copal used for cleansing. The room is small. Not ceremonial in the way people imagine ceremony. No costumes. No props arranged for effect. Just a modest space with blue walls, a low wooden bench, an altar table worn smooth by years of use. Don Francisco places the copal beneath the bench before I sit. Not on a table. Not raised. It burns underneath me — lemony smoke rising slowly through the wood, surrounding the body first, not the mind. A single candle is lit and left to bu

Last night we used a pendulum to talk to my alux. A small group of us gathered in my home to do the monthly feeding and afterward, we asked the alux (I call him aluxito) some questions about where he came from, how he decided to come to my house and how he feels today. It's a bit like talking to your puppy. So, I used my pendulum, and Sue used her divining rods (dowsing rods) and we didn't look at each other, but we got the same answers to the questions.... until Aluxito deci

I know the jungle is alive. I know it is a community, with the plants, animals, rocks, water holes, and unseen guardians all working together. But when you feel the power of it directed at you, when you are the one interrupting the peace, the awareness of the power of this connected wild community suddenly becomes very real.

full blood moon eclipse The Mayan cosmovision is one of duality. It is very yin yang like in its embracing of both the light and the...

Draw a circle on the ground. Do it slowly and with intention. If you like, you can set candles or flowers around it. . . Now step inside . .

Little did I know, the story would connect to POWERFUL happenings in this tiny place.

As we left the small jumping off town behind and wound our way into the wetlands, a feeling of both excitement and serenity washed over me.

I stood at the base of an ancient Maya pyramid still covered in a thousand years of old growth, almost unnoticed but for the fact that it

Its energy is tangible. Its smooth contours were made by the careful hands of Don Sergio, a master potter who lives in a remote village

There is something magical that happens when you go into the tiny villages of the Yucatan. The quiet lives of the Maya people have a...

The magic of the cenotes is that they are portals to the otherworld, Xibalba! Peace, otherworldly, sacred, powerful, and stunning!

Eli told us stories; stories of how the Maya really built the pyramids, stories of what happened during the great caste wars, stories of...

So, what is a mala vibra? And can you be attacked by a mal viento? We sat in Francisco’s home with its green painted cement walls and two...

I just learned there is an entity that guards the animals! On our last trip to see Francisco, my lovely friend and local Maya healer, we...

They found gold. It seems to be a common theme in the local folklore (possibly true) stories of the Maya. In every story I have heard

I want to talk about the connection between spiritual mysteries and happiness. While it may seem that poking around in the jungle...

We stood at the bend in a path amidst the ruins of ancient temples in the jungle. Before us stood a tree. A tree with an eye—a crying...

Just the other day we were out in the milpa (corn fields) with our friend and guide, Francisco. As we walked down the narrow, red earth...

There are many stories to tell about this hotel for it holds many secrets. But this story is about a slow evening when the hotel manager and

I thought it might be fun to give you a sneak peek into my journal. It is full of half-stories told by Maya locals in tiny villages, bits...