Mayan Ruins, Pyramids - Belize, Chan Chich Lodge

Hi Marcus Aurelius, my sister has lived about 3 hours away from Orange Walk, Belize in Mahaual for the past 12 years. According to her the resorts and nature preserves are safe places although Belize City is a place to avoid due to street crime (I'd say the same for Chetumal too - which is right on the border).

I've visited her a number of times over the years and driven to many Mayan ruins. Although she mentioned that crossing the border between Mexico and Belize is relatively easy, I've never done it.

In the Yucatan, Mexico, I've visitied to Dzibache, Hormiguero, Xpujil, Chicanna, Becan, Chichen Itza and Calakmul. All were worth the long drives and experiences, but Calakmul and Chicanna were especially interesting for different reasons. Calakmul for its massive scale and Chicanna for its weird mystic feeling and unusual architecture.

Other than Dzibanche, or Kohunlich (which I've driven by, but never stopped at for some reason), it would be a long drive from Belize to Campeche to see the other sites I mentioned.

In my opinion, if you're going to stay in Belize, you want to see Caracol above all - there's so much there. Lamanai and Xunantunich look pretty incredible too. If you're staying at a nicer resort, they may be able to organize tours to various sites for you. That would be my advice if it's your first time there. If you have the road routes to the ruins already memorized, then you can rent a car and venture out on your own.

Some tips I can offer from a number of trips out into the jungle driving on your own or with oblivious relatives:

Always know the name of the site your going to and the name of your resort - with proper Spanish pronunciation. When the state police or army stops you, they expect you are clear in knowing exactly where you're going and where you came from. Always have your passport or they will detain you.

My Spanish is much better than the first time I went there, but on the first trip - the AK-47 in your face at the checkpoint when you don't know what's going on can be daunting. If you don't understand what their saying always open the trunk slowly and step back. If there's a twelve of beer in there - all the better. Offer it to the state or local police (leave it on the side of the road for the military guys - they don't like obviousness).

I also made the mistake of saying I was going "Los Ruinas" - that does not translate to Mayan sites. Zonas Arquelogicas is the right way to explain the trips.

Also, the majority of the people who work at the smaller sites are Maya. Always sign in and state where your from at the site. The funding for their jobs comes from how many people visit and how far they've come from. A great ice breaker is also the standard informal greeting in Maya - Bix A bel (Bish ah Bell) - how is your road? Very few Mayans have anyone address them in their own language. I tried to learn the "vernacular" response of "smooth and fast" - but that turned into a bunch of laughs (lots of double entendres in Mayan) :-)

Responding with "Very Well" works better. Taj ma'alo'ob - (I pronounce it as Tash Maul-ob -but that's not right) hard to pronounce, but there's some YT vids that will help. Hope you make the trip to see what's out there in Mayan world. i personally love that world and would be there very winter if I could.
 
Hi Marcus Aurelius, my sister has lived about 3 hours away from Orange Walk, Belize in Mahaual for the past 12 years. According to her the resorts and nature preserves are safe places although Belize City is a place to avoid due to street crime (I'd say the same for Chetumal too - which is right on the border).

I've visited her a number of times over the years and driven to many Mayan ruins. Although she mentioned that crossing the border between Mexico and Belize is relatively easy, I've never done it.

In the Yucatan, Mexico, I've visitied to Dzibache, Hormiguero, Xpujil, Chicanna, Becan, Chichen Itza and Calakmul. All were worth the long drives and experiences, but Calakmul and Chicanna were especially interesting for different reasons. Calakmul for its massive scale and Chicanna for its weird mystic feeling and unusual architecture.

Other than Dzibanche, or Kohunlich (which I've driven by, but never stopped at for some reason), it would be a long drive from Belize to Campeche to see the other sites I mentioned.

In my opinion, if you're going to stay in Belize, you want to see Caracol above all - there's so much there. Lamanai and Xunantunich look pretty incredible too. If you're staying at a nicer resort, they may be able to organize tours to various sites for you. That would be my advice if it's your first time there. If you have the road routes to the ruins already memorized, then you can rent a car and venture out on your own.

