Chapter XI: Gods, Supernatural Beings, and Worship (1)

MAYA PANTHEON -- ZAMNÁ -- CUKULCAN -- THE GODS OF YUCATAN --
THE SYMBOL OF THE CROSS IN AMERICA -- HUMAN SACRIFICES IN
YUCATAN -- PRIESTS OF YUCATAN -- GUATEMALAN PANTHEON -- TEPEU
AND HURAKAN -- AVILIX AND HACAVITZ -- THE HEROES OF THE SACRED
BOOK -- QUICHÉ GODS -- WORSHIP OF THE CHOLES, MANCHES, ITZAS,
LACANDONES, AND OTHERS -- TRADITION OF COMIZAHUAL -- FASTS --
PRIESTS OF GUATEMALA -- GODS, WORSHIP, AND PRIESTS OF NICARAGUA
-- WORSHIP ON THE MOSQUITO COAST -- GODS AND WORSHIP OF THE
ISTHMIANS -- PHALLIC WORSHIP IN AMERICA.

The religion of the Mayas was fundamentally the same as that of the Nahuas, though it differed somewhat in outward forms. Most of the gods were deified heroes, brought more or less prominently to the front by their importance. Occasionally we find very distinct traces of an older sun-worship, which has succumbed to later forms, introduced, according to vague tradition, from Anáhuac. The generality of this cult is testified to by the numerous representations of sun-plates and sun-pillars found among the ruins of Central America.[XI-1]

In Yucatan, Hunab Ku, 'the only god', called also Kinehahau, 'the mouth or eyes of the sun',[XI-2] is represented as the Supreme Being, the Creator, the Invisible one, whom no image can represent.[XI-3] His spouse Ixazalvoh was honored as the inventor of weaving, and their son Zamná, or Yaxcocahmut, one of the culture-heroes of the people, is supposed to have been the inventor of the art of writing.[XI-4] The inquiries instituted by Las Casas revealed the existence of a trinity, the first person of which was Izona, the Great Father; the second was the Son of the Great Father, Bacab, born of the virgin Chibirias,[XI-5] scourged and crucified, he descended into the realms of the dead, rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; the third person of the trinity was Echuah, or Ekchuah, the Holy Ghost.[XI-6] Now, to accuse the reverend Fathers of deliberately concocting this and other statements of a similar character is to accuse them of acts of charlatanism which no religious zeal could justify. On the other hand, that this mysterious trinity, had any real existence in the original belief of the natives, is, to put it in its mildest form, exceedingly doubtful. It may be, however, that the natives, when questioned concerning their religion, endeavored to make it conform as nearly as possible to that of their conquerors, hoping by this means to gain the good will of their masters, and to lull suspicions of lurking idolatry.

Bacab, stated above to mean the Son of the Great Father, was in reality the name of four spirits who supported the firmament; while Echuah, or the Holy Ghost, was the patron god of merchants and travelers.

[Sidenote: ZAMNÁ.]

The goddess Ixcanleox was held to be the mother of the gods, but as Cogolludo states that she had several names, she may possibly be identical with Ixazaluoh, the wife of Hunab Ku, whose name implies generation.[XI-7] The Mayas were not behind their neighbors in the number of their lesser and special divinities, so that there was scarcely an animal or imaginary creature which they did not represent by sacred images. These idols, or _zemes_,[XI-8] as they were called, were generally made of terra cotta, though sometimes they were of stone, gold, or wood. In the front rank of the circle of gods, known by the name of _ku_, were the deified kings and heroes, whom we often find credited with attributes so closely connected as to imply identity, or representation of varied phases of the same element.[XI-9] The most popular names were Zamná and Cukulcan, both culture-heroes, and considered by some to be identical; a very probable supposition when we consider that Quetzalcoatl, who is admitted to be the same as Cukulcan, had the attribute of the strong hand, as well as Zamná. The tradition relates that some time after the fall of the Quinamean Empire, Zamná appeared in Yucatan, coming from the west, and was received with great respect wherever he stayed. Besides being the inventor of the alphabet, he is said to have named all points and places in the country. Over his grave rose a city called Izamal or Itzamat Ul, which soon became one of the chief centres of pilgrimage in the peninsula, especially for the afflicted, who sincerely believed that their prayers when accompanied by suitable presents would not fail to obtain a hearing. This class of devotees generally resorted to the temple where he was represented in the form of a hand, Kab Ul, or working hand, whose touch was sufficient to restore health.[XI-10]

Professor Müller thinks it very uncertain whether the creating or working hand referred to the sun, as was the case among the northern tribes, but the account given of the following idol seems to me to make this not improbable. In the same city was an image of Kinich Kakmo, 'face or eye of the sun', whom Landa represents to be the offspring of the sun, but who subsequently became identified with that luminary and received divine honors in the very temple that he had erected to his father. He is represented in the act of sacrifice, pointing the finger toward a ray from the midday sun, as if to draw a spark wherewith to kindle the sacred fire. To this idol the people resorted in times of calamity and sickness, bringing offerings to induce oracular advice.[XI-11] There are many things which seem to me to identify this personage with Zamná, although other writers hold them to be distinct. Cogolludo, for instance, implies that Zamná was the only son of the sun, or Supreme Being, while Landa and others declare Kinich Kakmo to be the son of that luminary; both are placed on or about the same level and considered as healers, and the uplifted hand of the latter reminds us strongly of the Kab Ul. Another form in which we may recognize Zamná is the image of Itzamat Ul, or 'the dew of heaven', who is said to have been a great ruler, the son of god, and who cured diseases, raised the dead, and pronounced oracles. When asked his name, he replied, _ytzencaan_, _ytzenmuyal_.[XI-12]

[Sidenote: CUKULCAN.]

