Cogan’s Reviews Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya by Jeanine Lee Kitchel Enchanted Island Press, Hawaii, 2004 Paperback, 217 pages Available from Amazon Books: Paperback And also on Kindle from Amazon.com at $9.99 Here’s another of those ‘coming to Mexico to live’ books – but with a difference. It’s not concerned with […]
Continue ReadingIn the last column we looked briefly at the history of the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic writing system and some of the modern myths about the ancient Maya propagated by certain popular writers, such as J. M. Jenkins ( Galactic Alignment theory) and J. Argüelles ( Dreamspell Calendar). My purpose was not simply to discredit these popular […]
Continue ReadingThe Books of Chilam Balam are indigenous Maya chronicles written in northern Yucatan during the century or so following the Spanish Conquest. The surviving texts we have are copies of the originals to which religious and historical material has probably been added. There are ten or twelve, some in a fragmentary state, others apparently complete. Among the […]
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Do you ever feel pressed for time? Have you felt the weight of time hanging heavily on your shoulders? Pity the poor Maya deities who bore the Burden of Time throughout all eternity and then some. The ancient Maya calendar was closely bound up with religion and, like all people, the Maya asked the same […]
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Exploring the Yucatan – A Traveler’s Anthology, By Richard D. Perry. A Review Indispensable for anyone heading for the Mayan world of the Yucatan and equally interesting for those who have been there, this Traveler’s Anthology gives a comprehensive overview of the exploration of the area. Although it not really a guide-book, it offers a […]
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I adore travelling Mexico by bus. Mexico’s bus system offers travelers an economical, efficient and effective means to explore the entire country. The routes are highly organized and the connections are timely. Busing it in Mexico offers vacationers a remarkable opportunity to see not just the prime tourist destinations including all the fabulous beach resorts and colonial […]
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An old railway station at the western end of the train tracks in Jalisco, Mexico, bears witness to unspeakable cruelties perpetrated upon thousands of Yaqui Indians in the early 1900s. According to the Jalisco Secretariat of Culture’s Guachimontones Guide Book, Yaquis were sold as slaves at the station “for 25 centavos a head” and “around the station were located […]
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It has been said that beauty is where you see it and genius is all around, waiting to be identified. Beauty — Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre is an adobe house and little wildlife refuge on the banks of Rio Corona, at the end of the road, 25 or 30 miles from Ciudad Victoria, […]
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In the late ’90s we became captivated by the richness of the Yucatan region’s hacienda architecture and the history of its multilayered civilizations. Trailing through myriad Maya villages and down overgrown dirt paths, we encountered many hacienda revivals in full force, as well as dormant treasures untouched by modern hands. While researching our second design […]
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During the heady days that followed the Mexican revolution, the air was filled with fervent nationalism. The euphoria of new beginnings brought out the best in creative vision from talent that fed on this intoxicating energy. From the ranks of this creative elite came Adolfo Best Maugard, his imprint on Mexican culture more profound than […]
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