Copal

“Mary Ellen is highly commended for this rare and excellent study for an important part of Belize’s indigenous Maya Spirituality and culture. The insights she provides about the use of copal in contemporary Maya spiritual practices all add to vital body of knowledge that would have otherwise become lost to younger generations facing challenges to their traditional culture. This is a must-read for all who seek further understanding of the dynamic interaction of culture, nature, and spiritual practice.”

-Jeremy Enriquez, Academic Director and Belize Program Manager


Copal is an incense that reaches back thousands of years in Central America. The Aztec and Maya revered their resin, the life blood of the copal tree. Read this original research by Mary Ellen McKee from 2001, never before published. Blending the spiritual, the natural, and the anthropological elements of the Maya culture, Mary Ellen McKee weaves the story of copal from her adventures in Belize. 


She was favored by an invitation to spend a night with a shaman in a Belizean village to learn more about the use of copal and found out later she was the first American to spend a night in this village. Drawing from interviews, firsthand experience, and research, Mary Ellen weaves a thread through centuries in the Yucatan, creating a pattern of copal use early and current Maya ceremonies and offering a glimpse into the important, ancient culture.