XXXVI. Sacrifices for the New Year of the Character Muluc. Dances of the Stilt-Walkers. Dance of the Old Women With Terracotta Dogs

Yucatan Before and After the Conquest, by Diego de Landa, tr. William Gates, [1937], at sacred-texts.com

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SEC. XXXVI. SACRIFICES FOR THE NEW YEAR OF THE CHARACTER MULUC. DANCES OF THE STILT-WALKERS. DANCE OF THE OLD WOMEN WITH TERRACOTTA DOGS.

In the year whose dominical letter was Muluc the augury was Cansicnal. On this occasion the chiefs and the priest selected a president to care for the festival, after which election they made an image of the demon as they had done in the previous year, and which they called Chac-uvayeyab, and carried this to the piles of stone at the East, where they had left the other

one the year before. They also made a statue of the idol called Kinchahau, and placed it in the house of the president in a convenient place; from there, with the road all cleaned and dressed, they all proceeded together for their accustomed devotions before the god Chac-uvayeyab.

On arriving the priest perfumed it with 53 grains of the ground maize, with the incense, which they call sacah. The priest gave this to the chiefs, who put in the brazier more incense, of the kind called chahalté; then they cut off a fowl's head, as before, and taking the image on a wooden standard called chacté, they carried it very devoutly, while dancing certain war-dances they call holcan-okot, batel-okot. During this they brought to the road for the chiefs and principal men their drink made from 380 grains of maize, toasted as before.

When they had arrived at the house of the president they put this image in front of the statue of Kinch-ahau, and made all their offerings to it, which were then distributed like the rest. They offered to the image bread formed like the yolks of eggs, others like deer's hearts, and another made of dissolved peppers. Many of them drew blood from their ears, and with it anointed the stone they had there, of the god Chac-acantun. They took boys and forcibly drew blood from their ears, by blows. They kept this statue and the image until the fatal days were passed, meanwhile burning their incense. When the days were over, they took the image to the part of the North, where next year they had to go to seek it; the other they took to the temple, and then went to their houses to care for the works of the new year If they did not do all these things, they feared the coming especially of eye troubles.

The dominical letter of this year being Muluc, the Bacab Can-sicnal ruled, whence they held it a favorable year, for they said he was the best and greatest of these Bacab gods; for this they put him first in their prayers. Yet for all this the evil one caused them to make an idol called Yaxcoc-ahmut, which they placed in the temple and took away the old images; then they erected in the temple court a stone block on which they burned their incense, and a ball

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of the resin or milk kik, with a prayer there to the idol, asking relief for the ills they feared for the coming year; these were a scarcity of water, buds (hijos) on the maize, and the like. To gain this protection the evil one ordained offerings of squirrels and an unembroidered cloth, which was to be woven by old women whose office it was to appease Yaxcoc-ahmut.

In spite of this being held a good year, they were still menaced with many other evils and bad signs, if they did not perform the sacrifices ordained. These were having dances on tall stilts, with offerings of heads of turkeys, bread and drinks made of maize. They had to offer clay dogs with bread on their backs, the old women dancing with them in their hands, and sacrificing a virgin puppy with black back.

The devotees had to draw their blood and anoint the stone of Chac-acantun with it. This ceremony and sacrifice they regarded a! acceptable to their god Yaxcoc-ahmut.