Rebuilding the Maya Cosmos from the knees up Judith M. Maxwell Tulane University Ruk’u’x kaj, ruk’u’x ulew Ruk’u’x kaq’iq’, ruk’u’x jöb’ ruk’u’x k’aslemal Heart of sky, heart of earth Heart of wind, heart of rain heart of life So may commence the prayers of ritual, but in the beginning, even before there was the word, there was social action, ritual action, both a definition and recognition of space, as well as a calling into being of sacred space. Time too is sacred and the space- time continuum is interwoven in contemporary Kaqchikel 1 ceremonies. There is a sense in which the sacred is ever-present in the Kaqchikel world. Ixcha’im Marliny Son Chonay in her licenciatura thesis at Mariano Gálvez notes that while the grammar shows us an animacy hiearchy, the bottom rungs, unlike the English counterparts, are not inanimate, simply less animate. Rocks and comals are sentient; they can feel pain; they can protest mistreatment. This in-dwelling animacy binds the beings on this plane, the middle plane, if you will, together. At the same time, beings who have left this plane of existence are not presumed to have given up interest in it, in their living relatives, in their communities, in the environs of that community. They may manifest in this dimension, visiting, giving advice, observing, causing or curing illness. Particular days, dates and times are more propitious for facilitating communication with these spirits, and with other inhabitants of the non-here, but in times of need, through the vehicle of ritual, connections can be established between living scions and their ancestors, between petitioners and spiritual patrons. Given that the sacred is omnipresent, connections can be made anywhere, but most Maya households have an altar area. The area may be simple, little more than a small table often below a religious icon; or it may be elaborate. Devout Catholic households may have carved statues, multiple pictures of saints, roods and rosaries. The altars may be adorned with flowers or candles. Often a glass of water is left out on the altar for the visiting spirits. The space of the house itself is sacred. When a new house is raised, the lot is blessed, the four corners are laid out and the beams raised, creating three dimensional space and consecrating it to the family. Traditional household compounds are laid out around a central patio. Though access to the road or entrance from the solar may dictate the placement of the doorway in the compound wall and even the placement of the first 1 The prayer forms and ritual acts described here are those I have observed over the past twenty years of fieldwork with the Kaqchikel. More recently, I have also participated in ceremonies led by K’ichee’ and Tz’utujiil practitioners of traditional Mayan spirituality. While some ajq’ijab’ advocate standardization of practice, canonization of ritual, and schematization of prayer forms, there is still tremendous variation from one celebrant/prayer-maker to the next. However, the structures I describe here are common to all. The transcripts I provide are all in Kaqchikel, but cognate forms are found in K’ichee’ and in Tz’utujiil.
house on the lot, typically the compound grows to establish a dwelling or set of rooms on each of the four sides, leaving a central open spot, for the patio. Mayan houses are usually located within communities. These communities replicate the quincunx pattern, a central space, usually occupied by a Catholic church, a plaza and municipal buildings, and then cantones, or neighborhoods laid out on the four sides of this square. This livable space for the community is defined and protected by spiritual guardians inhering in natural features of the landscape. Though mountains, hills, prominences, precipices, crags, boulders and ravines rarely align themselves in perfect squares, the guardian features can be roughly associated with east, west, north, and south. Each of the guardian features has an inherent spirit, as does every natural feature. This spirit extends its aegis over the town, but is also directly responsible for the well-being of the flora and fauna living on its slopes. 2 In addition to the spirit-owner of the mountain, the energy of each natural feature is linked with that of a day in the 260-day ritual calendar, cholq’ij (Yucatec tzolkin ). While some energy naturally imbues the hilltop, rock, ravine, cliff or tor, human action affects and effects that energy. The Kaqchikel Chronicles (pp.93-104) relate how the Kaqchikel lord, Q’aq’awitz “Fiery Mountain” defeated a local champion named Tolk’om to open the Lake Atitlán area to Kaqchikel and Tz’utujiil settlement. Tolk’om, as a respected enemy was sacrificed, quartered and thrown from a height into the lake. Q’aq’awitz instructed the Kaqchikel to commemorate this sacrifice yearly. Tik’o jujun juna’ xa tib’an wa’im, uk’a’am, xa kech’ab’in ak’wala’ Xa tunay chïk ruk’exewach tikik’äq b’ila k’a tüx ri Tolk’om Let it come to pass each year that food and drink be prepared; that children shoot arrows. With the tunay [tree] as his substitute, let them shoot as if it were Tolk’om. (op. cit. p. 102) The modern altar site at this point has been renamed, though the town magistrates recognize the “original” name given in the Chronicles, Kaqb’atz’ulu’, “ throwing place of the arrows/the shafts”, the site is more commonly refered to as Pa Tz’ulu’, “At the Reeds” (note: the “shaft” reading of tz’ulu’ has been superceded by the more quotidien meaning – “reed(s)”. The altar for this site is reached by a narrow rift trail dropping over the lip of a ravine and snaking its way up to a narrow ledge before a small cave opening. Precariously perched on a nearly verticle cliff face, this altar is sacred to Tz’ikin “ bird (Yucatec Men. ) However, the Tolk’om sacrifice here and its recurrent celebration pre- kaxlan times, dedicated the spot to a second day bearer, Toj, patron of sacrifice, payment, and exchange. 2 There are myriad stories of rajawala’ juyu’ “mountain-owner spirits” allowing respectful hunters to kill animals, deer, rabbits, etc, from a corral, while sending rapacious huntsmen away empty handed, or causing them to become lost on the mountainside. Other tales tell of ladino-esque spirits dwelling in the mountain who will pay good wages to those who stay to work for them for a spell. Those who have gone to work for these earth-lords often find that the “month” they spent on the lord’s farm passed as years for their wives and families.
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