Some tips I can offer from a number of trips out into the jungle driving on your own or with oblivious relatives:

Always know the name of the site your going to and the name of your resort - with proper Spanish pronunciation. When the state police or army stops you, they expect you are clear in knowing exactly where you're going and where you came from. Always have your passport or they will detain you.

My Spanish is much better than the first time I went there, but on the first trip - the AK-47 in your face at the checkpoint when you don't know what's going on can be daunting. If you don't understand what their saying always open the trunk slowly and step back. If there's a twelve of beer in there - all the better. Offer it to the state or local police (leave it on the side of the road for the military guys - they don't like obviousness).

I also made the mistake of saying I was going "Los Ruinas" - that does not translate to Mayan sites. Zonas Arquelogicas is the right way to explain the trips.

Also, the majority of the people who work at the smaller sites are Maya. Always sign in and state where your from at the site. The funding for their jobs comes from how many people visit and how far they've come from. A great ice breaker is also the standard informal greeting in Maya - Bix A bel (Bish ah Bell) - how is your road? Very few Mayans have anyone address them in their own language. I tried to learn the "vernacular" response of "smooth and fast" - but that turned into a bunch of laughs (lots of double entendres in Mayan) :-)

Responding with "Very Well" works better. Taj ma'alo'ob - (I pronounce it as Tash Maul-ob -but that's not right) hard to pronounce, but there's some YT vids that will help. Hope you make the trip to see what's out there in Mayan world. i personally love that world and would be there very winter if I could.

Thanks for this - that's perfect advise. I was at the lodge a few years ago and was incredibly impacted by the unseen activity around the the buried ruins.

Fortunate for me, I had an escort across all the properties and the project I was leading was well received. I've traveled all over the world. I had some similar vibes in Malaysia and Indonesia. I've been puzzled by what I felt in Belize. I was especially impacted one night when I slept literally at the base of the ruins in a well furnished lodge cabin open to the surroundings.

I have some suspicions my Native American Indian genetics, a shaman in my lineage, may have given me some sensitivity.
 

Attachments

  • belize gun.png
    belize gun.png
    3.4 MB · Views: 15
  • belize burried pyramid.png
    belize burried pyramid.png
    4.1 MB · Views: 15
  • belize burried ruins.png
    belize burried ruins.png
    3.1 MB · Views: 14
  • Belize Lodge Map.png
    Belize Lodge Map.png
    763.8 KB · Views: 16
In my experience, each of the Mayan pyramid sites is "geared" towards a certain energy. For example:

Chichen Itza - masculinity
Tulum - femininity
Coba - death and rebirth
Ek Balam - divinity

The purporse of these pyramids seems to have been initiation or energetic help on the spiritual growth path.
 
In my experience, each of the Mayan pyramid sites is "geared" towards a certain energy. For example:

Chichen Itza - masculinity
Tulum - femininity
Coba - death and rebirth
Ek Balam - divinity

The purporse of these pyramids seems to have been initiation or energetic help on the spiritual growth path.
Thanks. I wonder if there's a pattern geographically.

This felt like spirits were clawing at me as I recall. I was shocked, taken by surprise and didn't have the ability at the time to sit with it and examine it like I would today.

Someone has suggested those sacrificed in their ball games may have something to do with the energy I felt.
 
I lived a couple months around San Ignacio, I was dropping in the village to find seasonal, local wage work, ended up as hostel manager for a month so I didn't have the budget for hitting the ruins, but I had contacts with a couple tour agencies and higher-tier lodges, also lived at a couple expats' places. From the intel I gathered onsite the country was under the mixed influence of corrupt local politicians, US politics, and the Mennonite mafia which is a seriously powerful player, surprisingly. The local maya are very kind on the surface, I'd be camping out and random families would invite me to use their showers/washing machines, etc. At the same time, there is a strong disillusioned mayan youth fragment, who try to skirt trouble while maximizing gains from tourists. Fortunately I do not think that would concern you specifically. From those first impressions, I'd rank the country above El Salvador or Honduras in terms of safety, but below Panama. A very lively place to visit.

As for ruin tours, I oversaw a couple big groups organizing at my hostel, and the one I saw people coming back most amazed by was when they went deep into the Mountain Pine Ridge reserve. I never looked into the specifics, but you might want to :)
 
Last edited:
Thanks. I wonder if there's a pattern geographically.

