Solstice in Tikal

21^st December

I have spent many a night, usually cold, waiting for summer solstice sunrise in England only to be thwarted from seeing the sun rise by cloud, mist and/or rain. My dedication to celebrating the rebirth of the year has never extended to waiting out a British winter solstice, but the prospect of one in perhaps the most important Mayan ruins with Mayan shamen was much more appealing. It would be warmer for a start and there shouldn’t be cloud now the rainy season was over. Should there? This was to be the culmination of Unificacion Maya so there would be lots of hippies just like in England.

Free access to Tikal was arranged by Guatemala’s institute of Mayan, Gaifuna and other spiritual guides and we were collected in two minivans from El Remate at four in the morning to follow one of the festival organisers, Denilo, in convoy. The sky was clear, the stars shone out in brilliance after the setting of the near full moon. After 5km we hit thick mist hanging over the jungle, at the entrance we were told foreigners did not qualify for free entrance so would each have to pay the normal £10 entry fee. As the group groaned and prepared to pay, Georgia and me silently melted into the shadows and at the next checkpoint eased our way past the guards with a £1.30 payment for their time and trouble.

Sounds deadened, shadows dismissed, Tikal in the mist was silently beautiful, temples and trees casting different shades of grey amongst their white blanket. We had the Gran Plaza to ourselves until the rest of the group caught up. Here Guatemala’s finest traditional flautist, Pablo Collado, played a mesmerising concert to people sitting on the steps of Temple 2. A mist shrouded Temple 1 was his backdrop.

By 10.00am we waited for the other organiser, Anne of IxCanaan, to arrive with the shamen. We waited and waited, by 12 midday Georgia gave up and decided to go home. News was that they were held up outside because of the issue of the entry fee. Rumours circulated that they would hold the ceremony outside the gate, some said we should join them in a show of solidarity so that those who could not afford the fee would not miss out. We would give them half an hour said Denilo. Within minutes some of the second group began to enter the Gran Plaza. Another organiser had paid for those without much money, and the ceremony was on for where it was intended – the centre of the Gran Plaza between temples 1 and 2. Just like festivals of the 70s and 80s, the atmosphere rose with the realisation of overcoming the authorities and the odds. Battle of the Beanfield it wasn’t but we all thought we had succeeded against ‘The Corporation’.

The ceremony itself as a 4 hour extravaganza led by Tata Pedro Cruz and his fellow shamen. Part-Mayan fire ceremony, part-Hippy festival, it was a mix of old tradition and new counter culture. Perhaps 200 people participated, maybe 20% Guatemalan. By the end everyone was hot, tired and hugging each other. Unificacion Maya had pulled off a spectacular event that meant a great deal spiritually, emotionally and socially for everyone who attended. The mist parted mid-morning, no one got cold and both the fire and the sunset were spectacular. Only the mist was reminiscent of a British solstice!