Xel-Ha Blog

Presided by the Mayan priest Pedro May Canal, within an atmosphere of profound mysticism, the Honey Harvesting Festival of the Mayan Bee, was celebrated in Xel-Há. This ancient rite, once common in the Yucatan Peninsula, has slowly been fading in practice with the passage of time.

Apiculture for the Mayan been, referred to as meliponiculture, is an activity that has lost its strength in recent year, and currently the meliponini bee is considered to be an endangered variety. Nowadays, it is only practiced in a few traditional Mayan Farms and in Xel-Ha, where it was recently (2007) awarded an acknowledgement for one of the best social responsibility practices endorsed by a company, on behalf of the CEMEFI (Mexican Philanthropy Centre).

At Xel-Ha, we feel it is our priority to inform, revalue, and rescue this important ecological, cultural, and economic resource, so that everyone, from our visitors to collaborators, can learn more about our ancestors, the importance of Mayan tradition, and its philosophy expressed through everyday life.

The Mayan Ceremony has a series of successive events, full of mysticism, such as the arrival of the priest and the musicians, the lighting of incense burners with copal for the scene’s purification, the ceremony at the main altar; the honey harvest, the prayer at the high altar, the presentation of Baalché and the soup at the alter, as well as the blessing of all offerings.

At the event, accompanying from the special guests were Executive Director Elizabeth Lugo Monjarras, Gregorio Vazquez Cetina, specialist in charge of the honey harvest, as well as Gregorio Vazque Canché, a representative for indigenous cultures from CONACULTA.

The Mayan honey harvesting ceremony consists in redeeming and entrusting the Xunaan Cab to A ha Muzen Cab (Honey-guardian Lord) and to Tsiikil Hobol (Hive-guardian Lord), as well as asking for the blessing of the rain Lords and the True God for protection from evil in the harvest area, and an abundant harvest.

Once these ceremonies in honour of Zuñan Cab have begun, every determined period of time or harvest must be celebrated by a Mayan priest, otherwise risking punishment from the honey deities, as well as illness, foul winds, ceasing of the bees honey producing ability, and the abandoning of their Hobon (hive).

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 10:08 am and is filed under Special Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.