Shanti Shanti Shanti

So let's talk about the group I was there with. It was a New Age group that leads (mostly) gay and lesbians on travel adventures. Fits very nicely with me and my desire to travel, yes?

The folks in attendance were all very nice. The leader got us into various sites which were not open to the public (or had public sites closed just for us) by showing the right amount of 'gratitude' (read: the right amount of pesos) -- palm to palm gratitude. The place we stayed was also nice -- more about that later.

But one problem I had was that we had a nightly check-in after the days activities, and that check-in really was a group therapy session. The leader encouraged people to talk about their feelings, and why they had come to Teotihuacan, and what issues 'Teo' might be able to help them with. There was lots of talk of energy, which is not too far off from my own belief system, but the group therapy was not something I was prepared for nor wanted. Think: lots of tears and discussion.

Another thing that bugged me was the at the leader conducted very visible (and for me quite uncomfortable) group ceremonies at each of the sites. For example, consider that at the top of the sun pyramid, all 12 of us gathered in a tight hug of a circle to pray to the Divine Mother (Earth), and sing and chant Om...again, not beyond the pale belief-wise for me, but I found those activities uncomfortable, and I'm afraid my energy was a distraction from the group.

It felt very religious, in a syncretic way, and I don't really want another layer of religion. I already have the layer I grew up with, and I use Buddhism as a sort of tool-set to help me work out emotional stuff.

The example I came up with for how to explain my discomfort is this: what if you had some problems you wanted to talk about in group therapy, but you were placed into a religious group therapy for a religion you didn't follow? Let's say it was a Hindu group, and as people are discussing their problems, the group responds with talk about Parvati or Shiva? It was kinda like that, except it was more talk of energy and the Divine Mother, etc.

Again, nice people -- just the group check-in thing was not for me!

Temple of the Moon

One day we climbed the Temple of the Moon. Here is the approach --


You can see the incline of the stairs --


From the Temple of the Moon, looking out over the plaza towards the Temple of the Sun --


On the way to the temple that day, we did an exercise where we had to walk with our eyes closed along a path about 300 feet long. We each had paired up with a guide who would prevent us from getting too far off track. At the end, a hug from the guide, and then we would trade places, and the guide became the walker. I rather enjoyed the exercise. I could feel with my feet when I was on the path and when I had strayed onto the grass. My guide noted that I walked confidently along the path. I actually briefly went into a meditative state while I was walking.

Climbing the Temple of the Moon was harder than Quetzalcoatl because it felt steeper.

Where We Stayed

Room and board was included in the price we paid to attend this trip. We stayed in a place called the Dreaming House -- the proprietor and his wife were very good people, and we were well treated and fed the entire time we were there. The man is an artist, and I bought several souvenirs from his shop.

The guest house was actually walkable to the pyramids site, but the roads were not great for walking -- both from a security standpoint, and also from a muddy standpoint. Also, once you got to the site, there is a ton of walking. The Dreaming House provided transportation each day to where we were going.

Cute courtyard -








Huge Century Plants --


Cute room --




Remember toilet paper does not go in the toilet, but in the trash can next to it --


One thing to keep in mind...this guest house is about simplfication, and no distractions. So there is no TV in the room. And there is only hot water in the shower, not the sink. I rather enjoyed the room -- except for maybe the TP thing, lol!

Our last night at the Dreaming House, there was a celebration of the Lady of Carmen, who is evidently the patron saint of the Meatizus -- mixed race people -- of Mexico. (Brazilian Portuguese also has that word, but it is Mestiços in Portuguese.)

First we were given these sort of crosses -- they had a word for them, which started with an X, but I can't remember right now. There's a picture of the Lady, and a bag of bread, which we could eat later. We danced a conga line round and round the compound with these crosses bobbing up and down...then the main event started.


The Lady was positioned in the courtyard to face El Toro -- the Bull -- 3 times. Each of the 3 Toros (someone who has put on the Toro costume) lights up the fireworks attached to his costume, and charges the Virgin (our Lady of Carmen) while selected women stand to guard the Virgin and withstand the sparks, and while the crowd runs away so as not to get burned. After the attached fireworks burn out, Toro bows before the Lady.

Here is a video of one of the 3 Toros. The reason for pointing the phone down 1/2 way into the video is because the crowd was pressing into me as they ran away from the fireworks sparks!

"Celebration for Our Lady of Carmen" (Watch on Vimeo)