This is probably the most significant capture I have ever taken as no other culture of the world regarded the heavens and the Milky Way quite like the Mayas.

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The Milky Way guided essentially everything within Maya life and was of great significance to the Mayan Culture in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. To capture it in the exact place where they lived, studied and were guided by the milky way was truly an out of body experience.

To the Mayas the Milky Way (Wakah Chan) was the birthplace of all life. Also known as "The Sacred Tree" in the heavens to the ancient K'iche, it was viewed as the "Crossroads" into the afterlife. It seems that when a planet, the sun, or the moon entered the dark rift of the Milky Way in Sagittarius (which happens to be the exact center of the Milky Way, the Galactic Equator), entrance to the underworld road was possible, which could then take the journeyer up to the Heart of Sky."

©2015 Lifescapes West / Ryan Smith