FEASTS AND MINOR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
Before proceeding further with the account of Maya religion, it will be
necessary to give a short description of the calendrical system. This
was very similar to that of the Mexicans, but was more elaborate, and
enabled the Maya to deal with longer periods of time. Throughout the
Maya country a series of twenty day-signs was current, which, combined
with the numerals one to thirteen, as described on p. 61, gave a period
of 260 days, the Mexican tonalamatl, before the same day-sign recurred
with the same numeral. The tonalamatl however did not occupy nearly so
prominent a place in Maya ritual as in Mexican, though certain portions
of the manuscripts seem to be devoted to it.
Some of the Maya day-signs show a close accordance with the
corresponding Mexican signs, others seem at first sight quite
different. But Seler has shown, by a careful comparison with the
day-names current in the Zapotec country, that most of these
differences can be reconciled. He calls attention to the fact that
the Zapotec name is in most cases equivocal and can be translated to
suit either the Mexican or the Maya sign. The Zapotec themselves used
the Mexican signs, to judge from the remains in their country, but
they carved them in Maya fashion, i.e. surrounded by a “cartouche”
which does not appear in the glyphs of the Aztec period. The use of
the cartouche, however, is found extending up through the Cuernavaca
region to the Mexican valley, but only on pre-Aztec monuments, as I
have stated on p. 174 (Figs. 15 and 33, _a_; pp. 106 and 176). It
may be taken almost for certain therefore that the Zapotec acted as
middlemen in the spread of the calendar in one direction or the other.
But this is a subject to which I shall return later.
The Mayan day-signs are as follows (Fig. 53 and Appendix I):--
_Imix._ This sign corresponds to the Mexican Cipactli, and the
Zapotec word for it also has reference to the crocodile, while the
Maya sign itself bears a close resemblance (not, I believe, hitherto
noted) with the form of eye occasionally given to the double-headed
earth-monster, as can be seen in Pl. XXVI.
_Ik._ This glyph contains the peculiar T-shaped eye found in the
head which forms the name-glyph of God B (Fig. 46, _e_; p. 221).
This I interpret as an eye from which tears are streaming, symbolical
of rain, and it is noticeable that Eecatl, whose head constitutes the
corresponding Mexican day-sign, is shown with a weeping eye (Fig. 4,
_d_; p. 35).
_Akbal._ This is a conventional skull-face, and represents night
or darkness, appearing frequently on the “sky-bar.” The corresponding
Zapotec word also implies night, and the Mexican calli (a house without
windows) may well have the same connotation.
_Kan._ This probably represents a grain of “popped” corn, and
the Zapotec word may be taken to refer either to corn or a frog.
The Mexican sign is a lizard, and was associated with agricultural
fertility.
_Chicchan._ This sign shows the peculiar cross-hatched spot so
often seen applied as ornament to the bodies of serpents; the Zapotec
name appears to mean “omen-bearer,” and the Mexican sign is a snake.
_Cimi._ The head of the death-god, as among the Mexicans.
[Illustration: FIG. 53.--Maya day-signs; upper rows
from the monuments; lower rows from the MS.
A. imix.
B. ik.
C. akbal.
D. kan.
E. chicchan.
F. cimi.
G. manik.
H. lamat.
K. muluc.
L. oc.
M. chuen.
N. eb.
O. ben.
P. ix.
Q. men.
R. cib.
S. caban.
T. eznab.
U. cauac.
V. ahau.]
_Manik._ A hand in the attitude of conveying food to the mouth.
Seler suggests that the word may come from may-nik = cloven hoof. The
Mexican sign is a deer’s head or hoof, and the Zapotec word also means
deer. The flesh of this animal was the principal animal food of the
Maya.
_Lamat._ The Zapotec word means “divided,” and this corresponds
with the Maya sign; but it is difficult to see how either can be
brought into relation with the Mexican tochtli, a rabbit.
_Muluc._ Both the Zapotec and Mexican words mean “water,” and
probably the Maya sign, though much conventionalized, may have a
similar significance.
_Oc._ The sign represents the head or ear of the dog as pictured
in the MSS., and thus corresponds to the Mexican itzcuintli.
_Chuen._ Probably the conventionalized face of a monkey, in which
case the sign corresponds to the Mexican ozomatli. The Kakchiquel word
for this day is Batz and it will be remembered that in the Quiché
legend Hun Chuen and Hun Batz were turned into monkeys.
_Eb._ The grotesque head with its prominent teeth and fringed
“ear” corresponds to the jaw-bone and bunch of grass of the Mexican
malinalli.
_Ben._ The Zapotec word means “reed,” and so corresponds with the
Mexican acatl, while the Maya glyph probably represents a reed mat.
_Ix._ The sign represents the spotted face of the ocelot, which
also gives its name to the corresponding Mexican day.
_Men._ An aged face; the Mexican sign is the eagle, closely
connected with the aged goddess Tonantzin.
_Cib._ The sign seems to be connected in some way with honey-wine
or mead, and frequently appears upon jars in the MSS. The Mexican sign
is the vulture, a symbol of old age, and it will be remembered that in
Mexico only the aged were allowed free use of intoxicants.
