What I Learned From a Guatemalan Shaman [View all]

A Personal Perspective: An experienced that changed how I think about decision-making.
Posted March 17, 2025 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

A few presidents ago, I was quite upset about U.S. involvement in a war. I read in the local paper that the president had gone to Guatemala, and he was taken to visit an ancient Maya archeological site. After he left, according to the article, a Maya shaman had done an energetic cleansing or purification of the site.

I thought this was a remarkable way to express dissatisfaction and opposition and to honor the lives of the Maya ancestors. It was done spiritually, quietly, without fanfare, and without any aggression.

Coincidentally, my husband and I — both of us international travel journalists — were leading a trip to Guatemala. The basic itinerary was set, and it involved some of the Maya archeological wonders from the past as well as opportunities to meet and buy from Maya weavers, artists, and craftspeople at markets, events, and in their villages. We made clear to the tour’s participants that there would be flexibility in the itinerary in case new opportunities materialized.

I decided that it might be very interesting to go to the archeological site mentioned in the newspaper article, and try to find the local shaman to tell him how moving his purification ritual seemed and how inspired it was as a way to express dissatisfaction and the need to protect what is sacred or important to us.

More:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/life-is-a-trip/202503/what-i-learned-from-a-guatemalan-shaman

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Article published during that time:

Mayan priests to purify sacred Guatemalan site after Bush visit
APUpdated:Sep 12, 2018Original:Mar 16, 2007

By Juan Carlos Llorca -- Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Mayan leaders announced that priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate 'bad spirits' after U.S. President George W. Bush's visit.

That a person like [Bush], with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture; Juan Tiney, the director of a national association of indigenous people and peasant farmers, said March 8.

Bush's seven-day tour of Latin America included a stopover late March 11 in Guatemala. The morning of March 12, he was scheduled to visit the archaeological site Iximche on the high western plateau in a region of the Central American country populated mostly by Mayans.

Tiney said the spirit guides of the Mayan community decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of bad spirits after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace. He also said the rites - which entail chanting and burning incense, herbs and candles - would prepare the site for the third summit of Latin American Indians March 26 - 30.

More:
https://ictnews.org/archive/mayan-priests-to-purify-sacred-guatemalan-site-after-bush-visit