Brenda's Bicycles

 

Gratitude is the life-giving essence that flows through my veins on this beautiful Sunday morning. The resonant energy of my first Temazcal experience still lingers, basking my soul in peace and light.

 

Late Friday afternoon, an eagerly anticipated email appeared in my inbox. I was offered an opportunity to participate in a Temazcal on Saturday evening—with just one catch. A group of locals would be participating, and the ceremonies would be entirely in Spanish.

 

I quickly responded “Yes, I would love to participate. My Spanish is weak, and I may not understand everything, but I believe I would really enjoy that. Please tell me more.”

 

After a back-and-forth exchange of two or three emails, I was offered—and I accepted—an alternative opportunity. I would be participating in an English-speaking Temazcal with some cruise ship passengers. This one would begin five hours earlier, at 11:00 am.

 

In the meantime, my friend Arturo sent me an unexpected email telling me that I had an appointment with a “modern day Mayan Shaman” at 8:00 a.m., on this coming Tuesday. “I will pick you up at 7:40 a.m.” he matter-of-factly told me. “If you like, the shaman can tell you your fate using cards, or you can just talk to him.” Then Arturo asked two more questions. “Just exactly what are your expectations with him anyway? And can you tell me more about your friend Rafael?”

 

Totally surprised, I first gave myself an imaginary high-five. “Wow,” I thought to myself, “just a week ago I had no clue how to locate any type of Mayan spiritual leader. Now, in just a matter of hours, with almost no effort on my part, I have firm plans for two different and distinct Mayan spiritual experiences.”

 

As I read through Arturo’s email, I had to scratch my head. Yes, I would love to have a Shaman read my fortune with cards, but I suddenly realized I had neither plans nor expectations regarding what I would do once I found such a Shaman. A feeling of deep internal peace calmly assured me “Don’t worry about planning that part. You will know exactly what to say and do when that moment arrives.”

 

Soon, my fingers were rapidly typing a response for Arturo, explaining my experiences with Rafael—the powerful spiritual memories that resonate in my soul to this very day. As you may recall, Rafael is a spiritual young man that I met at the information desk during my first eight-day visit to Cozumel. He is the one who softly spoke those powerful energy-charged words during our last conversation, proclaiming “Oh Brenda, you have to come back and meet my Medicine Man.”

 

As I turned off my computer on Friday night, delighted anticipation had already become my constant companion. My bubbly and bouncy friend shadowed me throughout the evening, kept chattering away in my ear while I tried to fall asleep, and then eagerly woke me up first thing on Saturday morning.

 

After a few hours of peaceful morning stillness, I enthusiastically mounted my trusty bicycle and set off in pursuit of my next adventure. My first stop was at the office of my Temazcal contact. We had arranged to meet for short introductions at 10:00 a.m., following which he would give me instructions on how to locate and join up with the group from the cruise ship.

 

The entire next hour was a great practice lesson in peace, non-attachment, and forgiveness. My contact was over thirty five minutes late, leaving my ego wondering how I could possibly get to my 11 a.m. destination in time. Ignoring that thought, I remained in a state of trust and surrender. “Trust the process,” I reminded myself as I took a deep breath and simply melted into the moment.

 

After a delightful fifteen minute conversation with a deeply spiritual young man, I was back on my bicycle—a fifteen minute ride in the hot sun would take me to the Cozumel jail, a remote place I am glad to have never visited. The taxi van from the cruise ship would meet me there at 11:15 a.m. and lead me along the final mile through a winding dirt road into the jungle.

 

I was so grateful for following my peaceful instincts. I rode quickly and arrived at the jail in plenty of time. In fact, I had arrived first … the taxi was nowhere to be seen.

 

As I scanned my ominous surroundings, I noticed an armed guard with a machine gun standing fifty yards to my left in front of what appeared to be the jail’s entrance. Directly in front of me was the right-angled protruding corner where two tall concrete walls came together, adorned on their upper edges with large circular rolls of sharp razor wire.

 

To my right, just outside the next section of jail walls, was a large cleared portion of jungle that appeared to be an automobile grave-yard. The junkyard was littered with abandoned, wrecked, and rusting old vehicles.

