The Meaning of Mairy
for the MaYa
The Meaning of }1la:rz,e
J. EncThomPson
maiTefor rheMaya culture:it wu
Tlrc PopolVuh makesclearthe im7ortanceof
and mai<ehasbeenthe staffof hfe
of mai4ethat thegodsfashionedhuman bangs'
d'fr*lry
Eten knowtngthis' howewr'we may havesome
for the Maya eversince.
means-in a tulnetableagicul'
what maiTei'on'-ond
wxberstandingprecisely
turalsoaetysuchasthatoftheMaya.Inthefo|Lowingreading,adtstinguished
drfers
mwrnglyon the Maya wotWview'andhow rt
reJLects
British anthropologist
from ourown.
economic basis of Maya civilizatio4;
Maize was a great deal more than the
it every Maya who worked the soil
to
ir was the focal point of worship, and
maize the Maya would have lacke4i
built a shrine in his own heart. without
their pyramids at'd templ"s; wttrg
the leisure and the prosperiry to erect
that the peasants would have t
their mystical love for it, ic i' imp'obable
of building directedby
mitted to the unceaslng and srupendous Program
he was building to conciliate the
hierarchy. The Maya labot"' k"t* that
mai"'e O"U:*,0:l--tl
soil, onwhose care and Protectionhis
of sLy
".td
over' but I doubt
world
the
p""'"ttts
Love of the soil is found u*ot'g
its produce th"til M
there is a more strongly mystical attirude toward
today' after four
Even
America. To the Muyu, .o" is peculiarly sacred'
of with reverence and ad
ruries of Christian influence, it is still spoken
supreme gift to man' to be
ritualistically as "Your Grace'" It is the gods'
clearingthe land or
with full ..rp.., and not a little humiliry' Before
his offeringsto the
the Maya fasted,practiced continence' and made
religious celebration'
the soil. Each stagein the farming round was
up the tughlani
summed
friar
a
*go
More than two hundred yt""
"Everything
did and said
they
attirude roward maize inthlr. *o.dr,
it as a god' The
cerned maize thatthey aimost regarded
$
$
is such that
rapture with which they lookupon their milpas
:i-YI
othll
any
PbT:t:' ".:*t"gh'n:
they forget children, wife, and
This is very much
,n.t n ti po.pose in life u.td 'o"ttt of their feliciry"'
for the Maya 87
poinq but the writer made one mistake.
The Indians did regard the maize
as
agod, although they tookgood
care not to let rhe friars know it.
A somewhat similar attitude is revealed
by the comment of a Mam Maya
from wesrern Guatemala on the white
cusrom of buryng in niches. The
Indians,he said, consider it better to
feed the earth with their dead bodies
ir p"y-
n::*.:r
tt.givesthemwhentheyarealive_ ..The
e"rth giveis
,rs
ff:: Iwe T.
rood;
should feed it.,,
ln our urban civilization the productiviry
of the iand is somethingrather
r€motewhich is taken for granted.
It is associatedmore with chain stores
can openersthan with the soil, and,
if our thoughts go a srep back of
1nd
tha! we envisiona man on a ffactor
or behind a team of horses,so*.thirrg
picnuesque,but unrelated ro our
efforts to earn our daily bread.
The Maya, who has to struggle
againsr climate, tropical pests, and
a roo
iberant vegetation,
vegerailon.sees
seesthings
things in a very
verv different
.lifl""o-, hght.
l;-r.f FIis
u:- livelihood
ri-__r:,
de_
:j:::i, literally
ngends
on the swearof his broq .rot or, the steaming
flanks of a pair of
with the benefit of crops introduced from
the old W.orld
fi.::^::}.i*r. "o1
diet, 80 pefcent of his food is La2e.
He
ears
it with every meal
iotqy
year out,
r: the failure of that one crop is a disasrer
to him.
:':^T1 seems .""d
I TY:
robefighting
beside
himi., .r, ,rrrffi
ffi::;:#;
of enemy, trying to survive in order
O,*:
that the man and his family
y also live.
fi:conceptionyfa
clon a1alive being, an ally striving at
$ff_T:t"::-t]i|T:
lhoughf, No wonder
our side,is utterly
o"r,n:l' andistundamental
in theMayapat-
thar the Maya personified the maize
and regarded
a reverential love which we could
never feel for anything inanimate.
