In recognition of Mother Earth and the preservation of culture and traditions, Maya priests celebrated a feast dedicated to the “Botanical gardens of medicinal plants of the Mayan world, in Yucatan”, as part of the Mayan New Year four day celebration, in the town of Xcunyá, Mérida municipality.
The participants had the chance to share the knowledge and experience of the Maya X’men (shamans) that performed the rituals of gratitude to mother nature for providing the human race with the sacred healing plants, herbs, flowers, roots and leaves.
The Maya priests performed the aforementioned ceremony to honor the healing plants, in the main square of the village of Xcunyá, which is located 10 miles north of downtown Mérida, right next to the Mérida-Progreso highway.
On Sunday the 29th, the Maya New Year celebration will be commemorated with the lighting of the New Fire, this event will take place in the “Mirador de Muna“, at the place known as “Cactus Botanical Garden”, at 10 o’clock in the morning.
The president of the Association of Mayan Priests in Yucatan, Edgar Peraza Chan, said that the Mayan heritage has unfortunately been misrepresented with the passage of time and therefore the importance of rescuing millenary traditions.
“The lighting of the fire is nothing more than a metaphor. It is a symbol that represents our spirituality, our heart and splendor of our soul, “he said.
Valerio Canché Yah, Maya-speaking teacher and Mayan priest, stressed the importance of preserving our essence and identity to prevent that these traditions continue to be misrepresented.
“It is important that indigenous peoples are intertwined because it enriches us with knowledge and wisdom. It is important to pay homage to medicinal plants that heal us, and recognize the power of mother nature, ” Canché Yah said.
In parallel, a group of natives known as The Spirit Walkers, originally from Minnesota, got together in Wisconsin, United States, to share cultures and honor the ancestors, as well as strengthen human empowerment before their sacred ceremonies.
The Spirit Walkers collaborate in community to expand awareness, center in the heart and spark the creator within through shamanic based events, meditations and chants.
The activities up in the state of Wisconsin took place exactly at the same time than in Yucatan.
When carrying out these two ceremonies in these two places so distant from each other, at exactly the same time, there was an alignment between brothers, North American Indians of Minessota and Mayas of the Yucatan Peninsula; the Spirit Walkers and Uh Beel Ki’in.
By Alejandro Azcárate for The Yucatan Times