_Caban._ This seems to be the earthquake sign, used also to typify
motion, as the Mexican olin.
_Eznab._ This sign appears on spear-heads, and seems to indicate a
flaked stone, thus corresponding with the Mexican tecpatl.
_Cauac._ This sign represents the thunder-clouds, while the small
cross is emblematical of the wind which blows from all quarters;
it thus corresponds with the Mexican quiauitl, and the connection
is emphasized by the fact that the Kakchiquel word for rain is
_caok_, and the Tzental term for thunder is _chauk_.
_Ahau._ A face, sometimes, in the more elaborate of the
sculptures, the head of a man of rank, which the word ahau implies.
Xochitl, the flower, the last sign of the Mexican list, is, it will be
remembered, the emblem of the god Xochipilli, the guardian of princes.
Like the Mexicans, the Maya observed the solar year of 365 days,
divided into eighteen months of twenty days each, with five days over,
called uayeb, and considered unlucky. The names of these months were as
follows (Fig. 54 and Appendix II):--
Pop, Uo, Zip, Zotz, Tzec, Xul, Yaxkin, Mol, Chen, Yax, Zac, Ceh, Mac,
Kankin, Muan, Pax, Kayab, Cumhu, five Uayeb days.
[Illustration: FIG. 54.--Maya month-signs; upper
rows from the monuments; lower rows from the MSS.
A. pop.
B. uo.
C. zip.
D. zotz.
E. tzec.
F. xul.
G. yaxkin.
H. mol.
K. chen.
L. yax.
M. zac.
N. ceh.
O. mac.
P. kankin.
Q. muan.
R. pax.
S. kayab.
T. cumhu.
U. uayeb.]
[Illustration: FIG. 55.--Maya period-signs. Upper
row, face-signs; lower row, normal signs.
A. cycle.
B. katun.
C. tun.
D. uinal.
E. kin.]
Unlike the Mexican months, however, these were used in dating, and a
given day was expressed with its month-sign, together with a numeral to
show which day of the month it was. Thus 6. caban, 5. pop, means the
day 6. caban, after 5 days of the month pop have passed. The numerals
were not expressed on quite the same system as the Mexican. Dots were
used for the numerals up to four, but a bar was used for five, two bars
for ten, and so on, odd days over a multiple of five being expressed by
the requisite number of dots. On the monuments, if the supernumerary
dots were few, the space between or on either side of them was filled
with small crescents, which are merely ornamental and must be
carefully distinguished from the dots themselves. Occasionally in the
more elaborate carvings the numbers from 0 to nineteen are expressed by
faces. In the case of 0 the lower jaw is formed by a hand, and numbers
over ten are expressed by the face assigned to the corresponding unit
but with a fleshless jaw. Ten itself is the head of the death-god. Zero
in the normal notation is expressed either by a hand or a figure shaped
somewhat like a Maltese cross. The use of the zero is explained later.
The Maya, like ourselves, were in the habit of expressing a high number
by a succession of figures which combined to form a numeral, but they
did not employ the decimal system. Their system, when applied to the
computation of time, was on the whole, but not entirely, vigesimal,
and was as follows. Twenty days, or _kin_, formed a _uinal_,
and the uinal thus corresponded to one of their months; but the next
higher unit, the _tun_, consisted of eighteen uinal, and contained
360 days, being thus equivalent to a year _minus_ the five uayeb
days. Twenty tun made a katun (7200 days), and twenty katun went to
another period of which the name is not known, but which is usually
called a cycle (144,000 days). There are indications that a higher
unit still was recognized, the so-called “great cycle,” consisting of
thirteen cycles (1,872,000 days). Each of these periods was expressed
by an appropriate glyph, and these glyphs were in two styles, being
either what is usually termed “normal” signs, or face-signs (Fig. 55).
The latter exhibit considerable variation, especially that of the great
cycle; but the cycle bird-face is recognizable by the jaw-bone in the
shape of a hand (recalling the face-paint of the Mexican gods into
whose name the numeral five enters as a component part), the katun by a
similar bird-face with a normal jaw, the tun by the normal glyph which
it bears on its head, or its fleshless jaw, the uinal by its frog-like
appearance and the curl at the corner of its mouth, and the kin by the
glyph on the forehead or the filed teeth. In many of the more elaborate
carvings the significance of the sign is shown more by its position in
the series than by anything else. Now a great number of the stelæ bear
inscriptions which start with a high number expressed in this manner
(Fig. 56); at the top is the great cycle glyph, which is an elaborate
affair and really means little more than that a count of days is to
follow, since there could hardly be any mistake regarding this period
which represents over fifty-one centuries. Below, usually in two
columns of glyphs, is a number of days, expressed in cycles, katuns,
tuns, uinals and kins, and this is followed by a day-and-month date.
