The Mayan Solar New Year, Waqxaquí Toj, was celebrated with a Mayan Ceremony, where every student delivered an offering according to their very own Nahual.

All the teachers and students were part of this celebration in which the teachers guided a small but very significative ceremony. 

When the ceremony ended, everyone enjoyed the local tradition of a delicious cup of hot chocolate and bread.

In Escuela Caracol, Mayan Culture and Cosmovision are very important and basic on the classroom’s daily activities with subjects such as the nahuales, being widely known by our group of students.

One of many Escuela Caracol’s goals achieved is founding ways to include local culture’s aspects such as the language, stories and tales, and the Mayan Kaqchikel’s customs, as an integral part of the curricula.

The solar Mayan Calendar, AB’, has 365 days and is configured based on the earth’s orbit surrounding the sun. Mayan priests, many centuries ago, defined this cycle with a duration of 365.2420 days, current technology determines it in 365.2422 days, the variation between this two numbers is of only two-thousandths of a day; this becomes a very relevant number if you realize the technological differences between the tools and technics used by our ancestors and the current technologies. Something that makes of this fact even more incredible, is knowing that the earth’s orbiting speed is constantly decreasing, this fact could explain the very small variation between back then’s and today’s day length.

Become part of our community and help us continue nurturing heads, hearts, and hands of Mayan children from the western region of lake Atitlán. Go to the link and support one of our students or make a one time donation.

(Source: Audelino Sac Coyoy, Antropólogo experto en la Cultura y Cosmovisión Maya, Ajq’ij.)