In early Autumn 2002, Carlos Barrios journeyed North from his home in Guatemala to the Eastern edge of the Four Corners. In Santa Fe, NM, at the tail of the Rocky Mountain spine, Mr. Barrios spoke in a knowledgeable manner about the Mayan tradition and the fabled Mayan calendars.
The Mayan calendars are an object of intense interest for many thousands of people right now, because they focus upon the watershed date of Dec. 21, 2012. Everything changes by then, it is said.
With a cultural heritage including thousands of pyramids and temples, and a calendar that has proven itself to be astronomically accurate over millions of years, the Maya tradition is widely considered to be a mystic key to the soul of Turtle Island (North America).
In public talks and in a private interview, Mr. Barrios laid out hisaccount of the history and future of the Americas, and the larger world, based on his understanding of the Mayan tradition as both an anthropologist and an initiate. He soke also about the path he sees ahead from now until the Winter Solstice of 2012.
The range of teachings and insights offered by Mr. Barrios must be considered in the context of the realpolitik in his American homeland. The Maya of Guatemala, their pyramids, and their calendar have endured not in a new-age Shambhala of love and light, but in a milieu of treachery, beatings, torture, rape, and mass murder.
Decades of Darkness
For 30 long years right-wing Guatemalan governments — supported both overtly and covertly by the US government — waged a terrorist war against the people of the land, murdering over 200,000 citizens, many of them indigenous Mayan people.
When the war finally wound down in the 1990s, the United Nations Truth Commission conducted an 18-month investigation.* The UN found massive violations of human rights by the government of Guatemala with the complicity of the US government. The UN report stated that acts of "aggressive, racist and extremely cruel" violence descended to the level of genocide directed against the country's indigenous Mayan population.
When Amnesty International studied the Guatemalan situation in recent years, they came to an arresting conclusion. They wrote that real peace could come only through confronting Guatemala's "Corporate Mafia State."*
They described this corporate Mafia state as an "unholy alliance" of certain national and international economic actors, who work alongside sectors of the police and military and common criminals to control ‘black’ industries such as drugs, arms trafficking, money laundering, car theft rings, illegal adoptions, and kidnapping for ransom."
About the great dark shadow that has hung over the south-most part of Turtle Island, Mr. Barrios observes: "These injustices began five hundred years ago and continue to this very day in all the Americas. The Indian Wars have never ended...I think the power holders in the developed world see it as necessary to destroy the indigenous peoples, or at least to destroy their culture, because they are not ‘consumers.’ The American Dream is built on the back of the Third World...But that is a false distinction for there is no Third World. There is only one world. We are all part of that one world, and we are all due respect."
While Guatemala has ostensibly been at peace for the last eight years, it is a disturbed peace. The war continues to have a residual impact on the people. Human rights violations still occur regularly, and even international human-rights monitors have been under threat.
Still, in the view of Mr. Barrios who came of age during the war, there have been improvements. "There are no armed guerillas, and the police and army are more decent, more respectful," he observed. "Because there is more human respect now, we can try to find a new life."
One eventual consequence of Guatemala’s long-enduring climate of terrorism, has been mistrust and criticism. From this few are immune. Accusations are often aimed at people who purport to speak of the Mayan traditions. Mr. Barrios is enmeshed in this matrix of uncertainty. He criticizes others, and he is criticized himself. He has become a figure of controversy for some traditional Mayan elders.
The World will Not End
Carlos Barrios was born into a Spanish family on El Altiplano, the highlands of Guatemala. His home was in Huehuetenango, also the dwelling place of the Maya Mam tribe. With other Maya and other indigenous tradition keepers, the Mam carry part of the old ways on Turtle Island (North America). They are keepers of time, authorities on remarkable calendars that are ancient, elegant and relevant.
Mr. Barrios is a historian, an anthropologist and investigator. After studying with traditional elders for 25 years since the age of 19, he has also become a Mayan Ajq'ij, a ceremonial priest and spiritual guide, Eagle Clan.
Years ago, along with his brother, Gerardo, Carlos initiated an investigation into the different Mayan calendars. He studied with many teachers. He says his brother Gerardo interviewed nearly 600 traditional Mayan elders to widen their scope of knowledge.
