The Guatemalan Maya Centre has revamped its website- it's an incredible resource and recommend you take a look.

"The Centre operates as a small cultural and educational centre dedicated to the Maya of Guatemala. We run a varied programme of topical films and lectures to compliment the free exhibitions and there are more specialised facilities for students and academics: the textile collection (showing the development of Guatemalan Maya costume from the turn of the century to the present day) is one of the largest of its kind with 7000 textiles."

The centre manages a massive archive of film, video, photos, books and magazines documenting Guatemalan Mayan culture. In particular though is the enormous collection of thousands of textiles from 115 communities all over Guatemala. They are regular exhibitions and talks which you can check there website for from February when they reopen.

Krystyna Deuss, who founded the centre in 1990 has just written the book, "Shamans, Witches, and Maya Priests: Native Religion & Ritual in Highland Guatemala". It's available now, this summary is from the new website:

"Shamans, Witches, and Maya Priests is a study of the “old ways” that still prevail in the Q’anjob’al, Akatek, and Chuj communities of the remote northwestern Cuchumatán mountains. With the help of 102 photographs and 49 illustrations, Deuss paints a vivid picture of the traditional rites and rituals she witnessed over a period of 15 years. These include blood sacrifices for the good of the community and private shamanic rituals as well as black magic. Deuss has also included a selection of the prayers she recorded."

Finally, but by no means least, are the photos that the centre holds. Krystyna and Jamie Marshall, the centre's curator, have taken some incredible photos of Guatemala and are well worth exploring on the site.