This felt like spirits were clawing at me as I recall. I was shocked, taken by surprise and didn't have the ability at the time to sit with it and examine it like I would today.

Someone has suggested those sacrificed in their ball games may have something to do with the energy I felt.
I think you're right. There is a longitudinal pattern. Chicanna, Tikal and Calakmul are on the same meridian with other structures in the U.S. Our largest mound complex in Canada is on the same meridian as Cuernavaca - which the C's mentioned in a 90's session was the largest trans-density/dimensional window in the world. Somebody in those days knew something about electromagnetic grids.

I always find that when I visit the the Maya, I try my best to be patient as I am from a completely different world and culture. For me, it's a very complicated language of architecture and advanced techno-religious ideas that are completely foreign, but fascinating. The C's touch on some important elements in older sessions regarding the world view of the Maya and their descendants' connections to Chaco Canyon as well as the Hopi and Zuni.

When I visited Chichen Itza on my honeymoon in 2002, my ex-wife found a book in the gift shop by Linda Schele called, "Blood fo Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art." Although it was above our budget at the time, it is the best book I've come across that can explain the Maya world to people like me who aren't from that world.

20 years later, our youngest kid and his wife had their honeymoon in Akumal and they decided to take a trip to Chichen Itza. As much as my kid has put up diplomatically with my crazy "cryptographic history" lessons since he was 5 years old - he somehow isn't really into it :-) After spending a full day at Chichen Itza - he was blown away. Now he wants to finally do a crazy trip in a rental car with me through Campeche. He's also borrowing the Schele book from his mom and read :-)
 
Thanks for this additional information and I'll continue to follow the vibe here. It seems to be running on auto-pilot somehow through life with a bit of shepherding, sudden focus and remembering. I feel a great deal of connection with the Shaman from a connection to the earth and a humbling connection to bringing a practically nurture forward to my fellow man. Just a bit of research indicates some evidence has been collected that led some archeologists to believe some of the natives from what is now Central America are also present in the southeast from where our founders here in America re-located Natives from the plush and fertile lands.

As many of us find our call inward here, we are comforted by the path Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Nicoll, ... the C's and LKJ, seeing into the mechanics operating around us. The gap between nature and the settled patterns forced upon inhabitants is filled with wonder and thereby a glimpse into our very being. Written it morphs or collapses from the beauty it carries into our experience although some songs perhaps even scenes so beautifully, naturally or masterfully constructed bring access to that divinity we seem so designed to forget as we try to regress it into a formulae or equation.

My great-great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian Shaman who walked the trail of tears and settled in the Ozark Mountains in Southwest Missouri. I do not know her native name, but I'm told her American name was Thomas, as was her husbands. They had a large family and settled a large region of rocky farmland. My grandfather was her daughter's son. He was one of the younger of six children (three boys and three girls). He was also named Thomas. My grandfather walked me back through his own childhood in his retirement, keeping me out of trouble (as my mother and father would say) but at the time working me like a slave in working the land, vegetation, livestock and all the structures (barns, homes, fence, electricity, sewage, plumbing, water sources, caves and cellars) as well as dealing with others in peaceful service.

The other side of my genetics are traced back to Virginia, the Mayflower in fact. Such cognitive dissonance is nearly incomprehensible if one allows it to be felt. In fact it was maddening and it's only by grace I can sort things out now.
 
Hi, im from Mexico. When I visited the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan peninsula, I feel at peace, very calm and somewhat nostalgic.
When one visits the ruins of the Mayan world, one is left with the impression that something out of the ordinary happened in those places.

In the ruins of Comacalco in Tabasco, for example, the red brick city presents a different image than what we know of the Mayans. The most notable feature of Comalcalco is the use of bricks in its construction systems, this due to the null presence of stone materials in the region, in addition to being the furthest Mayan site to the east according to archaeologists. To others it reminds them of “Roman” cities. Stone heads welcome the visitor to the archaeological site and among those with notable Mayan characteristics we find some with beards that remind us of the Greek ones. Anything bearded for Mexican archeology means Quetzalcoatl today.