"Anthropologists visit the temple sites," Mr. Barrios says, "and read the stelas and inscriptions and make up stories about the Maya, but they do not read the signs correctly. It’s just their imagination...Other people write about prophecy in the name of the Maya. They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed. The indigenous have the calendars, and know how to accurately interpret it, not others."
The Calendars
Mayan comprehension of time, seasons, and cycles has proven itself to be vast and sophisticated. The Maya understand 17 different calendars, some of them charting time accurately over a span of more than ten million years.
The calendar that has steadily drawn global attention since 1987 is called the Tzolk'in or Cholq'ij. Devised ages ago and based on the cycle of the Pleiades, it is still held as sacred.
Mayan Cholq'ij - an image of the Mayan Tzolkin calendar used on the Altiplano. Image courtesy of Saq'be.
With the indigenous calendars, native people have kept track of important turning points in history. For example, the daykeepers who study the calendars identified an important day in the year One Reed, Ce Acatal as it was called by the Mexica. That was the day when an important ancestor was prophesied to return, "coming like a butterfly."
In the western calendar, the One Reed date correlates to Easter Sunday, April 21, 1519 — the day that Hernando Cortez and his fleet of 11 Spanish galleons arrived from the East at what is today called Vera Cruz, Mexico. When the Spanish ships came toward shore, native people were waiting and watching to see how it would go. The billowing sails of the ships did indeed remind the scouts of butterflies skimming the ocean surface.
In this manner was a new era initiated, an era they had anticipated through their calendars. The Maya termed the new era the Nine Bolomtikus, or Nine Hells of 52 years each. As the nine cycles unfolded, land and freedom were taken from the native people. Disease and disrespect dominated.
What began with the arrival of Cortez, lasted until August 16, 1987 – a date many people recall as Harmonic Convergence. Millions of people took advantage of that date to make ceremony in sacred sites, praying for a smooth transition to a new era, the World of the Fifth Sun.
From that 1987 date until now, Mr. Barrios says, we have been in a time when the right arm of the materialistic world is disappearing, slowly but inexorably. We are at the cusp of the era when peace begins, and people live in harmony with Mother Earth. We are no longer in the World of the Fourth Sun, but we are not yet in the World of the Fifth Sun. This is the time in-between, the time of transition.
As we pass through transition there is a colossal, global convergence of environmental destruction, social chaos, war, and ongoing Earth changes. All this, Mr. Barrios says, was foreseen via the simple, spiral mathematics of the Mayan calendars.
"It will change," Mr. Barrios observes. "Everything will change." He said Mayan Daykeepers view the Dec. 21, 2012 date as a rebirth, the start of the World of the Fifth Sun. It will be the start of a new era resulting from — and signified by — the solar meridian crossing the galactic equator, and the earth aligning itself with the center of the galaxy.
At sunrise on December 21, 2012 — for the first time in 26,000 years — the Sun rises to conjunct the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic, describing in the sky a great cross of stars and planets. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree, The Tree of Life — a tree remembered in all the world’s spiritual traditions.
Some observers say this alignment with the heart of the galaxy in 2012 will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the earth, cleansing it and all that dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level of vibration. This process has already begun, Mr. Barrios suggested. "Change is accelerating now, and it will continue to accelerate."
If the people of the earth can get to this 2012 date in good shape, without having destroyed too much of the Earth, Mr. Barrios said, we will rise to a new, higher level. But to get there we must transform enormously powerful forces that seek to block the way.
A Picture of the Road Ahead
From his understanding of the Mayan tradition and the calendars, Mr. Barrios offered a picture of where we are at and what may lie on the road ahead:
The date specified in the calendar — Winter Solstice in the year 2012 — does not mark the end of the world. Many outside people writing about the Mayan calendar sensationalize this date, but they do not know. The ones who know are the indigenous elders who are entrusted with keeping the tradition.
"Humanity will continue," he contends, "but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity to be more human."
We are living in the most important era of the Mayan calendars and prophecies. All the prophecies of the world, all the traditions, are converging now. There is no time for games. The spiritual ideal of this era is action.