The other culture-hero, Cukulcan, appeared in Yucatan from the west, with nineteen followers, two of whom were gods of fishes, two gods of farms, and one of thunder, all wearing full beard, long robes, and sandals, but no head-covering. This event is supposed to have occurred at the very time that Quetzalcoatl disappeared in the neighboring province of Goazacoalco, a conjecture which, in addition to the similarity of the names, character, and work of the heroes, forms the basis for their almost generally accepted identity. Cukulcan stopped at several places in Yucatan, but at last settled in Chichen Itza, where he governed for ten years, and framed laws. At the expiration of this period, he left without apparent reason to return to the country whence he had come. A grateful people erected temples at Mayapan and Chichen, to which pilgrims resorted from all quarters to worship him as a god, and to drink of the waters in which he had bathed. His worship, although pretty general throughout Yucatan at one time, was later on confined chiefly to the immediate scenes of his labors.[XI-13]

Besides Izamal and Chichen, there was a third great centre of worship in Yucatan, namely, the temple of Ahulneb, on Cozumel Island, said by some writers to have been the chief sanctuary, Chichen being second in importance. It consisted of a square tower of considerable size, within which was the gigantic terra-cotta statue of Ahulneb, dressed as a warrior, and holding an arrow in his hand. The statue was hollow and set up close against an aperture in the wall, by which the priest entered the figure to deliver the oracle; should the prediction not be fulfilled, which was scarcely likely as it was generally so worded that it might mean anything or nothing, the failure was ascribed to insufficient sacrifice or unatoned sin. So famous did this oracle become, and so great was the multitude of pilgrims continually flocking to it, that it was found necessary to construct roads leading from the chief cities of Yucatan, and even from Tabasco and Guatemala, to Polé, a town on the continent opposite the island. Before embarking, the genius of the sea was always propitiated by the sacrifice of a dog, which was slain with arrows amid music and dancing.[XI-14]

[Sidenote: YUCATEC DEITIES.]

The Bacabs were four brothers who supported the four corners of the firmament; they were also regarded as air gods. Cogolludo speaks of them as Zacal Bacab, Canal Bacab, Chacal Bacab, and Ekel Bacab, but they were also known by other names. Echuah was the patron-god of merchants and of roads; to him the traveler erected every night a rude altar of six stones, three laid flat, and three set upright, upon which he burned incense while he invoked the protection of the god. It was considered a religious duty by Yucatec wayfarers, when passing some prominent point on the road or spot where an image of Echuah stood, to add a stone or two to the heap already accumulated there, an act of devotion similar to that performed by the Romans in honor of Mercury. Yuncemil was Lord of Death, or, perhaps, the personification of death itself; this dread deity was propitiated with offerings of food.[XI-15] Acat was God of Life; he it was that formed the infant in the womb. At Tihoo, the present Mérida, stood the magnificent temple of Yahau Kuna in which Baklum Chaam, the Priapus of the Mayas and their most ancient god was worshiped. Chac, or Chaac, a former king of Izamal, was honored as the god of fields, and fertility, and the inventor of agriculture. Some distance south-west of this city was the temple of Hunpictok, 'commander of eight thousand lances', a title given also to the general of the army.[XI-16] Abchuy Kak was another apotheosized warrior-prince, whose statue, dressed in royal robes, was borne in the van of the army by four of the most illustrious captains, and received an ovation all along the route. Yxchebelyax is mentioned as the inventor of the art of interweaving figures in cloth, and of painting. Xibalba, 'he who disappears,' was the name of the evil spirit. Exquemelin relates that nagualism obtained on the coast. The naked child was placed on a bed of ashes in the temple, and the animal whose footprint was noticed in the ashes, was adopted as the nagual, and to it the child offered incense as it grew up.[XI-17]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: THE SYMBOL OF THE CROSS.]

One of the most remarkable emblems of Maya worship, in the estimation of the conquerors, was the cross, which has also been noticed in other parts of Central America and in Mexico,[XI-18] although less prominently than here. Among the many conjectures as to its origin it is supposed that it was received from Spaniards who were wrecked on the coast before Córdova discovered Yucatan, as, for instance, the pious Aguilar, Cortés' interpreter; but this would not account for the crosses that existed in other parts of Central America. The natives had a tradition, however, which placed the introduction of the cross a few years before the conquest. Among the many prophets who arose at that time was one who predicted the coming of a strange people from the direction of the rising sun, who would bring with them a monotheistic faith having the cross for its emblem. He admonished them to accept the new religion, and erected a cross as a token of his prophecy.[XI-19] Another tradition states that a very handsome man passed through the country and left the cross as a memento, and this many of the padres readily believed, declaring this personage to be none other than the wanderer St Thomas.[XI-20] The opinion that it was introduced by early Christians, or old-world pagans, is, however, opposed by the argument that other more practical features of their culture would have left their mark at the same time. The symbol itself is so simple and suggestive of so many ideas that it seems to me most reasonable to suppose that the natives adopted it without foreign aid. At all events, as the cross was in use both as a religious emblem and an instrument of punishment long before the Christian era, it is surely unnecessary to account for its presence in America by theories invented for the occasion, or, in fact, in any way to connect it with Christianity. The most common signification attributed to the symbol is fertility or generation. A piece of wood fastened horizontally to an upright beam indicated the height of the overflow of the Nile. If the flood reached this mark, the crops flourished; should it fail to do so, famine was the result; thus, we are told, in Egypt the cross came to be worshipped as a symbol of life and generation, or feared as an image of decay and death. By other peoples and for other reasons it was closely connected with phallic rites, of which I shall speak elsewhere, or was connected with the worship of that great fertilizer and life-giver, the sun. Among the Chinese the cross signifies conception. The cross of Thor may possibly be an exception, and refer merely to his hammer or thunderbolt.[XI-21]