** which rhe godscould besrowon man only after considerable
3|.
rne storyis given in Maya legend:
:,IM.lsonce stored beneath a great
mountain of rock. It was first dis-
f::Y^i::::ching-army
eaththe rock and
ants,whichmadea runnetto its hiding
begancarrying the grainsawayon their
backs.The
his nerghbo-rs.doings,s"w rhe anrs carry_
i;i:y:::::ib:",
g.T and tried some. Soon the other
animalsand then man
:T-9.
ofthis new food, but onJy the ants
could penetrate to rhe piace where
tle r1n Sodsto help them get ar rhe
store.In rurn, three of the
,but failed,to blastthe rock apartwith their rhunderbolrs.
Then
;od, the oldest of them all, after many refusals,was prevailed
skill. He sentthe woodpeckerro ,up ih.
surfaceof rhe rock to
qPot'when ir had beendiscovered,he told
rhewoodpeckerro
ran.overhangingledge
while he tried to split the rock With all
ad
I . L n c ln o m o so n
TheMeaningof MaiTefor
theMaya
his strength he hurled his mightiest thunderbolt againstthe weak point, and
the rock was riven asunder.Just as the thunderbolt struck, the woodpecker,
disobeyingorders, stuck out his head. A flying fragment of rock hit him on
the ftop of his head], causingit to bleed freely,and eversincethe woodpecker
hashad a red head.The fiery heat was so intensethat part of the maize, which
had been entirely white, was charred.Some earswere slightly burned, many
were discoloredwith smoke, but some escapedall damage.There resulted
four kinds of maize-black, red, yeilow, and white. . . .
8o
BEFORE
EACHrAsK the Maya makes tris offering to the gods who guardhis
fie1d.Ceremoniesat sowing time among the Mopan Mayaof southern[Belize]
will iliustratethe religioussetting.
The night before sowing, the helpers gather at the hut of the owner of the
field. At one end ofthe hut the sacks ofseed are laid on a table before a cross,
and lighted candles are placed in fiont and to each side ofa gourd containing
cacao and ground maize. The seed is then censed with copai, and afterwards
the hut, inside and out, is completely censed. The men, who have brought
their own hammocks, lounge in them, passing the night in conversation and
music and the enjoyment of a meal served at midnight. Sometimes the groupl,;
prays in the church for a good crop. The purpose of this vigii is to ensue,
that the crop will not be endangeredby the incontinenceof any memberof
'
the group (the Mam, the Chorti, the Kekchi, and other Maya groups observQ
:lOdS Ol
of Contlnence
continence OI
of Up
up tO
to tnfteen
thirteen cays
days at
at sowmg
sowing ume).
time).
periods
:,,,
Looking back thirty years, I can see the group, most of them deepin,
shadow, for the guttering candles throw only a small circle of light. One of
rwo are sitting in their hammocks; a third is lying back in his hammo&witlt'
one foot dangling over the edge. Everyone is wrapped in a thin blanket, fot
the April night is cold and the chill air has no trouble in finding the spacee;
berween the poles that form the wails of the hut. Conversation in soft,
song Maya starts and dies iike puffs of wind. Outside, the constellations
the tropics dawdle across the sky; they seem so close, one feels like
hand to push them on their course.Curiosiry can hardly be delayrng
they have seen such vigils for many centuries. At daybreak the owner of
land goes to his field ahead ofthe rest ofthe party. There, in the centerof
field, he burns copal and sows seven handfuls of maize in the form of a
oriented to the four world directions, and recites this prayer:
O god, my grandfather,my grandmother, god of the hills, god of the
leys,holy god. I make to you my offering with a1imy soul. Be patient
me in what I am doing, my true God and [blessed]Virgin. It is needfirl
.'l*1:''l*'ce1ebratedinYa.xun6,Yucatin,in',,u'"o.E
pre'columbiaapracrice.(ph.r.b;;:;::'"'::,1:t": rherirualisdescendeddirectryfrom
oro by DebraS.Walker;
ili,t: Iou give me fine, belltifyj, all I am going
to
here
where I haverny
^sow
fo
t Ii,lH i"JlT:1
r
m
e,
r.,,,
o,r.i,,g
iuip.,,
_yT.H1;:iil:il
samegeneral
rypeprecede
cJearinrne
*-T:1,*1.
t'e scrub when
it is dr," f,^;.;,
rand and burnr.ng
off
goar
of rhe
are
ilj agricurruraj
dre
dre
ceremoni;
ceremoni.:
:,
tr:*i;;;:;;'r"",r":".onten
+-i+fi'J:":*l::1
rJ;.
ftr*.
"o*Tffif,
nerdrn vrllagesof yucatiin
iainis needed.
^;.;_*"",..,:drlig
No, , _* ,;;;,::;D^y
when
the viltagefaitsto arrend.
The first raskis t.
