ALUNA TEMPLE MAGAZINE Edition No3 'INITIATIONS' | Page 45

Although much was lost in the terrible years of inquisition and colonization, there is a strength and endurance of the people that is coupled with the artful beauty of the traditional handcrafts and clothing, which carry so many massages of their powerful culture and colour their lives and gradually the rest of the world with their vibrancy and mystery. The indigenous Mexican cultures are some of the greatest leaders on the planet today because of the way that their warrior spirits have stayed with what they know to be sacred. Although much was lost in the terrible years of inquisition and colonization, there is a strength and endurance of the people that is coupled with the artful beauty of the traditional handcrafts and clothing, which carry so many massages of their powerful culture and colour their lives and gradually the rest of the world with their vibrancy and mystery. With so much buzz around the date of December 21, 2012, we really set the intention to give our group an accurate understanding of what the Mayan Calendar is, and what the special moment of changeover meant to the Mayan people. To them and to us, 2012 marked a year of transformation and celebration, an important time for rebirth, reflection, and renewal as one grand cosmic cycle was completed and another began. December 21 2012 marked the winter solstice and, in the Maya Long Count, represented the completion of the great cycle of the 13th B’ak’tun, a period of 5125 years, or the 13th period of darkness on the planet. This moment that is still unfolding is a time of reflection and great celebration as a new age develops in the consciousness of our Mother Earth as she moves into a period of coming into true integrity, and in humanity. As our own consciousness evolves and we wake up to the truer potential of who we are and what our reality can be, as we learn to connect with our hearts with our beautiful mother planet, and learn to not damage and strip her barren, but love and preserve her, have her as our teacher and live within her rhythm of life. 45