Mayan Cosmos Mirrors Your Creation

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I dream of an older woman. She is holding a ball of clay in her hands, pressing and molding it with her fingers. She reveals that working clay helps her prepare for creativity.

Preparing for creativity arouses thoughts of the Creator. The Creator's gift was not a one-time blessing of that initial molding called Genesis, but is an ongoing, abundant outflowing at this and every moment. My personal awareness is one window through which the Creator experiences the world. My own actions, although molded by this force, are a local agent of this creation. When I pause to acknowledge the presence and companionship of the Creator, I feel grateful. The Creator's blessing perfectly balances the burden of individual responsibility I carry in that relationship. A shared burden can be carried lightly, with joy. Praise creation!

This meditation upon creativity and companionship with the Creator is but one of the blossoms sprouting on my sacred tree as I contemplate the book, Mayan Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path (William Morrow). The authors, David Freidel and Linda Schele, are respected Mayan archaeologists at competing univesities in Texas. Their previously acclaimed book A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya presented the many secrets of Mayan history that were revealed with the recent breakthroughs in deciphering the enigmatic glyphs. Mayan Cosmos continues the revelations, presenting the Mayan spiritual philosophy and lifestyle.

There are so many congruences between Mayan mythology and the Christian faith that these two spiritually inspired civilizations were destined to meet. The Mayan recognizes in the Christian cross, for example, the secret of death and rebirth. That cross is the Mayan world tree, uniting heaven and earth, and providing passage between them. The common image of Jesus' exposed heart simultaneously dripping with blood while blossoming in a bouquet of flowers mirrors the Mayan perception of the sacrifice mutually required and offered between God and humanity. 

 

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