The Dining Diva

The Maya Months

And now, just for fun, and because all the photos turned out...the Maya Months

The Maya are famous for their astronomy and their astrology, both of which were sophisticated, complex and accurate. Their grasp and understanding of the sky and how time moved was pretty remarkable. Time was a linear concept to the Maya and their calendar system reflected that. It's possible to track or establish events - previous or future - using a set of complex (at least they are to me) mathematical calculations.

The cycle of Maya months make up the Haab or vague year. It is the Maya version of the 365-day calendar. There are 18 months of 20 days each + 5 days left over at the end of the year and are (were?) the Maya way of tracking the solar year.

So here, you go, the Maya months in order from start to finish. The names of the months here are the colonial era Yucatec names. Each month has a one or two word meaning associated with it which may originally have been linked with the seasonal cycles of life.  

Find your birth date and speculate on what the 1 or 2 word meaning of the month may have meant. And if you're really interested learning something about Maya astrology, check out Bruce Scofield's web site for more information.

  
POP = Mat          March 21 - April 9

 

 
UO = Frog or Black Conjunction          April 10 - April 29        

This month is more frequently written as UO or WO'. The spelling in the photo could simply be whoever cast this concrete stone made a mistake, or I took the photo backwards!

 

 
ZIP = Stag or Red Conjunction          April 30 - May19      Frequently also written as SIP

 

 
ZOTZ = Bat             May 20 - June 8        Also written as SOTS or SOTZ 

 

 
TZEC = Skull or Death             June 9 - June 28            Also written as SEC or SEK 

 

 
XUL = Dog        June 29 - July 18

 

 
YAXKIN = Green Sun or New Sun         July 9 - August 7              Also written YAXK'IN'

 

 
MOL = Reunion  or Water              August 8 - August 27

 

 
CHEN = Well  or Black Storm        August 28 - September 16            Also written as CH'EN

 

 
YAX = Green or Green Store           September 17 - October 6

 

 
ZAC = White  or White Storm        October 7 - October 26                     Also written SAC or SAK'

 

 
CEH = Deer  or Red Storm      October 27 - November 15                        Also written as KEH

 

 
MAC = Enclosed         November 16 - December 5                                Also written as MAK  

Speculation has it that "enclosed" may mean the end of the growing season. The Maya knew that the solar year was actually 365 1/4 days, but did not adjust their counting systems to incorporate it, tho' they did have a series of mathematical calculations they used to account of the 1/4 day deviations. So over the course of hundred of years, it is possible that by colonial era the Maya month for the end of the growing season could have progressed to mid-November.

 

 
KANKIN = Yellow Sun        December 6 - December 25         This can also be written K'ANK'IN

The same speculation that thinks the interpretation of MAC as enclosed or the end of the growing season, also speculates that KANKIN as yellow sun represents ripe crops ready for harvest

 
MUAN = Owl         December 26 - January 14       Also written as MOAN or MUWAN'

 

 
PAX = Planting Time        January 15 - February 3

 

 
KAYAB = Turtle        February 4 - February 23        Also written as K'AYAB

 

 
CUMHU = Dark God or Granary          February 24 - March 15     Also written as KUMK'U

 

 
UAYEB = Spectres           March 16 = March 20       

These were the 5 left over days at the end of the year and were considered to be unlucky or even dangerous days. The Maya believed that during these 5 days the veil between their mortal world and the underworld was at it's thinnest, or completely disappeared, allowing deities with mal-intent the opportunity to step into the mortal world and wreak havoc. To word off potential bad effects, the Maya had a number of ritual activities and practices designed to keep the undesirable deities at bay.

So there you have it 18 months + 5 unfortunate days, or, how the Maya observed the solar year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ek Balam

 

Ek Balam - Black Jaguar.

Like those big black cats there is something rather slinky and seductive about Ek Balam.  It could be the light. It could be the lush, deeply green jungle foliage. Or it could simply be the lack of tourists.  Whatever the reasons, it is a hauntingly beautiful site and well worth spending a morning (before it gets too hot) exploring the nooks and crannies.

According to oral histories that have been passed down, Ek Balam was the leader of the group of Maya that originally settled and developed the location. It thrived for about 1,000 years reaching it's peak between 700-900 A.D. and was a contemporary settlement to Cobá  In fact, on a clear day, from the top of the main pyramid, it is possible to see the pyramids of Cobá 30 miles away!

Ek Balam, like most Maya cities, lay on one of the well traveled sacbe, the Route 66 of the Maya world.

 

The first thing a visitor traveling the sacbe would have encountered was a 4-sided, arched entry into the town, each arch facing one of the 4 directions (North, East, West and South). During Maya times, travelers would have made offerings for having arrived safely, or offerings to ensure a safe trip. Modern day travelers simply take photos.

 

Walls around a Maya city were not all that  unusual.  They functioned to fortify the city and provide an extra measure of defense during periods of warfare. The system of double walls discovered at Ek Balam is unique to that location. Archaeologists have found no clear indicators that would explain the purpose of the 2 walls.

There are still numerous oval Maya homes dotting the landscape all over the Yucatan. They usually consist of adobe/mud walls with tall thatched roofs that rise to a peak over the center of the house. Even though the homes were oval, an oval structure atop a pyramid was uncommon. Other than Ek Balam, very few have been documented

 

Another  unique feature of Ek Balam, that most likely speaks to the importance or significance it commanded, is the sheer size of some of the structures. The Acropolis is an enormous building, over 500 feet long, 200 feet wide and 6 stories tall. It was home to the government palace and most of the city's business functions, and functionaries.

