KNOWING THE MAYAN WORLD VIEW: ETHNIC TOURISM IN GUATEMALA

In the eyes of the traveler, Guatemala is presented as a spontaneous confabulation of nature, capturing all: pleasant weather, meandering rivers of crystalline water, proud volcanoes, and lush vegetation protecting the soil of Mother Earth. In addition to all of this, there is a variety of expressions of religiousness and ancestral culture, as infinite as any tourists’ imagination. This is the Mayan Culture. Throughout this pilgrimage through different indigenous communities, visitors will know about the Mayan world view, one of the greatest and most mysterious civilizations, whose legacy is still unscathed, in spite the passing of time.

Guatemala, as the Heart of the Mayan World, presents three Routes of ethnic tourism: in the central highlands, the Route of the Mayan Calendar; in the western highlands, the Route of Duality, and in the Verapaces, the Mayan Universe Route. Each one of the communities that are part of the routes is rich in expressions of the Mayan Culture, and their World View. In spite of their complexity, they can be defined in one phrase: harmony with the world.

This means that the Mayas have a great respect for creation, nature, and all forms of existence. There is no harmony if there is no respect for the environment. For that reason, to be a Maya is a simple and harmonic way of life essentially based on a deep spirituality reflected in each one of their customs, ceremonies, dances, and attire.

Besides sharing a deep respect for Mother Earth and devotedly worshiping Divinity, many are the resemblances among different Mayan towns which are part of the route. However, these are not the only elements. Tracing an imaginary line that joins the thirteen largest
cities of the routes, it can be observed that all together, they form a spiral. The circular form represented by Mayan Culture, divinity and the powers of the universe, being the spiral the expression of power in movement, in which are founded life of civilizations, each human being, animal, plant, the main elements and all natural phenomena.

The number thirteen also plays a significant role in the Mayan world view. For example, the major articulations of the human body are thirteen. Likewise, the lunar calendar, one of the twenty calendars developed by the Mayas, consists of thirteen months of twenty days each.
Within the communities that are part of the routes of ethnic tourism, the concept of duality prevailing in the world is also highlighted. According to Mayas, for God’s command there are dual elements such as day and night; right and wrong; body and spirit; life and death, the last one not seen as an end but as a continuation of a cycle. This is just a few of the many that can be highlighted in these communities still faithful to precepts of the Mayan world view, whose residents await the arriving of visitors eagerly to share their way of living, beliefs, dances, and gastronomy.

To go deep into the exuberant jungle capriciously sprouted in these regions is like advancing into the universe’s heart, a space that invites us to meditate on the world’s wonders. Any of these ethnic tourism routes can be visited and explored through this magical and ancestral travel that is worth the endeavor! Anyway, there are few places in the world where nature’s voice can be so clearly heard, as in the Mayan communities.