A Personal Mayan Apocalypse

For the late Canadian globetrotter Daniel Northcott, the end came not in December of 2012 but shortly after a critical incident at a Mayan burial ground in April of 2007. Or so it appears.

Though nothing is for certain, Daniel as he traveled to 42 different countries liked to collect small pieces of nature as mementos. When he found himself in the Calcehtok Caves of Mexico and among the remains of an ancient Mayan burial ground, he made what his sister Erin deems an “immeasurable mistake.”

Despite a guide's warning that “because of the rituals and ceremonies that the Maya conducted, the bones were charged with bad vibes” and that travelers who previously took home such artifacts fell sick, Daniel walked away with a small round bone. Not long thereafter, back in Vancouver, Canada, he was diagnosed with leukemia.



During his terminal sickness, Northcott desperately searched for the bone so he could return it. However, the object could not be found. It was only after he passed away that the bone mysteriously resurfaced among his personal belongings, with Erin now planning to return the bone to that cave in Mexico. It's a tragic true-life story more fantastical than most of the ones that are made up.

Her journey back to Calcehtok will also help frame and complete - at her brother's posthumous request - the feature documentary Be Brave, for which he shot 1,000-plus hours of footage over the course of his eight-year travels. There is currently a flexible funding campaign underway on Indiegogo for the project and at press time, about a third of the $183,000 goal has been raised. RIP

[Be Brave]