The Pyramid of the Magician

I first visited the Maya ruins of Uxmal in March of 1995. It was a transformational journey of self-discovery -- the culmination of a lifelong dream. The archaeological site is located about 50 miles south of Merida, the vibrant capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan. Uxmal was the greatest metropolitan and ceremonial center in the Yucatan during the Late Classic Period, flourishing between the seventh and tenth centuries. It was a seat of power in the southern Puuc region, the low range of hills in the otherwise flat lowland forests of the Yucatan. The city is home to two large pyramids and various temples, plazas and a ball court. Ancient raised roads called sacbes connect the structures, and also were built to other cities in the area such as Chichen Itza. The majestic temples of Uxmal are unique in their type because they were built on various levels and their facades are notable for the intricate stone latticework. The city's limestone structures have ornate carvings, friezes and sculptures embedded in the architecture.
 

The Pyramid of the Magician is the first building a visitor encounters when entering the ceremonial area of Uxmal. The pyramid stands out from other Maya structures because of its rounded corners, considerable height (115 ft), steep slopes and unusual elliptical base. I walked to the base of the pyramid and made a tobacco offering to the temple guardians, seeking permission to enter the shrine. I climbed the steep steps of the east staircase to the temple at the summit, known as the House of the Soothsayer. The elongated temple has an entrance on each side of the wide stairway. Each door of the temple represents the mouth of a cave leading into the heart of the sacred creation mountain. Inside the sanctum of the cave sits the portal that leads to the spirit world.
 

I entered the carved stone temple to find three ornate vision chambers. I sat cross-legged on the floor of the central chamber to meditate. I closed my eyes and stilled my mind by focusing on my breath as I inhaled and exhaled. I invoked the Vision Serpent, the Maya deity who serves as a gateway to the spirit realm. I asked for insight into the origins of Uxmal. This is what happened:
 

In my mind's eye, I could see into the distant past. I saw Plumed Serpent (the Maya creator deity) and three lightning deities, known as Chaac, K'awiil and Yaluk, create the Earth out of the primordial sea and populate it with animals. They wanted to create human beings with hearts and minds who could keep the days of the calendar, but their first attempts failed. When these creator deities finally formed humans out of yellow and white corn who could talk, they were satisfied. They used lightning to open up the Maize Mountain, making the maize seeds available to mankind. The three lightning deities then instructed the first people in the ways of language, culture and the spiritual sciences.
 

The core beliefs and principles of all spiritual cultural traditions originate from the thunder, lightning and rain deities. They are the source of all religious transmission, both ancient and new. As with many Mesoamerican cultures that based their living on rain-dependent agriculture, the ancient Maya held a special devotion for the deities controlling rain. The lightning deities had a particularly strong relationship with shaman-kings because kings were considered to be rainmakers and were able to communicate with the gods of rain, lightning and storms. Kings were initiated by the rain deities, thus becoming their human counterpart.
 

I could clearly see that Uxmal had an ancient and ongoing use as a mystery school dedicated to preserving, protecting and perpetuating the original wisdom teachings transmitted by the lightning deities. The so-called Nunnery Quadrangle of four palatial structures to the west and behind the Pyramid of the Magician was actually used as a school for the training of shamans, priests, calendar daykeepers, astronomers and mathematicians. The Nunnery Quadrangle was a school where teachings were not only transmitted orally, but were transmitted through didactic architecture -- or architecture as a teaching tool. The Maya intentionally used geometric forms to encode their cosmology in the architecture to educate initiates about natural laws and principles. The Nunnery Quadrangle is an enduring example of the sacred science and the high wisdom of the ancient Maya.