Louise Wisechild Blog of Guatemala and Mexico

Jade and the Most Ancient Peoples

2/16/2012

The Jade Museum, San Cristóbal de las Casas

Among the many museums in San Cristóbal, the museum of jade was my favorite. It features fine reproductions of the Jade figures, masks and jewelry as well as ceramic statues found in ancient Maya, Olmec & Mokaya sites as well as a few pieces from the ancient Zapotecs and Mixtecs. The work is exquisite and the power and beauty of the jade as well as the red cinnabar accents makes each piece quite powerful. For the ancient peoples of mesoamerica jade was indeed the most precious of all materials. Jade was believed to facilitate the transition through the underworld after death. Jade also symbolized immortality, eternity, power and love.

This museum also provides a excellent opportunity to understand the chronology of these ancient peoples. work from peoples more ancient than the Mayas, the Olmecs and the Mokaya. It was fascinating to observe the different ways that human figures were portrayed over 3000 years and among different groups.

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Bugs & Hugs in San Cristóbal

2/14/2012

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Museo de los Bichos, The Museum of Insects

I was on my way to the museum of amber when I encountered a comic figure of a preying mantis on the walking street . Next to him a man held a live tarantula in his hand. I had held my first tarantula at Tikal and was eager to repeat the experience. For those of you who are afraid of insects and of enormous spiders in particular, holding a tarantula may seem like something you would never do. I understand this impulse. I met my first tarantula in Australia, in my bedroom, as a 17 year old exchange student. I was scared spitless. I screamed. Despite the reassurance of my hosts that tarantulas were not agressive unless provoked and that they were good at eating insects, the tarantula was killed. In fact I smuggled it home preserved in alcohol and showed all my friends this dead massive spider. Now that I know tarantulas I am sorry I behaved so aggressively towards this gentle creature.

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Museum of Traditional Maya Healing, San Cristóbal de las Casas

2/11/2012

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Scene of a Maya woman about to give birth

The museum of traditional Maya healing is on the outskirts of San Cristóbal, past the sprawling local market. I was the only visitor and I was first led to a bench to watch an interview with a Maya midwife which included scenes from her helping a woman give birth. She was in charge of prenatal and postnatal care as well, performing protective spells and advising the new mother on nuturition and care of the baby. One of the very moving aspects of birthing in the Maya way is that the woman's husband sits in front of her and embraces her during labor.

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San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

2/11/2012

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My love affair with San Cristóbal began almost immediately. Maybe it's because I always thought the perfect place for me as a writer would have been in Mexico City in the 30's or in ex patriot Paris. So San Cristóbal de las Casas immediately spoke to me, with it's walking streets, extensive markets, marimba bands, passionate latino singers and a vibrantly colored city more exhuberant than Flores and Antigua. Once the capital of Chiapas, San Cristóbal is considered the cultural center of Chiapas with a mix of indigenous Tlotzil Maya, ladinos and people from around the world. Set high in the mountains, San Cristóbal, named after Saint Christopher, is one of the coldest places in Mexico.

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Petén to Palenque

2/10/2012

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In the Maya World Tree, the Ceiba, Palenque

I spent two months living in Flores, Guatemala, getting to know people in Uaxactún and San Jose and learning more about the ancient Maya sites. Three weeks ago, I left Flores in a minivan and then took a boat across the river that divindes Guatemala from Mexico. A taxi and another minivan later, I landed in Palenque, Mexico, home to another famous Maya site.

I have been visiting the archeological sties of the pre-Christian people of Mexico for many years, from Chichen-Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula to Teotihucan near Mexico City. Until I came to Guatemala, Monte Alban, near the city of Oaxaca, was my favorite site. It's temples and pyramids mirror the rise and fall of the surrounding mountains, conveying such respect for the natural world and such harmony with it that I was moved anew every time I visited. I did not know that the ancient sites of the Maya in Guatemala would be equally powerful to me. In Petén and in Palenque, the spectacular jungle setting of the ruins emphasizes the mystic qualities of the Maya structures.

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Louise "Luisa" Wisechild, PhD

I first visited Guatemala in 1995 as a member of the Vashon Island sister city delgation to Santiago de Atitlan, Guatemala.
I been living in Guatemala since 2011. I didn't intend to stay -- my idea was to develop tours in numerous countries. But I fell in love with Guatemala -- where every day I learn something new or see something I have not seen before. Guatemala is a land of diverse natural beauty. Living in a Kachikel Maya pueblo, which is also a gathering spot for international budget travelers, makes this a rare and fascinating residence. My curiosity and my heart are engaged here every day, in my relationships. . I enjoy speaking spanish with friends, and learning more about the Maya culture, giving tarot readings in Spanish and also singing my growing repertoire of Spanish songs.
I am a lifelong independent traveler and group leader. As a graduate student in interpersonal communication and the creative arts, I led tours to Oaxaca, Mexico for the Day of the Dead and co-facilitated a tour to the goddess sites of Mexico with Global Awareness through Experience. I have been fortunate to visit Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bali, Thailand, Australia, Europe, Canada and the US. Bit by bit, I will go global again, but Latin America is so enchanting. . . .

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Jade and the Most Ancient Peoples

Bugs & Hugs in San Cristóbal

Museum of Traditional Maya Healing, San Cristóbal de las Casas

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

Petén to Palenque

Louise "Luisa" Wisechild, PhD

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