In the transliteration of Mayan dates, the numerals alone are given as
a rule; thus the date shown in Fig. 56, _b_, transliterated as
9. 16. 10. 0. 0. 1 _ahau_, 3 _zip_, means the day 1 ahau,
after 3 days of the month _zip_ have passed, being 9 cycles,
16 katuns, 10 tuns, 0 uinals, and 0 kins from the chronological
starting-point of the present “Great Cycle.” Now the astonishing fact
is this, that throughout the whole of the Maya country, i.e. the area
over which ruins in the Maya style are scattered, including Chiapas,
Guatemala, Yucatan and northern Honduras, if the long count of days
(expressed in cycles, katuns, etc.) be reckoned back from the final
day-and-month date, the same day is always reached, viz. 4. ahau,
8. cumhu. Thus all Maya reckoning dates from one definite day in the
past, and this day must almost certainly be an artificial date in the
sense that it must have been obtained by calculation at a far later
time, since it is practically four thousand years from the earliest
date which can in any sense be claimed as historical.[5] The starting
date itself is found at Quirigua (on a stela which also bears a date
in the ninth cycle), and here it is shown to be the concluding date of
a cycle thirteen, which must be the last cycle of the preceding “grand
cycle.” Many, if not most, of the inscriptions seem to be devoted to
the calculation of dates; in the course of the glyphs, most as yet
unreadable, one continually comes upon a “distance-number” expressed as
above, and then the day-and-month sign to which this leads, reckoning
from the date last given. In the longer inscriptions, notably that
in the “temple of inscriptions” at Palenque, which contains over six
hundred consecutive glyphs, these calculations extend over considerable
periods of time. The great probability is that such calculations are
not historical, but of a ritual nature. The Maya had no system of
intercalary days by which the year of 365 days could be squared with
true solar time, and it is probable that the feasts appropriate to
certain seasons were shifted from month to month when the discrepancy
became noticeable. Perhaps then these calculations had reference to
the ritual calendar in accordance with which the various festivals
were held. It must be remembered that the Maya in their count of days
reckoned only elapsed time, expressing only a full tale of days. Thus
each date is in one sense one day behind the date as we express it.
This sounds complicated, but the difficulty disappears if we regard
their method from the same point of view as our own reading of the
clock. Whereas we speak of the fifteenth of June while the day is yet
incomplete, yet we refer to a point in the third hour after noon in
terms of two o’clock, viz. 2.20, or 2.45. Thus for the first day of a
month we find the symbol zero, and 0. zotz means that the month zip is
concluded, but that the first day of zotz is not yet complete. So it
is that the katuns (and other periods) are known by the name of the
last day of the previous katun, 5. ahau, 3. ahau, and so on, and are
not named after the day imix which is the first of the series of twenty
day-signs, and is actually the first day of the time-periods from cycle
to tun. The Maya method of dating enabled them to fix the position of
a definite day without risk of confusion over long periods of time. If
the day-sign with its attendant number, and the position in a definite
month, is given, that day is fixed for a period of 52 years. If the
number of the tun in which it occurs is also stated, it is fixed for
a period of 936 years (i.e. 936 years must elapse before a day with a
similar series of signs and numbers can recur). If the number of the
katun is also expressed, the position is determined for 18,720 years;
and if the number of the cycle as well, a period of 374,400 years.
[Illustration: FIG. 56.--Date inscriptions.
A. Normal numerals, reading 9. 15. 0. 0. 0.[6] 4.
_ahau_, 13 _yax_. (Copan, altar S). B.
Face-numerals, reading 9. 16. 10. 0. 0. 1. _ahau_, 3.
_zip_. (Quirigua, stela F).
(_After Maudslay_)]
Since the year contained 365 days, and the day-signs were 20 in number,
it is obvious that the year began on one of four days. These days,
later called “year-bearers,” were, at the time of the monuments and
the writing of the Dresden codex, ben, eznab, akbal and lamat, which
correspond to the days which began the Mexican year, acatl, tecpatl,
calli and tochtli. However, the year-bearers as given by Landa, and
also as they appear in the Troano-Cortesianus codex, are kan, muluc,
ix and cauac. This means that in the interval the commencement of the
year had shifted (5 × _x_) + 1 days, _x_ being an unknown
quantity. By this time too the long count in its most elaborate form
seems to have been abandoned, and the katun became the highest unit,
known by the name of its “initial” day, e.g. katun 6. ahau, or katun
4. ahau. It is this method of reckoning which is employed in the books
of Chilan Balam. Most of the other races of Maya stock, as far as is
known, possessed calendars which included a series of twenty day-signs
(see Appendix I) combined with the numerals one to thirteen, but the
count of the Kakchiquel was different, being purely vigesimal. The
periods involved were one of 400 days (20 × 20), called _huna_,
and a larger of 8000 days (20 huna), called _may_. The huna was
known by its initial day _ah_ (corresponding to ben and acatl)
together with the number which might be attached to it, and the time
count dated from the destruction of a rebellious sub-tribe, the
Tukuchi, which occurred in a huna 11. ah.
[Illustration: FIG. 57.--Upper row, world-direction
signs; lower row, colours.
