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Category Archives for "Maya, Ancient & Today"Information on the ancient Maya, their philosophies and prophecies, as well as the modern-day Maya and their cultural traditions.
Information on the ancient Maya, their philosophies and prophecies, as well as the modern-day Maya and their cultural traditions.
Upcoming Speaking events in British Columbia:
TOPIC: “2012, EDGAR CAYCE AND THE MAYA”
Comox Valley: Thursday, May 28th 7 to 9 PM
Nanaimo: Thursday, June 4TH, 7 TO 9 PM
TOPIC: SECRETS OF A PSYCHIC
Nanaimo: Saturday, May 30th, all day seminar
I’ll also be presenting “2012, Edgar Cayce and the Maya” in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, June 20th, 3 to 5 PM.
Details and contact information to follow.
Hope to see you there!
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Today, I decided I needed to get back to my Yucatan book so that’s what I’m doing.
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You probably know that Miriam is my daughter and that she came with my husband John and me to Yucatan. She is an important person in my life and also in the documentary movies I’m making partly because she is young, attractive, and also full of life. Often, when she’s in front of the camera, her words are precise, to-the-point and interesting. John and I tend to go on and on and on.
In the middle of the many emails I’ve received on the tiny Mayan woman, Miriam sent me an email to remind me that:
two quick comments about the tiny mayan woman: all the helpful information she gave us was incorrect. there was no dancing in the park. the days were wrong and the time was wrong.
and the artisan store did not close at 3:15pm. so perhaps there was a cultural difference (although no one else acted like that), but all the info she was feeding us was a little bogus. thought that might be important in WHY she seemed a little strange.
Yes, thank you, Miriam!
Copyright (c) 2009 Carol Chapman
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Here are three more comments about the tiny Mayan woman who came up to me during our lunch in the restaurant in Merida, the capital of the State of Yucatan in Mexico.
By the way, she first said that I had such amazing eyes, probably because my eyes are green whereas all the Mayan people have dark brown eyes.
Then, as I said earlier, she told us about upcoming regional ballet folklorio dances. She also told us to buy from local artists and NOT to buy from the people in the Governor’s Square who were not selling local wares. The people in the square were the women from Chiapas – the ones I cannot resist buying from.
Here’s the feedback:
* Is she getting the Atlantis Science and wisdom out !! ?? Hopefully, yes.
* I THINK THAT SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE LEAD TO US SPIRITUALLY.
STRANGERS OFTEN COME UP TO ME AND I KNOW THEY H AVE BEEN SENT TO GIVE ME A MESSAGE.
THEY WERE USED BY A HIGHER FORCE WITHOUT BEING CONSCIOUS OF WHY.
BUT I AM ALWAYS THANKFUL FOR THE MESSAGE.
GOD OFTEN SPEAKS TO US IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS… A BIRD OR BUTTERFLY OR A PERSON JUST APPEARS AND WE KNOW IT WAS A MESSAGE JUST FOR US.
* There is much wisdom in that which the small woman had to say.
Copyright (c) 2009 Carol Chapman
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Here’s more feedback on the tiny Mayan woman I met in Merida while traveling in Yucatan, Mexico. During a previous post, I had wondered if the woman was merely being helpful or if she was crazy because the restaurant waiter kept rolling his eyes as if to say that I should not acknowledge the tiny, but helpful, woman.
One man wrote to say that:
This tiny woman was a new ager prophet and seer, who was impulsed to get ancient memories of Atlanteans sciences and wisdom out into the open. She was a like new age prophet similar to your self, just a Mayan elder communicator. The waiter was just a waiter working stiff. wondering why this woman would give information out with out directly asking for tips or alms in return.
And a woman wrote to say that:
The woman just wanted to help, maybe someone to talk to. You were it. I travel a lot, there have been times when people just stop and talk, because they know I speak english and they wanted to practice their english.
I really appreciate these comments. They show views of the situation I had not considered.
Blessings,
Carol Chapman
Copyright © 2009 Carol Chapman
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I REPLY TO EMAILS SENT TO ME
I do try, to the best of my ability, to reply to all emails sent to me.
