Day 3—Entering Sacred Space: We Are Family

After photo of group in parking lot of Actun Tunichi Muknal (ATM) cave site. 

 

Today we experienced the most incredible adventure which was choreographed by Renán, a local tour guide of 16 years.  Following Renán, we began bonding as family by hiking about a mile and a half through a subtropical, secondary (since it had been cut perhaps 1,000 years ago) broadleaf forest, crossing a chilly stream three times. 

Photography was prohibited so readers will have to visualize the experience through my description.  Coming to the womb of the earth, we entered the Mayan sacred space of the enchanted underworld by swimming into a giant cave.  This water passageway of rock, stalactites and stalagmites has been explored going back more than three and a half miles upstream within the cave. 

We went as far as an underground cathedral, swimming in places, stepping over and around rocks, and climbing up some rocks like stairs.  On the way, we tilted our headlamps to see amazing cascades of crystals, ribbon formations, and craggy tower among others. 

Had we not had a guide, one would have to be careful to not get lost in the immense cave.  The cathedral really lived up to its name, as it had a massively high ceiling.  There were lots of formations looking like roots hanging down into the space from the earth above. 

Apparently the Maya believed these were roots from the earth’s tree of life.  They would perform rituals, including the collecting and burning of human blood and the sacrifice of souls, apparently including adults, children, and ceramic pottery which was believed to have had a being until broken either by chipping, puncturing, or smashing.

Our tour guide Renán was skilled at facilitating the trek so that everyone felt comfortable and was informed.  He was able to assess what questions we had and address them in the group by telling a story while setting the backdrop for another story yet to come during the tour. 

Although Renán does the same thing each day, his job is never the same twice, as new days bring fresh groups with new interests, and the immenseness of the cave corridor and cathedral enable one to see new angles with each visit.

I tried to catch a glimpse of what it would have been like to be a Mayan ritual participant around 700-900 A.D.  Lighting would have been torches, items carried in would have been large ceremonial ceramic offering vessels (no small feat with the water and rocks as impediments), sounds would have included music and chanting.  The artifacts we saw in the cathedral space included calcified bones and desecrated ceramic pots. 

We all made it out, but my hair elastic worked its way out and was sacrificed to the gods of the underworld.