A. East and yellow. B. North and red. C. West and white.
D. South and black.]
As among the Mexicans, the Maya years were related to the points of
the compass. The later Yucatec associated kan-years with the east,
muluc-years with the north, ix-years with the west and cauac-years
with the south, but the relation of the earlier year-bearers is not
clear, owing to the uncertainty which attaches to the glyphs expressing
the world-directions. On this point the evidence is very conflicting,
but I am inclined to think that most probably they are as shown in
Fig. 57. The doubt lies between east and west on the one hand and
between north and south on the other. The world-directions evidently
possessed much ritual importance among the Maya, though not perhaps so
much as among the Mexicans. In the creation myth in one of the books
of Chilan Balam we read of the establishment of four trees at the
four quarters, and one at the centre, a legend which recalls the five
trees with their respective birds shown in the Mexican codex Borgia
and allied manuscripts (Fig. 10; p. 79). The “crosses” at Palenque,
each of which is surmounted by a bird, probably also had reference
to two of the world-directions, in any case their resemblance to the
trees of the Borgia codex is striking. The four Bacabs who supported
the heavens north, south, east and west, have already been mentioned,
and also the four cross-roads on the way to Xibalba. Four colours are
associated with the last, and these are the colours which the later
Yucatec associated with the points of the compass, viz. yellow (kan)
with the east, red (chac) with the north, white (zac) with the west,
and black (ek) with the south (Fig. 57). The manuscripts however do not
always show the colours in association with the same direction-signs.
The colour assigned to the year appears in one of the series of names
assigned to the Bacab which was supposed to be its regent. Thus Hobnil,
regent of the kan-years, is called Kanal Bacab, Kanzicnal of the
muluc-years, Chacal Bacab, Zaczini of the ix-years, Zacal Bacab, and
Hozanek of the cauac-years, Ekel Bacab.
The Maya did not limit their calculations to the computation only of
the solar calendar, but also reckoned the synodical revolutions of the
planet Venus (584 days). Certain pages of the Dresden codex are devoted
to this purpose, and the glyph representing the planet is thus known.
Some investigators have tried to prove that the reappearances of other
planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn, were also computed, but
the evidence is unsatisfactory, and even in many cases adverse to the
supposition.
Our knowledge of the meaning of the Maya glyphs is practically limited
to the day-, month- and period-signs and the names of the gods. The
latter have been gleaned from the manuscripts. Here the figures of the
various divinities are accompanied by a series of four or more glyphs,
and after a careful comparison of the glyphs which are attached to one
particular figure, it is found that one glyph is constant. It is a
fair assumption that the latter expresses the name of the god, though
we cannot say how it should be transliterated. As we have seen, the
Mexican script is purely ideographic, that is to say the pictures are
symbolical, or, in the case of names, constitute a rebus. It seems
likely that the Maya writing had evolved a little further, and that
many of the signs were of a syllabic nature. For instance, in the names
of the months we find indications that definite signs were employed
to express the syllables _yax_ and _kin_; but as we cannot
say for certain what was the dialect spoken by the builders of the
monuments, and as many of the signs are so highly conventionalized
that their origin is difficult to trace, the interpretation is beset
with many difficulties. Lizana, writing in 1626, speaks of certain old
men, sons of priests, who were able to read the manuscripts, and it is
probable that the builders of the monuments spoke a tongue closely akin
to the historical Maya. In any case a good knowledge of this language
will be necessary for future students of the glyphs. As remarked
before, it seems unlikely that much information of a historical nature
will be extracted from the inscriptions if they are ever read; they
probably consist for the most part of calculations for fixing the
periodical feasts, and for bringing the year of 365 days into line with
true time. It is practically certain, as remarked above, that the Maya
did not intercalate days for this purpose, but it is equally certain
that a people who were agriculturists and who computed the synodical
revolutions of Venus, could not have failed to notice that the months
gradually gained upon the seasons. At the time of the discovery the
month pop began the year, but it is worth mentioning that the name of
the month xul seems to mean “termination,” and it is possible that
yaxkin was at some period the first month. The displacement of the
commencement of a year by a month would not affect the year-bearer,
since each month began with the same day-sign, and it is not unlikely
that the feasts were shifted from month to month when they became
inappropriate to the seasons. If this is so, no doubt many of the
longer inscriptions consist of calculations relative to the proper
ordering of the festivals. It is not of course absolutely certain that
the initial dates of monuments refer to their erection, but even if
such dates have a historical value (and I am inclined to believe that
most of them have) it is not yet possible to correlate them with our
own system of dating, at any rate with any degree of certainty, for the
reason that the position of their starting-point, 4. ahau, 8. cumhu, is
not fixed. But this is a subject to which I shall return later (p. 360.)
As in Mexico, so among the Maya, the importance of the calendar from
the religious point of view, and the close connection between religion
and agriculture, gave the priesthood enormous influence throughout
the country. According to Landa, a high-priest of the Yucatec was
called Ahkin Mai, or Ahaukan Mai; his office was hereditary, and he
was succeeded in it by a son or near relation. A less exalted rank was
held by the Chilan, or oracular priests, who declared the will of the
gods, and performed the functions of diviners and doctors. As might
be expected, these functionaries enjoyed great respect, and rarely
went abroad except in a litter. The Nacon were officials whose duties
were partly sacerdotal and partly military. In their first capacity,
as the sacrificing priests, they held office perpetually, but there
was also a military aspect to this office, since the commander of the
fighting forces was elected from among the Nacon, and held the position
for three years. Other priests, who performed definite functions as
assistants in certain ceremonies, were called Chac, and seem to have
been to some extent the representatives of the Bacabs, since four
officiated at once. Priests generally were called Ahkin, and the local
clergy were nominated by the high-priest after examination in ritual
and “science,” i.e. divination, writing and calendrical interpretation.
