XI

(THE RITUAL OF THE ANGELS) 2

Dominus vobiscum ended the words of their song when there was neither heaven nor earth. When the world was submerged, when there was neither heaven nor earth, the three-cornered precious stone 3of grace was born, after the divinity of the ruler was created, 4 when there was no heaven. Then there were born seven tuns, seven katuns, hanging in the heart of the wind, 5 the seven chosen ones. Then, they say, their seven graces 6 stirred also. Seven also were their holy images. 7 While they were still untarnished, occurred the birth of the first precious stone of grace, the first infinite 8 grace, when there was infinite night, when there was no God. Not yet had he received his Godhead. 9 Then he remained alone within the grace, within the night, when there was neither heaven nor earth. Then he departed 10 at the end of the katun, as he could not be born in the first katun. There were his long locks of hair, adeu ti paramii; 11 his divinity came to him when he departed.

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Thereupon he became man in the second infinite precious stone of grace. Then there arrived in the second katun Alpilcon, as the angel was named when he was born. The second grace was permitted to depart in the second infinite night, when no one was present. Then he received his divinity, alone and through his own effort, when he came to depart. "O firmar" he said, when he received his divinity by /

Thereupon he departed and went to the third infinite precious stone of grace. Alba Congel was the name of its angel. This was the third grace.

Let me proceed to the fourth infinite precious stone of grace, to the fourth night. Atea Ohe was the name of its angel. The fourth grace was born and began to speak, alone and through his own effort. "Oh god, the ruler! I am after all nothing in myself." These were his words in his concealment, in his divinity within the grace. "Let me still proceed," he said.

Then he went to the fifth infinite precious stone of grace, to the fifth infinite night. The fifth grace was born 1 in the fifth katun. Thereupon he was set up to declare his divinity. Then his angel was born; Decipto was the name of his angel when he was set up. "Since it is so, let me go. Who might I be? I am a god, a ruler, after all," and he declared his divinity all alone. "A ninite dei sin," he said when he received his divinity all by himself.

Then he went to the sixth infinite precious stone of grace, to the sixth measured night, to the sixth katun: "Ye gods, ye rulers! Make answer to my words. After all, I am nothing in myself alone."

The seventh grace was born. Conlamil was the name of his angel. "I deliver the things of god to you who are gods. 2 Answer my words. After all, there is no one; no one replies to my words." Thus he spoke as he caused the seventh grace to be born. And there was joy in his heart at the birth of the seventh katun, the seven lights, the seventh measured night <and> the seven infinite <things>.

Abiento bocayento de la zipil na 3 de fente note. Sustina gracia, trece mili, uno cargo bende. The first, the second, the thirteenth unfolding; thirteen banners of the katuns; three, seven, eight thousand. Then God the Father awoke to consciousness alone

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to be. Unidad and God the Father, these were his names, cleft from the katun for you. There were three generations suddenly augmented in stature when he came. Seven were the generations of his angels. 1 Four times did he first speak. There was one seal 2 in the darkness, one seal on high. "I am the beginning and I shall be the end." Here are his words in their mighty entirety. "Datate here to that which has been received. I am Unidate, I am also Unitata, I am the Dove, I am Unitata Anuni. Unidad cometh." 3

Nilu 4 was the name of the night. This was the first speech of God; this was the first speech of the Father. Of cleansed stone was his precious stone 5 alone in the night. Etomas, Çipancas was the name of the wind. Hun Katun was his father. Otahocanil Aucangel was the name of the wind. 6 H<i>eron was the name of the Wind. Xicluto-tu-tanil was the name of the wind. Virtutus was the name of the wind. Joramis was the name of the wind in the second katun. This was what he said when he changed the stone: "Jaxyonlacalpa." He covered the name of the holy heaven which our holy Lord, the Father raised up. Bolay 7 was the name of the serpent of the second heaven. He was in the dust at the feet of Sustinal Gracia, 8 as he was called. Then Lonmias 9 was formed. The sharp stone was his stone within the night. Zihontun 10 was his stone, when these stones were fixed in their places. Three times they were set at the foot of Sustinal Gracia. These stones were born, they were beneath the one stone, the mighty pointed stone, 11 the stone column, the mighty pointed clashing stone. They were manifested all over the world <by> God the Father, /

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first noose of God. Hebones was the only son of God. <Like>a mirror 1 he was borne astride on the shoulder of his father, on the stone of his father.

