Portal to the Afterlife
A Mexican archaeology team found what is believed to be the entry to the Mayan underworld in caves in the Yucatan Peninsula. Excavations turned up temple ruins, stone carvings, ceramic offerings and bones that could be remains of human sacrifices. The site includes a series of underwater caves that lead to dry chambers and even an underground road. According to the Mayan story Popol Vuh, the souls of the dead faced "rivers filled with scorpions, blood and pus, and houses shrouded in darkness or swarming with shrieking bats." Other Mayan groups had their own entries into the afterlife, "almost always in cave systems buried deep in the jungle."
Story suggested by Philip Heying.
Creative Commons image: "Mayan Shaman Vision Canoe" by Hialoakapua on Flickr
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Awesome
Sam Michael
I was just reading the Popol Vuh for the first time and would highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in world culture. This sounds like another perfect example of how our "primitive ancestors" weren't bs'ing in scriptures and myths but were giving valuable information and clues Eg. Location of Troy in Oddyssey, many clues in bible, now popol vuh.interesting but a bit overhyped
So they were Living Imagination, then..!
This is an excellent example contributing to an idea I am developing, "living imagination." (That will link right, once I've written the target.)
And I see "living imagination" as a necessary step for naturalistic spirituality.
What I'm fascinated by here, is that these people obviously created these caves.
But did that bother them?
Did they say, "Hey, you can't fool me -- that's not the underworld-- I know, because my brother just spent 15 hours a day digging that out!" ..?
No, they didn't.
I suppose it's possible that priests used slave labor to create these caves, then maybe they killed all the slaves to keep it secret, and then told people, "These are the caves to the underworld..." (The Mayans were pretty bloodthirsty, I understand, and I'm a little surprised that the New Age crowd has put so much merit on them. But that's another story entirely.)
But then how do we understand similar (though less dramatic) activities from all the other indigenous cultures?
Here's what I suspect is at work:
I suspect that these indigenous cultures had a fundamentally different attitude with regards to the imaginary.
What I mean is:
When we imagine something, we go, "Very pretty, very entertaining, but it's fake, it's unreal." Maybe we don't say that, but there's this sort of sense.
Consider the phrase, "And then I got a job in the real world." (For example of the real-imaginary distinction.)
Look at the lengths we (in common speech,) and movie writers go to (when interviewed,) to sort of try and completely dissociate the imaginary (entertainment) from the meaningful (associated with the real.)
In fact, there are very material & political concerns that arise from connecting the imaginary with the meaningful..! Political: Consider the possible implications for Free Speech, if people believed that imaginary constructs had meaningful effects on the world? Material: Consider the livelihoods of all of our storytellers, if the "plausible deniability" of saying, "Oh, this is all just meaningless entertainment," were to disappear?
..!
People conceivably could be arguing over "who has a better picture of Mickey Mouse" in their head..!
Right? It's conceivable that people could understand imagination purely naturalistically, and then could further understand that imagination expresses/embodies the heart, and conveys real meaning, ...
...Well, I could understand big arguments about which representations to use, ..!
I don't think it'd really happen though. The counter-balance of naturalism ("We all understand that these are just pictures") is too strong. And every heart feels the horror of war. I have difficulty imagining how we could go to war over imaginations, if we properly understand them as imaginings.
Realizing Imaginations from the Heart
I don't know, but i recall having a deep inner need to have visions, and in some ways i believe that it is part of the imagination's mystery and human core experience that all peoples crave for visions.
Bingo, and much better said than I know how to write.
But it has been dampened down through empty religious versions of having visions, or it becomes a phenomena that is made into something only Saints see or have.
Not only through empty religious versions of having visions, ... Not only through the "exclusive capabilities of Saints." ...
But in my experience, with my friends, my culture, I find that our interpretations of "what Science means", what Science says about the human being and the human life and human possibilities, has been a major dampening force.
So those who (rightly!) know that visions are important, feel a repulsive force from Science.
And those who (rightly!) know that science is true, feel a repulsive force from all things Heart & imagination. (I mean, just look at their artwork-- all galaxies, forests, landscapes, etc.,. No angels, spiritual entities, etc., are to be depicted -- lest people be "led astray.")
So after thinking about this for a while, the answer I found was, "We have to change our attitude with respect to the imagination," if we're really going to resolve this. Not just on an individual basis, but as whole societies, even: living imagination in practice, not just as an idea, not just as reading some fantasy books, not even as dressing up Klingon and going to Star Trek conventions, what have you.
But breathing out meaningful imaginations, both original and borrowing from traditions, from our own hearts, and with the hearts of others, and living into them, real-izing them. Making our homes and workplaces sacred, even completely shifting our work as necessary.