The priesthood at large educated candidates for admission to their
order, including also the younger sons of chiefs, who often “entered
the church.” They lived in buildings close to the temples, and there
were similar religious houses for the accommodation of celibate “nuns”
who were under the protection of a “mother superior.” Any lapse from
chastity on their part was punished with death, but any of the inmates
might leave the establishment by permission and marry, just as in
Mexico. It is probable that the buildings other than temples which
survive in the ruined cities are either the residences of princes or
religious establishments of this nature.
It seems likely that in the earlier times the priestly rule was
paramount, and that the rulers were high-priests or _vice versa_.
Even in Yucatan the traditions seem to point to a later transference
of political power from sacred to secular rulers. Among the Quiché
too, the first rulers, under whose guidance the principal migrations
were made, held authority as the interpreters of the will of the
gods assigned to the various divisions of the tribe, and the later
chiefs claimed descent from them. Among the Kakchiquel there were
two high-priests who held office for life, and were elected by the
king and council. One of these seems to have supervised the ritual,
while the other was the guardian of the sacred books and presided
over the calendar. There were also certain old men who lived in the
temple-buildings and were consulted as diviners on ordinary occasions.
These were distinguished by their hair, which they wore in plaits.
In Campeche, Diaz mentions priests who wore their hair long and matted
with blood, in Mexican style, and he further states that the people of
Chiapas brought with them into battle a “priestess or goddess” with
an incense-burner and stone idols. This priestess wore body-paint
with white down stuck upon it, another Mexican custom. Many of the
reliefs of the older Maya culture show priests engaged in various
functions, and the elaborate dresses in which these are often clad
have given rise to the supposition that many religious offices were
performed by priestesses. Figures in flowing robes are particularly
noticeable at Menché (Pl. XXII; p. 294), but, especially in later
Yucatan, women as a general rule were excluded from the more important
ceremonies, and I think that these figures merely represent men in
priestly _insignia_, which would naturally be of a more elaborate
nature than the ordinary dress. Sacrifice was common throughout the
Maya region, but the question how far human offerings were made in
early times is difficult to settle. There is only one scene upon the
monuments which maybe interpreted as a human sacrifice,[7] and this
occurs at Piedras Negras, but the negative evidence afforded by the
other reliefs throughout the Maya region would seem to suggest that the
practice was, at most, exceptional. Even the Dresden codex furnishes
no definite proof that the rite existed when it was written, though
there are scenes which may possibly be interpreted as suggesting
the custom. For instance, Fig. 63 (p. 301) shows a head lying on an
altar; but as it is clearly the head of the maize-god, the scene may
be interpreted as representing merely an offering of grain. In the
Quiché myths, the introduction of human sacrifice is associated with
the “Yaqui,” a name afterwards used of the Mexicans, and it is the god
Tohil, whom this people received from Tulan, who, by a trick, obtains
the right to the hearts of the other tribes in return for the gift
of fire. But the open and extensive practice of the rite belongs to
a later stage of Quiché history, as the Popol Vuh also demonstrates.
It is possible that the practice was, to speak generally, foreign to
the original Maya, but was introduced in later times from Mexico. It
seems to have been found among the Kakchiquel, accompanied on certain
occasions by cannibalism, and we learn that at a certain festival
children were killed with arrows, a ceremony recalling the Mexican
festival of Tlacaxipeualiztli. An even closer correspondence with the
ritual observed at this festival was found in Yucatan, where the victim
was on certain occasions flayed and the priest assumed the skin. Here
too the shooting sacrifice was practised; the victim was tied to a
tree, with a white mark painted over his heart; the worshippers passed
rapidly in front and each discharged arrows at the mark. Cogolludo
speaks of many bloody arrows being found in a shrine at Campeche, which
had probably been used in this rite. At Chichen Itza human sacrifice
was made to the sacred _cenote_ (natural well), which was supposed
to be a place of great sanctity. The victim was cast into the water
with other offerings and was believed to emerge alive after three days
had elapsed. The usual method of sacrifice however in Yucatan was
the tearing out of the victim’s heart by the Nacon, who anointed the
image with the blood. Here the custom had become very prevalent at the
discovery, as the fate of Valdivia’s crew in 1511 shows. Prisoners of
war, slaves and even children constituted the usual victims, and the
last were carefully guarded and paraded from village to village until
the fatal day arrived. But even at this date human sacrifices were
not made on the same scale as in Mexico, and the principal offerings
consisted of incense, animals, and the worshippers’ own blood. To
obtain the latter, the tongue, ears or limbs were pierced, and a cord
was frequently passed through the wound. Scenes showing the practice
of this penitential rite are not uncommon on the early monuments, as
can be seen from the slab from Menché (Pl. XXII; p. 294), where the
worshipper is passing through his tongue a cord furnished with thorns,
while a basket containing the implements for piercing lies on the
ground beside him. But the ritual of the later Maya will appear best
from a short description of the ceremonies observed at the commencement
of the year and during the various months.
