Land of FIRE & SERPENTS

From Mexico to El Salvador, the people, traditions and cultures of the Mayan world still survive today, long after its cities turned to ruins. Plot your own Mayan adventure with our trip planner

- Richard Arghiris

The Yucatán sky glowed fierce and red like the embers of a fire that refuses to die. As hundreds of chattering blackbirds flocked to their roosts among the rows of ornamental trees, a raucous procession of skeletons descended on the central plaza, dancing and streaming with ribbons. The great welcome had begun, and as the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto faded to pastel shades of twilight, the neighbourhoods lit up with candles, one by one.

"The Maya believe that death is the complement of life," said my companion, Don Anecito. "One is born, one grows, and finally one dies. If death didn't exist, life wouldn't be complete."

With a cordial demeanour and spellbinding flair, Don Anecito, an ardent promoter of his Mayan culture, began narrating the mysteries of Janal Pixán (pronounced ha-nal peesh-an), otherwise known as the Feast of Souls, a month-long festival of the dead with deep roots in the ancient Mayan world.

"One has a fear of death," he said. "But the grandfathers and grandmothers say it shouldn't be like that. Because the souls come to visit us. They come to bless us. They come to hang out with us a for a while."

During Janal Pixán, the dead and the living reunite beneath altars hewn from rough-cut saplings and palm thatch. The altars are adorned with flowers and leafy jungle foliage, then filled with cloth, gourd bowls, sacred candles and photos of the departed. Food and love, the most important offerings, are the final alchemy that connect life and death, past and present, ancestors and successors in the Mayan circle of time.