The discovery of a priceless artifact puts Julia's life in great danger! While on assignment for the newspaper, John and Julia Evans try to enjoy a romantic vacation among the Mayan ruins. When Julia sees a couple suspicious men exchanging an item, she quickly turns and leaves but it is too late. The men have seen her. As a reporter, Julia does not easily give up and her curiosity gets them in a mess of trouble. Before John and Julia realize what is going on, they are both in danger and find themselves running for their lives through the jungles of the Yucatan.

Photographs and simple text describe what daily life is like for Maya villagers, showing how they prepare meals, weave clothing, make roofs, and create art and music.

Enter the world of a Mayan Queen Yohl Ik'nal, first Mayan woman ruler, must overcome forces opposing her rule . . . betrayal and revenge, attack by enemy cities, and shamanic powers. Using her visionary ability, she saves her city from destruction, builds temples to honor her father and the Gods, and brings prosperity to her people while finding a love that sustains her. But she foresees a time of darkness and devastation coming. Danger lurks ahead and she must choose a successor, either her weak son or willful daughter. Can she trust her vision to reveal the will of the Gods? The results of her choice will lead to ruin or bring her city to greatness. Discover the opulent world of royal court intrigue, exotic ceremonies on towering pyramids, shamanic journeys, calendars and healing sciences of the ancient Mayas. Experience the excitement of sacrificial rituals and strategic battles for dominance in this exquisite city soaring in mountain mists. A dynasty hangs in the balance . . .

Near the end of the Terminal Classic Mayan period, a high priest

An authoritative study of the indigenous religion still practiced in Guatemala based on extensive original research and participant observation. Jean Molesky-Poz draws on in-depth dialogues with Maya Ajq’ijab’ (keepers of the ritual calendar), her own participant observation, and inter-disciplinary resources to offer a comprehensive, innovative, and well-grounded understanding of contemporary Maya spirituality and its theological underpinnings. She reveals significant continuities between contemporary and ancient Maya worldviews and spiritual practices. Molesky-Poz opens with a discussion of how the public emergence of Maya spirituality is situated within the religious political history of the Guatemalan highlands, particularly the pan-Maya movement. She investigates Maya cosmovision and its foundational principles, as expressed by Ajq’ijab’. At the heart of this work, Ajq’ijab’ interpret their obligation, lives, and spiritual work. Molesky-Poz then explores aspects of Maya spirituality, including sacred geography, sacred time, and ritual practice. She confirms contemporary Maya spirituality as a faith tradition with elaborate historical roots that has significance for individual, collective, and historical lives, reaffirming its own public space and legal right to be practiced.

“Mr. Allan Burns, I am here to tell you an example, the example of the Hunchbacks.” So said Paulino Yamá, traditionalist and storyteller, to Allan Burns, anthropologist and linguist, as he began one story that found its way into this book. Paulino Yamá was just one of several master storytellers from the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico from whom Burns learned not only the Mayan language but also the style and performance of myths, stories, riddles, prayers, and other forms of speech of their people. The result is An Epoch of Miracles, a wonderfully readable yet thoroughly scholarly set of translations from the oral literature of the Yucatec Maya, an important New World tradition never before systematically described. An Epoch of Miracles brings us over thirty-five long narratives of things large, small, strange, and “regular” and as many delightful short pieces, such as bird lore, riddles, and definitions of anteaters, rainbows, and other commonplaces of the Mayan world. Here are profound narratives of the Feathered Serpent, the mighty Rain God Chac and his helpers, and the mysterious cult of the Speaking Cross. But because these are modern, “Petroleum Age” Maya, here too are a discussion with Cuba’s Fidel Castro and a greeting to former president Richard Nixon. All pieces are translated ethnopoetically; examples of several genres are presented bilingually. An especially valuable feature is the indication of performance style, such as pauses and voice quality, given with each piece.

Will Alexa and Jose solve the Mayan mystery? Will you conquer the SAT? With 1,000 SAT vocabulary words, this book holds the answers! In this suspenseful sequel to The Marino Mission, teens Alexa and Jose reunite at the ruins of an ancient Mayan temple where they unearth intriguing clues about this ancient civilization. When they uncover a sinister scheme to sell priceless Mayan artifacts to the highest bidder, Alexa and Jose get caught up in the throes of a fast-paced jungle adventure that draws them into a heart-wrenching predicament. Your predicament: You want to get a high score on the SAT. You'll uncover the secret in The Mayan Mission. It includes 1,000 SAT vocabulary words, including some tough, need-to-know words from The Marino Mission that are repeated. Together, the two action-packed adventures give you a strategy to master a total of 1,600 challenging words--painlessly, without memorizing mind-numbing lists. As the plot thickens, the vocabulary words become more challenging and your knowledge grows. Words are defined at the bottom of the page, so you don't have to flip back and forth. Creative exercises at the end of the novel reinforce the meaning and proper use of the words. If your mission is to prepare for the SAT, this is a great strategy!