New sun ceremony at the cenote Ik Kil near Chichen Itza, 12/21/12

Below is a video of the group I was with in the Yucatan, on the morning of the winter solstice, December 21, 2012. We are in the magical cenote Ik Kil near Chichen Itza, a fabulous sunken and naturally round water hole where we held a ceremony at around 5:00 AM or so.

I was the lucky recipient of the very intense sounds of a crystal bowl being played by Yantara Jiro right near my head – that’s me in the blue sweatshirt in the video below. The experience was extraordinary, to say the least, as it felt like the bowl was blasting soundwaves through my brain and out into the cosmos, at that special opening into the Mayan underworld on that very auspicious day.

The excellent observation has been made that the cenotes serving as the peninsula’s main source of water – and therefore life – created a strong focus on the underworld as the place of creation, because there are no significant rivers in the area to provide water (and myths) otherwise. (H/t John Halsey)

Wow! What a way to usher in the new sun.

Unbeknownst to us and coincidentally, Mesoamerican anthropologist Dr. John Hoopes was above at the time, taking the image of our gathering above right.

Thanks to Steven Rogers for the superb video record of this extraordinary event.

It’s a pity the volume is so low on the video, because the beautiful bowl was very loud, echoing around that special cenote. Note that’s Mayan elder Hunbatz Men giving instructions to Yantara and Gregg Braden at the bottom left. Gregg’s short speech was very powerful and moving.