“How was it? What’d you see?” I asked, accosting him in the murky, cramped passage.
“It’s…I’ll let you look for yourself,” he replied, panting, “just keep in mind it’s really dark in there.” The corridor and stairs were so narrow, the two of us could barely sidle past one another. I was already claustrophobic from the musty rooms above ground. Now, in the crypt I could scarcely breathe; my eyes detected shadows in the gloom. Otherwise, there wasn’t much to observe in the chamber: its occupant and his accoutrements had long been excavated. Just an empty space. I hastened out into the sunlight.
“So…d’you see him?” Mark leaned in to whisper. He was one of the members of our guided group at Mitla. We’d briefly bonded over our camera lens preferences.
“See…who?”
“The…y’know…ghost.”
I laughed. “What?”
“Look…I’m not…y’know one o’ those supernatural nuts, but…you didn’t…I mean you had to have seen the guy in there…right?”
“Uh…it’s an empty tomb, Mark.”
“Right…no…right, yea….”
The back of my neck prickled. “You thought you saw someone in there?”
“You didn’t?”
Our guide summoned us for a lecture so we hurried off, but I was distracted. I don’t believe in ghosts. Nevertheless, this ancient ruin could be teeming with them. Mitla, a nahuatl word meaning “Place of the Dead,” may refer to the annihilation of this city by the Aztecs. Even prior to its conquest, constant skirmishes between Mixtecs and Zapotecs left the ceremonial center ravaged. Our docent, James, explained all this carnage to us in precise numbers and calendar dates. I, however, kept wondering about the phantom. Had Mark been hallucinating, or playing a joke on me, or had he mistaken another visitor? A part of me began to speculate whether I had felt the semblance of a presence from long ago.
What makes historical sights come alive for me are details — the uncovered relics, the disinterred murals, the archaeological detritus. I enjoy incorporating these discoveries into imagining how a culture once lived. But, too often the evidence is austere and unrevealing. Though crucial for authenticating what happened in the past, it doesn’t impact my emotions, doesn’t plummet me into a narrative.
Perhaps that’s the reason ghost sightings have remained popular through the centuries, finding new avenues in our digital world. The haunting account of a single soul determined not to be forgotten captures our imagination. Whether it’s a tragic love story or a horror recounted, apparitions involve us with history much more forcefully than artifacts. They remind us that the past is never really gone.
Our chaperoned presentation ends. We’re allowed to roam Mitla on our own. Mark and I return to the burial chamber. It’s silent and vacant. We pop into a couple of other rooms hoping to catch the specter, but he’s elusive. There’s only the faint whistling of wind, the tingling of hair on my lower arms, the shuffle of our footsteps. Then, as we’re exiting the doorway of the last priestly accommodation, we both hesitate, turn back, peer into the grayness. Is it a ghost, is it the shape of our fears, or is it Mitla shifting under the weight of history?
TRAVEL NOTE:
Mitla’s most striking feature is its architectural geometry. Intricate friezes are carved into the sides and interiors of temples and living quarters. Archaeologists are beginning to uncover the cultural significance behind some of the fretwork patterns depicting the Zapotec life cycle, thunder, and maize.
Have a ghost story? I’d love to hear your favorite spooky tales below in the comments!
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I’m a bit of a ghost skeptic, but I would be pretty creeped out in that place.
Your photos are gorgeous, as always.
Haha…sounds exactly like my reaction! So happy you liked the photos.
Your photos are beautiful. I really enjoyed your thoughts on ghosts. 🙂
Thank you so very much for stopping by and for your kind words. ☺️
That was an entertaining narrative, and your photos are wonderful. It makes sense that a good ghost story could bring history alive, one way or another…
Thank you! Mexico is steeped in folklore about death and the afterlife and the narratives here are so different from the ones I’m used to hearing.
Your photos are so enticing… We call them “ghosts” but I think perhaps that’s just our label for spirits which are everywhere I believe. Especially since living in Asia where pretty much everyone believes in spirits. In Vietnam for example, every single home and restaurant has a personal shrine to deceased family members who are spoken to each day. In Bali in Indonesia offerings are put out daily for the spirits – to attract good ones and good karma and ward off evil. It can’t all be meaningless…
Peta
Thank you Peta! I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos. In Mexico as well, spirits are a part of ancestral lore and family stories. Locals here are far more integrated into the tapestry of ghost narratives than I can ever be and I find this a wonderfully intriguing part of their philosophy.
I’m tempted to go….thinking about it….and that is a good nudge, sounds interesting. Of course I’m aware of Day of the Dead, but I’m sure if you’re there in Mexico and hear about it from local sources, it will have a much deeper meaning.
Speaking of the Day of the Dead…before exploring Mexico I’d had the idea that it was some sort of macabre festival, but for most locals here it is a time to gather with family and reminisce about loved ones, honor their forebears, as well as tell ancestral stories. Though, Mexico City does have an impressive parade for the holiday!