Many powerful souls have reincarnated in this era, with a lot of power. This is true on both sides, the light and the dark. High magic is at work on both sides.
Things will change, but it is up to the people how difficult or easy it is for the changes to come about.
The economy now is a fiction. The first five-year stretch of transition — from August 1987 to August 1992 — was the beginning of the destruction of the material world. We have progressed ten years deeper into the transition phase by now, and many of the so-called sources of financial stability are in fact hollow.
The banks are weak. This is a delicate moment for them. They could crash globally if we don’t pay attention. One critical period is October and November 2002. If the banks crash in these months then we will be forced to rely on the land and our skills. The monetary systems will be in chaos, and we must then rely on our direct relationship with the Earth for our food and shelter.
The North and South Poles are both breaking up. The level of the water in the oceans is going to rise. But at the same time land in the ocean, especially near Cuba, is also going to rise.
A Call for Fusion
As he met with audiences in Santa Fe, Mr. Barrios told a story about the most recent Mayan New Year ceremonies in Guatemala. He said that one respected Mam elder, who lives all year in a solitary mountain cave, journeyed to Chichicastenango to speak with the people at the ceremony.
The elder delivered a simple, direct message. He called for human beings to come together in support of life and light. Right now each person and group is going his or her own way. The elder of the mountains said there is hope if the people of the light can come together and unite in some way.
Reflecting on this, Mr. Barrios explained: "We live in a world of polarity: day and night, man and woman, positive and negative. Light and darkness need each other. They are a balance. Just now the dark side is very strong, and very clear about what they want. They have their vision and their priorities clearly held, and also their hierarchy. They are working in many ways so that we will be unable to connect with the spiral Fifth World in 2012."
"On the light side everyone thinks they are the most important, that their own understandings, or their group’s understandings, are the key. There’s a diversity of cultures and opinions, so there is competition, diffusion, and no single focus."
As Mr. Barrios sees it, the dark side works to block fusion through denial and materialism. It also works to destroy those who are working with the light to get the Earth to a higher level. They like the energy of the old, declining Fourth World, the materialism. They do not want it to change. They do not want fusion. They want to stay at this level, and are afraid of the next level.
The dark power of the declining Fourth World cannot be destroyed or overpowered. It’s too strong and clear for that, and that is the wrong strategy. The dark can only be transformed when confronted with simplicity and open-heartedness. This is what leads to fusion, a key concept for the World of the Fifth Sun.
Mr. Barrios said the emerging era of the Fifth Sun will call attention to a much-overlooked element. Whereas the four traditional elements of earth, air, fire and water have dominated various epochs in the past, there will be a fifth element to reckon with in the time of the Fifth Sun: ether.
The dictionary defines ether as the rarefied element thought to fill the upper regions of space, the Heavens. Ether is a medium that permeates all space and transmits waves of energy in a wide range of frequencies, from cell phones to human auras. What is "ethereal" is related to the regions beyond earth: the heavens.
Ether — the element of the Fifth Sun — is celestial, and lacking in material substance, but is no less real than wood, wind, flame, stone or flesh.
"Within the context of ether there can be a fusion of the polarities," Mr. Barrios said. "No more darkness or light in the people, but an uplifted fusion. But right now the realm of darkness is not interested in this. They are organized to block it. They seek to unbalance the Earth and its environment so we will be unready for the alignment in 2012. We need to work together for peace, and balance with the other side. We need to take care of the Earth that feeds and shelters us. We need to put our entire mind and heart into pursuing unity and fusion now, to confront the other side and preserve life."
To Be Ready for this Moment in History
Mr. Barrios told his audiences in Santa Fe that we are at a critical moment of world history. "We are disturbed," he said. "We can’t play anymore. Our planet can be renewed or ravaged. Now is the time to awaken and take action."
"Everyone is needed. You are not here for no reason. Everyone who is here now has an important purpose. This is a hard, but a special time. We have the opportunity for growth, but we must be ready for this moment in history."
Mr. Barrios offered a number of suggestions to help people walk in balance through the years ahead. "The prophesized changes are going to happen," he said, "but our attitude and actions determine how harsh or mild they are."