With the Mexicans the cross was a symbol of rain, the fertilizing element, or rather of the four winds, the bearers of rain, and as such it was one of Quetzalcoatl's emblems. Chalchiuitlicue, the sister of the rain-gods, bore in her hands a cross-shaped vessel. The cross is to be found in Mexican MSS., and appears in that of Fejérvary with a bird, which, as an inhabitant of the air, may be said to accord with the character of the symbol. The Mexican name of the cross, _tonacaquahuitl_, 'tree of one life, or flesh,' certainly conveys the idea of fertility. It is nevertheless regarded by some writers merely as an astronomical sign.[XI-22] The first cross noticed by the Spaniards stood within the turreted court-yard of a temple on Cozumel Island; it was composed of lime and stone, and was ten spans (palmos) in height. To this cross the natives prayed for rain, and in times of drought went in procession to offer _vahomche_, as they called the symbol, quails and other propitiatory gifts. Another cross stood within the precincts of the Spanish cloister at Mérida, whither the pious monks had most likely brought it from Cozumel; it was about three feet high, six inches thick, and had another cross sculptured on its face.[XI-23] The sculptured cross at Palenque has the latin form; a bird is perched on its apex, and on either side stands a human figure, apparently priests, one of whom offers it a child.[XI-24]

[Sidenote: HUMAN SACRIFICES IN YUCATAN.]

The Yucatecs were as careful as the Mexicans to prepare for their numerous festivals by fasts marked by strict chastity and absence from salt and pepper.[XI-25] Scarification could not be omitted by the pious on these occasions, although women were not called upon to draw blood.[XI-26] Yet their gods were not by any means so blood-thirsty as the Mexican, being generally appeased by the blood of animals, and human sacrifices were called for only on extraordinary occasions. Cukulcan, like his prototype Quetzalcoatl, doubtless opposed the shedding of human blood, but after his departure the practice certainly existed, and the pit at Chichen Itza, whose waters he had consecrated with his person, was among the first places to be polluted. The victims here were generally young virgins, who were charged when they should come into the presence of the gods to entreat them for the needed blessings. Medel relates that on one occasion the victim threatened to invoke the most terrible evils upon the people, instead of blessings, if they sacrificed her against her will; the perplexed priests thought it prudent to let the girl go, and select another and more tractable sacrifice in her place. The victims who died under the knife, or were tied to a tree and shot, were usually enslaved captives, especially those of rank, but when these failed, criminals and even children were substituted. All contributed to these sacrifices, either by presenting slaves and children, or by subscribing to the purchase money. While awaiting this doom the victims were well treated, and conducted from town to town amid great rejoicings; care was taken, however, that no sinful act should detract from their purity or value.[XI-27] Sometimes the body was eaten, says Landa, the feet, hands and head being given to the priests, the rest to the chiefs and others; but Cogolludo and Gomara insist that cannibalism was not practiced. The latter statement can not apply to the whole of the peninsula, however, for on a preceding page Cogolludo relates that Aguilar's shipwrecked companions were sacrificed and eaten by the natives.[XI-28]

Confession, which Cukulcan is said to have introduced, was much resorted to, the more so as death and disease were thought to be direct punishments for sin committed. Married priests were the regular confessors, but these were not always applied to for spiritual aid; the wife would often confess to her husband, or a husband to his wife, or sometimes a public avowal was made. Mental sins however, says Landa, were not confessed.[XI-29]

[Sidenote: PRIESTS OF YUCATAN.]

The priesthood of Yucatan were divided into different factions, some of which regarded Zamná and Cukulcan as their respective founders, while others remained true to more ancient leaders. According to Landa the high-priest was termed Ahkin Mai, or Ahau Can Mai, and held in great veneration, as one whose advice was followed by the kings and grandees. The revenues of the office, which passed as an inheritance to the son or nearest relative, consisted of presents from the king and of tributes collected by the priests. The ordinary priests bore the title of _ahkin_,[XI-30] and were divided into several classes. Some of them preached, made offerings, kept records, and instructed the sons of nobles and those destined for the priesthood in the various branches of education. The _chilanes_ who construed the oracles of the gods, and accordingly exercised great influence, held the highest place in the estimation of the people, before whom they appeared in state, borne in litters. The sorcerers and medicine men foretold fortunes and cured diseases. The _chacs_ were four old men elected at every celebration to assist the priests, from which it would seem that the priesthood was not a very numerous body. _Nacon_ was the title of the sacrificer, an office held for life, but little esteemed; this title was also borne by the general of the army, who assisted at certain festivals. Marriage seems to have been permitted to all, and confessors were actually required to have wives, yet there were doubtless a large number who lived in a state of celibacy, devoted to their sacred duties. Their dress varied according to their rank, the high-priest being distinguished by a mitre in addition to his peculiar robe; the most usual dress was, however, a large white cotton robe[XI-31] and a turban formed by wreathing the unwashed hair round the head, and keeping it pasted in that position with blood. Connected with the sun worship was an order of vestals, formed by princess Zuhui Kak, 'fire virgin,' the daughter of Kinich Kakmo, superioress of the vestals. The members were all volunteers, who generally enrolled themselves for a certain time, at the expiration of which they were allowed to leave and enter the married state; some, however, remained for ever in the service of the temple, and were apotheosized. Their duty was to tend the sacred fire, the emblem of the sun, and to keep strictly chaste; those who broke their vows were shot to death with arrows.[XI-32]

