A little bit of Xela’s history…

Xela was strategically built by the Mams over 1000 years ago, the Quiches, who named it Xe Lajuj Noj, which means under the commandment of the 10 then conquered it, referring to the 10 hills around Xela. The Mayan descendent ethnicities built, just like the Mayans, based on an area’s sacred energy. According to the different Ajq’ij “contador de los días” (Mayan priests and the ones that preserved this land’s history), Noj is the Mayan nawal that turns knowledge and experience into wisdom. They named it “ Xe Lajuj Noj” to determine that the area wasn’t only “ruled” by the 10 hills, but it was more an allegory of the strong mental energy that the place has. Xela is a place to strengthen your mind and renew it. You’ve probably also heard that they built their temples aligned with the stars, what you probably don’t know is that the Spaniards knew this, so in every city they conquered, they followed the same procedure: burnt the place down, destroy the temple and built on top of the temple’s foundation. This is how they gained their followers (well, that and violence that instilled fear of course), because to Mayans it wasn’t what they built on top what was sacred, but the place and its coordinates. That’s why you see all the candles on the churches, and all the syncretism, because they still revere the place’s energy, which in Xela’s place is the energy of the mind. So there, in a nutshell, that may be why you’re having lots of vivid dreams!

It is important to know that because of colonization; the Catholic Church considered the Mayans pagans, and the conquerors tried to erase any trace of their culture. If we add to this that Guatemala had an internal civil war that lasted 36 years (1960-1996) and that it raged against the indigenous culture, it is easy to understand why it is so difficult to learn about the Mayans, and why everything is kept so secret. They do it to protect themselves, because for 500 years they have been persecuted. You may not see it now, but the poverty they live in results from this prosecution, of this failed attempt to erase them. What they didn’t know is that they were seeds, and in the end are growing and blooming, sharing their philosophy to the world.

You can find the history of Xela in the book “Recordación Florida” by Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán. You can learn about the Mayan worldview by approaching their culture, talking to people, getting involved in the community. The sacred book of the Mayans “Popol Vuh” tells how the Mayans thought and how they organized themselves. It is a fascinating symbolism that mixes legends, allegories, sacred geometry and mysticism.