3738086588_e02fd6672b_b.jpg
1200px-Comalcalco.Museo_de_Sitio_1.jpg

In Ek-Balam in Quintana Roo there is one of the most amazing pyramids in the Mayan world and at the top a beautiful and mysterious temple. Archeology says:

"The Acropolis on the north side, is the largest structure and contains the Ukit Kan Le'k Tok' tomb. It measures 146 meters long, 55 meters wide and 29 meters high. The plaster frieze, splendidly preserved, covers the door with the open jaws and fangs of a serpent or monster, above these the king on his throne and on the sides the figures of winged warriors. Apart from Ek Balam, this type of decoration only appears in the distant style of Chenes, in Campeche.” For others, the fangs represent the jaws of a Jaguar, in fact the name means "dark jaguar".

When I visited Ek-Balam I was amazed by the main structure at the top of the pyramid. There were swastikas on the facade and large jaws. But the most surprising are some hieroglyphics on the door that recall Egyptian motifs.

image004.png
image007.jpg

icono-azteca-del-símbolo-de-la-cruz-gamada-ejemplo-152585691.jpg

Seeing the façade is a feast for the eyes, serpentine fretworks, winged warriors, crosses, masks...

What state of consciousness or perception or reality must be necessary to understand the symbols i wonder.
 
Appreciate what you've shared
Hi, im from Mexico. When I visited the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan peninsula, I feel at peace, very calm and somewhat nostalgic.
When one visits the ruins of the Mayan world, one is left with the impression that something out of the ordinary happened in those places.

In the ruins of Comacalco in Tabasco, for example, the red brick city presents a different image than what we know of the Mayans. The most notable feature of Comalcalco is the use of bricks in its construction systems, this due to the null presence of stone materials in the region, in addition to being the furthest Mayan site to the east according to archaeologists. To others it reminds them of “Roman” cities. Stone heads welcome the visitor to the archaeological site and among those with notable Mayan characteristics we find some with beards that remind us of the Greek ones. Anything bearded for Mexican archeology means Quetzalcoatl today.

View attachment 53884
View attachment 53885

In Ek-Balam in Quintana Roo there is one of the most amazing pyramids in the Mayan world and at the top a beautiful and mysterious temple. Archeology says:



When I visited Ek-Balam I was amazed by the main structure at the top of the pyramid. There were swastikas on the facade and large jaws. But the most surprising are some hieroglyphics on the door that recall Egyptian motifs.

View attachment 53886
View attachment 53887

View attachment 53888

Seeing the façade is a feast for the eyes, serpentine fretworks, winged warriors, crosses, masks...

What state of consciousness or perception or reality must be necessary to understand the symbols i wonder.
Thanks. Deeply appreciating your sharing about your experience, these photographs & graphics. I'm moved be these places, the energy around them. Seems to be a matter of interest to understand or translate that energy or movement ...
 
This felt like spirits were clawing at me as I recall. I was shocked, taken by surprise and didn't have the ability at the time to sit with it and examine it like I would today.

Someone has suggested those sacrificed in their ball games may have something to do with the energy I felt.
Your experience doesn't sound like anything I'd willing walk into. The same, or any effect might not be felt by most, except the more sensitive.

I read, somewhere, that our sacred sites have been copped by the dark. And certainly if any sacrifices, particularly blood sacrafice, took place, then anti-life forces would be attracted to the spot.

Did you have any lingering effect from your experience, Marcus?
 
Your experience doesn't sound like anything I'd willing walk into. The same, or any effect might not be felt by most, except the more sensitive.

I read, somewhere, that our sacred sites have been copped by the dark. And certainly if any sacrifices, particularly blood sacrafice, took place, then anti-life forces would be attracted to the spot.

Did you have any lingering effect from your experience, Marcus?
Wonderful question Zzartemis. The short answer is yes, I have a full experience memory in my body, mind, emotions to draw from when I face life today where I am. It's one of many strong encounters that recently surfaced in my work. I've never found myself very wise in terms of labeling places as either good or bad, but I have felt an inner taste or message to stay away or be open to other places.

As this place and experience informed my main character, I find this encounter with the buried history and remnants of a lost civilization as a fragment that rose to my mind that serves as a solid example of my sensitivity, part of my developing awareness.

As this and many other bizarre encounters and achievements seemed to happen, I didn't consciously pursue this - it seemed to arise from my "stumbling" recklessly into the unknown, I see it fulfilling a step in my inner quest for development.