 

Soon, a police truck exited the jail and slowly drove right past me. Hanging from the back were two machine-gun-wielding guards. Their solid black uniforms were spotlessly clean—seeming strangely out of place in this dirty and dusty environment. Following behind the truck was a large official looking German shepherd, just minding his own business.

 

As the truck passed by, several yapping dogs came streaming out of the abandoned junkyard. Momentarily there was a standoff; neither side ventured a closer approach. The armed guards called out as the truck moved further away, and finally the large German shepherd turned and followed the truck. His pride seemed to be hurt as he temporarily allowed the feisty and noisy junkyard dogs to believe that they had won.

 

Only minutes later, a large taxi van slowly came into view. I fully expected to simply follow behind, riding my bicycle down the remote jungle road. Stopping his taxi right beside me, the driver startled me when he jumped out, requested that I take a seat, and proceeded to squeeze my bicycle into the back of his van. Soon I was comfortably riding the final bumpy mile while getting to know the four passengers from the cruise ship who would be my companions for the next four hours.

 

The Ceremony

 

After exiting the taxi, we were led to a large concrete patio where a series of perhaps ten or twelve white-mesh hammocks provided a resting place that proved to be very inviting. A large roof of thatched grass provided ample shady protection from the hot sun above.

 

As soon as we were all barefoot and contentedly hanging in the comfort of our own hammock, our guide, Eduardo, began to orient us to our upcoming experience. For forty five minutes Eduardo delighted us with stories about Mayan traditions and spiritual beliefs. While we were talking, Jose Luis was busy preparing a huge burning hot fire on a large round concrete patio about 50 feet away.

 

In the past few years, I have been very intrigued when I occasionally heard people talk about Native-American sweat lodges. Each time I considered pursuing such an opportunity, a feeling of doubt and nervousness seemed to be hiding in the back of my mind. “I wonder what strange things go on inside?” I wondered. “Could I handle the heat and the sweating? Would I feel claustrophobic?”

 

While this small amount of nervous fear was always present in my thoughts, I would not say I was actually afraid—I simply never felt a strong inner prompting to participate.

 

As I approached today’s Temazcal experience, I was amazed by my loving confidence, and by the utter absence of any fear or nervousness whatsoever. Filled with intense passion and desire, I had no doubt that this was exactly where I was supposed to be. Eduardo was very thorough in teaching us about what was to come in today’s ceremony. By the time we actually began, we all had a good idea of exactly what was ahead of us.

 

Soon, we were preparing for the formal portion of our ceremony. Wearing only our swimsuits, we walked slowly toward the hot fire. As we stepped barefoot onto the round concrete patio, we circled the flames in a counter-clockwise direction, spacing ourselves evenly around the outer ring, facing into the hot coals. As I stood no more than eight feet from the intense heat, I was forced to muster every ounce of internal strength to simply stand and be present, without backing away.

 

For fifteen minutes, I endured the heat, while focusing my mental powers on acceptance and love. During that beautiful span of time, Eduardo began to lead us.

 

For starters, we all faced with our palms extended to the north as Eduardo asked us to honor and embrace the energy of the element “air”. Then we turned to the east, where we embraced the energy of “fire”. South was next, where we honored “water”, followed by the west, where we embraced the “earth.” While facing in each direction, we paused for several minutes while Eduardo also discussed how each of these directions represents different emotions such as courage, and different periods of our lives such as childhood, adolescence, etc…

 

Finally, prior to leaving the fire patio, Eduardo grasped a small metal goblet containing hot coals. He then added the root of an herb, causing the goblet to emit a thick fragrant smoke. One by one, he approached each of us and performed a sacred cleansing ritual with the smoke, blessing us and preparing us to enter the Temazcal. Hidden energy filled my soul as Eduardo performed the cleansing on me.

 

As we filed away from the fire patio, I have to admit I was grateful to be leaving the intense heat—yet amazed that I had endured it so well. Soon we were approaching the Temazcal structure. Perhaps sixteen feet in diameter, the round earth-colored structure appeared to be constructed of some type of clay or concrete bricks. The outer walls were perhaps three feet high. The roof was slightly dome-shaped, perhaps rising to five feet in the very middle where the hot rocks are placed.