We need to act, to make changes, and to elect people to represent us who understand and who will take political action to respect the earth. Meditation and spiritual practice are good, but also action.
It’s very important to be clear about who you are, and also about your relation to the Earth.
Develop yourself according to your own tradition and the call of your heart. But remember to respect differences, and strive for unity.
Eat wisely. A lot of food is corrupt in either subtle or gross ways. Pay attention to what you are taking into your body.
Learn to preserve food, and to conserve energy.
Learn some good breathing techniques, so you have mastery of your breath.
Be clear. Follow a tradition with great roots. It is not important what tradition, your heart will tell you, but it must have great roots.
We live in a world of energy. An important task at this time is to learn to sense or see the energy of everyone and everything: people, plants, animals. This becomes increasingly important as we draw close to the World of the Fifth Sun, for it is associated with the element ether – the realm where energy lives and weaves.
Go to the sacred places of the earth to pray for peace, and respect for the Earth which gives us our food, clothing, and shelter. We need to reactivate the energy of these sacred places. That is our work.
According to Mr. Barrios’ reading of the Mayan calendar, if war happens in November 2002 or after, then it’s bad, but not catastrophic. But if it happens between April and November 2003, it will be catastrophic. Really bad. It could eventually result in the death of two-thirds of humanity. "So stay active," he said. "If we are active, we can transform the planet. The elders watch to see what happens."
Many Mayan elders and knowledge keepers may be eliminated in the next few years. For the first half of the current Katun (20-year period) the dark side has a lot of power. But that will pass 3 to 4 years from now. The tide can turn. Amazing things are going to happen.
One simple but effective prayer technique is to light a white or baby-blue colored candle. Think a moment in peace. Speak your intention to the flame and send the light of it on to the leaders who have the power to make war or peace.
We Have Work to Do
According to Mr. Barrios this is a crucially important moment for humanity, and for earth. Each person is important. If you have incarnated into this era, you have spiritual work to do balancing the planet.
He said the elders have opened the doors so that other races can come to the Mayan world to receive the tradition. The Maya have long appreciated and respected that there are other colors, other races, and other spiritual systems. "They know," he said, "that the destiny of the Mayan world is related to the destiny of the whole world."
"The greatest wisdom is in simplicity," Mr. Barrios advised before leaving Santa Fe. "Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It’s not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It’s encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way."
- END -
Carlos Barrios is the author of Kam Wuj: El Libro del Destino, a book published in Spanish that explores Mayan teachings. His book is being translated into English for future publication.Mr. Barrios can be contacted via Saq’ Be’ -- Organization for Mayan and Indigenous Spiritual Studies: P.O. Box 31111, Santa Fe, NM 87594 Ph: 505-466-4044. Email: [email protected]
The photo of Mr. Barrios at the top of this page was taken by, and is republished with the permission of, Saq' Be' http://www.sacredroad.org
posted on January 26, 2003 07:33:06 PM new
Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. As a Taoist Christian I am a firm believer in Light and Darkness. The Promise of the Age of Aquarius is not over, but also, it is not guaranteed either. We all have to strive towards the Light in order to acheive it.
posted on January 27, 2003 10:14:41 PM new
Too bad, junquemama, that you picked such an intellectual subject. I'll bet others would have liked to have posted their thoughts in here, but were afraid of being ridiculed by the small minded.
posted on January 28, 2003 06:03:04 AM new "The greatest wisdom is in simplicity," Mr. Barrios advised before leaving Santa Fe. "Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It’s not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It’s encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way."
The spiritual element is lost on me, but the quote above is significant along with the historian's observation that "Everything is Changing".
He seems to be using spiritual background to promote and encourage positive change..... "We need to act, to make changes, and to elect people to represent us who understand and who will take political action to respect the earth. Meditation and spiritual practice are good, but also action."
posted on January 28, 2003 11:11:34 AM new
Helen,I got into prophecies of different cultures back in the 70s.Most of the Indian and astrological, as well as Bible Prophecy, talk of the same or close time frame for signs of what to come.
posted on January 28, 2003 12:26:16 PM new
>The spiritual element is lost on me,
I'm sorry to hear that, Helen. Truly. What it is saying is that removed of all our grief and suffering and anger we are left in a state of near innocence - the kind we are all at when born. This state of innocence does not wait for the world to define one's heart, but that the heart starts off in a certain state of being. "Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness." Whether it is Lao Tsu speaking these words or Jesus Christ makes no difference, each has come to that place of understanding that not only are these things our "natural" state and desires, but that the spirit years for a return to that state of innocence. And that state of innocence is the Way towards God.