Then, it is said, the boldness 2 of the heaven on high was created. This was one grace, one stone; then fire was created, Tixitate was his name, the light of the heavens. Sustinal, they say, was the light from that which lighted the heaven. Acpa, it was, who made the katun after the light originated in the heavens. Alpa-u-manga was his name after it ended.

<These are> the angels 3 of the winds which were set up while he created the star, when the world was not yet lighted, when there was neither heaven nor earth: the Red Pauahtun, the White Pauahtun, the Black Pauahtun, the Yellow Pauahtun. 4

Here was the first heaven where God the Father was set up, grasping in his hand his stone, grasping his cangel, grasping his wheel 5 on which are hung the four angels of the winds. Cerpinus was the name of him who, under Orele, measured 6 the land. They were three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He set up the planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, which he said were held in the grasp of the god in heaven when he created them. This was the name of the heaven, cristalino. 7 Here were the Angels. Corpinus was the name of him /

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was his name when all the angels were asperged. 1 Baloyo was his name when <the water> was sprinkled. 2 Seros was his name, Et sepeuas. Laus Deo.

Below were Chac Bolay Balam 3 and the cacao called balamté. 4 Esperas was the name of the sixth heaven; Isperas was the name of the seventh heaven. Then the world was created by God the ruler in the seventh katun, created in the darkness named Espiritu. St. Edendeus <and> St. Eluceo were the saints who witnessed the birth of him who was hidden within the stone, 5 hidden within the night. Se repite elitun entri de noche. These were the words said by him who was hidden within the stone, hidden within the night: Tronas Aleseyo de mundo de gracia. En apedia tejo çipi dia te en pieted gracia. Santo Esuleptun jam estum est gracia. Suplilis el timeo me firme abin finitis gracia, y metis absolutum ti metis de gracia. Abegintis gracia, Edendeo gracia, de fentis de gracia, fenoplis tun gracia. Locom dar yme gracia, tretris u mis gracia. Noçi luçi de gracia, in pricio de gracia, trese mili uno de cargo, leonte." 6

One, two, thirteen, one division, thirteen bakam of katuns. Three, seven, eight thousand was the creation of the world, when he who was hidden within the stone, hidden within the night, was born, when there was neither heaven nor earth. Then God the Father /

Who was born when our father descended?

Thou knowest. There was born the first macaw who cast the stones behind the acantun. 9

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How was the grain of maize born? How, indeed, father?

Thou knowest. The tender green <shoot> was born in heaven.

"Ciripacte, horca mundo. Ni mompan est noche. Amanena, omonena, apa opa," <was said> when the wind emerged from the great stone of grace. "Cipiones ted coruna, pater profecido," were his words when he arrived at the seventh stratum of the solid rock of grace. 1 "Bal te piones, orteçipio, reçi quenta noche. Hun ebrietate, hun cute profeciado," were the words of the Angel, Jerupiter. Then the sky was put in its place, Corporales ti ojales, by the first pope, the face of the katun, the burden of the Katun 13 Ahau. The face of the sun shall be turned from its course, it shall be turned face down during the reign of the perishable men, the perishable rulers. Five days the sun is eclipsed, and then shall be seen the torch of <Katun> 13 Ahau, a sign

Thus it is that God, our Father, gives a sign when they shall come, because there is no agreement. The descendants <of the former rulers> are dishonored and brought to misery; we are christianized, while they treat us like animals. There is sorrow in the heart of God because of these "suckers." 2

1n the year Fifteen hundred and thirty-nine, 1539, to the east was the door of the House of Don Juan Montejo, 3 to introduce Christianity here to the land of Yucalpeten, Yucatan.

Chilam Balam, the prophet.  4 /

Thus today is not an unlucky day 5 . . . /

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[p. 57 C]

The misspelled Latin and Spanish names may have been taken from some Spanish treatise on astrology or magic. The decoration here is evidently borrowed from some Spanish religious book.