 

One by one, we entered through the small door on our hands and knees. Before passing across the threshold, we repeated the phrase “Para mi y mis relaciones”, which loosely translated means “For me and my ancestors.” Once inside, we crawled on hands and knees in a clockwise direction until spread out evenly around the outer walls. The inner walls and floor were a rough concrete, with the floor being covered by a series of small woven rugs. In the center of the room was a four-foot circle where the hot rocks would soon be placed.

 

The Temazcal ceremony consisted of four phases of about fifteen or twenty minutes each. Fresh glowing hot rocks were brought in before each phase, following which the door was covered with rugs to both block out the light and to trap in the steam.

 

At the beginning and during each phase, Eduardo would periodically grasp a large bundle of herbal leaves, saturate them in a bucket of herbal tea (prepared with a mixture of various healing herbs), and then shake the herbs over the rocks, causing the excess tea to quickly turn to steam as it landed on the hot rocks below. We were told that the upper portion of the room was probably about 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, while the area nearest the floor was around 110 degrees.

 

During the first phase, associated with the North and the element “air”, Eduardo asked us to remember experiences from our youth, from birth up until around age twelve. In a pitch black room filled with hot steam, we one by one took turns naming our grandparents, and then our parents, following which we shared a memory from our childhood. The room was very hot, but I remained seated in an upright position, fully embracing the experience, surprised at how well I was handling the heat.

 

As the second phase began, we embraced the East and the element “fire”. During this phase, we were encouraged to remember all of the difficult years and emotions as we struggled through adolescence and early adulthood, from about age twelve to age thirty two.

 

I almost laughed when a wave of recognition hit me. The first “North/air phase of my life” was a very happy period where I felt loved, secure, and safe. It was only as I neared the end of my eleventh year and entered my twelfth year that I began to deeply struggle with my gender issues. The second “East/fire phase” was dominated by guilt, shame, emptiness, identity struggle, and horrible self-loathing that began to phase out right around age thirty two—the age when I began to come to grips with my feelings and my identity.

 

Early during this second Temazcal phase, we followed Eduardo’s lead as we beat loudly on drums and other various rhythm instruments—I presume to help us remember the painful emotions of the past. Then we took turns touching an herb to the hot rocks while proclaiming that we were releasing an unwanted element of our story—such as fear, self-loathing, anger, etc… Then we again touched an herb to the fiery rocks while embracing something we wanted to increase in our life. In my case, I chose to embrace more joy and unconditional love.

 

The third phase of the Temazcal—the phase of the South with the element “water”—was perhaps my favorite. This phase also represented the years from age thirty two until the elderly phase (for which Eduardo gracefully omitted specifying a year.) At the beginning of this phase we were each given a half of a coconut shell filled with water to drink. Then a water jug was passed around so that we could refill our coconut to drink as needed during the phase. At one point, a bowl of cut-up aloe vera plant was passed around. We each removed and kept three pieces. Later in the ceremony, we pealed the skin from each piece. We spread the gel from the first piece over our face, head, and neck. We then spread gel from the second piece on our shoulders, arms, and torso. Our legs and feet were the recipients of the third piece. For the remainder of the ceremony, our bodies were slimy and sticky with hot aloe gel.

 

The fourth and final Temazcal phase represented the west, and the element “earth”, along with elderly life. Amazingly, I seem to have been so enmeshed in the experience that I have no recallable memory of what we actually did in this phase. About the only thing I do remember is that I was laying flat on the floor, because the hot steam higher up in the room was beginning to feel excessively uncomfortable.

 

The Temazcal seemed to end all too quickly when one-by-one we crawled clockwise around the room and then backed out, feet first, back into the sunlight. Eduardo told us that the whole experience was representative of re-entering the darkness and heat of the womb, and then finally being reborn from the womb as we backed out through the tiny opening.

 

Compared to the inside temperatures, the hot afternoon sun felt very cool and refreshing. While standing in a circle, each holding a tree, Eduardo one-by-one washed us with the remainder of the cool tea mixture. He poured one coconut-shell on our left leg, one on the left shoulder, one on the right leg, and a final one on the right shoulder. Then he did the same to himself.

