My husband, Frank, and I first went to Merida, Yucatán, for our honeymoon in 1976. On that preliminary journey—and different journeys that adopted with Wilderness Journey—I grew to become completely fascinated by the Mayan lifestyle that later impressed me to write down two books.
Throughout our first journey, we realized that the Maya left lots of of monument stones carved with elegant glyphs, but the power to learn them had been misplaced.
The primary ebook, Jaguar Princess, follows a narrative a few younger girl who can learn Mayan glyphs and is destined to be a shaman. I used to be impressed to write down it after watching a documentary about an eleven-year-old boy who accompanied his archaeologist father to Mayan ruins and found tips on how to learn Mayan glyphs. I had an “a-ha” second—a lady may do this too! I used to be on my method with a narrative that needed to be informed.
To additional my ardour and analysis for Jaguar Princess, Frank and I joined WT’s symposium, World of the Maya: New Discoveries at Historical Copán in January 2010. We visited ruins with archaeologists and attended seminars on the Maya, assembly consultants in addition to native individuals.
Me, standing in entrance of a Mayan temple in Oxkutzcab
We joined Dr. Robert Sharer and Dr. Ricardo Fasquelle as they shared their years of analysis at Copán, and visited the tunnels beneath the royal acropolis. Dr. Marc Zender of Harvard College led our tour from Copán to Tikal to Caracol and Lamanai. He confirmed us tips on how to learn syllables in Mayan writing, described the importance of every constructing we visited, and answered my many questions tirelessly. Our information, Antonio Cuxil, who spoke English, Spanish, French, and German along with his native Mayan language, shared his ardour for Maya tradition and launched us to different descendants of the Kaqchiquel Maya.
In December 2012, we joined WT’s symposium, World of the Maya: Cycles of Time at Uxmal, an genuine Mayan metropolis properly away from the extra crowded websites of the Yucatán Peninsula. To rejoice the monumental transition within the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012, the symposium targeted on Mayan timekeeping, astronomy, and archaeology. I can’t describe how a lot it meant to me to fulfill the authors of the books on Mayan archaeology that line my bookshelves.
Among the many visitor audio system that 12 months had been: Dr. Anthony Aveni, Professor of Astronomy at Colgate College, pioneer in Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy, and writer of The Finish of Time: The Maya Mysteries of 2012; Dr. Harvey Bricker and Dr. Victoria Bricker, Professors Emeritus of Anthropology at Tulane College, Analysis Associates on the Florida Museum of Pure Historical past, and co-authors of Astronomy within the Maya Codices; Dr. Susan Milbrath, Curator of Latin American Artwork and Archaeology on the Florida Museum of Pure Historical past and writer of Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Artwork, Folklore, and Calendars; and Dr. Karl Taube, Professor of Anthropology on the College of California at Riverside and writer of quite a few publications on historic writing and religions together with Gods and Symbols of Historical Mexico and the Maya.
My newest ebook, Misplaced Jade of the Maya, is the sequel to Jaguar Princess, and contains data and perception I realized whereas on World of the Maya: Cycles of Time at Uxmal.
After the 2012 Symposium with WT, Frank and I attended the particular tour program, “Uxmal to Palenque,” with Alfonso Morales, Principal Investigator of the Cross Group Undertaking, accountable for thrilling latest excavations at Palenque. Frank captured the picture of the funeral masks used on the duvet of
Misplaced Jade of the Maya
In December 2017, I’ll once more be part of WT throughout their symposium, World of the Maya: New Discoveries within the New Millennium, as a workforce of consultants sheds gentle on exploring latest discoveries which have modified our understanding of Maya tradition.
-Textual content by 10-time WT adventurer Marjorie Bicknell Johnson, pictures by Marjorie Bicknell Johnson and Frank Johnson. You’ll be able to view WT’s previous and current Particular Occasions right here. Study extra about Marjorie’s works right here.