Wednesday, November 8, 2023
We shared breakfast this morning with Daniel, the Mayan spiritual guide who will be conducting a ritual tonight at Ginger's house!! He and Ginger conversed in Spanish and I find that that whole immersion thing really works. I was able to understand more than I would have expected! (Aside - how extraordinary that I just happen to be here for this event!)
After breakfast we went down to Ginger's fire pit to see if it would meet Daniel's needs. He loves the location ans all the fall leaves; but he did a lot of work on the pit itself to make it suitable. He was finished and checking out Ginger's meadow when Helen arrived to take him to his speaking engagement at Georgia State.
The timing was great since we had a couple of errands to run before going to Emerson UU to watch David's class in their lantern procession. He's in the 2-3 year old class and they were adorable processing in the darkened sanctuary with their self-made lanterns! Elizabeth, Ben, Ginger, and I were all there to see him.
On to Home Depot to complete our tasks and then home for an impromptu charcuterie board lunch! And now the fridge is clean!
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| They think it's a rainbow; but we know it's the glyph for Tikal!! |
Time to prep for the pot luck dinner and ritual...Ginger has lots of Guatemalan table cloths for all the tables and an electric leaf blower for the covered patio, so it's not too much trouble to get ready.
Just time for a quick lie-down when I realize we haven't checked in for tomorrow's flights! It's complicated because we are flying both Air Canada and United and we decide to just get to the airport extra early and Nick reserves an Uber for eight o'clock. (Sure hope people don't stay late tonight!!)
We have practically everything done by the time the first people arrive! The food table is in the sunroom and everyone will eat out in the "covered patio".
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| Harriet, being her usual regal self! |
There are about fifteen or twenty people, some of whom I know either from Emerson or from Ginger's trips and everyone is welcoming and fun. And there is a ton of food and plenty of beverage choices so that when Daniel and Helen arrive they ccan fill their plates, have a leiisurely meal, and then go out to the firepit to get everything ready. Presently we all follow suit and find places to sit around the pit.
Daniel arranges the candles in the prescribed order and color, draws a circle, counter clockwise, with sugar and asks for leaders fo the church to stand behind specific candles and to light them in order. Then the evening begins in earnest. Daniel explains how important it is to live in harmony with Nature and to listen to, and talk with, all the animate and inanimate objects with which we live. Helen translates for him and does a splendid job.
Then the ritual, itself, begins. Daniel calls on the grandmothers and grandfathers and each of the twenty energies to forgive us for the way we treat Mother Earth and to guide us and protect us. Each energy is mentioned thirteen times, so that makes two hundred and sixty supplications, which happens to be the number of days in the lunar year. It is an important and sacred number.
When the ritual is concluded there is time for questions. I ask if it is dangerous to be a shaman in Guatemala now and Daniel says that it is in some parts of the country, especially in the small towns and villages where the Catholic church is all powerful. In his own pueblo a band of men went up into the mountains and captured Daniel's brother and another man thinking they had Daniel. Eventually they were released when Daniel's father pointed out their mistake. But it doesn't bear thinking about what would have happened if it had been Daniel.
At the end of the evening, with the fire having burned down to embers, Daniel asked everyone to stand and he asked Ginger to make a statement of gratitude. She was perfect!
Then it was back up to the house where everyone was asked to take home their leftovers, since we'll be gone tomorrow! Clean up went pretty quickly and I think I'll be in bed by midnight! With the Uber coming at eight, it will be an early alarm!!
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