AP: Mayan Priests to Purify Site After Bush Visit

[Metta]

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer, Mar 9th - 12:21am

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.


"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 Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.


Bush's seven-day tour of Latin America includes a stopover beginning late Sunday in Guatemala. On Monday morning he is 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.


Whole article: http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=456&sid=1083092

[muntrv]

1. Bush is definitely a uniter. He's uniting Latin America against the USA.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Bush is an insult to all things living - even amoebas....nt

[mnhtnbb]

3. This is actually kind of ironic; the Mayans weren't exactly the most peaceful folk

The explosion of information has led to a comparable explosion of theorizing about the Maya, along with inevitable, often vehement, disagreements over whose ideas are right. Nevertheless, a consensus has begun to emerge among Mayanists. Among the first myths about this population to be debunked is that they were a peaceful race. Experts now generally agree that warfare played a key role in Maya civilization. The rulers found reasons to use torture and human sacrifice throughout their culture, from religious celebrations to sporting events to building dedications. "This has come as something of a shock to many Mayanists," says Carlos Navarrete, a leading Mexican anthropologist.

Uncontrolled warfare was probably one of the main causes for the Maya's eventual downfall. In the centuries after 250--the start of what is called the Classic period of Maya civilization--the skirmishes that were common among competing city-states escalated into full-fledged, vicious wars that turned the proud cities into ghost towns.

http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm

[Fresh_Start]

4. Where are angry Gods demanding blood sacrifices

when you need them?

[shain from kane]

5. "The Mayans invented the calendars we use today. The present calendars end in the year 2012."

It has been suggested that the world will end in 2012 as predicted by the Mayan calendar. I don't think that the Mayans could have anticpated Bush* trying to end it during his administration, which, hopefully, won't be extended to 2012.

[windbreeze]

6. Someone please explain to me, why I am seeing a JOHN MC CAIN ad at the bottom of this page????n/t

[AshevilleGuy]

7. The Mayans are Old Souls, which is a good thing.

They know evil when they see it.

I wonder, who will purify the White House in Jan 2009, before our Dem president sets foot in it?? I would stay at the Blair House for several days if it were me, while the WH is stripped and fumigated.

[opihimoimoi]

8. Add DeBugging the Place

[AshevilleGuy]

9. Yeah, they need to do like in 1949 and take the building

to its core and rebuild inside. What a shame. And same for the Naval Observatory up on Mass Ave where Uncle Dickie lives. Bleh!!!!