 

Not far from the Temazcal stands an ancient sacred tree, one of only five on the island of Cozumel, estimated at being five hundred years old. It is said that there is always a water source wherever this tree grows. Adjacent to this particular tree is a fresh water “cenote” or spring—perhaps 20 feet across and 150 feet deep. The waters of this cenote are a dark yellow amber, colored by the yellow ink contained in the roots of this sacred tree.

 

To end our incredible ceremony, Eduardo had us each jump into this cenote and swim to the other side, cleansing in these sacred waters. For five or ten minutes, we sat in the water visiting together on a rock ledge, before finally swimming back and climbing out via a slimy, rickety wooden ladder.

 

The ending of this powerful experience was very much like the beginning. After eating a light snack of fresh fruits grown locally on the property, we resumed our perches in the white mesh hammocks. One-by-one, Eduardo presented us with an individual analysis of the significance of our birth date and year on the Mayan Calendar.

 

In the Mayan calendar, there are thirteen months or moons. The calendar also contains twenty “solar seals” and thirteen “galactic tones”. As it turns out, I am a “Yellow Resonant Warrior”, as my seal is that of a warrior, and my tone is that of resonance. I was born on Solar Moon day four during the year of the Red Magnetic Moon.

 

To end the ceremony, Eduardo gave us each a small wooden “glyph” and a printed card that represents our individual birth dates. On my card was a small poem constructed from my particular combination of month, seal, and tone. Here is that poem:

 

Yellow Resonant Warrior

I Channel in order to Question

Inspiring Fearlessness

I seal the Output of Intelligence

With the Resonant tone of Attunement

I am guided by the power of Elegance

 

I am still quite new to this whole experience, but can definitely see how elements of this poem—and the deeper analysis that Eduardo presented verbally—connect with my inner soul. If you want to have a little fun with your own birth date, you can come up with your own analysis at www.tortuga.com. Just bring up the web page and click on “decode a date”. If you select the extended options, the site will guide you through detailed explanations of the Mayan Calendar, including the months, seals, and tones, and how they apply to you.

 

I do not remember any of the words that Eduardo spoke to me as he verbally described the various meanings of my birth combination. I do, however, vividly remember the emotions. A deep spiritual love washed through my soul as he spoke, and I felt a deep connection with the universe. Gratitude swept through me as small tears of joy formed in the corners of my eyes. I don’t know how things will pan out, but I knew in my heart that this is not the last time I will be discussing spiritual wisdom with Eduardo.

 

During a question and answer phase, one of the cruise ship passengers asked Eduardo, “Are you a Shaman?”

 

To this question, Eduardo paused, and then redirected. “We do not usually call ourselves by the term Shaman,” he began, “we like to call ourselves Temazcaleros.”

 

“Are you the spiritual leader of your group?” she continued probing.

 

“I consider myself to be a student, as we can all learn from each other.” Eduardo then talked briefly about his own teacher, and then about his teacher’s teacher—and what great men they are. He said that when a teacher leaves this life then one of his students steps up to fill his teacher’s place—not before.

 

All the while that Eduardo spoke, it was obvious to my soul that he is indeed a very spiritual and wise man. A feeling in my own heart cried out “I want to learn more from this man, and from others like him.”

 

As everyone was preparing to return to the taxi, I pulled Eduardo aside and asked him. “Do you ever get together in groups to study, meditate, and/or discus Mayan spiritual concepts? Do you have any type of gatherings that I could participate in?”

 

“Not now,” he began, “but if you found a group of people that wanted to learn, we could do something like that.”

 

“I have friends back home that would love this,” I told him, “but I do not know anyone here that would like to join me.”

 

Almost without pause, he reached into his wallet, pulled out a card with his phone number, and handed it to me, with the words, “Call me anytime you want to talk about spiritual things.”

 

Later that night, as I lay in my bed “pillow-meditating”, a loud and clear feeling floated through my soul, “It’s time to get a local cell phone.”

 

Copyright © 2009 by Brenda Larsen, All Rights Reserved