[Illustration: FIG. 58.--The ceremonies at the
commencement and end of an _akbal_-year.
(_Dresden MS._)]
[Illustration: FIG. 59.--The new-year ceremonies at
the commencement of a _muluc_-year.
(_Troano-Cortesianus MS._)
(_After Seler_)]
The new-year ceremonies were especially important, since the fortune
to be experienced during the year depended to a very large extent
upon their proper performance. They commenced in the Uayeb days of
the dying year, that is to say in the second week of July, according
to Landa. In preparation for a year beginning on the day-sign kan,
an image of the Bacab Hobnil was taken to the pile of stones at the
southern entrance to the town (the south being the point associated
with the dying year), and a figure of Ah Bolon Tzacab was carried
in procession and set up opposite it. Various offerings were made,
including the worshippers’ own blood, and Hobnil was then carried to
the east entrance (the point associated with the commencing year) and
left there to watch over the town, while Ah Bolon Tzacab was taken to
the temple. Good luck and fertility were expected during the kan years,
and if misfortune supervened, a special image of Itzamna-canil was made
and sacrifices, including a man, were offered to it. At the end of this
year, and in preparation for the next, a muluc-year, the ceremonies
commenced at the pile of stones where Hobnil had been left, and a
figure of Kanzicnal was substituted for it. The figure of Ah Bolon
Tzacab was replaced by one of Kinich Ahau, which was confronted with
the new Bacab and then borne to the temple, Kanzicnal being taken to
the north entrance, the quarter associated with muluc-years. This year
was again supposed to be good, and in the event of misfortune special
ceremonies were performed to Yaxkokahmut, another name of Itzamna,
including a dance on stilts and the sacrifice of dogs bearing offerings
of bread. It may be remarked in passing that both the Dresden and
Troano-Cortesianus codices illustrate these ceremonies (Figs. 58 and
59), though there is reason to believe that the lower portion of two
pages of the former manuscript have been transposed by the carelessness
of the scribe. In this MS. (Fig. 58) the upper scene shows the emblem
of the presiding god being carried in by a priest in an animal mask,
the central picture shows him installed and receiving offerings, the
lower (when properly arranged) illustrates the god of the next year
confronted with a pillar representing the Bacab on the Uayeb days at
the end of the year. Arranged in a column down one side of the page are
the signs of the last day of the old year and the first of the new.
As stated above the Dresden codex gives the days commencing the year
as ben, eznab, akbal and lamat, as do the monuments. The ben-years
here seem to correspond to the kan-years of later times, and so on.
The Tro.-Cor. (Fig. 59) seems to picture, in the upper register, the
ceremonies (including the dance on stilts in the muluc-year) which were
corrective of ill-luck, while the lower register shows the year-god
and the maize-god, the latter either flourishing, or the prey of birds
and beasts, according to the fortune predicted for the year. For the
ix-years the Bacab was Zaczini, and the presiding god Itzamna; the
ceremonies began at the north entrance and concluded at the west.
Maladies of the eyes, plagues of locusts, wars and changes of dynasties
were feared, and the year was considered bad for the food-crop but
good for cotton. Ceremonies were performed to Kinich Ahau Itzamna to
avert these evils. Cauac-years were the most unpropitious of all, for
the presiding deity was Uacmitun Ahau, the death-god. The Bacab was
Hozanek, and the ceremonies began in the west and terminated in the
south. Many deaths were expected, together with plagues of birds and
ants, to avert which four idols were made, Chichac-chob, Ekbalam-chac,
Ahkan-uolcab and Ahbuluk-balam, and the ceremonies in their honour
included a dance round a large fire, across which, when reduced to
glowing ashes, the worshippers ran with bare feet.
The principal ceremonies connected with the months were as follows (for
the signs, see Fig. 54, p. 250):--
_Pop._ The year began, according to Landa, on July 16th.
The priests and men of rank fasted for at least thirteen days in
preparation, and the commoners employed themselves in cleaning their
houses and renewing and repainting all utensils. Chacs or assistant
priests were elected for the ceremonies, and the temple court was
purified with incense, the Chacs holding cords to form a square, a
proceeding which, ceremonially, was supposed to exclude all evil.
Finally new fire was made by the Chacs and fresh incense was offered;
the proceedings terminated with a feast.
_Uo._ No special ceremonies attached to this month, but the
priests commenced to fast in preparation for the next.
_Zip._ A festival in honour of Kinich-ahau Itzamna was held, at
which the priests exhibited their religious books of bark-paper, and
uttered the prognostications, regarding the fortunes of the year, which
their calculations had revealed. Next day their bags of charms were
exposed to view, including all images of the goddess Ixchel and the
divining-stones, and the gods of medicine were invoked. The hunters
and fishers also held a private festival during this month. The former
performed a dance holding arrows and the heads of deer, while the
latter painted their fishing-implements blue, a sacred colour. These
ceremonies took place on different days, and in honour of special gods
whose names are given by Landa. When the fishing-festival was finished
in the towns, the lords repaired to the coast, where it was repeated.
_Zotz._ Bee-keepers prepared for their festival in the next month.
