While We're Talking About Jaguars

Leaving aside for this post my apparent obsession with Jaguars, the Mayans for over a millennium have been building temples with Jaguar imagery. Here's a brief tour of two wonderful Mayan Jaguar temples. The first is at Tikal, Guatemala.

The second it at Lamanai, Belize.

There are of course many ancient Mayan carvings of jaguars. Like this one of a jaguar said to be devouring a human heart at Chichen Itza in Mexico:

The temples were built without the use of the wheel. The rocks were assembled without the use of steel. The carvings were made using obsidian and other hard materials to cut the limestone. All of which is to say that Mayan devotion to the jaguar overcame technological obstacles to building these sacred objects.

The Jaguar Again

Oh I have been dreaming about this jaguar. This dream jaguar. So many times. It's a strange experience. When she arrives in my dreams, I am immediately both delighted and terrified. I don't initially recognize her. Is it some other one, a jaguar that doesn't like people? Or me? Am I about to have a problem? Should I run away? Or wake up. But then I hear her deep, loud purring. I recognize her. It's her. And I am so happy that she has returned.