Yucatan Dreams

Moments in the Flow…The Tulum That No Longer Exists

Hello again,

These days I often find myself grateful for the fact that I did a lot of my long journey travels before the hordes changed the culture and commercialized the sacred sites. I watch Rick Steves’ travel show on PBS and see the streets of every city, museum, and seaside destination filled to the max with tourists and locals and I think, how can you feel this place now?

To be fair, it happens everywhere. Upstate South Carolina has also transformed since I moved here 21 years ago and downtown made the top 10.

But I have memories and photos of those travels in times before. One memory that was jogged twice during this week was my first trip to Tulum on the Caribbean Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. And since I’ve posted about squirrels and raccoons this week, this story fits right in.

A Cruise to the Yucatan

It was spring in the early 1990s, and I was living in southeast Florida. A friend had broken up with her boyfriend and offered the extra ticket for a cruise through the Gulf that ended at the Yucatan Peninsula. The Mayan culture was not paramount in my mind back then, but this would be my first cruise, and it was on a new cruise line that offered a smaller ship, and an excursion to a Mayan pyramid.

My cruise on the Royal Majesty ruined me for all others. The ship was less crowded, easier to navigate and the food and service was so good I thought of taking up residence. The new cruise line was Norwegian and only sailed from 1992 to 1997. It was a Florida to Yucatan offering and when they expanded to include a summer voyage from Boston to St George’s (near Bermuda) and, due to technical difficulties the Majesty ran aground on Nantucket Island. And in 1997 the company was absorbed by Norwegian Cruise lines.

The Royal Majesty

Since I’d picked the excursion of visiting the Mayan Pyramid at Tulum and the magical lagoon of Xel-Ha’, I decided to clear a small quartz crystal, wrap it in a hand towel, and take it with me. I thought I’d place it on the pyramid steps to see what information I might receive. I had been familiar with the metaphysical axiom, “Knowledge is stored in stone and bone,” for decades and this would be my first place to test it.

Visiting the Tulum Pyramid

We were off ship very early and into a small boat that took us to the area of greatest civilization near our destination, the Playa del Carmen. Here, the non-air-conditioned tour bus picked us up. If you’ve ever been you know when I say the heat and humidity of this region is off the charts I’m not exaggerating. They had a hamper full of cold Pepsi (safer than water to drink back then) and though I never drank soda, this was survival. We applied the icy glass bottle on forehead and neck before we drank the contents.

The bus took us on quiet roads, past small roadside stands with tourist offerings. They stopped once at a low-key shop in case we needed to refresh ourselves and buy something, but the last thing you wanted was a blanket or bag on your body for the hot bus tour. So, a purchase would not happen until the boat taking us back to the ship was visited by a smaller boat with two very eager men selling blankets. Throw the blanket up, throw the money down. The one I bought for $10 is on the back of my office chair now.

Tulum Pyramid from my disposable camera.

And the next roadside stop was the area of the pyramid. Except for our group, it was empty. There were several other buildings, and I chose to use the one directly across from the pyramid that was in the east near the edge of the cliff. I placed it and went off to hear what the tour guide was saying.

This pyramid had steps, but they were on the front and of the same length. More familiar images are pyramids with four sides of steps with graduated length, like Chichen Itza. I was surprised to hear that the pyramid was oriented to the Spring Equinox. When the sun rose on that day, a ray of light would come though the center of three ‘windows’ at the top of the pyramid and into the hall of the smaller building where my crystal was ‘cooking.’

A Mayan Goddess

He also said it was the only one that had a female goddess attached to it—the moon goddess Ixchel. Goddess of water, medicines for healing, moon cycles, fertility, harvest, love and sexuality. If she’s angry, there are floods and destruction (it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature).

I will say the views of the Caribbean are also worth seeing. The colors of the water were immortalized for good reason in Enya’s hit, “Caribbean Blue.”

When it was time to go, I wrapped the towel around the crystal and got on the line for the bus. But I looked back at the pyramid and saw a raven sitting above the windows. I thought I would take a photo, but the disposable cameras we took on vacation did not have a zoom lens and so it wouldn’t capture what I was seeing. I felt the raven was fully aware of my gaze, while no one else seemed to be looking that way.

Feeling Xel-Ha’

Xel-Ha' from my disposable camera.

Off we went to Xel-Ha’ and an experience you can never have now. Coming over a small bridge from the buildings at the entrance, I saw the lagoon was crystal clear with small colored fish. We were shown the changing rooms where we could put a bathing suit on. But I found it was too hard to change into something because my clothes were literally stuck to me (really, that hot and humid).

