone monuments.  Also he presented a PPP that showed the 15* North latitude that marks the overhead Zenith passages of April 30th and August 13th.  These are the overhead Zenith dates that are the foundation of the 260 day Tzolk’in calendar.  He also spoke about Stelae 5 and its markings of Five World Ages. Later in the month the Normans went to West Valley City, Utah, for an unveiling of a Stela 5 replica.

OCTOBER:

Jades, S.A., collaborated with INGUAT, Guatemala’s tourism Dept, on “Archaeology and 2012 Tourism”.  For two days a variety of archaeologists, tourism experts, Maya leaders, independent scholars, dance troupes, etc gave talks about the various aspects of archaeological sites, tourism potential, and Maya traditions.

Mary Lou went to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to speak to the explorer club of the Southern Florida.  She also gave a talk at the Rotary Club of Ft. Lauderdale.  She spoke on Ancient Mesoamerican trade routes where Jade, Cacao, Jaguar skins, and Long Calendar dates traveled out from Izapa, Chiapas.

She met with Paul Schuler, a head of a non-profit for clean Caribbean and Americas.  www.cleancaribbean.org/about_us.htm He was interested in building his connections with the Mesoamerican world.

NOVEMBER:

She continued her heavy cruise ship schedule.  On the ships headed towards Tapachula, She had enthusiastic crowds of Around 500 people.  Like everyone, they had never heard of Izapa and its importance to Mesoamerican history.

DECEMBER:

Mary Lou traveled to Copenhagen to attend the Mesoamerican Wayeb Conference.  During the conference she talked with people about TMC and hand out brochure and DVDs.  Oscar had prepared a special 4 minute DVD that highlights some of the archaeological and Tourist highlights of Guatemala.  Later she went to San Miguel Allende for Xmas with the family.  There the excitement of the arrival of the newly book, “The Stone of Kings”, by Gerard Helferich, was high.   The book contains Mary Lou and Jay´s story of the discovery of Jade and the building of a renaissance of a national heritage.  Mary Lou also gave two of her talks about Maya Cosmology and raised some money for TMC.  And she met with Sergio Martinez Echeverria in Mexico City, Sergio is the Director of an Association in Mexico who promotes education and knowledge about the Maya 2012 Calender.  www.calendariomaya2012.org

This is the year to educate people to the archaeology and meaning of 2012. We are orienting our trips towards an understanding of archaeology and cosmology of ancient cultures; towards the beauty of the highlands, and of the Soconusco coast. AND towards having fun as well as having a unique and meaningful experience!

All of our trips will include some of the following archaeological sites: Izapa; Iximche; Takaliq Abaj; Chiapa de Corzo; el Baul; la Democracia; Kaminaljuyu; Paso de la Amada; Tikal; Copan.

Trips will include travel through some of the following areas: The beautiful highlands of Guatemala including Chichicastenango; the magnificent Lake Atitlan; the lush Soconusco Coast of Guatemala and Chiapas; the Peten jungle around Tikal; travel into the green hills of Honduras(Copan); and the colonial charm of Antigua.

TRIP DATES:
SPRING EQUINOX: MARCH 17TH-28TH.
Basing in Antigua we will travel up the coast to Izapa for a Sacred Fire Ceremony on spring Equinox. Returning down the coast we will visit four archaeological sites and return to Antigua. From there we will end our trip in the Highlands with the very special Wakashiq B’atz Sacred Fire Ceremony.

HOLY WEEK IN THE HIGHLANDS: MARCH 24TH-APRIL 8TH
This trip will start in Antigua with a 2 night stay before heading up to Momostenango for the Wakashiq B’atz Sacred Fire Ceremony. Then we will return to Antigua for three days of the beginning of the Holy Week celebrations. We will see the first of the processions and world famous flower “alfombras” made by the neighbors of each block. Then we will head to Chichicastenango and the rest of the Highlands for a week of incredible experiences with different indigenous towns and their rich celebrations of this important Semana Santa.

SUMMER SOLSTICE: JUNE 18TH-JUNE 23RD
This trip will start in Antigua and journey up the coast to Takalik Abaj
and then to Izapa. We will celebrate Summer Solstice with some of our Maya Elder Friends with Sacred Fires in alignment with the volcanos there. We then will make a 2 day sortie to the archaeological site of Chiapa de Corzo. This site has been getting a lot of attention in Mexico with some recent very, very old discoveries of burials with jade, etc. Then back down the coast with stops at Olmec sites; and to Antigua.

FALL EQUINOX: SEPT 20th- SEPT 27th.
We will base in Antigua for two days with opportunities for talks about recent archaeological discoveries in Tikal, El Mirador,and Copan. Also historical walking tours of Antigua by the cultural historian of Antigua, Liz Bell. A fascinating walk through colonial history! From there we will fly to Tikal for two nights of exploration of this magnificent site. There we will celebrate the Fall Equinox
with Maya spiritual guides. From Tikal will visit the site of Kaminaljuya, then travel to Copan, Honduras to see the elaborate ruins. Some of the sculpted arches hold clues to the latitude relationship between Copan and Izapa.

WINTER SOLSTICE:
DEC 21, 2012 13.0.0.0.0 THIS DATE, PINPOINTED 2,250 YEARS AGO BY THE ANCIENT SKYWATCHERS OF IZAPA, HAS ONLY RECENTLY BECOME KNOWN. VERY FEW PEOPLE KNOW THAT THE 2,600 YEAR OLD SITE OF IZAPA IS THE ORIGIN SITE OF THE MESOAMERICAN CALENDAR. BE A PART OF HISTORY AS THE PRECESSED WINTER SOLSTICE SUN IS COMPLETING ONE 26,000 YEAR JOURNEY AND STARTING ANOTHER CYCLE.

Our little band of Solstice Sojourners will start our adventure in Antigua, Guatemala on Dec. 18th with a tour of the Maya Cosmology Museum and two talks about understanding the relationship between the archaeology of Izapa and the cosmology of the world view depicted in Izapa. Then we head to Izapa, stopping at the sister “city” of Izapa, the ruins of Takaliq Abaj. We will spend 2 days and nights in Tapachula/Izapa with Sacred Fire Ceremony, planetarium shows, and exploration of the archaeological site. Don’t miss this totally unique opportunity to stand in the origin site of “The Beginning of Time”. With one foot in the ancient world and one foot in the future you can participate with the Maya in the “Balancing of the Cosmos”.

For more information please email:
Georgeann Johnson
geojoh12@yahoo.com

The Maya Conservancy wants to thank INGUAT and JadeMaya for organizing and hosting the first Congreso de Turismo Arqueologico, 13.0.0.0.0.  During the two days the attendees were treated to a beautiful Ballet Folklorico, as well as a variety of speakers.  Given that the prolonged days of rain made travel very difficult, we were glad that as many speakers and participants could arrive to make the event possible.  The main theme of the Conference was to emphasize the tourism that is possible in 2012. This theme was explored from academic, spiritual, historical, tourism economics, and other points of view.

The speakers included tourism specialists, archaeologists, Maya Spiritual Guides, epigraphers, cultural historians,and various Maya Studies specialists.  For copies of the various presentations you can inquire with  Rosangela Herrera at rosangelaherrera@msn.com                                                                                                                

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And who better to go celebrate this date with?  A group of 4 Daykeepers from Zunil,  a bunch of TMC members, and some Tapachula citizens.   Mary Lou and Gloria Galvez had preceded our arrival with a trip to Tuxtla Guiterrez to the offices of INAH to secure a permiso for the Sacred Fire Ceremony, as well as to check out the exact location of the future Museo Izapa on the INAH map.  They returned with a fire permiso in hand, as well as with acknowledged permiso to build on part of the Maya Conservancy property that sits nestled in a cacao grove, awaiting a future Museo Izapa.

The Izapa daykeepers guided us in the building of the fire and in  a specially beautiful Fire Ceremony. Flowers, copal, the resounding of the day name  cycles wafted up thru the cacao canopy and towards the towering volcano of Tacana.   At the conclusion of the Ceremony, Roberto picked up our symbolic hearthstone and swirled it in the smoke of the fire.  He asked for blessings for the future Museo Izapa, and for our efforts.

After the Fire, we went for a large table comida at a local restaurant, and from there we we went to the local Planetarium for a special presentation.  The Planetarium had kindly arranged a presentation of the August 12th night sky and we watched from reclining seats, the Night Sky of Creation unfold.

The Three HearthStones of Creation “laid down”;  the Milky Way “canoe” as it is paddled toward the horizon and the Underworld; the Milky Way Crocodile.   We also saw a John Jenkins prepared Night Sky presentation that illustrates the cycles of Precession, and the slow convergence of the Winter Solstice Sun as it moves across the Dark Rift, the Xibalba Be.  The whole presentation was very impressive!

Later, as the Full Moon rose we returned to Izapa and lay down on tarps as Mary Lou re-told the Night of Creation stories.  There is magic, and myth, and mystery in that  Night Jaguar sky!

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