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MOISES MORALES, REMARKABLE MAN
I MET THIS MAN DURING A TRIP
TO YUCATAN IN THE MID-SEVENTIES.
THE LINK IS TO HIS LATEST VENTURE AT PALENQUE- A
HOTEL FOR PILGRIMS. IT RESEMBLES HIS
CANADA OF OLDEN TIMES, BUT MORE COMFORTABLE.
MAYBE I'LL SEE YOU THERE SOME DAY.
HERE'S PART OF A 2002 NY TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT THE
UPCOMING END OF THE CURRENT LONG COUNT CYCLE.
IT'S TYPICAL OF MOISES
...The grand old man of Palenque, Moises Morales, isn't buying any of it.
Mr. Morales, 78, is a Mayanist, host of the Palenque Round Table, a
gathering of scholars, and grand panjandrum of Panchan, an ethereal
forest of cabanas and restaurants favored by world travelers. He once jammed a padlock at Pakal's tomb to keep Mr. von Däniken out.
The meaning of the end of the Long Count?
"It's nothing," Mr. Morales said. After all, the Maya say there were four Long Counts before.
"It means nothing for the Chinese," he said. "Nothing for the Jews. Two thousand-twelve is nothing but the completion of a cycle."
Nothing in the Mayan inscriptions at Palenque says this cycle is the
last, and while Palenque was abandoned 1,100 years ago, the Maya liveon, six million strong.
The last word goes to Mr. Morales, whose friends find something timeless in him.
"Palenque," he said, "is not a geographical or historical place. It's a beautiful toy to play with. It gives you whatever you want." |
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