FIG. 26--Death is ruler over all. (Chumayel MS.) / [p. 58 C]

This picture is probably taken bodily from some Spanish almanac.

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Footnotes

107:2 The following ritual is an example of the manner in which the Maya superimposed Christian doctrines on their own religious conceptions. An account of what we might call the Americanization of Christianity will be found in Appendix G.

107:3 Maya tun. This usually means a precious stone, while an ordinary stone or rock is called tunich. Tun also means the pit of a fruit as well as the soft surface limestone of the country. In compound words designating things made of stone we find the same term employed; furthermore tun is the name of the Maya time-period of 365 days. It is important to the interpretation of this chapter to note that among the Maya the Spanish word gracia, here literally translated as "grace," is a ritualistic term employed to designate the young maize plant (information supplied by Dr. Redfield). Consequently the "three-cornered precious stone of grace" is doubtless also a liturgical term indicating a grain of corn.

107:4 Alternative translation: was declared.

107:5 Alternative translation: in the heart of the spirit. Ik may mean either wind, breath or spirit.

107:6 Written grasiail in the text.

107:7 Written santoil in the text.

107:8 Maya picib, here translated as though it were picil which means innumerable.

107:9 Written Diosil in the text.

107:10 Here buki is translated as though it were luki, he departed. Buki means to be beaten up, like wax, or as soil is pulverized for cultivation.

107:11 Either for the purpose of mystification or to add solemnity to the ritual, this chapter is filled with Spanish and Latin words and names heard in the Christian church service. Here the "long locks of hair" are probably a reference to the corn-silk.

108:1 It is possible that this word zihil should be translated as "originated" here, as we can not be sure that the "grace" or maize plant, is personified. The Spanish words for grace and angel often have a Maya suffix. The names of the angels are unfamiliar to the translator, but they are certainly not Maya.

108:2 The Maya text: "Ten kul u ba ku tex ku exe," is translated as though it read: Ten kub u bal ku tex ku exe.

108:3 In all this abracadabra only the words, zipil na, appear to be Maya and might possibly be translated as "house of sin." The reader is reminded that the sounds of d, f, g and r do not occur in the Maya language. Consequently the remainder appears to be a mixture of corrupted Latin and Spanish, and, it is to be suspected, meant little more to the Maya writer than "eena meena mina mo" does to the American child who recites the formula.

109:1 Maya cangel, or canhel, the genuine Maya "angel," who was probably a wind-spirit. Cf. P. 67, note  5.

109:2 Maya ¢alab, defined as a seal or mold. Literally it means "that which is pressed down on something." The reference is to the terra cotta stamps or molds employed in decorating pottery, and it is possible that they were also used to stamp certain decorations on the human body.

109:3 Of these italicized words, Anuni is the only one which is not intended for Latin or Spanish. Possibly it is either a corrupted Nahuatl form or one taken from the Chol-Tzeltal group of languages.

109:4 Possibly a reference to "Egyptian darkness."

109:5 From here on, the tun appears to refer to a stela or monument.

109:6 Maya ik, here translated as wind, also means breath, life and spirit. "El espíritu, vida y aliento." Motul.

109:7 Bolay, the general name for a beast of prey.

109:8 Apparently a corruption of some form of the Latin sustineo and gracia, in which case it would probably mean "sustaining grace," or in other words, the maize plant which is our sustenance.

109:9 Lonmias may be a corruption of Hieronymus.

109:10 Zihontun might be translated as the created stone.

109:11 Alternative translation: the red pointed stone.

109:12 This mixture of Latin and Maya could be translated: I fill out the heavens.

109:13 Possibly the Cielo Empireo is meant.

110:1 The Maya carried mirrors, possibly on the back or shoulder.

110:2 Alternative translation: the bold one, the mad one, the turbulent one; possibly this is a confused recollection of the story of Lucifer. A Maya legend much resembling the Lucifer story is reported from Yucatan (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 177).