In the past, the only places in the world I deliberately blocked sub-consciously, as I now recall something in me forming to oppose as if some places were at the time more than I could bear, were Egypt and Western Africa. My curiosity walked me into a number of dark alleys in both highly developed settings with a number of influential parties as well as in third world countries face to face with poverty stricken, desperate situations. I'm not feeling that block anymore.

I do not feel compelled to return and re-examine this particular site in the jungle along the border of Guatemala and Belize, but would not rule it out if the situation rose before me, which I presume is a possibility.
 
Hi, I'm from Mexico. When I visited the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan peninsula, I feel at peace, very calm and somewhat nostalgic.
When one visits the ruins of the Mayan world, one is left with the impression that something out of the ordinary happened in those places.
I agree, Puma. The peace and quiet in the ruins (I think it's funny we call them ruins - as they aren't ruined at all - just overgrown) is addictive - but not in an obsessive way. I think that the builders had mad engineering knowledge of sound and limestone. The corbeled arches have this weird effect of pushing silence around you. Everything is sonically tuned.

At Chichen Itza the ball court has the weirdest reverb and echo when you clap your hands inside it. When I tried the same thing at the much smaller ball court in Becan with no touristas - it still happened. Not a co-incidence.

The "nostalgic" element is something both me and my wife feel on the sites as well. It's a pull - but neither of us have any Maya DNA. I would guess it's something else - maybe in the reincarnational arena? Who knows?

And to add to Zzaretemis's comment above, I know it was asked to Marcus Aurelius about how he felt, but I've been asked that same question many times in my discussions with people who ask about experiencing the Mayan sites.

For all my time at the sites except one, nothing negative has hapened or come into my thoughts. I'm not a very sensitive person, but I try to pay very close attention to everything around me. As Puma mentioned above, the overwhelming feeling is peace, wonder and nostalgia. The only time I felt "darkness" was in 2002 when we visited Chichen Itza. This was before they closed off the Temple of Kukulcan to tourists ascending it. The steps are very steep and many people get vertigo before getting to the top.

Somehow I got my size 13 feet up to the top. Inside the apex of the temple/pyramid is a series of low-ceilinged chambers. Inside it was really dark, even in the middle of the day. There was a weird smoky coating on the inside of all the walls. Even after all the centuries, it still had a the faint smell of a rendering plant. So I'll go with the archaeologists that there was human sacrifices there. I wouldn't say it lingered, or followed me - but it was something I'll never forget. It was darkness. Nothing else on the site felt that way.

One thing I think that's important to take with you when you visit the sites is that the elites are long gone. They were the ones that built that world - for better or worse. And wherever they went - their magico-religious techniques and sacrifices went with them. The local Maya, in my experience, are kind people with a long memory of the past and a reverence for it, but that world is a memory. It's more alive for them, than my North American past is, but they know it's "faded out" for lack of a better intuitive understanding on my part. Their ancestors cut the limestone for the pyramids in the jungle, and now they cut the limestone for the mansions of the rich North Americans and the highways for the Mexican government.

If what the C's say about the Mayan elite being transported to - "4D Lizzie Land" - is accurate - it seems pretty complete. I do feel safer in the Mayan jungle than I ever would in a Canadian or American big city. It's just very different and at times uncomfortable. But I don't feel any darkness there.

We are an STS world. The Mayan elite were very advanced at their astronomy and cyclical catastrophic calculations. Their "Darts of Venus" (comets) that controlled their world and their ages are similar to what we're coming to understand here with Pierre and Laura's work as well as others. But these cities sat under jungle for 1000 years in many cases. The locals know where they all are, but no one cared to ask them until the 1930's.

We were invited by a friend in Mahaual to come out to his daughter's baptism in a little village in Quintana Roo called, Los Divorciados. It was a great time and we got to really experience a Mayan village. Once dinner was done and we had a few beer, my friend Resendo offered to show me a ruined site a few miles from the village known as, "Los Panteras". We could go their that night, but had to wear masks on the back of our head - because jaguars won't attack face to face :-) I passed on that one. Probably not best to transverse the jungle to the lost city of "Panthers" in the dark.

He was probably playing me as the "gringo", but it added to the whole experience :-)
 
Back
Top Bottom