And I agree: Fairy tales doctored by commercial interests are a problem. I don't know what we should be asking for from Disney, from Hollywood, and so on, (after all, I have received wisdom and guidance from many of their portrayals,) but I strongly believe that some form of "renegotiations," if you will, need to take place.
The Forces are too strong; The heart yearns to break out of the walls of ignorance. It is like an immense pressure in the human spirit.
What will happen, when the imagination comes alive, and Gods, Goddesses, and supernatural powers walk living amongst us, with the full power of modern science & technology..?
Remember Atlantis.
every cave is an entrance
Caves Rock!
Note about Mayan history
LionKimbro - "The Mayans were pretty bloodthirsty, I understand, and I'm a little surprised that the New Age crowd has put so much merit on them. But that's another story entirely."
This is a common misconception fueled by confusion of the Mayan and Aztec cultures. They were very different, separated by centuries, and have a very dissimilar history.
Mayans were not bloodthirsty killers, like the Aztecs whom they are often confused with. In fact there are many legitimate academic and traditional sources where you can verify that incense and fresh flowers are the only sacrifices acceptable to the Maya on their altars and temples. This is unambiguous in the teachings of Quetzalcoatl and the practice of those following the true traditions of the Maya.
In fact, the Aztec civilization migrated to Mexico from British Columbia in a process taking hundreds of years, and were a pariah nation among many native american tribes. They were forcefully ejected from all areas they attempted to infiltrate and conquer by these local indigenous tribes. Eventually the Aztecs came to find the long abandoned complex of Teotihuacan and took residence there, fulfilling their prophecy of finding a new home upon sighting an eagle devouring a snake upon a rock near the outskirts of Teotihuacan.
When Cortez arrived on April 21, 1519 - also the day of prophecy known as 1 Reed, prophesied by Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl as the end of the 13 Heavens and the beginning of the 9 Hells -the Aztec were led by a bloodthirsty drug addict whose empire - numbered in the of hundreds of thousands of citizens - collapsed in mere weeks to a Spanish force of less than 300 men. Their civilization was much like our current one, a strange amalgam of boldly aggressive and sickeningly cowardly.
Alternately, the Maya, always a peace loving people - gentle, but fierce warriors - were not really ever conquered so to speak by the European invasion as they mostly fled into remote jungle territory. Even as the United States was fighting it's own civil war in the mid-1800's the Maya still held a great majority of the Yucatan independent of the newly formed nation of Mexico.
So if you have always wondered how and why the "New Age Movement" (ugh!) has responded and resonated so deeply to the teachings of the Maya in relation to modern spiritual consciousness, I present in hope this information which may help to enlighten you, and help yourself and others to attain a more clear vision and understanding of the true situation and history of the Maya.
This information was sourced from an amalgam of modern academic studies as well as oral and written teachings of the Jaguar and Solar Temples of the Maya, Toltec and Itza peoples.
In Lak-ech,
Bolon Etznab
Mayan, Aztec
Thank you for the explanation.
I see on the web evidence that the Mayans did practice human sacrifice, but it seems the researchers believe that it was substantially less than the Aztec's.
I appreciate the correction!
Aztec versus Mayan sacrifice
Clearly, ...
Clearly, there must be limits on living into the imagination.
Chalk one more up, for "why it's important to know things."
Define Sacrifice
The point here is that our conception of a human sacrifice is basically that, negative, a burden to all society for putting an end to a human's life. As Bob Marley rightly say, we live mostly under a system that teaches to live and die, life and death are seen as the only two ways, as opposites but not as two steps of a journey that may have even more that only two steps, and where one ends and becomes the other is one of the biggest if not the biggest misconception of our culture.
I'm not an expert of prehispanic cultures and their killing rituals but for what I know the people that got killed during this was willful and honored to be part of them, so if they were down for being killed then there was a reward, right. But none of us were there to fully understand the main reason behind this, the dead ones were sent to the underworld as investigators perhaps, just as we dive into the bottom of the ocean looking for the key of life, they were sent to Xibalba looking for the key of death, of let's better call it the key to everlasting life.
As some have already mentioned, the fact that scientific investigators claim to have found the physical location of a concept that is as vast as the Mayan mystic experience itself is something I see with disbelief, but my point is that even if it's dark and it's all covered with scorpions, for them it was worth take a look and die for it, because the reward is eternal life, so Xibalba is just a name for what they were willing to achieve and achieving that is not a sacrifice at all.
Is Religion and Mythology the path of Insanity?
number crunching
that may be
I'm highly attracted to the way CJ perceived this.
