 |
|
|
 News from Around Banderas Bay | December 2005 
Solsticio on Playa Los Muertos
 Kathy Taylor - PVNN
Puerto Vallarta - "Solsticio," the most important day of the ancient Mayan calendar was celebrated on December 21st with a ritual dance ceremony on Playa Los Muertos in Puerto Vallarta.
As the sun slipped past the horizon and the red-streaked sky darkened, the fires on the beach were lit and the rhythm of the drums stirred the dancers' steps. The drums were accompanied by the rattling percussion of the dancer's shell-cuffed ankles and the rhythm of the breaking surf. The gathered crowd was transported back in time as the dancers mimed sacrifice and ritual cleansing with smoke and fire.
Wearing majestic head dresses, elaborate costumes and painted faces, they honored the most significant gods of "solsticio." The most well known of all the Mayan and Aztec gods, representing the place where the sun rises, the "oriente," is Quetzalcoatl, the "Feathered Serpent of Mexico."
Opposite is the "poiente," the West, where the sun sets, and the Goddess Chalchiuhtlicue. This Goddess, whose name means "jade skirt" or "lady precious gren," was matron of lakes and streams. She ruled over all the waters of the earth; oceans, rivers, rain, etc., but was also associated with marriage.
Huitzilapichtli, is the tribal god of the Mexicans of Tenochtitlan. The name is usually derived from "huitzitzilin," humming bird, and "pochtli," left, but more correctly from "huitztli," the south, and "opochtli," the left hand. This hummingbird symboled god was supposed to have directed the wanderings of the Mexicans southward.
Known as the god of the Dead and the Underworld, Mictlantechutli, was tricked by Quetzalcoatl into letting him take back the bones of the people back into the world. Quetzalcoatl then dripped his own blood onto the bones. The bones transformed into living, breathing people, the Aztecs. It is thought that this is the origin of human sacrifices in ancient times.
This year, the winter solstice, the day of the year with equal hours of day and night, occurred at exactly 6:30 pm on December 21st in Puerto Vallarta. The Mayan calendar, an elaborately complicated mathematical system, has been proven to be extremely accurate in predicting eclipses and other astronomical events. The year 2012 is earmarked as the beginning of the "New World Order," and climate and environmental changes have the followers of the Mayan religion asking the gods for a gentler treatment of the earth
Mayan-named Serpiente Roja Cosmica is the leader of the Xiucoatl, the Mayan dance group which performed the solstice rituals on Tuesday evening. They also perform other traditional ritualistic dances and purification ceremonies. Serpiente's "social name" is Ricardo Hernenz Lugo.
The Solstice celebration was sponsored by Cuates y Cuates Restaurant located on Playa Los Muertos. Commemorative solsticio shirts bearing the images of the gods and the Mayan calendar are available at Cuates y Cuates, [322] 222- 9511. The shirts are being sold to help defray the medical expenses of one of the Xiucoatl dancers who recently suffered a serious accident.
 Click HERE for more photos |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us