The Aura
With the journey’s
end drawing near. The decision to visit Copan hardened. We descended from the
high lake and arranged transport bound for Honduras. Through the following day,
we traversed the highlands of Guatemala, east, towards the great city of Copan.
Even with a sound awareness of the Highland Maya, one can never estimate the
experience.
Our arrival, after
dusk, provided an opportunity to explore Copan Ruinas, a town outside the
ancient acropolis, obtain lodging and ponder our dawn trek into the past.
Our walk into the
countryside revealed stele along the path. We were walking into a great city of
antiquity, one with aura and one with profound presence. As an artist, and
student of Mesoamerican art history, I was overwhelmed by the amount of
information projected from the structures. My expectations for the profound
visual experience stood exceeded.
This experience
yields endless textures to savoir, dancing with the patinas aged through time. The
corresponding space draped the arborous acropolis as macaws glided through the
city. This is a space rich with artistic and historical information. It calls for
furthered reverence and furthered investigation. Moreover, it completed the
journey through climax. Everything that followed during the journey appeared
minute. It was perfect and it was profound.