Instead of this being some 'geographical' reality, the practice of going into a 'dark place' may have been an attempt to train a mind or minds to reattain something common to all: life in the womb.
I think, as practiced, this was probably highly classified and restricted to so-called 'elite' of these after-cultures.
I only use the term 'after-cultures' because I think it highly likely that at one time this was average, everday knowledge long before the 'exigencies' of environment called forth a system of 'rulers' or 'people of power' and 'authority': meaning people with swords and spears and the threats of death for those who had to pay tax to support a 'rule'.
Every child comes into the 'light' from utter blackness: a hermetically sealed 'tomb' or 'womb' and that has, in its own way, some kind of light or lights.
In the realm of yoga, in 'kriyas' of the "Royal" yoga or 'Raja' yoga, one is given certain practices of a rather physical nature to gain access to this 'blackness' of the unknown and the 'primal' truth.
These practices are held highly 'classified' and never divulged because they lead to 'powers'.
And yet, people seeking 'peace' or 'shanti' are given external rituals and rites and social performance modes that supposedly result in exactly the same things or ends: peace or internal quietude.
Really? It is possible that information in and of itself accomodates itself to nature or natures.
Some are able to accomodate the 'dark' others not so able and so are defined as 'far from birth'.
This is the big issue going on here. We are told that 'God' told Moses that he couldn't see God's face, because at that moment, he would die.
And we are lead to believe that this was that that perception was of 'light'.
In fact, no such thing can be found in the Hebrew chronology. In fact, it is said that 'God' is surrounded by the deepest darkness.
Man, accostomed to living daily life in the natural lights: sun and moon and star-lights, had become utterly blind to the 'dark'.
So, in this perspective, it might make more sense what Jesus is said to have said: if you had said you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say you see, your sin remains.
What else can this mean than what we grew up with: we're afraid of the dark?
Maybe at one time, wiser ones than we knew this, and constructed means to educate 'initiates' about this? Without being utterly compelling, they had to construct structures to aid one or even all, to undergo this return to the womb?
It may have been contingent on 'exigencies' or emergencies of purely reactionary mankind to environmental changes that instilled 'terror'.
And bringing someone out of a state of 'terror' is no simple task. It is practically impossible from any external modality. We slap the face of a hysteric. We use drugs today. We use tv.
Today, who sleeps in utter dark? You know the answer: a digital clock, maybe, still beams forth or a 'night-light' beams forth.
We fear as a kind of habit. But, believe it or not, one of the most important 'secrets' of yoga is just this: becoming blinded to external lights and seeing the beauty and stillness in 'utter blackness' without being associated with any 'evil'.
This is contained in the very scriptures. The Decalogue, the Hebrew Chronology, the Judaic prophecies, the visions of Yudhishthira or Dharma, the Upanishads all the neglected or 'minor' notations of seers that actually informed the Hebrew prophets or the 'schools' of the prophets denote this fact: I AM is seen best in blackness and silence. Which we most fear.
And is that not the beginning of wisdom? To fear I AM, and yet to approach I AM?
I read this as self-knowledge and approaching the very essense of every life: lovingkindness - - - the most unknown. Justice, fairness, goodness. Right there. There in the dark, we most fear.
NO wonder we are so evil. We think the "light" is good. What we think of as 'light' is just business doing self-ignorance. In knowing the depths of self: going into the dark, a different light bursts forth into infinity and intermixed in the light or 'knowing' of another. Only intermixed by another. Another upon whom - - - and sometimes into whom - - - we shed and press forth our loving nature.
We may see ourselves somewhat in merely reflected light, but that wouldn't be the point. No one weds a mirror.
Two lights shining, one to another do so only because both have been in that utter and most deep. They love in sympathy and co-equal knowing. Not in surfaces. True resonance from that depth results in something greater than either one alone. A new thing that persists as they persist.
And with loss, that absence induces sorrow most profound and is the very power of resurrection.
It is common and not the work of some one special 'resurrector'. It is every lovers work. That, I contend, is the work of the 'anointed' or 'savior'. And who is most willing to rescue than one who's loved and has been loved? What greater impetus to being such can there be?
Rarely explored. We fear ourselves if we fear our own powers. And the chief of these powers is love. Be that. Be that. BE THE CHRIST. If not, who will save those you love most? Or how shall you be saved? If you are loved by none?
No worries. That is the impossible thing. The dark will love you, and it doesn't judge. You may just be 'worldly challenged'. Not an easy place to get on. No big secret. Care less about yerself and you're there.
My opinion. only.
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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance -- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." HER