Celebrate the Day

Uxmal

Half the world is celebrating today. It is Good Friday, Purim, Narouz, the Persian New Year, Eid Milad an Nabi, the Birth of the Prophet, Small Holi, the Indian festival of bonfires, Magha Puja, a Buddhist holiday and a bunch more.

Chac the Rain God masks at Uxmal

And there may between 20-50 thousand people at Chichen Itza to watch the serpents glow on the edges of the pyramids.

Chichen Itza

All of the Mayan archaeological sites we visited were spectacular and each had different qualities. Uxmal, Kabah, Chichen Itza, Ek Balam and Sayil are all very important sites, but just a few of the many that stretch from the Yucatan to Guatemala.

Chichen Itza

Obviously, there is way too much to even start so the photos are offered as indicements to come yourself.

The Observatory at Chichen ItzaEk Balam

The insights and knowledge gained in the last twenty years about the Mayans has been staggering, but still so much is unknown,

Chichen Itza w/overlay of original design

I think we all have obligations to learn and study these amazing cultures that preceded us on the continents. These were advanced cultures as indicated by the exactness of aligning tons of stone to “glow” or line up on specific days of the year.

Reconstruction detail at Ek Balam
Uxmal

Please never fall into the trap that these were not advanced cultures. Dig deeper than Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto.”

Large temple covered with Chac masks at KabahEach mask is about 1 meter wide.

Uxmal

And these cultures failed for various reasons.

Chichen Itza

As one observing the (North) American culture and its current state from the outside, there are some lessons we could learn from the Maya.

The boyz at Sayil