Maya Underworld
Stephen Alvarez
National Geographic Magazine
The Maya have been worshipping underground since before the time of Christ. They venture into caves to access their gods. The underworld represents many, many things to the Maya. It is the source of the wind and the rain, of corn; it is home to the beloved dead, and Xibalba – the place of fright. But mostly it is a church, a place to enter the realm of the gods. To this most sacred place the Maya have gone for centuries to perform their sacred rituals. Both in ancient times and today, Maya culture covers Southern Mexico to Northern Honduras and El Salvador. At its peak, in the Classic Period (around 700 AD), the region was home to at least 3 million Maya, possibly as many as 14 million. They built the most complex society in the Pre-Columbian Americas. Their city-states erected huge pyramid temples, produced intricate, beautiful art, and established an advanced writing system and a complex astronomical calendar. The great Maya cities were largely abandoned before the time of European contact. However, the Maya people remain. Today an estimated 8 million modern Maya live in the same area.
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When I first undertook this project I envisioned it as a story about archeology, about what has passed. As the story developed I realized that not only has the Maya religion survived many concerted attempts to obliterate it, but that it is flourishing. The cave rituals survive. The Maya still make pilgrimages to their caves; they still go underground to worship their gods, to visit the dead, to ensure rain and good harvests. They still venture underground to give thanks their to gods. When I saw that, I realized that the story should be about the 8 million living Maya and how their religion, their worldview continues to thrive. What I needed was for the Maya to show me their world. Cave rituals can be very personal, very private affairs. They are not held for public consumption, but for private, deeply held beliefs. It took time to build trust, to gain access to the rituals. In spite of their private nature, the Maya are also very proud of their heritage. They are very proud that it has survived. The Maya also realize that their culture is under attack. It is being eroded from its strongholds by the growing global economy and by a new wave of evangelical Christianity that is sweeping Latin America. Inadvertently the Maya religion found refuge within the Catholic Church. At the time of conquest, the Maya readily adopted the pantheon of Catholic Saints, assigning the names of saints to their gods. Outwardly Christian, the Maya religion was preserved within the Church of Rome. In general, the Catholic Church has been tolerant, even indulgent. In some cases resident priests encouraged Maya iconography within their churches. The Evangelicals are not so sympathetic. For them, any other religion is the work of the devil. Centuries old Maya cave art has been defaced and cave ritual sites firebombed by evangelicals. In Santiago Atitlan, I photographed a cave pilgrimage while the Maya Priest who led it was working under death threat from local evangelicals. The traditional Maya realize they are under siege. They want their beliefs preserved. The following photographs are my attempt to preserve that tradition. This is what I saw during my months spent traveling Central America, visiting Maya shamans and priests, trying to see their world through their eyes. These photos exist only through the generous support of National Geographic Magazine. The Magazine gave me the time needed to explore and build trust with reluctant subjects. Its reputation opened many doors.
