Letter from Laura Lee
The intrigue of ancient temples and pyramids
We can only guess how old these sites are. Are they remnants of Atlantis, code word for a pre-cataclysmic, highly advanced, worldwide civilization, now lost? That could explain why many monuments have in common these features: they were built with as yet unknown construction techniques, they are encoded with mathematical messages, they are astronomically aligned.

More ancient pyramids were recently discovered. I just received email from a German researcher, one of the first Westerners to visit the Chinese pyramids near Xian. Four months ago, a diver found a 60 foot tall pyramid, 20 feet below the surface, off a tiny remote island in Japan.

The mystery of the Maya
Working with a grid map, and placing zero degrees longitude at the pyramids at Giza, Carl Munck has decoded most of the known Mayan pyramids, discovering each temple’s design mathematically encodes its grid point. James Furia is finding that Mayan temples are replete with sacred geometry which is related to music, and suggests that specifically tuned rhythms and tones were used in ceremony to energetically activate the temples. We’ll bring recordings to try out at these sites.
Perhaps voice was another means of activating energetics. John Anthony West had us toning in chambers all over Egypt. We tuned to our own frequency by pitching our voice to vibrate our nasal passages, a technique known to activate the pineal and pituitary glands.
Time was sacred to the Maya. Using sophisticated mathematics, they charted cycles in time going back millions of years. The current cycle ends on the Winter Solstice of 2012. I’m told that on that date, Earth will align with the center of our galaxy, a highly energetic zone only recently identified by radio astronomy. Seems all along, according to Paul LaViollete, the tail of the constellation Scorpio, and the arrow of Sagittarius was pointing to it. How did the ancients know the way to the galactic center?
And how did they build these monuments? Chris Dunn, a machine tooling expert, sees the unmistakable marks of space-age, precision, ultrasonic instruments on ancient granite stonework. Ivan Watkins, geologist, finds: stone and copper tools cannot account for the glazed finish seen under the microscopeon Incan stonework; highly focused light can cut through any stone, leaving a similar glaze; parabolic gold mirrors found in the museums could be part of puzzle. Is the past a key to the future?
After talking about the ancient wonders of the world, well, we just have to go see them for ourselves. Next stop: the stone pyramids closest to home. What an adventure! These are the experiences that stay with us for a lifetime. . Laura Lee

Here is how it went
Day 1 (March 12, Wednesday) We arrive in Mexico City from Los Angeles or Miami and are met by Laura Lee, Paul, and myself for a welcoming reception. Tonight we stay in Mexico City at the Camino Real Hotel.

Day 2. (March 13, Thursday). Our morning visit to the world famous Museum of Anthropology gives us an overview of these great civilizations prior to the European invasion. In the afternoon we go to the Aztec Great Temple ruins and museum. The foundations, accidentally discovered in 1978, are all that’s left after the Conquistadors demolished the temple. Artifacts discovered in the four-year-long dig are on display in the adjacent modern museum. Stay again at the Camino Real Hotel. Meals: breakfast

Day 3. (March 14, Friday) We visit the mysterious Toltec city of Tula, an important city from 900-1150 AD and best known for the huge 15 foot basalt "Atlantes" statues. We drive through the Valley of Mexico to reach Teotihuacan, known as “the Place of the Gods, where heaven and earth, gods and men were bonded together by the laws of the universe.” At its zenith in 600-700 AD it was the sixth largest city in the world. We walk the Avenue of the Dead, a 1.2 mile long pathway that connects the Temple of the Feathered Serpent to the immense Temple of the Sun (as large as the Great Pyramid) and Temple of the Moon. Enjoy Teotihuacan’s Sound and Light Show after dark. Stay again at Camino Real Hotel. Meals: breakfast.