&rchthe
the
vrater
*rr";
;:";"r,::,1:
needed
in theprepar';;;"
fjch
;:THff_:H,J*
water
fromasacred
."rrir. *rr".";.;
llyyt
Lnever go. once
netrbrought,
:;
:il*Th:;:T;'J::t"^"""T:H.l'ffi
m?::il*iil
no one mrsr rAhr-- L^--
this has
ffi+,;* ffi;"#;[,'l #':X;'1"::
::::^..".d;;;;;
'q''rruLK5
wlthln the cleared
area, usually."
"*"-
,rr. rrir'rr.or,
:HI3.I,tf:il:ff:ffi :ffi'ff ffi: jn,-*.ffe
rsa,da
wn
$j'iJff
;
'Jl5:#;::1ff
.xx;:l*-*:il '^':i:!::#Y*
is distributedamong
lTu: tr. balche
,n. l*"_ili"*tng
a chantby four
jl,:?:*;.**:::::;fi
ffiil"',i.:ff
;-,i,;H:j:
il*L?'
rantscalled chacs
hold
each hi".r
*:,*:
t1n
urc' oroughr forward.
bl its wingsandlegs
fl poursbalchennerr*.':1Y-- ':
while
n, throaranddedicares
aier that rh.;;;;;:;:"
ti to th.
90 J. Eic Tltompson
Thirteen timesbabhe is sprinkled on the altar, and after each sprinkling rs
offered to the members of the congregadon.By noon the food is ready,and
the main ceremony can commence.
A boy is ried by his right leg to each post of the altar. These four boys
representfrogs, the attendantsand musiciansof the rain gods. As the
ceremony proceeds,they croak in imitation of frogs announcingthe approach
of
a storm. An older man, selectedto impersonatethe chief chac, is reverently
carried to a clearedspacea few yards east of the altar. He is provided
with
a calabashand a wooden knife, for. . . calabashesare carried by the chacs
and water sprinkled from them causesrain. The wooden knife representsthe
implement wirh which they produce rhe lighming.
From time to time this impersonator makes sounds like thunder and brandishes his wooden knife. Sometimes in place of a single impersonator
of the
chief chac, four men, one at each corner of the altar, represent the four
chacs
of the world direccions. Each time rhe shaman recit"s a praye r or offersbabhe.
they dance nine times around the altar.
The altar is piled with food and drink. Thirteen tall gourds and rwo
dishes
of balche,nine pails of broth from the sacrificial birds, four lots each
of nrne
piles of tortillas made of maDe and squash seeds, and nine piies of various.
other kinds of tortillas are placed on it.
After this provender has been offered to the gods (a rime-consuming
ceremony), all retire so that the gods can feasr on the offering without
interruption' when it is judged that the gods have concluded their repast, the
shaman l
returns and pours balcheon the head of the impersonarorof the chief Chac.,
The food, minus the spirirual essenceakeadyextracted from it, is divided
among the men, and except for one or two minor ceremonies the rain pedtioriil
is finished.
Great srressis laid on imitative magic.The croakingsof the frogs,the noises
like thunder, the impersonation of the rain god with the symbols of rain an4
lightning are basically magic. Important, too, is the use of the ,acr.d
num:
bersseven,nine, and thirteen. The purification pattern runs through the
mony: virgin warer must be used,theoreticallythe sacrificedbirds are
continenceis essential,andbalcheis a purifier. In ancienttimes this cere
would probably havebeen not a village,but a district, rite, and children
havebeen offered insteadofrurkeys.
Yet, these rires must not be regardedas so many ethnological data;
are the expressionsof Maya preoccuparionwith the living maize and the
who nourish him and give him drink. Much of the ancient pomp and
mony is no more, but we can be sure that the Maya peasants,
gathered in
courts of Tikal or Palenque for some ceremony, recognized with
satisfacr
therepresentations
TheMeaningof
-''6"1 tvtutTeJortlrcMaya
MaiTefor theMaya gI
9r
of the maize onA *r-^
^,
ffiHf
;.T:.}:#:f,
r1ri::;::**i::-!l
ni:::ff
:
serve
so*,ri.r.h.*,. ?"?.illo,llliiff
dthem
cntheraeades
;;;;;::ff1?:;:',j:'^:l"cs,
rheearthgods
carved
.and
burldrngto their
"r r'e temPles,and were .orrt.rrtio
glory
.orr,au.
giventheirheu.,rio,h..-"l-:"""l-,*"'5 LnePnestswho servedth.-.
rh.vl"o
rheyhad
f":::,:-ylo ripr,"gui"..,1o*
Memory,
use,
and
ror.
*fi1fi:"'::i*'Ii
Tn:lp"*a
";;;:
"i.-r,l.'ffi:'J:rT:',T
Jf.: