As you all know, Dark Moon has been a Tropical Rainforest for a while now. I like to wander about the jungle exploring. I have already informed you that I had discovered an ancient Mayan Calender on the land; I unearthed it while terraforming . . . but I have discovered more! I was just hanging near the monkeys up near the canopy level of the forest, making sure they had enough bananas, when I noticed a shape in the distance I had not seen before. Maybe some of the lianas had died back, I don't know.
At any rate, I wandered over to the edge of the hill, near that old bench (I really should replace it, it is rotting) to look more closely. I was not quite sure what I was seeing. But there, in the distance appeared to me some sort of stone structure! Was it Mayan? How did I not notice this before!
I hurried over to the head of the Red Orchid trail. It is a steep path, but the orchids give off a nice guiding light, and the moon was full, I had my walking stick, so I decided to hike over.
It gets a little dense further down by the river . . . the river I had forded so many times while exploring.
Once down to river level I looked up and could barely see the stone roof above the riotous growth of the understory of the jungle. This was going to be a chore, I could see! Ah well, with pet macaw, I set off.
The river is low this time of year, and the full moon guided my steps across it. It was a bit of a hike up to the east trail through the palms, but I like this area. There are toucans that live nearby.
There is a very old side trail up a ways to the left here. I managed to scramble up and came to a wall, but I still had no concept of the overall structure, what it was, how big it was . . . I continued forward.
Finally there was a place where the earth met the stone low enough for me to climb up! From here I could look up and see the top of what turned out to be a pyramid! It was definitely Mayan! I got excited.
But where was the entrance? How could I get in, or up, or anything??? The Mayan pyramid was buried in the undergrowth. Palms, shrubs and overgrown crotons surrounded it! I even found that somehow I had circumnavigated the building and was farther away! But there was a foot bridge leading back.
The bridge led through the jungle, and I saw where I had made a wrong turn. Although the drop off to the north was dangerous, I managed to scurry around the north side of the stones, and making my way through the dense underbrush came to so stairs. Now this looked like the main entrance!
The stairs were a bit of a climb. Being out of breath and sweaty, I found my heart pounding with exertion and a bit of trepidation! This appeared to be a Mayan Temple! Who knows what rites had been performed there? Who knows what secrets . . . or ghosts the temple held? I approached cautiously.
My macaw seemed to feel my anxiety and flew off as I reached the top platform. There was a small room there with a low roof. I guess he did not want to go inside, but I could not see how there would be a problem. The crowning room was too small and open to be claustrophobic, and some of the stones had fallen out of the back wall. I thought it would be okay. (Macaw by Vinnie Baxter)
But suddenly the floor of the little room fell away with a loud rasping sound that made me spin around in alarm! I looked down to a chamber at the bottom of a precarious ladder! I was wet with the rain that had began falling washing my perspiration from my climb off my forehead and into my eyes. I could not see clearly and my eyes were now stinging. So I was torn. Do I descend or not? What was in there?
I decided to go inside. I looked up to be sure I could get out. There was a warm light, some torches burning! This was kind of nice, actually! So after making sure I could get out, I looked around.
On the far wall, there was another Mayan Calendar! I wondered what mysteries it held!
So I decided to look more closely, in a leisurely sort of way. Spreading out a blanket and a picnic I magically materialized (you knew I could do that, right?) I examined the calendar. Low and behold, it was ancient, and hi tech! Who knew? Turns out if you click on this calender you can see exactly what the Mayans are anticipating in 2012! Yes, embedded in the calender is a wonderful documentary in Spanish, with English subtitles about the current Mayan world! I highly recommend watching this film!
I got so involved I forgot to eat the fruit I had brought! But I learned a lot about the indigenous people of Meso America and their spirituality. So please, feel free to come relax in this lovely Mayan Temple (made by Aral Levitt). Cuddle up on the rug and watch a video! (Lovely cuddle rug by Lionna Dumouriez)
Dark Moon welcomes guest and has lots of educational information about rainforests, Mayans, Afro-Caribbean spirituality, and herbal medicines. Please get a notecard from the welcome sign when you come in, and be sure to click on objects! And thank you Aral for this marvelous Mayan Temple!
Dark Moon slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dark%20Moon/88/171/20
Aral Levitt's shop B A H I A T I K I : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bahia/167/170/23
