Written by Lydia Jones

Just imagine walking all the way from Central America to the ports of Xaman Há (today's Playa del Carmen) and P'olé (today's Xcaret). The ancient pilgrims had to do so because the Maya did not have horses. At the ports they rested and were spiritually cleansed in the temazcal (sweat bath) by the priests, called Ah Men (He Who Knows). From there the pilgrims hired professional oarsmen to take them on a sacred canoe crossing to the island opposite, a crossing that is re-enacted from Xcaret every year. They were accompanied by men (brothers, fathers, husbands to be) and they came here twice in a lifetime, at the onset and cessation of their moon flows.

 Young girls would have come here at the age of 12, just before their first period, so they could give their first blood to the goddess. They would collect their blood on paper (which the Maya made from the bark of the wild fig tree), then set it on fire under the ceiba, the sacred tree of life, as their offering. At the other end of the spectrum, women would come here for the second time after they conceived children, to express their gratitude.

 There were 32 sites on Cozumel in the past. Some were ports and concentrated on trade and fishing; others focused on agriculture and bee keeping. Some places housed and fed the pilgrims. Quite an admirable administration! Cuzamil, or the Land of Swallows, as the island was called in the past, was the major port in a coastal trade that included Tulum, Tankah and Isla Mujeres, all the way south to Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

San Gervasio was one of the urban units on the island dedicated to the worship of Ix Chel, situated inland. The pilgrims had to walk here a few km from the landing port. They would enter the city of San Gervasio by the Arch (El Arco), which is still visible today. Behind this arch a long ceremonial road begins. It was called a sacbé, or 'white road', because it was built from limestone. It leads to another temple building called Nohoch Nah (Big House). The main ritual place was by the pyramid called Ka’na Nah (Tall House). One of the rituals here involved the priestess stepping inside a large ceramic sculpture called the Oracle of Ix Chel and speaking to the pilgrims on her behalf. It was a hollow figure with a hidden backdoor. A bit of a cheat, if you ask me, (just like the Wizard of Oz) but I presume they were all in a trance during the rituals, both the priestesses and the pilgrims, so details like that would not have been analysed (even if noticed).

 The priestesses also healed infertility (mainly with herbs) and taught sexual techniques, mainly how to transform sexual energy into a higher, sacred spiritual experience of oneness, or union with divinity. The aim was to ‘hold’ the orgasm during intercourse (to be released only when conception was desired). This elevated the internal rise of energy. Depending on the situation, both females and males would get sexual education (individually, not jointly), in particular if they were from the royal families.

The priestesses of Cozumel also sheltered infertile women (discarded by their husbands) and orphans (otherwise heading for human sacrifice). Just inhale that ancient power of the fertility and sex cult, if you decide to come here. It is said that the goddess Ix Chel has not lost any of her influence! Leave something of yours behind: any small object, at the main stairway of a pyramid, or at each corner. Energy always goes two ways: you receive and you give.