Of course, opposite forces exist to corrupt innocence. You state that the innocence sounds like Democrats and you are right. And that the New Republican Party (aka Newt Gingrich Takeover) has been taken over by the forces of Chaos and Corruption is also true.
The forces of Darkness are in power and it is so strong that it is corrupting anyone who gets near it. Their greatest weapon is the Lie. To twist, distort, deceive is their very nature and the foolish and gullible are easily pursuaded to believe them and to support them. How hateful they are towards Goodness and Love, have you observed? When we were kids, we were taught to share and to get along with one another. Notice how that is now a Mortal Sin with these dark powers? And how their followers listen to their mouthpieces on the radio and TV and agree with them?
We are not alone in this world, not a one of us. To cooperate, to share, to care for one another is inevitable. It takes a concerted effort by very blackened hearts to corrupt that.
posted on January 28, 2003 01:15:15 PM new
Borillar,
Don't feel sorry for me, Borillar. Although I don't have the comfort of your religious beliefs, I do have love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude and forgiveness in ABUNDANCE.
We will never be as innocent as children. That is a result of our life experience and otherwise, we wouldn't recognize the lies that we will be hearing tonight from George Bush.
I am saying this in a friendly way. Don't feel that you have offended me. ...just got home from the grocery store. A snow storm is forecast and EVERYBODY was there. LOL!
posted on January 28, 2003 02:04:37 PM new I understand, Helen.
I just want to say that it was not my presumption that you lacked any of these fine qualities. Rather, that you have not been able to reconcile them with religious teachings; many in the Western world take things so literally instead of figuratively or spiritually. The efforts by those who follow Dark paths enjoy the corruption of spiritual and religious beliefs and even for those who have a great deal of common sense, destroys their path because it fouls the Way and what follows is a total rejection of all faiths.
Can we ever achieve True Innocence? I ask you, can we ever achieve True Perfection in answer. Simply because ideals exist that are unattainable does not mean that they are unworthy of pursuit. In fact, it is the very pursuit of these ideals that has lead to Humankind's proudest moments.
But have we forsaken Innocence? I think that if you look at all of the people who do things that seem insane, much of it can be boiled down to an effort to make oneself innocent. For instance, of the women who suffer from male batterers, escape their Hell, and then go out and pick the same type of man over and over again is a mystery to many.
My sister is one such. She knows that she has always had this problem. Men who have not hair-triggered tempers or explode in anger when provoked do not turn her on sexually. Good, kind, stable, decent men are a cold turn-off -- and not through choice. And if a sexual partner does not become violent to her, she provokes them stronger and stronger, even to the point where she is arrested for domestic violence, all in order to get the male so mad that he'll bash the sh1t out of her. Why?
She does it because Only the Guilty can be Punished, and once punished, are made Innocent again.
Another woman that I had long dealings with (not of a personal nature) would seek out these same men, but they did not sexually turn her on. She wanted them to abuse her, use her and her money or whatever, all so she could sit around for hours and hours talking to anyone who would hear it how badly used that she has been. The sympathy that she received was addictive for her, because to be abused so badly made her innocent.
Now I don't want to pick on women who have been battered, and certainly a whole encyclopedia of these situations could be made and in each case, the person is trying to find a state of grace that will make them feel innocent once again.
So, do we search for, yearn for Innocence? I think that we do. That a clear path to Innocence gets corrupted means that people have to find other ways, maddening ways, to seek Innocence. It is to the benefit of Darkness and Corruption and to Chaos to corrupt the Word given by holy religions of the world, or philosophical belief systems. therefore, find the Truth in Faiths and do not be dissuaded by Corruption.
UBB
[ edited by Borillar on Jan 28, 2003 02:07 PM ]
