Mayan voices fill 2012 The Mayan Word, a unique opportunity to hear contemporary Mayans tell their story as they interpret Mayan prophecies about 2012. Melissa Gunasena directs.
The documentary raises awareness as it focuses on contemporary Mayan struggles. Mayan spirituality, sacred ceremonies and activist marches are shown.
The film is streaming free online courtesy of the filmmaker. You can support the film at the 2012 The Mayan Word website.
Sacred activists step forward
The Maya have survived repeated attacks since the Spanish invasion of the 16th century. Today, Mayans organize and carry out activism to resist multinational takeover of their land. They face police and military action. Assassinations have been reported.
Mining, dams and industrial agriculture exploit the land but do not preserve it for future generations. For many Mayans, land is still the center of their identity and spirituality.
Mayans see activism as an outgrowth of their love for Mother Earth. Cosmic vision, spirituality and politics are part of preparing for the changes of 2012, they say.
Leery of commercialization
Contemporary Mayans are noticeably absent in international conferences, books and films about the Mayan 2012 prophecies. Several Mayans have sharp words for Western tourists. “Neoliberalism wants us to disappear,” says Silvia Cime Mex of the Chichen Itza Artisan Collective, Mexico. “They want our culture to remain, but without us.”
“The whole system is interested in talking a lot about the Mayans of the past, the Mayans in museums, but they don’t want to know anything about us Mayans that are alive today,” says Pedro Uc Be, a teacher of the Maya Jornalero Collective, Mexico.
Tourism provides little benefit to Mayan indigenous communities, says Filiberto Penados, Founder of the Tumul K’in Center of Learning in Belize. In fact Mayan artisans are chased away from sacred ceremonial sites built by their ancestors. The Mayans are fighting for the right to administer those sacred sites.
Mayans view the world
Mayans “concentrate not so much on economic growth, but on well being,” Penados explains. “That well being comes from my relationship with my fellow man, with Mother Nature and with the cosmos.”
Mexican anthropologist Jose Luis Vera Poot leads us into a sacred Mayan cave. “Some call them dimensional gateways, and through them they had their visions, they traveled through time and space.”
“In our spiritual practice, we sustain the earth, we sustain the energy of the cosmos, we sustain our life,” says Juana Basquez, a spiritual guide from Guatemala. “Everything is interconnected and is sacred,” says Penados. There is “a sense of community, a sense of reciprocity, a sense of responsibility for each other.”
Talking with Nature
Martha Gonzalez, educational advisor from the Honduras, speaks of the ceremony offered when corn is planted. “Mother Earth also needs nourishment.”
How do you approach a medicinal plant? Felix Armando Sarazua Raxtunn, a Guatemalan spiritual guide, explains, “It’s not like you just cut a twig and make a tea and drink it. Just ask permission and tell it what you are going to use it for,” he advises. “They say the guides talk with the animals. All human beings have this perception.”
“This simple knowledge is what can still save us,” he believes. “And it is precisely what we need to take back to prepare ourselves for the next era.”
Views on Mayan prophecies
Efrain of the Chichen Itza Artisan Collective says, “The Mayans didn’t speak about the end of the world. They spoke about the end of a cycle.”
“No specific date is important,” he believes. “What’s most important is the moment where we can make a change in the human system, in the mind and in the heart.”
Earth changes are already upon us, says Juana Batzibal Tujal of the National Maya Coordination and Convergence. Heavy rains, drought, earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions have claimed many lives.
The Earth’s feminine energy is ascending in 2012, says the film. As Mayan women march, a protestor holds up a sign: “The Earth is not for sale.”
Raising awareness and hope
“In the western world, if they lived a more simple life, it automatically takes the pressure off the resources, our resources,” says Ronaldo Lec Ajcot of the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute.
This era may bring “more harmony, which means peace, equilibrium, more justice,” Basquez notes. “It’s the responsibility of human beings to transform so that the positive prevails.”
Painting in many colors, artist Rene Dionisio of Guatemala observes, “We are really lucky to be in this time, right?” (4 out of 5 stars)
If you like 2012 The Mayan Word, you might enjoy: Thrive; Timewave 2013.
2012 The Mayan Word / 2011 / NR / 1 hour, 4 min
Cast Overview: John Major Jenkins, Juan Ixchop Us, Elias Jimenez, Maria Amalia Mex T’un, Ramiro Batzin, Juana Batzibal Tujal, Juana Basquez, Miguel Angel Amaya, Ana Laynez Herrera, Pedro Uc Be, Filiberto Penados, Ronaldo Lec Ajcot, Juan Rojas
Directors: Melissa Gunasena
Genres: Documentary, Spirituality
Language: Spanish with English subtitles