It really matters to ME when a person takes the time and energy to comment about my enewsletters.
My intention is to honor the risk a person takes in communicating with me by sending a reply often within 24 hours of receiving an email sent to me.
I know, from replying to other people’s enewsletters, how frustrating and discouraging it is when I have sent an email that I’ve thought out ahead of time and then received nothing in reply. Therefore, I’ve been there and done that. And, I don’t want to be like that.
In fact, I went through the trouble and expense of buying a mini-laptop just for sending enewsletters and replying to emails while I’m traveling. A larger laptop wouldn’t fit into my backpack with the cameras. I carry all my precious electronic equipment on my back wherever I go because I can’t risk having them damaged, lost, or stolen when I travel.
I’m telling you this to let you know just how important your emails are to me.
Only once, I could not reply because I kept receiving a bounce back saying the person‘s email address was incorrect even though I clicked on “reply” to the person’s email. I tried three times to reply to this woman’s email before I gave up.
But that is an exception. As far as I know, assuming the email sent me and the emails I’ve sent in reply did not get lost in cyberspace, all the emails sent to me have received a reply.
So, thanks again for sending me your comments. They mean a lot to me. Otherwise, it feels as if I’m sending my enewsletters into a void. When you write to me – whether it’s by email or by a comment on my blog at http://www.CarolChapmanLive, you actually honor me.
YUCATAN TRAVEL BOOK
I also appreciate receiving feedback because I plan to use these enewsletters and blog posts as the basis for a book on Yucatan travel. Therefore, your feedback is doubly important because it helps to make my writing better.
FEEDBACK ON THE TINY MAYAN WOMAN
For example, I received a number of emails commenting on my enewsletter about the tiny woman. People wrote to say that of course she was being helpful. How could I think she might be crazy?
Well, that’s because I was writing as if you could read my mind – a common writer’s faux pas.
Now I know to include in the book when I write the story about the tiny woman that:
The waiter kept rolling his eyes at the tiny woman as if her behavior at our table was odd.
Also, she kept going on and on while we were trying to eat.
Miriam thought her “helpfulness” was a bit inappropriate since she was also drawing maps on the napkins beside our plates.
However, the reality is that in the mix between cultures, it is difficult to know what is and what is not appropriate. I prefer to err on the side of assuming that people are sincerely being helpful when they come up to us and volunteer information. Also, I really liked this tiny woman. She felt helpful and friendly. In the interface between cultures, that‘s what really matters – the humanity between us.
Blessings,
Carol Chapman
Copyright © 2009 Carol Chapman
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Yesterday I mentioned that I couldn’t help but buy trinkets from the colorful, wool-skirted women from Chiapas.
I believe this is partly because I have read that many of the indigenous people of Chiapas dislike the relentless invasion of their traditional lands by tourists. They also dislike the devastation of their rain forests and natural environment by large business concerns.
However, since they have only a subsistence-based economy, they are also very vulnerable financially and need the money brought in by the tourist trade.
When I think of how far these young women have travelled – it took us two days to drive from Cancun to Palenque, which is in Chiapas – and that they are so far from their families, I want to help them out and easily buy their wares.
Carol Chapman
Copyrighth (c) 2009 Carol Chapman
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Later that day, we walked through the square in the middle of Merida on our way back to our hotel. One of many young women from Chiapas came up to me to try to sell me some wares.
These young women are everywhere that we have been in Yucatan. You can tell they’re from Chiapas because of their colorful satin blouses with embroidered trim and dark woolen skirts.
Most of the women wearing traditional dress in the Yucatan are Yucatecan Maya, from the northern Yucatan states. Their tradition dress is called a huiptil and consists of a totally white cotton dress with bright embroidery on a wide collar.
On the other hand, the women from Chiapas do not wear cool cotton but instead, they wear a warm woolen skirt. Chiapas, where Palenque is located, is hilly and mountainous and therefore much cooler than the northern Yucatan.
I don’t know how these young women manage the humidity and heat in their wrapped ankle length skirts.
