The ancestors must have been smiling as a small procession representing the element of Fire, dressed in red and white, made its way through the crowded city streets of the Guadalajara historic center, beating an ancient rhythm with their ceremonial drums and trailing the smoke of copal from their saumadores. Traffic and shoppers stopped to marvel at the spectacle, and a few tagged along.
As we approached the Plaza Tapatía, we began to hear the drums. The drums in our hands trembled as if to join them; we felt the vibration in the air and under our feet. As rounded the corner into the Esplanada Hospicio Cabañas a spectacular sight greeted our eyes – thousands of participants filled the plaza, grouped in rings around the ceremonial fire and groups of drummers beating in unison on massive table-sized drums. We followed the procession around the circle and took our places carefully on an elaborately assembled mandala made of various colors of sawdust and the four colors of corn.
The purpose of the event was to unify our hearts with each other, with the Mother Earth and with all of humanity, ultimately raising the consciousness of all who witnessed it, and helping raise the planetary vibration to one more in harmony with each other and with our environment. As we looked around at the smiling, dancing, drumming beings all around us and listened to the words of the event organizers – Ana Teresa Sánchez from Casa Lahak, our own Abuela Esperanza from Teopantli Kalpulli and many, many more – we felt the pulsing rhythm pound its way through our own drums to our hearts.
Here are a few images from this truly amazing event.