The chief account of Guatemalan worship is derived from the sacred book of the Quichés, the _Popol Vuh_, to which I have already referred in the opening pages of this volume, but the description given in it is so confused, the names and attributes of the gods so mixed, that no very reliable conclusions can be derived therefrom. This very confusion seems, however, to indicate that the imported names of Hurakan, Gucumatz, and others, were with their attributes attached to native heroes, who undergo the most varying fortunes and character, amid which now and then a glance is obtained at their original form.

[Sidenote: TEPEU AND HURAKAN.]

The most ancient of the gods are two persons called Hun Ahpu Vuch and Hun Ahpu Utïu, or Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, Creator and Protector, Grandfather and Grandmother of the sun and moon, who are often confounded under either gender and represented with big noses, like tapirs, an animal sacred to these people. Brasseur identifies them with the Mexican Oxomoco and Cipactonal,[XI-33] Tonacatlecutli and Tonacatepetl, Ometecutli and Omecihuatl, the female also with Centeotl and Toci, and places her in the Quiché calendar as Hun Ahpu, while the male heads the list of months under the name of Imox.[XI-34] Connected with them stands Tepeu, termed by the sacred book Dominator, He who Begets, and whose name means grand, majestic. Ximenez, by translating his name as buboes, or syphilis, connects him with Nanahuatzin, the Nahua hero who threw himself into the fire and rose as the sun.[XI-35] Tepeu is more generally known under the name of Gucumatz, 'feathered snake,' which is universally identified with Quetzalcoatl, the Nahua air god. In this character he is said to transform himself every seven days into four forms, snake, eagle, tiger, a mass of coagulated blood, one after the other, and every seven days he visits heaven and hell alternately. He is also held to be the introducer of culture in Guatemala, though more, as one who directs man in his search for improvement, than as a culture-hero.[XI-36] These two gods blending into one, often form a trinity with Hun Ahpu Vuch and Hun Ahpu Utïu, under the one name of Gucumatz, the Heart of Heaven. The assumption by this god of four forms may have reference to the divine quartette, and in the expression "they are enveloped in a mist of green and azure," Brasseur de Bourbourg sees a reference to the sacred bundle containing the four first men and sacrifices, transformed into gods.[XI-37]

Hurakan,[XI-38] although connected with the above quartette in the enumeration of titles of the supreme deity, keeps aloof from the lower sphere in which these move at times, and is even invoked by Gucumatz, who calls him, among other names, Creator, he who begets and gives being. That he was held to be distinct, and worshiped as such by the Quichés, may be seen from the fact that they had one high-priest for Gucumatz, and another for Tohil, another name of Hurakan, who seems to have ranked a degree above the former.[XI-39] He represented the thunder and lightning, and his particular title seems to have been Heart of Heaven, under which were included the three phases of his attribute, the thunder, the lightning, and the thunderbolt, or, as stated in another place, the flash, the track of the lightning, and the thunderbolt,[XI-40] another conception of a trinity. He is also called Centre of the Earth and is represented with thunder in his hand. The bird Voc was his messenger. Müller considers him a sun god, probably because of his title 'Heart of Heaven,' which determines nothing, while others hold him to be identical with the Tlalocs, the Mexican rain gods. He is doubtless the same as Tohil, the leader of the Quiché gods, who is represented by the sign of water, but whose name signifies rumble, clash.[XI-41] In him are also found united the three symbols of Quiché trinity, as will be seen shortly, and his priests address him: "Hail, Beauty of the Day, Hurakan, Heart of Heaven and of Earth! Thou who givest glory, riches and children! Thou Tohil, Avilix, Gagavitz, Bowels of Heaven, Bowels of Earth! Thou who dost constitute the four ends of Heaven!"[XI-42] He was also god of fire, and as such gave his people fire by shaking his sandals.[XI-43] According to the version of Brasseur de Bourbourg, his temple at Utatlan, where he seems to have taken the place of an ancient god, was a truncated pyramid with extremely steep steps in the façade. On its summit was a temple of great height, built of cut stone, and with a roof of precious woods; the walls within and without were covered with fine, brilliant stucco of extreme hardness. In the midst of the most splendid surroundings sat the idol, on a throne set with precious stones. His priests perpetually prayed and burnt precious incense before him, relieving each other in bands of thirteen, so that while some attended to his service, the others fasted to prepare for it. The chief men of the kingdom also attended in bands of eighteen, to invoke his blessing for them and their provinces, nine fasting, while nine offered incense.[XI-44] Tohil, and the other members of the trinity, Avilix and Hacavitz, or Gagavitz, who also represent the thunder, the lightning, and the thunderbolt, were the family gods given by the Creator to the founders of the Quiché race, and though they afterwards became stone, they could still assume other shapes in conformity with the supreme will. As family gods they had special temples in the palace of the princes, where their regular service was conducted, and three mountain peaks bearing their names, served to keep them before the people.[XI-45] The flint with which Brinton identifies Tohil may, perhaps, be the black stone brought from the far east, and venerated in the temple of Kahba, 'house of sacrifice,' at Utatlan, but there is no confirmation by the chroniclers. It is, besides, stated that the worship of Kahba had greatly declined, but was again restored to something like its former glory by Gucumatz; Tohil, on the other hand, always stood high, and his high-priest belonged to a different family.[XI-46] A similar stone existed in a temple situated in a deep ravine near Iximche, in whose polished face the gods made known their will. This stone was often used to determine the fate of those accused of crime; if the judges perceived no change in the stone the prisoner went free.[XI-47]

[Sidenote: HAVALITZ AND HACAVITZ.]

