Superb article with at least 13 things to contemplate. Or 20. As for myself, i have thought of at least 9 to 13 of these over the 25 years i've been involved, or more. One tricky issue with what i teach is that there is no history of the "Mayan Cross" approach having been taught before the 1980s. And then the first person to ever write it down and publish it was Barbara Tedlock (but with no image, just description) transcribing what was told to her by Andrés Xiloj, the great K’iche’ Aj Q'ij. Apparently Tata Alejandro Cirilo Pérez Oxlaj also used the "Mayan Cross" when he did personal readings, but he never published an example. And Carlos Barrios was the first to publish and image in his 1999 / 2002 "Book of Destiny",
And then i got zapped with my download of seeing myself in the center, which is actually much simpler, and based on the actual circular form of the Tzolk' een / Chol Q'ij. So far i have never made a profit, but if i did, i would certainly donate to appropriate places. Wondering, what do you think of the Mayan Wisdom Project Cacao company?
love your play with numbers here hehe. I have heard the theories of where the "Mayan Cross" divination may have come from. Regardless, I believe there is more than enough crossover, no pun intended, with the various Yaxche imagery and mythology we see across the region for 4,000 years as well as what is preserved by the Crux'ob Maya in Belize to assert that the "Mayan Cross" is an authentic practice that honors the cosmology.
As a practitioner, I know that something does not have to be ancient for it to be authentic. Much of what my family and I have done are expansions of the practice but based off of primary resources not simply intuitive elbow grease. A true stickler could argue that all practices during and after the colonial period are not authentic simply because they are not pre-columbian. That would be a silly statement. But there are practitices that have a papertrail that leads to absolute hogwash---these are not tasteful expansions.
I also want to acknowledge that I do believe people should have the right to make money out of spiritual services. I literally come from a witchcraft side of Maya culture. Witchdoctor and Shaman are probably the world's second oldest professions. But there is a difference between that and whatever Jay Sheatty is doing.
My thoughts on that company...are complicated. I will be having an article on that chocolate issue coming out in a couple of weeks. Because while the bottom line is simple, the overall issue is complicated.
I'm absolutely FASCINATED that there is thousands of years of Mayan Cross imagery! All i know is the scholarly version, which i would love to say is wrong. Can't wait to read your Cacao / Xocolatl article. Keith was complex guy, too, and i think he was loved by (most of) the Maya he knew, but i'd love to hear the dirt. He was 1 Ajpu, btw. And Denise and Carlos B. share the same Chumil, 1 Tzik'in, but i don't know the other sister's BD.
Superb article with at least 13 things to contemplate. Or 20. As for myself, i have thought of at least 9 to 13 of these over the 25 years i've been involved, or more. One tricky issue with what i teach is that there is no history of the "Mayan Cross" approach having been taught before the 1980s. And then the first person to ever write it down and publish it was Barbara Tedlock (but with no image, just description) transcribing what was told to her by Andrés Xiloj, the great K’iche’ Aj Q'ij. Apparently Tata Alejandro Cirilo Pérez Oxlaj also used the "Mayan Cross" when he did personal readings, but he never published an example. And Carlos Barrios was the first to publish and image in his 1999 / 2002 "Book of Destiny",
And then i got zapped with my download of seeing myself in the center, which is actually much simpler, and based on the actual circular form of the Tzolk' een / Chol Q'ij. So far i have never made a profit, but if i did, i would certainly donate to appropriate places. Wondering, what do you think of the Mayan Wisdom Project Cacao company?
love your play with numbers here hehe. I have heard the theories of where the "Mayan Cross" divination may have come from. Regardless, I believe there is more than enough crossover, no pun intended, with the various Yaxche imagery and mythology we see across the region for 4,000 years as well as what is preserved by the Crux'ob Maya in Belize to assert that the "Mayan Cross" is an authentic practice that honors the cosmology.
As a practitioner, I know that something does not have to be ancient for it to be authentic. Much of what my family and I have done are expansions of the practice but based off of primary resources not simply intuitive elbow grease. A true stickler could argue that all practices during and after the colonial period are not authentic simply because they are not pre-columbian. That would be a silly statement. But there are practitices that have a papertrail that leads to absolute hogwash---these are not tasteful expansions.
I also want to acknowledge that I do believe people should have the right to make money out of spiritual services. I literally come from a witchcraft side of Maya culture. Witchdoctor and Shaman are probably the world's second oldest professions. But there is a difference between that and whatever Jay Sheatty is doing.
My thoughts on that company...are complicated. I will be having an article on that chocolate issue coming out in a couple of weeks. Because while the bottom line is simple, the overall issue is complicated.
Thank you for engaging in my post Crispy!
I'm absolutely FASCINATED that there is thousands of years of Mayan Cross imagery! All i know is the scholarly version, which i would love to say is wrong. Can't wait to read your Cacao / Xocolatl article. Keith was complex guy, too, and i think he was loved by (most of) the Maya he knew, but i'd love to hear the dirt. He was 1 Ajpu, btw. And Denise and Carlos B. share the same Chumil, 1 Tzik'in, but i don't know the other sister's BD.