The Ceiba Sacred Tree

Its original name is Yaaxché. It is a tree 20 to 40 meters high, although there are some records of ceibas that have reached up to 70 meters and it has an average life span of 60 years. Its leaves are very peculiar, each group contains 7 leaves. The seed is edible and its oil is used in the manufacture of soaps. The cottony fiber is used as thermal insulation or as stuffing for mattresses or pillows. The bark heals wounds or rheumatism and the resin that emanates from it is used to cure intestinal diseases.

In Mayan cosmogony, the tree is considered sacred because it symbolizes the cosmos. The branches allow us to reach the 13 heavens; they also represent the spiritual world. The trunk is our earthly world and daily life, and the roots reach the underworld or Xibalbá, where the abode of the dead is located. The ceiba is the axis of communication between the three levels: heaven, earth and the underworld. The gods planted four more ceibas, apart from the Great Mother Ceiba, a white one in the north, a yellow one in the south, a red one in the east and a black one in the west.

The Ceiba tree means life, greatness, perpetuity, strength, kindness and union and, for all these reasons, we chose La Ceiba as the Cultural Symbol of Playa del Carmen.

Written by: Lilicervantes.com