Day 4. (March 15, Saturday) Morning free to explore your choice of the nearby conical pyramid Cuicuilco, or the Frida Kahlo Museum, or revisit the Anthropological Museum, or shop Mexico City’s markets. We take an early afternoon flight to Villahermosa. At LaVenta Park, we see the five massive Olmec heads with African features, sculpted from basalt. Next we journey through the Tabasco lowlands to Palenque. Stay tonight at Chan Kah Resort. Meals: breakfast & dinner.

Day 5 (March 16, Sunday) We have a full day to enjoy Palenque, unique among Mayan sites, in a superb emerald jungle setting complete with howler and spider monkeys and jaguars. Explore the architecture and decoration of the Temple of the Inscriptions. The stone slab lid of the tomb of Pacal depicts, in intricate bas-relief, an ancient astronaut, according to Erich von Daniken. Stay again at Chan Kah Resort. Meals: breakfast

Day 6 (March 17, Monday) We leave the lush Chiapan jungle and enter the Yucatan peninsula, passing through villages and small towns of modern day Maya, observing their everyday lives. Ancient fortifications are reminders of Campeche’s violent struggles against pirates. Next we head inland to the Puuc Hills. Tonight we stay in Uxmal at the Hacienda Hotel. Meals: breakfast, dinner.

Day 7 (March 18, Tuesday) We visit the ruins of Uxmal in the arid Puuc Hills, where Chac the Rain God ruled supreme. Uxmal means "thrice built". The Pyramid of the Magician was built over earlier structures with the older temples nesting inside the more recent. At 120 feet high, it’s one of the easiest monuments to scale. Nearby is the magnificent Governor's Palace, nearly 300 feet long. Next we go to the Palace of the Masks in Kabah, to inspect the 300 masks of Chac. We return to Uxmal for the evening’s Sound and Light Show. We’ll stay again at Hacienda Hotel. Meals: breakfast.

Day 8 (March 19, Wednesday) We explore Mayan life with a visit to the archaeological museum at Hecelchakan, to see the lifelike pottery figurines from the island of Jaina. Next stop is Merida, the bustling Yucatan capital known as the "White City". We visit the Anthropology Museum and the colorful marketplace. Look for the famous Yucatan hammocks and Panama hats, made nearby in caves to prevent the sun from drying out the reeds. Stay in Merida at the Holiday Inn. Meals: breakfast & dinner.

Day 9 (March 20, Thursday, Vernal Equinox) We wake well before dawn to drive to Dzibilchaltun, one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in the Americas, where the Temple of the Seven Dolls aligns to the rising of the sun at the Vernal Equinox. We continue to Chichen Itza, to inspect “El Castillo,” the Temple of Kukulcan. People from all over the world come to see the light-and-shadow illusion of the body of a serpent slithering up the northface staircase (at the Fall Equinox, it slithers down). This is truly an extraordinary event. This pyramid is named for the feathered serpent, known as Kukulcan to the Mayan, aka Quetzalcoatl.. We’ll also visit the astronomical observatory and the Sacred Cenote. The day ends with the Sound and Light Show. Spend tonight in the Mission Inn Hotel near Chichen Itza. Meals: breakfast.

Day 10 (March 21, Friday) It's a National Holiday in Mexico today and Chichen Itza is party-central! Over 40,000 Yucatec Maya, colorfully dressed in traditional costumes, come from far and near to celebrate. Mayan Elder Hunbatz Men, will give an address to the assembled crowds to share information received during a thirty day vision quest with 40 other Mayan elders. Stay again at the Mission Inn Hotel. Meals: breakfast, special farewell dinner party.

Day 11 (March 22, Saturday) We visit to the caves at Balancanche to see stalagmites, stalactites and religious objects left at shrines centuries ago. To the Maya, all caves were an access point to Mother Earth. Mayan priests sealed off these caves at the time of the Conquest and they were only recently rediscovered. We continue on to Cancun airport for a homeward departure after our fascinating look into ancient Mayan civilizations. Meals: breakfast. Hasta la vista!