_Tzec._ The bee-keepers’ festival, to Hobnil and the other Bacabs,
during which much honey-wine was offered and consumed.
_Xul._ The great festival to Kukulkan, held at Mani after the
destruction of Mayapan. The other provinces sent deputations with
great feather banners, which were placed in the temple; new fire was
made, idols exhibited, and five nights were spent in singing and
dancing, during which professional singers went from house to house
of the lords. The offerings consisted mainly of food and drink, and
the deputations departed taking with them the banners which they had
brought.
_Yaxkin._ Preparations were made for a festival to be held in the
next month to all the gods (corresponding in some degree to the Mexican
Teotleco). The implements of all professions and domestic implements
were painted blue, and nine blue dots were marked on the hands of
children, to make them useful.
_Mol._ Besides the feast just mentioned, the bee-keepers held
another, in order that the gods might send a full supply of flowers for
the bees. In this month also began the preparations for the manufacture
of wooden idols, which was a very serious matter. The wooden idols,
which were more highly esteemed than those of stone or clay, were made
by professional artists, and it was believed that certain penalties
attached to the trade, viz. that the carving of an idol entailed the
death of one of the artists, or at least the contraction of some
heart-complaint. Certain priests, the Chacs and the artists themselves,
observed a rigorous fast, while those who desired idols procured
cedar-wood. A special hut was built, and the priests, Chacs and workers
were closely secluded in it while the work proceeded, the images in
course of construction being sprinkled with blood and censed with copal.
_Chen._ The new idols, now made, were taken to the temple, and
there purified and blessed by the officiating priest, after which they
were handed over to the new owners, wrapped in cloth and placed in a
basket. The stipulated price was paid in game and the local currency.
_Yax._ In this or the preceding month the temple in honour of the
Chac agricultural gods was renovated, and their pottery, idols and
braziers were repainted or renewed.
_Zac._ The hunters held a festival in order to appease the gods
for shedding blood, since bloodshed, except in the cause of religion,
was considered displeasing to the supernatural powers, probably because
blood was _par excellence_ the divine offering.
_Ceh._ No festival is recorded.
_Mac._ A ceremony was held by those more advanced in life to the
Chac, fertility gods, associated with Itzamna. A large fire was lit in
the temple court, into which were cast the hearts of various animal
sacrifices, lions, tigers and crocodiles. If animals of this size
could not be obtained, imitation hearts, formed of copal, were offered
instead. The Chac priests then quenched the fire with water, a ceremony
which, by imitative magic, was supposed to ensure a good rainfall.
_Kankin._ No festival mentioned.
_Muan._ The proprietors of cacao plantations held a festival to
their patrons, the Chac, Hobnil and Ekchuah, sacrificing a dog with a
cacao-coloured patch and making other offerings, including feathers. At
the ensuing feast not more than three cups of wine might be drunk by
the participators.
_Pax._ During this month a ceremony took place which was supposed
to bring good luck in warfare. The priests and lords of the provincial
towns assembled at the capital and passed five nights in prayer in the
temple of the god Cit-chac-coh, together with the Nacon who was carried
thither in divine state amidst clouds of incense. After this the
populace at large joined in the proceedings, a fire-sacrifice, similar
to that in Mac, was made, and the Nacon was carried round the temple. A
dog was then sacrificed by the Chac, and its heart was offered between
two plates, and after each of these officials had broken a vessel
containing wine, a feast took place at which only the Nacon remained
sober.
After this month no great festival was held until the new-year
ceremonies, but various minor local feasts were celebrated, and a great
deal of time was spent in eating and drinking.
The later Yucatec, we are told, were in the habit of setting up a
“stone” to commemorate the commencement (or the end) of a katun (period
of 7200 days, or 100 days less than 20 years). It is possible that
this was a custom inherited from the earlier Maya, and if so it seems
likely that the latter performed the ceremony every katun quarter.
Certainly a large number of the stelæ, especially at Quirigua, bear
initial dates of katun quarters, but there are also many to which
this supposition cannot apply, and which must have served to mark
some other occasion. It is certain that these stelæ were objects of
worship, since in nearly every case an altar is found in front of each
on which, presumably, offerings were made. Apart from the calendrical
feasts, the Yucatec practised two interesting ceremonies, one of which
was performed over children of about three years of age, and was known
by a name signifying “to be reborn.” A lucky day was selected, and
four Chac were chosen to assist the priest. The ceremony took place
in a house which was purified for the occasion; the Chacs sat at each
corner, holding cords enclosing the children and their fathers, the
latter having fasted for three days; and the priest sat in the centre
with a brazier and incense mixed with maize-meal. The boys wore a
white head-ornament, and the girls a shell suspended from a girdle;
each advanced in turn and offered meal and incense, receiving it from
the priest. The cord, brazier and a vessel of wine were then given
to a man to carry outside the village, and it was supposed that in
this way evil was expelled from the house. The priest then assumed a
tunic of feathers, chiefly red, with cotton streamers, and a feather
head-dress (possibly similar to the costume shown on Fig. 82; p. 344),
and held in his hand a brush made of serpent-tails. The heads of the
children were covered with cotton cloths, and a bone was passed nine
times over the forehead of each and dipped in a vessel of water with
which their brows, faces and the interstices of their fingers and toes
were anointed. This water had been procured from hollow tree-stumps or
mountain pools, and contained certain flowers and cacao. This part of
the ceremony evidently possessed a purificatory significance, while the
next act seems to signify, as far as the boys were concerned, the entry
into boyhood. Their head-ornaments were removed by the priest with a
stone knife, and an assistant followed with a handful of flowers and
a pipe, handing them to each of the candidates in turn, the bouquet
to smell and the pipe to smoke, making at the same time nine passes
with them before the face of each. The mothers removed the shell
ornament from the girls, who from this time were considered eligible
for betrothal; and after several minor ceremonies, including the
distribution of gifts among the chief actors, the function was over.
