Mayan Ceremonies - VI
After the offering is made to Tzul Taka, the order of the ceremony follows that of the twenty naguals of the Chol Qij. The twenty Lords are called upon in serial order to bless the “great-grandchildren,” (mam inmam) which is how the Mayans refer to themselves. The first nagual is the nagual of the day the ceremony takes place. Often the day Batz is chosen for ceremonies since it is considered to be the noblest of the Lords, and is the initial nagual in the 260-day cycle. The ceremony being described here was commissioned to dedicate a ritual site, so the day 9 Batz was chosen. In a sing-songy litany the chief priest explains that Batz symbolizes a ball of thread, which is the Mayan metaphor for time. The Mayans represent time as a thread rolled up in a ball underneath the earth, and the unraveling of this ball of thread is the passage of time. History is woven with the thread of time, just as garments are woven with cotton thread. Batz is the weaver of the family and community, the ties which bind people together. The priest asks this Lord that his client be able to roll up family, children, wealth. Batz is the ruler of all ceremonies such as weddings and the formation of organizations, since these are the threads which tie the great-grandchildren together. At the end of Batz the priest counts up to thirteen for the thirteen powers (gods of the upper world): hun (1) Batz, kwib (2) Batz, oshib (3) Batz, kayib (4) Batz, ob (5) Batz, kwakib (6) Batz, kukub (7) Batz, kwashakib (8) Batz, beleb (9) Batz, laheb (10) Batz, hunlahu (11) Batz, kablahu (12) Batz, oshlahu (13) Batz. These thirteen powers correspond to the thirteen principal bones in the human body – i.e. where the nine gods of the lower world are the Creators – Formers, the thirteen gods of the upper world are the Sustainers. The Mayans consider that there are thirteen days to a “week” (sheman, from the Spanish word “semana”). After the count to thirteen is made for each nagual, the participants in the ceremony make a wish on one of the twenty candles they were handed at the outset and then throw the candle into the fire. The portion of the ceremony devoted to each individual nagual varies in length, but typically lasts five to ten minutes. At intervals there is ritual dancing of the slow son dance around the fire by the priest alone, and sometimes by participants as well. Participants are cued by the high priest as to what to do next. When a nagual’s turn ends the next nagual becomes “host” of the ceremony: after Batz comes Be (road), and the priest sing-songs a litany about the road of life, and asks for guidance and protection along that road. He asks this Lord to protect his client’s journey, that no matter where he goes he should have no accidents and live a long life; that he should have good roads, beautiful roads, level roads. During this invocation the priest and client journey (dance the son as they slowly circle the fire) three times. If the client had commissioned a ceremony to win a bride, the priest would have recommended performing the ritual on Be since it represents the future, hope, good fortune – the road of life which begins with Batz and ends with Tzi. The invocation of Be ends with the count up to thirteen: hun Be, kwib Be, oshib Be, etc. to oshlahu Be; and then the participants make their wishes and throw a candle into the fire.
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