[Sidenote: ADVENTURES OF XQUIQ, HUN AHPU, AND XBALANQUE.]

We now come to the heroes with whose adventures the _Popol Vuh_ is chiefly occupied. From the union of the Grandfather and Grandmother who head the list of Quiché deities, proceeded two sons, Hunhun Ahpu and Vukab Hun Ahpu.[XI-48] They incur the suspicion and hatred of the princes of Xibalba, who plan their downfall and for this purpose invite them to their court, under the pretence of playing a game of ball with them. On their arrival they are subjected to various indignities and finally condemned to lose their heads. The head of Hunhun Ahpu is placed between the withered branches of a calabash-tree; but lo! a miracle takes place; the tree immediately becomes laden with fruit and the head turns into a calabash. Henceforth the tree is held sacred and the king commands that none shall touch it. Xquiq, however, a royal princess, Eve-like, disregards the injunction, and approaches to pluck the fruit. As she stretches forth her arm, Hunhun Ahpu spits into her hand, and Xquiq finds herself pregnant. Her father soon perceives her condition, and in a fury condemns her to death, telling the executioners to bring him the heart of his daughter to prove that they have done their duty. While being led to the wood Xquiq pleads earnestly for her life, and finally prevails upon her executioners to deceive her father by substituting for her heart the jelly-like resin of a tree, which she procures. Xquiq proceeds to Utatlan, to the Grandmother, Xmucane, and gives birth to the twins Hun Ahpu and Xbalanque,[XI-49] who develop rapidly; their superior talents soon make their elder brothers jealous, and they attempt their destruction, but the twins anticipate their designs and transform them into apes. These brothers Hun Batz and Hun Chouen, were the sons of Hunhun Ahpu by Xbakiyalo, and were invoked as the patrons of the fine arts[XI-50]. Brasseur de Bourbourg explains this myth by saying that Hunhun Ahpu denotes the Nahua immigrants who by their superiority gain the women of the country, and whose children carry on a successful struggle with the aboriginal race. The continuance of the contest and the triumph of the Nahuas is described in the adventures of Hun Ahpu and Xbalanque. A rat reveals to them their origin, and the place where the ball-game implements of their father are hidden. They play a match with the Xibalba princes who had challenged their father, and are successful in this as well as several herculean tasks assigned to them, but are nevertheless burned.[XI-51] The ashes, thrown into the water, are transformed into two handsome young men, and then into man-fishes, a reference, perhaps, to the arrival by sea of allies to help them. Again they make their appearance in Xibalba, this time as conjurers, and lay their plans so skillfully as to overthrow the Prince Vukub Cakix with his adherents, and obtain the apotheosis of their father and his adherents as sun, moon, and stars. Vukub Cakix, who represents the sun, may be taken as the representative of an older sun-worship replaced by the newer cult introduced by Hun Ahpu.[XI-52] The burning of this hero agrees with that of the Mexican Nanahuatzin who by this act became a sun. In fact, Brasseur de Bourbourg considers the whole as a version of the Nahua myth. From another point of view Hun Ahpu, whose name, signifying 'sarbacan-blower or air-shooter,' suits the attribute of the air-god, may be considered as the morning wind dispersing the clouds and disclosing the splendors of the sun.[XI-53]

In the _Quatre Lettres_, the Abbé takes another view of the myth, and sees in it but a version of the convulsions that take place in the Antilles, the Seven Grottos of the Mexican myth, of which I have spoken in a preceding chapter. Hunhun Ahpu, Vukub Hun Ahpu, and the two legitimate sons of the former are volcanoes, and their plays, death, and transformation, are earthquakes, extinction, and upheavals. The burning of Hun Ahpu and Xbalanque and the scattering of their ashes upon the waters is the final catastrophe, the sinking of the Atlantides, or the seven islands; and as the brothers rise again in the form of beautiful young men, so do new islands take the place of those destroyed. The confirmation of this he finds in a tradition current on the islands, which speaks of certain upheavals similar to the above.[XI-54]

[Sidenote: QUICHÉ GODS.]

The Quichés had a multitude of other gods and genii, who controlled the elements and exercised their influence upon the destinies of man. The places where they most loved to linger were dark quiet spots, in the undisturbed silence of the grotto, at the foot of some steep precipice, beneath the shade of mighty trees, especially where a spring trickled forth between its roots, and on the summit of the mountains; and here the simple native came to pour out his sorrow, and to offer his sacrifice. In some places this idea of seclusion was carried to such an extent that idols were kept hidden in subterranean chapels, that they might not be disturbed or the people become too familiar with them; another reason, however, was to prevent their being stolen by other villagers. The god of the road had sanctuaries, called _mumah_, all along the highways, especially at the junctions, and the traveler in passing never failed to rub his legs with a handful of grass, upon which he afterwards spat with great respect, and deposited it upon the altar together with a small stone, believing that this act of piety would give him renewed strength. He also left a small tribute from his stock of food or merchandise, which remained to decay before the idol, for none dared to remove it. This custom was also observed in Nicaragua.

