Learning the meaning of our Maya symbols

We invited Eli, a Maya spiritual guide, to explain to us the meaning of the symbols that we weave into our work. Of course, that is a subject for more than one talk, but he began by explaining that our ancestors wove the symbols into their cloth as a way of communicating. They were communicating their understanding about mathematics, the physical world, time, space, colors, different designs, and cosmic messages. They had a written language, too, but it was very difficult and only very learned people could read and write. But in those days, everyone could understand the meanings of the symbols woven into the cloth.

Besides everyday clothing, our ancestors wove ceremonial clothing and many other different cloths for many different purposes. (Maybe you would like to know more about that one day?) Many, though not all, of these cloths are still being woven today. We are pleased to learn about the meanings of these symbols, it is a way of reclaiming some of our identity that has been lost over the past 500 years.