I heard a thoughtful interview on WBEZ's Worldview today. It featured the Chilean, Alfredo Sfeir Younis, "former World Bank Economist and Mayan Priest."
The Mayan connection naturally reminds me of the AFOPADI project in rural, indigenous Guatemalan communities. Before most of the workshops, everybody partakes in a ritual that honors the Mayan cosmology. We all light candles in the sacred colors of the four directions and give thanks. It's amazing how something that simple, by virtue of everybody participating, is so powerful.
The colors and symbolism seem to vary a bit...above is the lay-out before a women's medicinal plants workshop where we later rubbed our bodies with Rue and Lime to cleanse ourselves. Below is the start of the ceremony celebrating the dedication of a dozen new cisterns. With about 70 people, the candles took a while to light...which allowed time for reflection and community.
4 comments:
Beautiful. It seems a way to bring the sacred into the everyday.
I really like the way you phrase that: Thanks Altoon!
Rue? Did you have to worry about skin reactions because people can be really sensitive to that? And I agree about Altoon's phrase.
I didn't know about the Rue...trouble growing it so little experience. Nobody in the group had a reaction...
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