{"id":52421,"date":"2014-05-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royalresorts.com\/blog\/sacred-mayan-journey-2014\/"},"modified":"2021-11-16T05:57:32","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T05:57:32","slug":"sacred-mayan-journey-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.royalresorts.com\/blog\/news\/sacred-mayan-journey-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacred Mayan Journey 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"p1\">May 22-24<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">After six months of arduous dawn training sessions, more than 350 oarsmen and women from Canc\u00fan, Xcaret, Xel-H\u00e1 and Cozumel are ready to embark on the 2014 Sacred Mayan Journey from May 22 to 24. They will be following the challenging maritime route taken by ancient pilgrims who made the crossing to the sacred island of Cozumel (Kuzamil \u2013 the place of swallows) to worship at the shrine of Ixchel, the Mayan goddess of fertility, childbirth and the moon, patroness of fishermen, painting and weavers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0\u00a0 This is the eighth year of the Sacred Mayan Journey, which evokes a pre-Hispanic ritual from the Late Post-Classic period of Mayan history (A.D. 1250-1519. The event originated as an initiative from the Experiencias Xcaret group to restore an ancient tradition and has been embraced by the people of the Mexican Caribbean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0\u00a0 In Mayan times Xcaret was known as Pol\u00e9 and was an important port on the Caribbean trade routes and the departure point for pilgrimages to Cozumel. Pilgrims from all over the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula made their way to Pol\u00e9 and Xaman-H\u00e1 (now Playa del Carmen) bound for the island.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0\u00a0 The canoes making the perilous crossing today are still carved from hollowed out tree trunks using traditional techniques and every aspect of the Sacred Mayan Journey has been carefully reconstructed with the help of archaeologists and anthropologists. This includes the ancient garb worn by the priests, the symbols of the gods and divine creatures such as the turtle and the dances and rituals reenacted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Sights &amp; Sounds of an Ancient Market, May 22<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Sacred Mayan Journey begins the night of May 22 in Xcaret Park with a journey back in time to the Kii\u2019wik or Mayan Market of Pol\u00e9. Visitors watch merchants unloading their wares and inhabitants bartering for prized trade goods such as cotton cloth, jade, shells and colorful feathers used for jewelry, headdresses and clothing for the elite and as offerings to the gods, salt, copal incense, fruit, dried fish, corn and honey. Cacao was used throughout the Maya World as money and merchants would always have been on the lookout for counterfeit clay beans.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0\u00a0 The heady fragrance of copal and the sound of conches and drums summon the audience to the beach where they witness a ritual in honor of Ixchel. The Maya believed that the goddess controlled the tides and priests lay offerings on the altar and pray that she will grant the pilgrims safe passage. They then light the fire of creation and bless the sacred turtles that the pilgrims will bear with them to Cozumel. Listening to the chants, the waves breaking on the shoreline and then silence, watching the flickering flames and looking up at the star-studded Mayan heavens, this is a moment for reflection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Dawn Departure for the Oarsmen, May 23<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">With the first rays of the rising sun on May 23, the crowd watches as the priests and the Bataoobs or local chiefs bless the pilgrims and the canoes depart for Cozumel under a hot sun. They are bound for the shrine of Ixchel in the <i>caleta<\/i> or inlet at Chankaanab Park.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0\u00a0 At around 1 p.m., the exhausted oarsmen land on Cozumel and are welcomed by the supreme ruler of the island or Halach Uinic and his subjects. They go to the shrine of the goddess to worship and watch as priests make offerings and dance in her honor. They hear the words of wisdom that Ixchel has for them as they gaze into the flames of the eternal fire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Returning to the Mainland, May 24<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The morning of May 24, priests honor Ixchel and the <i>pahuantunes<\/i>, the gods of the four cardinal points, requesting divine protection for the oarsmen on their return journey to the mainland. The islanders gather to bid farewell to the visitors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0\u00a0 At 1 p.m. the canoes approach the port of Pol\u00e9 and are welcomed by the local population who are eager to hear the message of hope the pilgrims bear from Ixchel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you will be in Canc\u00fan or the Riviera Maya in May and would like to witness the Sacred Mayan Journey contact Thomas More Travel. <a href=\"mailto:tourdesk@royalresorts.com\"><span class=\"s2\">tourdesk@royalresorts.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thomasmoretravel.com\"><span class=\"s3\">www.thomasmoretravel.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 22-24 After six months of arduous dawn training sessions, more than 350 oarsmen and women from Canc\u00fan, Xcaret, Xel-H\u00e1 and Cozumel are ready to embark on the 2014 Sacred Mayan Journey from May 22 to 24. They will be following the challenging maritime route taken by ancient pilgrims who made the crossing to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Sacred Mayan Journey 2014 - Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.royalresorts.com\/blog\/news\/sacred-mayan-journey-2014\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sacred Mayan Journey 2014 - Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 22-24 After six months of arduous dawn training sessions, more than 350 oarsmen and women from Canc\u00fan, Xcaret, Xel-H\u00e1 and Cozumel are ready to embark on the 2014 Sacred Mayan Journey from May 22 to 24. 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