1000 Word or Less Excerpt
Jana shifted her position and glanced at her group of pilgrims. Hanab Xiu was conversing within a small circle, but there was no sign of the other Maya elders. A fine sweat covered Janas skin, t-shirt damp against her back. She took a drink from her water bottle, reflexively touching the amber pendant hanging inside her shirt. Carefully she placed the water bottle beside the small spirit doll inside her pouch. Turning to gaze left toward the Pyramid of Kukulkn once again, Jana saw a large iguana crouched on the rock pile, only a few feet away. His round beady eyes were fixed on her, unblinking. Gray-brown skin blended into black stripes along body and tail, with a serrated fin from neck to mid-back.
The iguana had a hypnotic effect on Jana. As she stared into his eyes, her vision softened and she slipped into a semi-conscious reverie. Part of her remained in present time and aware of her physical body, while a mysterious aspect of her consciousness entered another time and scene at Chichn Itz.
It was dusk. A small group of priests and priestesses approached the towering Pyramid of Kukulkn. Its walls were covered with smooth plaster, gleaming yellow-gold in the suns setting rays. Stripes of green and red accented the edges of the steep stairs on all four sides. The serpent heads facing north were brightly painted; red tongues, blue eyes, green skin with red stripes, white fangs. Her awareness was drawn to one priestess, she knew this woman, had seen herwhere? In the church in Mrida, on the TV-like screen inside the secret chamber of her heart . . . it was Yalucha!
They were ascending the stairs in pairs, climbing slowly up to the temple on top. Their purpose was grave, their intention strongly set. This was a ritual of extreme importance, a mandate they had received. Their peoples survival depended upon doing it successfully. It was nearly dark as they entered the temple on top, but no one lit a torch. They were inside, doing what? She could not see it. But this was a ritual that she knew, she sensed this knowing to her very core. Gathering intention, she projected her consciousness into Yalucha inside the dark pyramid temple high in the evening sky. She felt union with the Maya priestesses heart, a rush of profound love. Her heart pulsed with each beat, two hearts as one, one mind and consciousness.
The priests and priestesses were bonding in a vortex of love, merging their hearts, creating a mutual chamber. A secret heart chamber of the Maya people. Through this, they were hiding and preserving their ancient teachings, putting these in a safe place to endure through coming times of darkness and oppression. In the pyramid . . . under the pyramid . . . She could not see the process clearly, but she knew it was successful.
The iguana jerked his head up suddenly, breaking eye contact with Jana and throwing her abruptly out of the reverie. He turned quickly and slithered between crevices in the rocks, disappearing into shadows. Three people from the group had walked over to sit on the rocks, impervious to the iguana and Janas presence. Their conversation jarred her ears, and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision.
Jana tried to piece together information from this vision. It was in Chichn Itz long ago, when the city was vibrantly alive. Maya holy men and women were doing a critical ceremony, and Yalucha was taking partthe enigmatic priestess with whom Jana herself was linked. The rituals were done atop the Pyramid of Kukulkn, at dusk. They involved using the secret chamber of the heart. Was the ceremony she had been called to take part in related to this ancient one? A troubling sense that the two were significantly connected stirred within Jana. She had no idea where todays ceremony with the Maya elders was to take place. But, seeing how the park guards had roped off the stairs to the pyramid, she seriously doubted anyone would be allowed to climb up.
A disturbing discomfort formed around Janas solar plexus, a sense of anxious foreboding. A yearning in her heart pulled her toward the Pyramid of Kukulkn, and she looked again at the magnificent structure . . .
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