When we got to the wooden walkway where there were steps leading down to the water, those who ventured in seemed to be in bliss. I was feeling this, just looking at it. No loud voices or buildings here, just the beautiful water, endless sky and dark green plants on the sides of the lagoon. I have no doubt Ixchel was involved with this location, too.

The Yucatan Dream

By the time we got back to the cruise ship all we wanted was to have a cold shower and take a nap before our early dinner call. And that’s when it happened.

I have only had a few lucid dreams in my life, and this one was short but powerful. I was back at the Pyramid, looking over at the Raven. It flew toward me and I put up my left forearm. I felt it land, its claws gripping and the weight as it remained. The Raven’s eye, looking into mine had power. I wasn’t afraid, but the next moment I was awake.

Raven Medicine

Home again, I mentioned this to a person who was involved in spiritual work and he said, “This was a message to tell you that you are one of the Bird Tribe.” I only saw him once again when he came to show me a book, “The Return of the Bird Tribe.” From what I gathered, this was about a group of light workers from other lifetimes coming back to help the world.

Bird Tribe or not, I hope I have helped a bit. And that I can continue to do so. But it’s also relevant that in Lakota teachings the Raven is the bearer of magic and a harbinger of messages from the cosmos. In other medicine ways, it brings the mystery of the void, transformation, and the need for deep shadow work. I must say I did embark on that work without connecting it to this Raven visit and though moments of transformation are uncomfortable, it has been very worthwhile.

Why Can’t You See This Tulum Again?

My second trip to Tulum took place about ten years later. This time I flew in and took a bus up to teach an Aromatherapy class at a yoga retreat center on the beach. Anticipating the heat and humidity, I wore sarongs and sleeveless tops.

We stayed in closed adobe palapas with palm thatched roofs. Apparently, there was no way they could get the screened windows up without gaps on the sides and I had thanked god/dess many times for the ceiling fan (though power was turned off at midnight) and especially the mosquito netting around the bed.

If you weren’t in wind or a shower, the large mosquitoes were relentless day and night. Fortunately, the yoga center’s store sold their own essential oil repellent, and it worked like a charm. They would not allow any other insect repellent or certain types of suntan lotion.

The whole area seemed to be conscious of the environment, and all their practices were aligned with this. There were only sand walkways, with small foot baths at the entrance to the palapas and a larger one at the huge dining palapa to get the sand off before you entered.

In our own little world, I was not prepared for things to come.

Revisiting Past Places

Naturally, I wanted to repeat my visits to Xel-Ha’ and the Pyramid ruins. But when we arrived, I was shocked to discover the casual, quietness of the lagoon at Xel-Ha’ and the way to the Pyramid had changed.

Xel-Ha’ became a noisy horror show, with wide, cement walks on either side where crowds were in restaurants with music playing in the outdoor seating area or visiting the many shops. The sacred water was crowded with people, too. I couldn’t wait to leave.

The day before I left for home, I took a couple of students to see the Pyramid ruins. The bus we found took us to a ticket entrance that opened into a huge parking area with several buildings, resembling a shopping center. It was also quite busy. Here, you could find souvenirs, clothing and jewelry of varying prices. You also found the shuttle you needed to take to the ruins. Of course, more people were there when we arrived. But though I found this disappointing, it was better than Xel-Ha’ as the ruins remained without shops or food stands surrounding them. And the view over the water was as beautiful as ever.

Lizard Medicine

No Ravens appeared for me, but large Iguanas were proudly guarding the buildings. We had those on the window ledges at the dining Palapa, too. Lizards have their own medicine and reading it, I find it was part of that second trip for me. Survival and adaptation to challenging environments, shedding old patterns, the capacity to heal and emerge stronger from life’s trials. That’s another part of the story I won’t tell here.

A few years ago, I saw the words “Mayan Riviera” and when I googled I saw the pristine beaches of Tulum were now covered with air-conditioned beach hotels. My personal Yucatan dream is completely over.

Maybe the coming of this complete transformation was also part of the message from the Raven in my dream and the Lizards at pyramid ruins. All is changing now and we must adapt and allow the power of transformation, using it to grow stronger.

See you next time!

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Some info about Tulum the way it was centuries before I visited: The site might have been called Zama, meaning City of Dawn, because it faces the sunrise. Tulum stands on a bluff facing east toward the Caribbean Sea. Tulúm is also the Yucatán Mayan word for fence, wall or trench. The walls surrounding the site allowed the Tulum fort to be defended against invasions. Tulum had access to both land and sea trade routes, making it an important trade hub, especially for obsidian.