sky temples & tombs

we visited Monte Alban, a temple / burial site another 1,200 feet up the mountains – one of its names means “At the Foot of the Sky”, another translates as “Sacred Mountain”. after seeing it, i believe both.

it is a large place – area started off 4,000 years ago with the Olmec people. in 500 B.C. the Zapotecs who had taken over began Monte Alban. they leveled the top of a 1,600 meter high mountain that intersects and divides three valleys, built Monte Alban with a maze of subterranean passage ways, rooms, drainage and water storage systems.

it was the first urban city in mesoamerica, at one time hosting 35,000 people. had a 1,500 year run. from 500 B.C. to 1,000 A.D. when it was abandoned – they’re not sure why.

i was forewarned there would be no wildlife or birds at the site – if seen, they would be spirit guides. saw a dozen swift-like birds, 2 large hawks, and fairly fresh offering of dog doo. perhaps it was sacred shit.

to get there, we crammed 6 people in a 4-person cab and took off up the mountain. road triple-s curves. lady’s thigh was against the stick shift, so there was a little driver lady leg dance every time he shifted. the dash up the hill was a carnival ride. exhilarating to look back down the valley as we caromed around the cornering mountain road.

find my mind keeps slipping back to the grandeur of the temples, rather like a special film that insists on being reexamined.

we’ve been in a lot of old places along the way. there was a 2,000 year old roman colesium downtown in the 3,000 year old city of pula croatia . . . the thousand year old walled city of marrakech . . . the thousand year old castle of krakow and its 750 year old market square. . . the 5,000 year old stone circle in england . . . the antiquity of london, paris, beziers, venice – they seem to offer deeper, broader energies to the soul, the creative spirit.