On my second trip to Guatemala, I was able to combine my love of Spanish with a connection to Indigenous people. Staying in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, I visited different villages each day by panga boat, by tuk-tuk, or in the back of a pickup. I met people who lived on the edge of this body of water surrounded by majestic volcanos, and started learning more about the Mayan culture and beliefs.
Later, back in California, I was invited by a friend to a Mayan fire ceremony an hour from our home in the countryside of Santa Ynez. I accepted the invitation because it would be another connection with Latin American and Native American communities. I didn’t know what to expect, only that a Guatemalan elder and spiritual leader would be leading the all-day ceremony, but I knew I wanted to be a part of it.
On the day of the fire ceremony, after arriving and greeting each other, we walked in a procession, 30 of us or so, down a hill to the Aj Xic Jay Ceremonial Arbor. It’s shaped in the form of a big circle, with portals framed in logs facing north, south, west and east. In the middle of the site were large stones set in a smaller circle, inside which a fire would be built.
The participants had brought offerings for the fire—dried herbs like rosemary, sage, cedar, tobacco and lavender, as well as dried flowers, bird seed and candles. These offerings, along with honey, cinnamon and chocolate to bring sweetness to our reverence, would be put within the fire circle in the design of a mandala in thanksgiving for the blessings in our lives.
Each of these offerings was placed in a straw basket. The straw baskets varied in size and were set atop an intricately woven red blanket. Before entering the circle opening through the north portal, we were smudged in sage by a woman who used a band of feathers to spread the smoke over our bodies. Then we each took a seat on one of the tree stumps around the outside of the circle.
Tat Erick Gonzalez
The spiritual elder welcomed us to the circle. He was introduced as Tat Erick Gonzalez, Earth Wisdom Keeper, from Santiago Atitlan, one of the towns I’d visited in Guatemala. From a young age, he’d experienced wisdom and healing from the Indigenous medicine of his country.
As he walked around the circle in front of us, he first told his story about being a young man in a time of conflict and war in Guatemala. Following that, he told us of his later studies with spiritual leaders in Guatemala, Mexico, South America and even North America that spanned more than 30 years.
According to his website, “Tat Erick has participated in indigenous councils throughout the Americas, gathering tribal Elders as part of a sacred call to action, promoting co-operation and unity between diverse traditions. He is passionate about the inclusion of all lineages for healing and unification.”
The first step, he believes, is to show up for life—to be present. The second is to respect all people, animals and Mother Earth, and then to serve in any way possible. He imparted, “All healing starts with self-healing.”
I felt the truth in the things he told us. As he talked, hummingbirds darted in and out of our group, coming within inches of our faces. One hovered next to my right ear for a minute or two, like he was trying to get my attention. It felt like the birds were happy to have us there. Hawks cried out in the sky above and other birds sang and flew between the trees around our circle.
The Mayan fire ceremony’s woodless fire
A charcoal cinder ball was passed from person to person, with each of us holding it for a short time, letting our words and essence soak in. Then a bird nest was passed that would be used to start the woodless fire. Slowly, the elder and his students laid the offerings within the stones, forming a colourful mandala. The cinder ball was placed in the centre. Three students used bird nests, lit with flint stones and their breath, to start the fire.
We walked clockwise, one at a time, in a circle between the participants seated on the stumps and the fire. When we’d walked the complete circle and reached the fire’s entrance, we knelt to the ground, giving an offering of dried herbs and presenting ourselves to Mother Earth. Some touched their foreheads to the ground or kissed the earth. Then we listened to more teachings by Tat Erick as he walked deliberately around the circle in front of us.
Spirit Life is forever. The Spirit Way will take us beyond this confusion, this madness that is happening in our human world. It will prevail. It no longer is acceptable to destroy Life, to destroy Earth, to destroy the elementals. And so now it is our time to create a permanent link to Spirit, a remembrance of a Holy Way that is universal. We will have the power of creation through us.
– Tat Erick
The second time we individually walked the circle, we knelt to give thanks for blessings we’d received. In between these circle pilgrimages, participants sang in diverse languages from their countries of origin. A man played flutes that had been carved from wood by hand. The percussion of rattles and drums vibrated through our cores.
Our third time to walk the circle was to ask for blessings for friends and family. Later, the fourth time we circled and knelt was to ask for blessings for ourselves. Then the elder walked around the circle, giving us his blessing with bird seed lightly scattered over each of our heads and sprinkled on the earth in front of us.
Towards the end of the ceremony, the young adults (five of them) spoke eloquently about their hopes for the future. What they said was very moving, and when we to rose to embrace them one by one, I had tears in my eyes. One of the young women who had spoken so movingly, telling us of her mixed heritage of several different tribes and what she was doing to help create a more loving world, had tears in her eyes, too, when I reached the spot where she was standing.
As I hugged her, our cheeks touched briefly and our tears joined. It was a quick moment, but it gave me a deep feeling of connection.
The 7 stages of teaching Mayans live by
- Gather what you need for life’s experiences.
- Offer what you’ve prepared.
- Decide how you’ll conduct yourself.
- Integrate what you’ve learned and prayed for.
- Choose how you’ll carry your spiritual growth through life’s journey.
- Determine how you’ll show appreciation for what has been given to you.
- Decide how you’ll express your life’s vision.
The culmination of a young girl’s wish
The Mayan fire ceremony I participated in was a culmination of my wish, as a little girl, to be part of an Indigenous life. It was a day of reverence that wasn’t unlike being in a church. The energy of love and compassion between us touched me as an experience and a philosophy I can carry with me as an example of how life might be lived.
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