I like them. They’re often pretty, have gold or silver fillings around their teeth, and sell head bands, purses, wool blankets, bracelets, and sometimes craft items, all of which they carry on their arms and in a big blanket full of items tied around their shoulder.
The woolen blanket is also used as a blanket to keep them warm if the temperature is cool.
I think I must have a sign above my head that reads, “Sucker,” because I can’t help buying from them. They crowd around me. So far, I have two tote bags, a glasses case, a headband and a woven belt.
I try to restrict myself to one purchase per place we visit.
Carol Chapman
Copyright © 2009 Carol Chapman
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Yesterday, I mentioned that my husband John had heard that Maya men without any Spanish genetics in them do not have beards.
Today, I was thinking how I was surprised that Hunbatz Men, because he is a man of influencial stature, was actually only as tall as I am – 5 foot, 3 inches.
I don’t know why I would have expected him to be any taller since most Maya people are quite short. Many are also rather stocky and solidly built.
For me, it’s unusual to be among so many people that are about my height or shorter.
In fact, during our second last day in Merida, this woman came up to us in the restaurant where we were having our lunch and, out of the blue, began telling us about wonderful folklorio dances and where they are held.
I thought that an amazing coincidence since the folklorio dancing is one of the items I wished to have in my Yucatan travel movie but had not yet had the opportunity to get footage of it.
This woman was tiny. Really tiny. Short. Little. Perfectly proportioned. Probably in her 50s. Dark hair. Black eyes. Square faced. At least five inches shorter than me. That’s short.
She was also rather articulate in English, which is very unusual among the people I’ve come across in Yucatan.
We couldn’t figure her out because she also suggested that, if we wanted to buy crafts, we should go to a native artesania cooperative rather than buying the imported goods sold on the street my peddlers.
I thought she gave us this information because she wanted a few pesos. Sometimes people want pesos for helping us park or other little services. However, she gave me back my coin and said she just wanted to tell us about her people.
I’m still wondering about her. Was she crazy or just simply helpful?
Carol Chapman
Copyright (c) 2009 Carol Chapman
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Today, we had the honor and privilege of interviewing Mayan Elder Hunbatz Men on tape.
We met in his home and business location in Merida, Yucatan. He also has a ceremonial center in a rural area east of Merida.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much John enjoyed visiting with Hunbatz probably because Hunbatz’s approach to the ancient Mayan knowledge, with which he has been entrusted, is through a scientific mix with religion.
He told us about a new book he has written that will be available from Bear & Co. in about a month. The title is something like, The Eight Calendars.
We had an extensive discussion about
Eric J. Thompson, who discovered the Stela in Coba with the December 21, 2012 date on it and the errors Thompson made in deciphering the glyphs on the stela. After all, the glyphs have only recently been extensively translated. So, how could Eric Thompson have been so sure of his information when he visited Coba around 1925?
I thought this was a very good point and wished I had thought of it myself.
It was obvious that Hunbatz is a deep and original thinker. He said that Thompson only knew of three Mayan calendars: the Tszol’kin, the Haab, and the Long Count. However, Hunbatz, through his scientific study of Mayan tradition, has uncovered eight.
I am glad that our conversation was videotaped because, to tell you the truth, we talked about so many topics in the hour in which we met, that I would have to review the tape to recall it all.
Vaguely, a recollection surfaces about a discussion of the validity of John Major Jenkins’ observation about the galactic center line up of the sun and earth as well as my husband John talking about planetary exploration. I do not know how we went from the one topic to the other.
In any case, I knew you were curious to know how the meeting went so I wanted to get back to you tonight, even though we have a full evening ahead of us because of packing up for our flights out of the Yucatan tomorrow.
We ended up having our photos taken with Hunbatz. So often I am busily involved with videotaping the person we are interviewing and forget to get a “I was here with you” photo. I hope to post this photo on this blog sometime after I get home next week.
As we left, I felt happy because Hunbatz said that it was not “good-bye” but “until we meet again.”
Blessings,
Carol Chapman
Copyright (c) 2009 Carol Chapman
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