Accompanied by the sound of conch shells, drums and the chants of Mayan priests and with the scent of copal incense in the air, more than 300 oarsmen boarded their wooden canoes in the caleta or creek at Xcaret at dawn this morning (May 20) and set sail bound for the island of Cozumel. They are participating in the annual sacred journey called the Travesía Sagrada Maya or Sacred Mayan Crossing, which emulates the pilgrimage the Maya made thousands of years ago to worship at the shrine of Ixchel, the goddess of the moon, fertility and childbirth.
Xcaret is the site of the Mayan port of Pole, an important trade enclave in ancient times and the departure point for pilgrims who would journey from all over the Yucatán to make the perilous crossing to Cozumel to consult the oracle and request help from the goddess.
The Supreme Goddess
Ixchel comes from “Ix” or female and “Chel,” which means white-skinned in Maya and is thought to refer to the moon. Her lunar association gave her power over the waves and tides and as such she was the patron of the sea and of fishing. She had different manifestations, sometimes depicted as a young woman or as an old crone in the Dresden Codex, and is said to have shown women the art of weaving.
Modern-day Pilgrims
After months of arduous training, our modern-day seafarers are embarking on their own personal pilgrimage. They come from Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya, Cancún, Quintana Roo, Yucatán and other parts of Mexico. Some are Mayan born, others took up the nautical challenge, others are seeking inner peace, but all share an unbreakable bond, a love of the sea and of this timeless land.
In fragile canoes made from hollowed out tree trunks, defying winds, waves and powerful ocean currents, they are following the ancient maritime route to the holy island known to the ancient Maya as Cuzamil or Cutzamil, the “land of the swallows.”
I kii´wik, Mayan Market
The celebrations began the evening of May 19 with the representation of a Kii’wik or ancient Mayan market against the candlelit backdrop of the temples in the archaeological site in Xcaret Park. Painstakingly reproduced to be as authentic as possible, it paid tribute to the importance of trade in Mayan culture and the role of Pole as a major port on the maritime route through the Caribbean. Merchants showed their wares, including feathers, shells, jade, salt, honey, cotton, copal and bartered for theme with cacao beans, a lucrative cash crop and the currency in the Post-Classic period of Mayan history.
A purification ceremony for the oarsmen followed later in the evening on the beach and offerings were made to the goddess Ixchel.
500 Years of Gonzalo Guerrero
This year, the celebrations take on added symbolism as the Mayan pilgrims are bearing a captive to Cozumel, he represents Gonzalo Guerrero, the Spanish sailor who was shipwrecked on these shores 500 years ago. After several years as a slave, Gonzalo Guerrero found favor with the lord of Chactemal and married a Mayan woman, fathering the first children with European and native American blood. He later turned against the Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés, fighting and dying alongside the Maya in defense of their homeland.
Arrival in Cozumel, May 20
The oarsmen are set to arrive on Cozumel at midday May 20, making landfall in the Caletita next to the lighthouse. They then make their way to consult with the oracle or priestess who is the voice of Ixchel at the ancient shrine to the goddess.
Later in the day, at 8 p.m. in Chankanaab Park, there will be a ceremony with offerings, music and ritual dances. Ixchel will speak to the pilgrims and to Gonzalo Guerrero who will embrace the Mayan culture.
The Return Journey, May 21
At dawn on May 21, the canoes set sail, heading west towards Playa del Carmen, site of the ancient port of Xaman-Há. They are set to arrive at Playa Fundadores next to the Ferry dock between 12 and 2 p.m. and will be welcomed by Mayan priests and villagers, eager to hear the words of Ixchel and receive her blessing. The triumphant arrival of the fleet of canoes is the culmination of a journey into history and legend.
The Seafaring Maya, Intrepid Traders
The ancient Maya have often been compared to the Phoenicians for the sheer scale of their trade empire. They were shrewd merchants who forged trade links with other Mesoamerican cultures in the Mexican highlands such as the Aztecs, and with their Central American neighbors, venturing as far south as Panama and also into the Caribbean.
One of their principal trade routes was the maritime route that skirted the Yucatán Peninsula and extended south. During the Post-Classic period (A.D. 1200-1521), ports on the Mexican Caribbean coast including Tulum, Xaman-Há, Polé, Xel-Há, Muyil and Cozumel controlled the traffic of goods to and from the area. Merchants would also use a network of overland routes and rivers to transport their cargo from the coast to cities far inland.
Archaeologists have identified at least 75 trade goods, including honey, beeswax, salt, cotton, cacao, henequen, stingray spines, cinnabar, natural dyes, shells, jade, quetzal feathers, animal hides and ceramics. Mayan traders obtained obsidian and basalt they used to make knives and grinding stones from central Mexico; turquoise came from the far north and gold was introduced to the area from Costa Rica and western Panama.
The Mayan deity associated with trade, cacao cultivation and war is Ek Chuah and he was the patron of merchants.
During his fourth voyage to the New World in 1502, Christopher Columbus came across a heavily laden Mayan trading canoe near the Bay Islands in Honduras. Packed with cotton from the Yucatán, cacao from Belize and a variety of other goods from faraway places, the canoe is testimony to the size and importance of the Mayan trade empire.
Photos courtesy of Travesía Sagrada Maya