The household gods were termed _chahalha_, 'guardian of the house,' and to them incense was burned and sacrifice made during the erection of a building; when finished, a corner in the interior was consecrated to their use. They seem to have been identified with the spirit of departed friends, for occasionally a corpse was buried beneath the house to insure their presence.[XI-55]

Among the more superstitious highlanders, the ancient worship has retained its hold upon the population to a great extent, in spite of the efforts of the padres. Scherzer tells us that the people of Istlavacan reverenced gods of reason, health, sowing, and others, under the names of Noj, Ajmak, Kanil, and Ik, who were generally embodied in natural features, as mountains, or big trees. They recognized an Ormuzd and an Ahriman in Kij, the god of light and good principle, opposed by Juiup, the god of earth and evil principle, who was represented by a rock, three feet high and one foot thick, supposed to be a distorted human face. The native priests generally took the horoscope, and appointed a nagual, or guardian spirit for their children, before the padres were allowed to baptize them. They are said to have sacrificed infants, scattering their heart's blood upon a stone before the idol, and burying the body in the woods to avoid detection.[XI-56]

The Choles and Manches of Vera Paz, impressed with the wild features of their country, venerated the mountains, and on one called Escurruchan, which stood at the junction of several branches of their principal river, they kept up a perpetual fire to which passers-by added fuel, and at which sacrifices were offered. At another place the padres found a rough altar of stone and clay surrounded by a fence, where they burned torches of black wax and resinous wood, and offered fowls, and blood from their bodies, to mountains, cross-roads and pools in the river, whence came all means of existence and all increase.[XI-57]

[Sidenote: WORSHIP OF A HORSE.]

The chief idol of the Itzas was Hubo, who was represented by a hollow metal figure with an opening between the shoulders, through which human beings were passed, charged to implore the favors of the gods. A fire was then lighted beneath the figure, and while the victims were roasting alive, their friends joined in a dance around it, drowning the cries of the victims with shouts and rattling of drums. No women were allowed to join in the temple ceremonies. On the chief island in the lake of Peten, the conquerors found twenty-one stone temples with stone roofs, the chief of which formed a kind of pyramid of nine steps. In this was found a large chalchiuite, representing one of their two battle-gods, Pakoc and Hunchunchan, who gave oracles and were supposed to join the people in their dances. This familiarity evidently bred contempt, however, for it is related that when a prediction of the oracle was not fulfilled, the priest without hesitation castigated the idol. In the same temple stood a gypsum image in the form of the sun, adorned with rays, inlaid with nacar, and having a gaping mouth set with human teeth. The bones of a horse, which hung from the rafters, were adored as sacred relics. These were the remains of a wounded horse left by Cortés among the natives when on his way to Honduras. Having seen the Spaniards fire from its back, they believed that the animal produced the flash and report, and hence adored it as Tziminchac, god of thunder, and brought it flowers, flesh, and incense; but such offerings did not sustain life, and it was not long before the bones of the apotheosized charger were all that remained to his worshipers. In another place was a stone and lime imitation of this horse, seated on the floor on its haunches, which the natives adored in the same manner. This animal-worship was the more readily admitted, since their gods was supposed to assume such forms.[XI-58]

Their idols were so numerous, say the conquerors, that it took over a hundred men a whole day to destroy those existing on the chief island alone; Cogolludo affirms that the priests had charge of all the idols.[XI-59] The chief god of the Cakchiquels, Chamalcan, or Chimalacan,[XI-60] had many of the attributes of Tohil, but took the form of a bat, the symbol of the royal house of Zotzil. Every seventh and thirteenth day of the month the priests placed before him blood-stained thorns, fresh white resin, bark and branches of pine, and a cat, the emblem of night, which were burned in his honor.[XI-61]

The purest form of sun-worship appears among the Lacandones, who adored the luminary without the intervention of an image, and sacrificed before it in the Mexican fashion. They had temples, however, the walls of which were decorated with hieroglyphs of the sun and moon, and with a figure in the act of praying to the sun.[XI-62] The Nahua tribe of the Pipiles also worshiped the sun, before which they prostrated themselves while offering incense and muttering invocations. Quetzalcoatl and the goddess Itzqueye were honored in the sacrifice,[XI-63] which generally consisted of a deer. The relative importance of Quetzalcoatl and Itzqueye, may be seen from the statement that the festival held in honor of the former on certain occasions lasted fifteen days, while that in honor of the latter was but of five days duration. The chief centre of worship was at Mictlan, near Huixa Lake, where now is the village of Santa Maria Mita, founded, according to tradition, by an old man, who in company with an exceedingly beautiful girl issued from the lake, both dressed in long blue robes, the man also wearing a mitre. He seated himself upon a stone on the hill, while the girl pursued her way and disappeared, and here, by his order, was built the temple of Mictlan, round which stately palaces afterwards arose; he also organized the government of the place.[XI-64]

[Sidenote: TRADITION OF COMIZAHUAL.]