It’s a fascinating story and very thought provoking. If it would be O’K for me to meet certain ghosts, I would feel fine. Otherwise it’s spooky. I went on a guided tour of Pushkin museum in Saint Petersburg and our guide told us that a coffin with a body of the poet was kept in a small room for people to bid their last farewell to him. He was mortally wounded during a duel and died. According to our guide visitors often faint in the room, where the coffin was displayed. However I felt fine. Another time we walked around an old cemetery next to San Miniato basilica in Florence and I wanted to get out of the cemetary ASAP. Old Irish cemetaries looks pretty friendly to me. Maybe it’s because Irishmen are famous for their sence of humor?
How wonderful that you enjoyed my post and related some spooky encounters of your own! I believe so much of that eerie feeling we get has to do with atmosphere more than location. I’ve never been to an Irish cemetery but you’ve got e wondering if Irish humor does lend to friendlier graveyards. 😁
While I don’t believe in ghosts, you do hear some stories that make you wonder. I guess you just have to keep an open mind.
I think it’s so much more entertaining when we do keep open minds! Thanks for dropping by to chat.
Great post! I have photographed in a few places that were supposedly haunted. The scariest was an abandoned Pennsylvania state hospital for the feeble-minded and epileptic. The guides told stories of encounters. Even though I was open to an experience and alone in certain areas it was uneventful.
Thank you! Your experience in Pennsylvania sounds incredibly spine-chilling. I would have been dreading the anticipation of going into those areas on my own!
Mexico and Central America are definitively the places to be if you want to do some ghost hunting. We’ve got once also a ghost experience over there and my wife freaked almost out till I said; “come on, it’s just a specter of a human without body and you’re a human specter with a body”.
As always, you have such a witty way of looking at situations! I’ll have to keep your advice in mind when I go on a ghost hunt tour.
Living in Indonesia means I grew up hearing ghost stories from a lot of people. I can’t see them, and I don’t think I want to see them. However, sometimes I do wonder if the ‘ghosts’ some people saw were actually just in their imagination. Still, I don’t want to find out.
I find the stories so fascinating in regards to how they’re similar across cultures and how they’re different. But, I have to agree with you — while exciting to listen to, I don’t think I’d actually like meeting any ‘ghosts.’ 😱
You had the hair on my neck standing up with your suspenseful narrative. Ghosts or not, there is an ethereal quality about some of your photos (4th and 5th ones especially…the clouds and powerful architectural structure). Mexico continues to amaze me. I had not heard of Mitla before your post. Thanks for the introduction.
I’m so thrilled to hear that both my story and photos creating such an atmosphere for you! Thank you. Mexico continues to enthrall me as well, there’s so much to discover in terms of philosophy and culture, and I’m only scratching the surface.
Very interesting perspective on why ghosts are important to us and a very atmospheric post that kept me on the edge of my seat! I’ve never seen a ghost but I have twice done an overnight ghost hunt at our local castle – one time I was walking down some steps into a small room and had an overwhelming feeling of dread, so I had to stop – later someone felt physically ill in that room…so perhaps I’ve felt a ghost, if not seen one 🙂
I’m very delighted the post gave the atmosphere I was hoping for. Thank you for sharing with me your extremely spooky experience! Would you ever consider doing a third ghost hunt after what you went through?
Yes, I’d be happy to go on another – it was only scary for a minute or two!
Good to hear! I’ve never been on any of these ‘ghost tours’ or hunts, but they’ve intrigued me, so perhaps it’s time I went on one as well.
It’s interesting how the occupying Spaniards always made a point of superimposing one of their churches atop a holy place of the cultures that they subjugated. I know it happened with pagan temples in Europe too, but seeing here, in ‘the flesh’, so to speak, is quite intriguing.
It is interesting isn’t it? I see it repeatedly throughout Mexico. But, I need to take more note of this in Europe! I guess it’s the best way of stamping authority over an indigenous culture, since nothing says superiority than tearing down another religion’s sanctuary and using its stonework for your own place of worship.
Stunning photo visit! Thank you for sharing this history-filled place with your narrative and through your lens!
Thanks! So happy you dropped by and enjoyed my eerie adventure.
Wow! A beautiful atmospheric post about Mitla. The beginning reads like fiction, pulling me straight into the story. I felt claustrophobic as you were in the chamber … then shivered on learning about the possible ghost. Your reflections for the increase sightings of these in our modern world are interesting. I agree the details at these kind of sights bring them alive … last weekend I visited The Roman Baths in Bath and they were fabulous. The exhibits were incredible, interwoven how they would have looked in their settings, feeling as we were walking outside the temple square. A scribbled lead ‘paper’ with wishes to the gods revealed how ‘ordinary’ the people were and not so dissimilar to us nowadays. A joy to read about your visit to Mitla!
Thank you Annika, for your insightful critique. I so appreciate it! Your exploration of the Roman ruins at Bath sounds exactly like something I would greatly enjoy, especially as it seems they have done some interesting interactive displays.
I’d never heard of Mitla before, so thank you for introducing this fascinating place (architecture, ruins, history and atmosphere) to me. I prefer the sunshine to the cool, dark interior of the tombs or chambers, but would still venture in to see what I would encounter or feel. A part of traveling is to expand our horizons and wouldn’t it be cool to see or feel a real ghost, if that is at all possible? 🙂
“wouldn’t it be cool to see or feel a real ghost…?” It certainly would Liesbet, though at the time it happens I’ll probably not think so! 😁