Thursday, Feb. 19/09
The week had already felt so full, and I was realizing that it was drawing to a close. Time was speeding by quickly. Only two more days and I'd be heading home. This morning I felt like I had received so much already that if the trip was over now, I wouldn't be disappointed.
We had breakfast at the hotel in the city of Patzcuaro. (One of today's photos is taken off the balcony outside my hotel room. There's another of my hotel room door.) Breakfast usually consisted of lots of fruit, hot dishes such as eggs, hash browns and the ever present tortillas, yogurt, and great coffee. Today's destination was the the small city of Tzintzuntzan, located on the eastern shore of Lake Patzcuaro, the lake whose islands we had visited the day before. The city was founded in the 13th century by the Perepucha people and its name means "The place of the hummingbirds" (though I did not see any there).
Tzintzuntzan was the capital for the Perepucha people when the Spaniards arrived in 1522.I learned that when the Spaniards came, they were said to be all powerful and very destructive, but what really killed off 90% of the Perepucha people was smallpox during the conquest. Much destruction happened and the city was largely dismantled to provide stones for Roman Catholic temples and monasteries. Look closely in one of the pictures of the Catholic churches, you will see stones from the pyramids with ancient symbols on them. In ancient times these were covered up, but in modern times, these stones have been uncovered and are now considered a part of their history.
We spent the morning in a local outdoor museum, where we saw the still standing ruins of 5 ancient pyramid-type structures called "Yacatas" that were not entirely destroyed. (You can see them in miniature in one of the photos).
In one of the photos you can see Erik M. drawing in the sand. He is demonstrating the ancient way of telling time, not just daily time but time over the years. Imagine 3 wheels, each larger than the other (pictured in the sand). Each wheel has cogs so that as 1 wheel turns, they all turn. The smallest wheel is 260 days long and is considered the sacred year (some think it is because we spend about 260 days in the womb). The middle wheel is the solar year, 365 days and the largest wheel is the Venus year (584 days). When the smallest wheel turns 20 times (20 is the base number in ancient numerology, like 10 for us), the whole calender resets itself. It takes 52 years to do this, and every 52 years was like reaching a new century. Incidentally, one was not considered wise until one reached the age of 52.
We learned that the year 2012 is another reset year, but bigger than that,it's another reset time within 2500 years. Some people think that something ominous will happen in that year. Erik pointed out that whether something happens that year or not, climate change is reaching its fullest ramifications these days, so it might be related to that. This whole talk was probably one of the most interesting parts of the day.
I haven't written directly about Erik Mollenhauer, our New Jersey guide. I have spoken of him as a "good soul" and a kindred spirit. He is very knowledgeable and very kind and human to boot. I very much enjoyed being his student for a week. (He might be coming to Wpg. this summer with his wife for the conference. He's the one I told Watershed would put on a feast for him...or at least have him for supper!) I had an interesting conversation with him where he told me about some great books he's read. In one of them, he learned of the Buddha's story. What struck me was how the Buddha was told at the outset of his life to go and learn from everything he could. He did that, learning from difficult events, from storytellers, from suffering, from books. In the end, he was considered a great saint but he knew he wasn't really that at all, he had just learned from everything, not judging anything as good or bad.
Retelling this story to me, Erik paused and said, "I learned this late in my life, that I am to learn from everything. One of my regrets is that I learned it so late." My answer to him was that it was so great that he learned it at all because many people never see this lesson at all. It was a good interchange.
After the museum we went into the village where we shopped some more. There was a lot of weaving stuff available and this is where I bought the skeleton pipes for our guys. I also bought a woven skeleton for myself (and for school next fall). During this day I also saw a bird called the Vermillion flycatcher, my first time for this bird, so that was exciting. We also saw a black backed Oriole.
In the afternoon we drove to the present day capital of Michoacan, called Morelia. It was a large city and it was actually getting hot outside, so a few of us kind of wandered around without too much enthusiasm. I think some of us were realizing that the trip was drawing to a close. We were headed back to Mexico City later that day, and we were no longer in the beautiful mountains. I had a coffee that afternoon which later kept me up till past 2 a.m.
During the long bus ride back to Mexico City, there were some excellent conversations on the bus. I was sitting with Mary Lenahan, a teacher with a strong accent from New York. She was very engaging and very kind. She was very curious about Louis Riel and the Metis in Canada. She was surprised to learn that Metis was not a derogatory term, like Mulatto was in the USA. This branched out to a conversation with others about Canadian vs. US politics, history. I was surprised to learn that there had been slavery in Canada. All in all it was a great way to pass several hours on the bus (during which we passed through a big rain).
A book called The Aztec Book of Destiny was being passed around the bus. This was where we could find out where and what we were on the Aztec calendar, based on our birth dates. I found out I was 12 jaguar (my totem identity). This is where I found out that Paul is 12 serpent. It described him as "very literate, and very gifted with words, and that he would use these gifts to help others." He was also destined to walk a spiritual path in his life, which would not always be easy, but would include the road of trials. This would form him as a spiritual leader. Given that he was on my mind so much with his illness, these seemed like good and true words.
Some of what I read about my own totem seemed to hit home. One thing I remember is that they are philosophers at heart and ponder the meaning of life and their place in the universe, and may align themselves with religion or science. If they do not take the time and effort to pursue this they will feel unfulfilled and listless. This reminded me of the verse, "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may discern what is the will of God." This verse is my personal totem.
No comments:
Post a Comment