Among the vestiges of older worship we find the natives of Cerquin in Honduras,[XI-65] venerating and praying for health to two idols, called respectively Great Father and Great Mother, which probably refer to the Grandfather and Grandmother of the Quichés. A faint idea of a Supreme Being, says Torquemada, was mixed up with the worship of the sun and stars, to which sacrifices were made. Their culture-tradition speaks of a beautiful white woman, called Comizahual, or 'flying tigress,' a reputed sorceress, as the introducer of civilization in Cerquin. She is said to have descended from heaven and to have been transported by an invisible hand to the city of Cealcoquin, where she built a palace adorned with monstrous figures of men and animals, and placed in the chief temple a stone having on each of its three sides three faces of strange and hideous aspect; by aid of this stone she conquered her enemies. She remained a virgin, yet three sons were born to her,[XI-66] among whom she divided the kingdom when she grew old. After arranging her affairs, she commanded her attendants to carry her on her bed to the highest part of the palace, whence she suddenly disappeared amid thunder and lightning, doubtless to resume her place among the gods; directly afterwards a beautiful bird was seen to fly upwards and disappear. The people erected a temple in her honor, where the priest delivered her oracles, and celebrated every year the anniversary of her disappearance with great feasts. Palacio refers to a stone, like the one with three faces, named Icelaca, in Cezori, which disclosed things past, present, and future, and before which the people sacrificed fowls, rabbits and various kinds of food, and smeared the face with blood drawn from the generative organs.[XI-67]

The religious fervor of the people is shown by the fact that whatever work they undertook they commenced by sanctifying it with prayers and offerings and by incensing their implements that they might acquire more efficacy; thus, before commencing to sow, the laborers killed a turkey whose blood they scattered over the field, and performed other ceremonies.[XI-68] Simple in their mode of life, they did not importune the gods for vain luxuries: their prayers were for long life, health, children, and the necessaries of life. The first they hoped to obtain by scarifications and penances; to guard against disease, they sent the priest a bird, generally a quail, to sacrifice. When actually attacked by sickness confession was resorted to as a powerful means of propitiation, as was also the case on all important occasions to secure divine blessings and avert immediate danger. It is related by an old chronicler that when a party of travelers met a jaguar or puma, each one immediately commended himself to the gods and confessed in a loud voice the sins he had committed, imploring pardon. If the object of their terror still advanced upon them, they cried, "we have committed as many more sins, do not kill us!" and sat down, saying one to another, "one of us has done some grievous deed, and him the wild beast will kill!"[XI-69]

[Sidenote: SPECIAL FASTS.]

In their scarifications, those who drew the most blood, especially from the secret organs, were held to be the most pious. Among the Pipiles the women joined in drawing blood from the ears and tongue, and smearing it on cotton, offered it to Quetzalcoatl, and then to Itzcueye.[XI-70] On extraordinary occasions, as in the event of a public calamity, the priests and chief men held a council to determine the propitiatory penance to be imposed on the people, and the kind of sacrifice to be offered; the Ahgih were called upon to trace magic circles and figures, and to cast grains, so as to determine the time when it should be made. The esteemed task of collecting the fuel for this celebration devolved upon a royal prince, who formed the boys of the district into bands to forage for the wood. The efforts of the people alone were not considered sufficient at such times to propitiate the gods; it required the sanctified presence and powerful influence of the high priest to secure remission of sins. This personage, whether king or pontiff, subjected himself to a very severe fast and penance during the twenty, or even hundred days determined upon. He removed to an arbor near the hidden sanctuary of the idols, and lived in entire solitude, subsisting on grains and fruit, touching no food prepared by fire, sacrificing the offerings brought him during the day, and drawing blood. The fast over, with its attendant separation of man and wife, bathing, painting in red, and other acts of penance, the nobles went in a body to the retreat of the idols, and having adorned them in the most splendid manner, conducted them in procession to the town, attended by the high priest and victims. In places where the idols were kept in the temples of the town, they marched with them round the city. The various rites closed with games of ball, played under the supervision of the idols, and with feasting and reveling.[XI-71]

The Popol Vuh ascribes the introduction of human sacrifices to Tohil, who exacted this offering from the first four men in return for the fire given to the Quichés, while Las Casas states that Xbalanque initiated them. Their knives of sacrifice, he says, had fallen from heaven, and were accordingly adored as 'hands of God,' and set in rich handles of gold or silver, ornamented with turquoises and emeralds. The ordinary sacrifices occurred several times a month, and among the Pipiles, the number and quality were indicated by the calendar and consisted chiefly of bastard boys from six to twelve years of age. Their most solemn offerings were made at the commencement and end of the rains, and were attended by the chief men only. Juarros states that human sacrifices were not offered by the Pipiles and that the attempt of caciques to introduce them resulted in an insurrection; and, although this will scarcely apply to later times, it seems that formerly the sacrifices were very few in number. The Cakchiquels are, however, said to have abstained from the rite. Cortés relates that at Acalá the fairest girls to be found were selected by the priests and brought up, in strict chastity, to be sacrificed, at the proper time, to the goddess of the place. The Itzas, who, when captives failed, took the fattest of their young men for victims, had several modes of immolation, as roasting the victims alive in the metal image; dispatching them with the knife on the stone of sacrifice, a large one of which was found at Taysal; impalement, followed by extraction of the heart, as at Prospero; and in earlier times shooting, as was done by their Yucatec ancestors. According to Cogolludo, three persons assisted at the sacrifices, the _adkulel_, master of ceremonies, the _adkayom_, and a virgin who must be the daughter of one of these; but Villagutierre mentions that the stone of sacrifice at the chief temple at Taysal, was surrounded by twelve seats for the attendant priests; and assistants to hold the victims were certainly required. Cannibalism seems to have attended all these sacrifices, the flesh being boiled and seasoned, and the choice bits reserved for the high priests and chiefs.[XI-72]

[Sidenote: THE PRIESTS OF GUATEMALA.]

