A magical Sunday and start of the week, the Summer Solstice arrived; Saq’ q’ij

We had more than two hours of extra daylight, courtesy of this Sunday, June 20, 2021, a celebration for fathers in various parts of the western world and also the summer solstice (which according to the Institute of Astronomy and responsible for the National Astronomical Yearbook occurred at 21:32 pm), the longest day of the year due to the special tilting of the Earth in relation to the sun, when the night becomes less long-lasting.

One of the top destinations for this summer is the Yucatán peninsula, where the solstice can be appreciated from “The Castle” of Chichén Itzá: it was at approximately 6:30 am this Monday when the East and North sides of this famous landmark were illuminated, leaving shadows on the South and West sides. This is a truly amazing event.

The ancient Maya were accomplished astronomers and the body of research they conducted continues to amaze scientists today, such as the discovery of the solstice, known in K’iche’ Maya as saq’ q’ij, which means: clear, white, shining and luminous days.

The saq’ q’ij is the day when the father sun stops to give us the n’mla’j or nim up’am q’ij (longest day of the year) and, according to the Mayatecum organization, it is the magical moment of purification for the blessing of abundance, fertility, joviality, brilliance and youth.

Translated by Miguel Sánchez