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~ Daily instruction in Mexhica sacred dancing

~ A ritual cleansing ceremony and temezcal (Native sweat lodge)

~ Ceremony at the ancient circular pyramids of Guachimontones

~ Collect opals and obsidian at local sites

~ Sample Tequila's locally made products and learn about the many uses of the agave plant.

~ Time at the Pacific coast

Journey Details:The tour costs $1,200 for double occupancy lodging in comfortable locally run hotels, two meals a day, all ground transportation, Mexhica dance instruction, entrance fees and tour activities. There is an additional $300 charge for single occupancy rooms.

Also available as a custom journey for groups of five or more.

For further information
please contact
hope@jadejourneys.org
or call (603) 762-1259.

Engage with the sacred on this journey through Central-Western Mexico that includes time at the Pacific coast. You will have the opportunity to practice Mexhica ritual dancing while visiting the site where it was first created thousands of years ago. You will also meet with indigenous shamans and learn more about their traditional wisdom and knowledge, including ways to connect more deeply with the elemental forces of the Earth and cosmos.
During the journey, Mexican anthropologist and dance expert Dr. Elizabeth Patricia Torres will provide daily Mexhica dance instruction. These ritual dances differ from folkloric dances because their purpose is to facilitate heightened consciousness and promote physical and emotional well being. The route will begin at Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico, with an opening ceremony and temezcal (native sweat lodge) for cleaning and purifying. From there, we will travel to the small town of Teuchitlan with its recently excavated archeological zone of Huaximontones, whose unique circular pyramids are among the oldest in Mexico. We'll travel along roads strewn with obsidian and agave plants, taking time at the town of Tequila, where the famed liquor comes from. Stops at an opal mine and at the Ixtlan del Rio pyramids - the site of one of Carlos Castenada's books - will follow as we wind our way westwards. The journey will finish on the Pacific coast of Mexico, connecting with sun and sea in a culminating Earth healing ceremony. As you dance the sacred steps that you have learned on this journey, you may perhaps feel a new and deeper connection with the sacred in your own life and in the world.

Journey Guide: Dr. Patricia Elizabeth Torres Villanueva is President of the Huei Tlahtolli Interdisciplinary Anthropological Research Institute, Guadalajara. She is an anthropologist and psychoanalyst who has conducted research about traditional ceremonial dances and their neuro-physical effects for twenty-five years. Patricia is also deeply interested in the possibilities of using dance and ritual as a form of therapy and life enhancement in contemporary society. She has learned healing rituals and dances from communities in Oceania, Asia and the Americas, and she has led sacred danse workshops in the Americas and Europe.