Chan K'in Cuarto in front of his god house
next to the dugout where balché is brewed.
photo by R. Johnston

Ritual objects and sacred places

Much of present day Lacandon ritual is similar to the religious practices of the sixteenth century Yucatecan Maya, although they lack the elaborate paraphernalia and esoteric knowledge of the priests in the Yucatan at the time of the conquest. Lacandon rituals are materially simple and informal. What ritual equipment they have corresponds to pre conquest times. Some of these objects are depicted in the Mayan codices and paintings of the Classic period (A.D. 250-950).

The yatoch k'un, god house, is built in a clearing apart from the village and serves as a ritual meeting place where the religious paraphernalia is kept. It is a traditional thatched, open structure like the houses of the gods. Set on the east side of the god house is the balché chem in which the sacramental beverage balché is brewed. Here is the meeting place between gods and humans, where the gods will sit in your presence, partake of your offerings and listen to your prayers. In the god house, ordinary reality is turned into supernatural reality. It is the place where everyday items become sacred offerings. Incense becomes tortillas and tamales human flesh. Rubber humanoid dolls are given life and then burned as sacrifices to the gods. Even human speech is transfigured in the god house, becoming the nasalized melodic prayer voice used when speaking to the gods.

Gifts of incense, balché and ritual foods are presented to the gods through the lak-il k'uh, god pot, a clay incense burner. Each of these has an upturned face and is painted white with red dots and black stripes. The Lacandones center their ritual attention on the god pots because all offerings are transmitted to the gods through them. The god pots are neither believed to be actual gods nor considered accurate representations of the gods. On the contrary, they are an abstract model of a human being, and the medium through which an offering is transmitted to the gods for consumption.

Although instrumental music no longer plays an important part in Lacandon rituals, rattles, conch shell trumpets, and drums are all made by the Lacandones and occasionally have ceremonial use. They make a combination drum and incense burner that is dedicated to Kayum, god of music.

Among the offerings to the Lacandon gods are pom, copal incense, which when burned transforms into tortillas for the gods to consume. The gods are fond of the color red and enjoy the scent of k'uxu, a red dye made from the fruit of the annatto tree. This dye is used to color a variety of ritual objects including ceremonial tunics and headbands. These headbands, chak hu'un, strips of bark cloth died red with symbolic blood have been associated with depictions of sacrifice in Classic Period Mayan art.

Edible offerings are also shared with the gods. Baskets of nahwah, meat filled tortillas are arranged in front of the god pots with small bits placed in the mouths of the figures adorning them. Sak'ha, a gruel of sweetened corn and honey is fed to the god pots and then consumed by the men present at the ceremony. A final offering is Kakaoh, a frothy chocolate liquid made from cocoa beans.

The offering and drinking of balché is a prerequisite for virtually any communal Lacandon ritual. Balché is brewed from honey or sugar and bark from the balché tree in the balché chem, a dugout canoe reserved for the purpose. The Lacandones believe that balché has a purifying effect and can help cure sickness. In general, drunkenness is not considered proper behavior, but because the gods enjoy getting drunk on balché, men are also free to indulge themselves during religious rites.

Besides god houses, there are cave shrines like those on Lake Itsanok'uk near the village of Mensäbäk (Metzabok). Next to a high cliff covered in red paintings both of animals an anthropomorphic figures is a cave filled with old god pots and the human skeletal remains. [On a recent visit in Dec '95, the bones were no longer there.] These remains bore the flattened forehead cranial deformations of Pre Hispanic Maya and the Lacandones say they are the remains of gods who took human form.

[adapted from Life, Ritual and Religion Among the Lacandon Maya by R. Jon McGee]