Mayan Temple at Palenque
Mexico 2016
Marie and the Mayans…
Pyramids of Palenque
Jaguars prowled the trees. Poisonous snakes slithered along the ground, thick legless vampires waited to poison your bloodstream. Even the trees could kill with their sap, just a few drops and you’d be covered with blisters and a rash. A moment of distraction and your life could end. Life in the jungle was fearsome.
So perhaps the Mayans could be forgiven for trying to tip the scales of fate in their favor through the human sacrifices of Ball Game winners and the collecting of royal blood through self-mutilation. It seems to all have been done to ensure the success of the corn crop, to provide food for the population in and around Palenque. I didn’t quite get it until I scrabbled around the ruins wondering what would be in the next dark room and some of those fearsome thoughts captured my imagination.
I imagined that I was alone in the jungle where my ancestors, who were the size of 60 lb howler monkeys, screamed at me, warning me about the poisonous tree I was using for shade.
I imagined that I was a weak, naked worker carrying heavy stones from miles away to build a new temple praying to the gods that the corn would grow.
I began to see that sacrificing for the good of my family, my community, to fight the devils who lived down below where the corn came from, might be a very honorable thing to do.
Temple of Corn