The other ceremony, to which allusion is made above, consisted in the
confession of sins, similar to, but less elaborate than, that practised
by the Mexicans. It was believed that absolution could be given only
once, and for this reason it was usually deferred until the penitent
was seriously ill. The confession was made to a priest, if the services
of one could be obtained, or else to a near relation, husband, wife,
father or mother.
Of Kakchiquel ritual little is known; they, and also the Tzental,
observed eighteen months of twenty days, and brought the year up to
365 by the addition of five extra days, just as the Maya and Mexicans.
Some, at any rate, of their ceremonies appear to have been connected
with the tonalamatl count, since we are told that in early times
offerings of fresh incense, green branches and bark were made on each
seventh and thirteenth day, and a “cat, the image of night,” was burned
before the god. We are also informed that this was before the “worship
of the idol of the great Chay Abah was begun.” However, various rites
in connection with agriculture were practised, such as fasting before
sowing, and the offering of incense at each of the corners of the
fields.
In later Yucatan, pilgrimages were made from all parts of the country
to important shrines, and we are told that the temple at Cozumel was
one of the most celebrated at the conquest. Pilgrims were wont to stop
to offer incense at deserted temples, and Cogolludo mentions the fact
that he found recent offerings of copal in a temple at Uxmal. The
present-day Lacandons also offer incense at the ruins, in the belief
that they are haunted by the ghosts of their forefathers. Divination
formed an important part of a priest’s duties, and it was principally
for this purpose that the tonalamatl was employed in Yucatan. Thus at
the birth of a child its horoscope was cast to determine its future
profession. The Kakchiquel too practised divination, not only by means
of the tonalamatl, but also with maize-grains, as the Mexicans. They
also used blocks of polished obsidian for scrying, one of which was
enshrined in a particularly celebrated temple, whither state messengers
were sent to consult it on important occasions. Obsidian was supposed
to have been produced in Xibalba at the creation, to be the “sustainer”
of mankind, probably as the source from which the will of heaven could
be ascertained. Maize was also employed for divination in Yucatan, and
omens were taken from dreams and the voices of birds. Various minor
superstitions were found, of which a few have been recorded. Thus if
a man on a journey stumbled over a stone, many of which were placed
at the commencement of a road, he made an offering of a green branch
to it, and rubbed his knees with a pebble to prevent fatigue. If a
traveller feared he might be late in arriving at his destination, he
placed a stone in a tree to stay the course of the sun, or plucked out
hairs from his eyebrows and blew them towards the heavens. In eclipses,
dogs were pinched to make them howl, and a noise was made by striking
the doors or furniture of the huts. An eclipse of the moon was supposed
to betoken that the luminary was dying, or was being bitten by ants.
The offering of eyebrows, and the pinching of the dogs during an
eclipse, were also practised in Peru.
Many of the rites of the present-day Lacandons are survivals of the
original worship. It has already been said that they are in the habit
of making pilgrimages to ruined sites for the purpose of offering
incense; the censers are rude clay bowls, with a mask-like face
attached, and each is reserved for a particular god whose image is
usually kept within it. The images are of stone and are kept hidden,
and inherited from father to son. The censers are renewed at the
harvest, the old ones are considered “dead” and left in the ruins. For
the manufacture of the new censers, as for the preparation of fresh
idols among the early Yucatec, a special hut is built, new fire is made
at which incense is kindled in them for the first time, and blood,
drawn from the ears of the worshippers with a stone knife, is smeared
upon the images of the gods. They also observe a “baptismal” rite, at
which a priest singes the hair of the candidates with six miniature
torches of pitchpine and confers a name upon them. The torches are then
smeared with blood and burnt, together with incense, in the idol house.
Confession is made to the cacique, or local chief, if a member of the
community is seriously ill, and the penitent believes that some sin of
his commission may be the cause. A lightning-god is still worshipped,
and in the Uloa valley Gordon came upon the tradition of a golden
dragon, believed to inhabit a particular pool, to which offerings were
made in former times, but which has withdrawn itself from human view
since the Spanish conquest, though it still controls the clouds and
rain. It is highly probable that many other interesting and important
survivals might be discovered among the present population, but owing
to their extreme reticence on such subjects the task is by no means
easy. However, the district offers a good field to a student of
folklore who is inclined to devote considerable time to the collection
of these relics of a former religion, though he must certainly be
gifted with an unusual degree of perseverance and patience.