We trace the path of humanity from its beginning in the north, where we place a white candle, the symbol of our birth, to its end in the south, where we light a yellow candle and remember our death. Birth and death are two experiences we all share. But the time in between the moment we're born and the moment we take our last breath is our own journey, unique to each of us.

Wisdom and the Word:

The Pop Wuj, the sacred story of the Maya, recounts the journey through the underworld of a young man and woman who confront a variety of challenges as they combat "Las Siete Vergüenzas," the "Seven Shames." These are: Pride, Ambition, Envy, Deceit, Crime, Ingratitude, and Ignorance. Pop Wuj: Book of Time (Mythic-historic Poem of the Ki-ché, translated from the original text by Adrián I. Chávez), Biblioteca de Cultura Popular, Ediciones del Sol, ©1994, p. 45 and Note 8. Siete Vergüenzas claimed, "I will be their Sun, their light, better yet their Moon...Great is my illumination, I am their road..." Pop Wuj: Book of Time, p. 45. "But this wasn't true, Siete Vergüenzas wasn't the Sun, he merely boasted of his feathers and scales." Pop Wuj: Book of Time, p. 45.

The young man and woman had to use all their gifts to overcome the tests of the underworld, including their intelligence, creativity, and physical strength. They had to pass these tests so that the "Arquitecto Formador" (the Architect who forms) would create the first true people. They prayed to God, the Spirit of Heaven, the Spirit of Earth: "Look at us, hear us, do not abandon us, do not reject us, God of Heaven and Earth, Spirit of Heaven and Earth...Send us the Dawn! Put us on many and true paths, true valleys, plains, clean plains..on the path of the good life, of the good humanity..." Pop Wuj: Book of Time, p. 116.

"Give thanks to the Lord who is good, whose love endures forever!...Those gathered from foreign lands, from east and west, from north and south. Some had lost their way in a barren desert; found no path toward a city to live in. They were hungry and thirsty; their life was ebbing away. In their distress they cried to the Lord, who rescued them in their peril, guided them by a direct path so they reached a city to live in." Psalm 107: 1-7.

Poetry for Meditation:

Every time you leave home,/Another road takes you/Into a world you were never in.

New strangers on other paths await./New places that have never seen you/Will startle a little at your entry./Old places that know you well/Will pretend nothing/Changed since your last visit.

When you travel, you find yourself/Alone in a different way,/More attentive now/To the self you bring along,/Your more subtle eye watching/You abroad; and how what meets you/Touches that part of the heart/That lies low at home...

When you travel,/A new silence/Goes with you,/And if you listen,/You will hear/What your heart would/Love to say.

A journey can become a sacred thing:/Make sure, before you go,/To take the time/To bless your going forth,/To free your heart of ballast/So that the compass of your soul/Might direct you toward/The territories of spirit/Where you will discover/More of your hidden life,/And the urgencies/That deserve to claim you.

May you travel in an awakened way,/Gathered wisely into your inner ground;/That you may not waste the invitations/Which wait along the way to transform you...

Excerpt of "For the Traveler," by John O'Donohue, from To Bless the Space Between Us.

Contemporary Reality:

Among the Tseltal Maya in Chiapas, journeys are never undertaken alone. When people go to a nearby village or a place far from home, they go in groups, blessed by their families and communities, with a bundle of a special kind of dried tortilla made especially for travel.

Similarly, when Tseltal communities elects their leaders--whether to organize the annual feast day celebration, to serve as judges, health promoters or Caretakers of the Earth, or to represent the community at a larger assembly--there are always teams of elders (both women and men) appointed to guide and counsel the leaders. The journey of leadership is an accompanied one. This is in recognition that the experience may present various temptations and challenges that can only be surmounted with the support of others.

Questions for Reflection:

Who are the people in my life who support my journey with wise and loving counsel?

What are some of the temptations and distractions I encounter that weigh down my heart and steer me away from the compass of my soul?

Prayer:

Spirit of Heaven, Spirit of Earth, give me courage to open my heart to my true path and grant me the humility to know that I cannot and do not travel alone.