110:3 Maya, cangeles ik. The reference is evidently to the so-called "angels," one of whom was set on the back of the image of the Red Bacab in the ceremony pertaining to the year ascribed to the east. This "angel" was a sign of good rains and favorable crops. Easterly winds have always been favorably regarded by the Maya, and the translator believes that this cangel (Landa's "angel" and Beltran's "dragon") was a wind-spirit. It probably looked more like a dragon than an angel. As we see here, there were four of them, and the word itself could well be translated as "the four changing ones." Consequently our "angels of the wind" would be originally the "four changing winds." Cf. p. 67, note  5.

110:4 This passage confirms Baeza's account of the misa milpera (quoted in Brinton 1890, p. 166), in which it is stated that the four Pauahtuns are identical with the winds and the four cardinal points from which they blow. A discussion of the four cardinal points and the deities associated with them will be found in Appendix A.

110:5 Maya, kabalil, is the primitive Yucatecan potter's wheel, which is only a block of wood on which the pot is turned by the feet of the potter. See Tozzer 1907, Plate 13, fig. 3. In the Codex Cortesianus (pp. 20-21 d), we see a wheel-like ceremonial object held by four bird-headed figures. The pictures illustrate a tzol-kin (or tonalamatl) divided into four parts and beginning with the day 4 Ik (4 Wind).

110:6 We find several unexplained references to "measuring the land." Cf. p. 65.

110:7 We find in the Books of Chilam Balam of Ixil and Kaua a diagram on which the earth is enclosed within eleven spheres labeled Luna, Mercurio, Venus, Sol, Marte, Jupiter, Saturno, Firmamento (containing the fixed stars), Christalino, Primer Mobil and Cielo Empireo. It is, of course, the popular idea of Ptolmaic astronomy in vogue at the time, and was not unlike the native conception of thirteen heavens, of which the earth itself counted as the first.

110:8 Possible alternative translation: The blessing of the Father, etc.

111:1 Sprinkling with a consecrated liquid was an ancient Maya ceremony. Landa 1928, p. 184.

111:2 Alternative translation: when they (the angels) were scattered.

111:3 Balam is a general term for jaguar, but it can also mean priest. Chac-bolay is Felis hernandesii goldmani Mearns; but it was also the name of a certain evil spirit, and spreading the skin of this jaguar in the market-place was a symbol of war, famine and pestilence (Tizimin, p. 30).

111:4 Balamté is the Theobroma bicolor Humb. & Bonpl.

111:5 Maya, u lamay tun, probably the planted seed corn. The definition of this phrase, "the square stone," symbolizing the twenty years of the katun, has long been accepted. The word for squared, however, is amay, not lamay, which means sunk out of sight, hidden. Cf. Chumayel, p. 163, where we read of the "hell which is sunken within the world."

111:6 Little, if any, of this hocus-pocus is Maya, and it is the conjecture of the translator that its source was some itinerant Spanish fortune-teller or astrologer. Cf. Aguilar 1900, p. 80. The repetition of the word gracia suggests an incantation to make the corn grow.

111:7 Literally, embroidered. Maya: hun piliz tun de gracia.

111:8 This reference recalls the legend of the divine macaw which brought down from heaven the fire to consume the sacrifice to Kinich Kakmó, the sun-god, at Izamal (Cogolludo 1868, 1, p. 319). For an account of the acantun, see page 114, note  3.

111:9 The text is confused here and the translation a little uncertain.

112:1 Probably a fanciful conception of the structure of the maize-kernel.

112:2 Possibly this is a reference to the name first given to the Spaniards. They were called "suckers of anonas," because they were seen eating the pond-apple, an insipid fruit not considered edible by the natives.

112:3 Here as elsewhere Don Juan de Montejo is confused with his father, Don Francisco, the Spanish conqueror. The door of the old Montejo mansion in Merida faces north, not east, and it is the belief of the translator that this reference is not to the actual house of Montejo, but to the compartment, or so-called "house," of the katun-wheel in which is pictured Katun 11 Ahau, the first katun of the Spanish Conquest in which Montejo ruled the country. The katun-wheel on page 132 of the Chumayel ascribes Katun 11 Ahau to the east.

112:4 Written in a different hand.

112:5 Written in a different hand.