TANIA BORJA’S MAYAN CEREMONY OF INICIATION

On August 20th 2010, a group of Mayan Elders, 4 young students including myself and companions set out from Toronto to a life changing adventure. The destination was the Wendake Huron town in Quebec. The Coordinator of the ...project for the recovery of the Huron Language Linda Soiui and other members of the community had extended a special invitation to the Mayan Aj’qij’ab (Spiritual Directors) Tata Bartolo Alvarez and Nana Maria Ramirez, members of the Japuq Waxaqib Q’oojom Council from Guatemala to come to Wendake and perform a Unity Ceremony as part of their attempts to reconcile and recover their native teachings and traditions.

A Conference on the History, Importance and Healing Properties of the Three Sisters (Corn, Beans and Squash), the Mayan Calendar Cholq’ij and the Mayan Prophecies for 2012, was scheduled for Friday August 20th to start the weekend with a journey that promised to be full of important teachings, friendship, community strengthening and healing.  A Ceremony for both the Unity for the Huron People and for the Initiation of 4 students in the Mayan Ceremonial Tradition was also scheduled for Saturday 21st. The Wendake Huron community has a Sacred Ceremonial Site where their ancestors held and now the new generations continue to hold their Ceremonies and Prayer Circles.  The Mayan Aj’qij’ab were invited to re-activate and revitalize the energy of this site that needed to be so by Native Elders.

The Initiation Ceremony for the 4 candidates Tania Borja Toj, Nancy Tijax, Karla Escalante Kawoq and Luis Eduardo Mexicano Ajmaq to become Aj’qij’Ab in the future, was thought this way due to the special occasion to hold Ceremony on Sacred Ground. There are not many Sacred Sites in the Toronto Area, and these kind of Initiation rituals must be done on Sacred Ceremonial Ground.  This was the perfect opportunity to perform a Ceremony like this.  The 4 students had individually started a learning process on the Mayan teachings and traditions since long time ago with both Aj’qij’Ab (also called Mayan Calendar Keepers) Tata Bartolo and Nana Maria. This trip was then, an important step on our personal preparation and commitment to the Mayan Cosmo-vision.

The group arrived to Wendake around 5pm on that Friday after a whole day of driving from Toronto. A beautiful dinner was served to everyone by local a chef and after that everyone got ready for the Conference.  Konrad Soiui, Huron Chief of the community greeted the guests and exchanged presents as a symbol of fraternity and appreciation. Sweet Grass (one Sacred Medicine for North American Native people) was given to each one of the guests, and a copy of the Dresden Code, skillfully crafted clay objects and wooden sculptures were also given by the Mayan Aj’qij’Ab to the Representatives of the Huron Community. The Conference was held by Tata Bartolo, a well known Herbalist, Medicine Man, and Aj’qij from Guatemala and by Nana Maria Ramirez, wonderful Clay Artist, Aj’qij, and author of 2 books on Guatemalan Social and Political Struggle and Mayan Traditions. There was great attendance and participation from the people of the community, which was such an amazing motivation for both the local organizers and the Torontonian Guests.

The Unity and Initiation Ceremony was performed on a 9 Kej day (Cholqij Calendar date), Saturday 21st of August (Gregorian Calendar date) in a beautiful natural site surrounded by a peaceful river. Many people from the Huron community attended as well. There was an amazing mix of Mayan and Huron Traditions and Ceremonial manifestations of their spirituality. It felt incredibly unifying and strengthening. At the Ceremony, there were people from North, Central and South America, and from other ethnic backgrounds as well. Different flags where put up to represent the peoples of the World. Felipe Martinez, our only present brother from the very south, was asked to carry and plant on the ground the Wipala flag representing the First Nations of the South. This request was meaningful surprise for him.

The Ceremony held the space for healing, reconciliation, understanding, and fraternity of all the participants, and especially to emphasize the commitment before the Grandfather Fire by the 4 young students. This commitment points out the continuation to learn and practice the Mayan way of spirituality which in itself is a philosophy of life, and of the Mayan Elders to pass on the oral teachings they posses. All of them know that the process to become Aj’qi’Ab, is just starting, the path is long and full of challenges, however the will and the desire to know and to walk the traditions of this ancient civilization is great and heartfelt by all.

Being initiated on this path entitles us to both responsibility and privilege, it means that we  are now officially allowed to perform ceremony for prayer or healing under the Mayan ritualistic guidelines by our own initiative or by request from our community members.  However, we must keep the teachings sacred and follow them with respect, never to allow them to be manipulated or contaminated with personal egos or profit intentions. We are to continue to learn about the deep and authentic meaning of these teachings and most importantly to make them part of our spiritual expressions.

To complete our training, we must visit and attend to Sacred Altars, Fires and Ceremonies in Guatemala with the old teachers and Aj’qij’Ab, learn and understand the complex mechanism and structure of the Mayan Calendar Cholqij, develop our intuition to interpret and read the Tzi’te which is an ancient form of oracle for the Maya, and participating on a Ceremony of Aj’qij’ Grade Granting. All of those requirements are just a small part of our learning journey, and yet, making these teachings an important aspect of our everyday life is what makes up the whole odyssey.

The weekend in Wendake finished up with the Community Garden’s Blessing Ritual on Sunday Morning by the Aj’qib’Ab and the newly initiated students. This was such a meaningful moment for all of us since the people who lovingly take care of this garden are not only adults but also children and teenagers, making this colorful place one of great inspiration, unity and hope.

This trip and everything that implied has been of great importance in my life. It has brought me closer to a broader understanding of the implications of my own ethnicity and its complexity as well as the responsibilities that knowing this grants me.  Despite being on this identity questioning journey for a long time, my feelings have now taken more of a mature way of organizing themselves within me.  I’m a Mestiza, profoundly appreciative of my native roots and gladly embracing of my European background as well.  I Just recently came to terms with the idea that acknowledging the different overtones that build up our worldly identity makes us a bolder and richer human being, opening the door to experience ourselves fully as spiritual, cosmic citizens, where the only thing that really matters is how much love we allow to flow in and out our beautiful heart. For me, being aware (in or out Ceremony) of my connection with the Earth Mother, the Cosmos Father and the Spirits of the elements in my reality  locates me in a context where I can be just myself, happy and complete.

Who is Japuq Waxaqib Q’ojoom Council?. It is a Certified Council of K’iche Mayan Elders, with main residence in Guatemala City and branches in other countries such as Canada. The members of the Council hold the grades of either Chuch K’ajauw or Aj’qij’Ab, they are skillful musicians and recognized members of their community. The Council is committed to recover the Ancient Oral Teachings and Traditions as a well as the Ancient Ceremonial Music of the Maya. This Council is presided by Chuch K’ajaw Maco Chavarria and Aj’qij’ Marco Antonio Flores and thrives on the community support and their own initiatives to create their musical productions which make up two of them to the date.  The name of their records is: El Sonido Ceremonial Maya Volume I and II. (The Mayan Ceremonial Sound I and II)

Useful Terms:

Chuch K’ajaw = Top Rank Elder in the Mayan Ceremonial Tradition. (Teacher Spiritual Director and Mayan Calendar Keeper)

Aj’qij’ = Spiritual Director and Mayan Calendar keeper

Aj’qij’Ab = Plural of Aj’qij’

Waxaqib Q’ojoom = Eight Marimbas.