Each of the numerous tribes of Guatemala had a distinct and separate body of priests, who by means of their oracles exercised a decided influence on the state, and some, the Quichés for instance, were spiritually governed by independent pontiffs. The high priests of Tohil and Gucumatz, Ahau Ah Tohil and Ahau Ah Gucumatz, belonged to the royal house of Cawek, and held the fourth and fifth rank respectively among the grandees of the Empire; Ahau-Avilix, the high-priest of Avilix, was a member of the Nihaïb family; Ahau Gagavitz came of the Ahau Quiché house; and the two high-priests of the Kahba temple in Utatlan were of the Zakik house, and each had a province allotted him for his support. The Tohil priests were vowed to perpetual continence and austere penitence, and were not permitted to taste meat or bread.[XI-73] The pontiff at Mictlan, in Salvador, who stood on nearly the same level as the king, bore the title of Teoti, 'divine'[XI-74] and was distinguished by a long blue robe, a diadem, and a baton like an episcopal cross; on solemn occasions he substituted a mitre of beautiful feathers for the diadem. Next to him came an ecclesiastical council composed of the Tehuamatlini, chief of the astrologers and learned priests, who acted as lieutenant of the high priest, and superintended the writings and divinations, and four other priests, _teopixqui_, who dressed in different colors. These ruled the rest of the priesthood, composed of keepers of properties, sacrificers, watchers, and the ordinary priests, termed _teupas_, who were all appointed by the high-priests from the sons of the ministers. When the high-priest died, the body was embalmed and placed in a crypt beneath the palace. After fifteen days of mourning, attended by fasts, the king and Tehuamatlini drew lots for his successor from among the four teopixqui, the vacancy in their ranks being filled by a son of the pontiff, or one of their own sons. The elected purified himself for the office by blood-letting and other observances, while the people celebrated his accession with feasting and dancing. In Vera Paz the chief priest was elected according to merit from a certain family by the people, and ranked next to the king.[XI-75] As an instance of the lasting influence possessed by the priesthood over the people, Scherzer relates that at Istlávacan there were a few years ago as many as sixty priests, diviners, and medicine-men, Ahgih, Ahqixb, and Ahqahb, as they used to be termed, who exercised their offices among them. At Coban, says Villagutierre, a priest was so highly respected that the person who presumed to touch him was expected to fall dead immediately.[XI-76]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: GODS OF THE NICARAGUANS.]

The Nahua impress, noticeable in the languages and customs of Nicaragua, is still more strongly marked in the mythology of that country.[XI-77] Instead of obliterating the older forms of worship, however, as it seems to have done in the northern part of Central America, it has here and there passed by many of the distinct beliefs held by different tribes, and blended with the chief element of a system which is traced to the Muyscas in South America. The inquiries instituted by a Spanish friar among different classes of people in the Nagrando district go to prove that Tamagostat[XI-78] and Cipattonal, male and female deities who inhabit the regions of the rising sun, were the supreme beings. They created all things, stars as well as mortals, and re-created what had been destroyed by the flood, in which work they were aided by Ecalchot, surnamed Huehue, 'the aged,' and Ciagat 'the little.' In Tamagostat Müller at once recognizes Fomagata, the ancient sun-god of the Muyscas, who after his dethronement by a newer solar deity became more particularly the fire-god of that people, but retained more of his original preëminence in the countries to which his worship spread, as in Nicaragua. This view is supported by the statement that he inhabited the heavens above, or rather the region of sunrise. His consort Cipattonal, Müller, judging from their relationship, holds to be the moon; her name seems however, to be derived from a Mexican source, probably from _xipalli_, 'dark blue color,' and _tonalli_, 'sun,'[XI-79] which may be construed as referring to the sun in its blue element, or, as the fainter sun, to the moon. In either case the connection of the two is perfectly legitimate. Ecalchot, who is represented as a young man, yet is surnamed 'the aged,' seems to be the same as the Mexican Ehecatl, 'wind, air,' an element ever young, yet ever old, and Ciagat may mean 'moisture;'[XI-80] both forming with the sun the fertilizing forces that create.[XI-81] Oviedo gives the names of these deities as Tamagostat or Tamagostad, Zipattoval or Zipattonal, Calchithuehue, and Chicoziagat,[XI-82] 'father.' He further names Chiquinaut and Hecat as gods of the winds, which seems to be merely another version of Chicoziagat and Ehecatl.[XI-83]

The Guatemalan trinity reappears in the character of Omeyateite and Omeyatezigoat[XI-84]--easily recognizable in the Mexican Ometecutli and Omecihuatl--and their son Ruiatcot, the rain god,[XI-85] who sends forth thunder, lightning and rain. They are also supposed to live where the sun rises, doubtless because that seems the abode of bliss, and as fertilizing forces they are regarded as creators, but not connected with the two before mentioned. Quiateot was the most prominent, if not the supreme, member of the trinity, for the other two, as representing the thunder and lighting, the forerunners, or parents, of the showers, do not seem to have been invoked when rain was wanted, or to have participated in the sacrifices of young boys and girls offered on such occasions.[XI-86]

[Sidenote: THE GODDESS OF THE VOLCANO.]