 

 

(The thatch pictured above was added by archaeologists excavating the site to protect from the elements some of the well preserved relics, artifacts and bas-relief carvings they found while working on this pyramid)

True to Maya construction principals, every 52 years a new shell was wrapped around the outside of the original structure. Any new levels would have been added at this juncture as well. 52 years  - about the average life span at the time Ek Balam was active - is a frequently used time frame in the Maya system of counting and marking time. Using the day, month and year system of astronomy/astrology to name babies usually meant that a name was not repeated for 52 years. So unless there were multiple babies born on the same day, it pretty much ensured that everyone had a unique name as their personal identification.  But, back to the pyramid...

As excavation began on The Acropolis, a number of key discoveries were made. Chief among them was a fierce facade about half way up the pyramid. It is a gaping mouth lined with fangs, presided over by a ruler and flanked by warrior guards.

 

 

 
 

The Maya actually believed in 5 Directions - the 4 cardinal directions North, South, East and East - with the 5th Direction being a portal into the underworld.  The mouth/doorway is believed to be such a portal and Ek Balam himself is thought to be buried within the pyramid. The jaguar was, in multiple guises, a primary player in the Maya pantheon of deities, and is represented by the fangs (the inverted hook-like pieces that protrude from the walls) around the portal. Evidence of blood has been found within the fang-lined platform in front of the monstrous gaping mouth. Most of it is believed to be the result of ritual blood-letting by sacerdotes (priests); it is unknown how much of the blood residue may be the result of human sacrifice.

The fanged portal is guarded on either side by large warrior statues. Statuary as we know it was not common in the Maya world and statues with what appear to be angel wings is virtually unknown. Most Maya stone work is in flat bas-relief. These status are 3-D with well chiseled features.

 

The climb up the pyramid to the platform where the fanged portal and warrior guardians are located is, surprisingly, much easier than it looks.  The stairs not nearly as steep or as narrow as at other sites.  Continue on up the pyramid to the top where the view is grand, if not flat.

 

 

Bring a hat, bring a bottle with water and about $4 USD for the entry fee. Ek Balam is a gorgeous and well maintained site . It has features that are unique and unusual, but best of all you may have the entire place to yourself. It that's the case, climb up to the top of The Acropolis, settle in and try and imagine what it must have been like 1,000 years ago. You might discover your imagination doesn't have to wander far...

Cobá

If "location, location, location" is a basic tenent for successful real estate investments, then the Maya that settled Cobá must have been some of the earliest investors. The Yucatan is flat, very flat. It is dry, very dry, and even though the vegetation has a jungle-like quality, most of the water is underground and not easily accessbible. That is unless, sometime between 100B.C.E. and 100 A.D. you were part of a small Mayan community that discovered 2 large freshwater lagoons and realized it would be the perfect location to develop into a regional powerhouse with control over farmlands, trade routes and the dominant element...water. That is, of course, exactly what happened at Cobá. By 600 AD it was a thriving community of 50,000+ inhabitants with well established trade partners, hierarchy and rituals. By about 900 A.D., however, it was locked in near constant battle with Chichen Itza for regional supremacy, and by 1000 A.D. had lost. While Cobá retained some religious significance for several hundred years after it's defeat by the Chichens, by the time the Spanish Conquistadors began exploring the Yucatan in earnest, Cobá had all but been deserted

It lay dormant, but not entirely obliterated by the jungle, until the late 1880s when American and European archeologists, ethnographers and explorers began noting it's presence. Research and excavation would have to wait until the 1970s when paved roads made access possible.

Today Cobá is an easily accessible and highly approachable Mayan ruin that is not quite as well known as some of the others, nor does it see quite the same crush of visitors as do the others.

 

Cobá is separated into several distinct sections. The first, located within easy walking distance of the main entrance, has several pyramids that were probably used for everyday business or ritual.

 

 

 
 

To be honest, I have no idea what the purpose or function was for the opening above . It was located at the base of a pyramid and may have have been useful in linking various areas of the compound together. It's opening is easily high enough for someone shorter than an NBA player to traverse.

There are 2 well preserved ball courts, the field upon which the Meso-American sport of kings was played. The game consisted of 2 teams, each with 2 - 4 players, who would try to keep a solid rubber ball weighing around 10 pounds in the air, mostly by using their hips, and then passing it through a solid stone ring set high on each side of the ball court. The game has been likened to modern-day volleyball but without a net. There are deep ritual meanings associated with the ball game as it was used for functions other than mere sport. Over time it's uses included functioning as a proxy for war (the warring communities would agree to a ball game to determine the winner, rather than a battle), mediation, and fertility (as it relates to some of the dress ball players wore). The ball was thought the represent the sun and the ring the the sunrise, sunset or possibly the equinoxes, and finally the ball game also represented the struggle between life and the underworld, and ball courts were often considered portals to the underworld and their placement in a community deliberate and well planned.

 

 
 

The other part of the complex is about a mile from the main entrance and is reached by foot, bicycle or Mayan limousine service...

 

Whether by walking or peddle power, the interior portions of Cobá are reached via "scabe", the raised  and paved white roads built by the Maya to connect plazas and other structures within a city, as well as with other towns and ceremonial areas. Cobá is the starting point for one of the longest scabe in the Yucatan, which runs West for 62 miles ending at Yaxuna.

 

At the end of one of the major scabe is the Nohoch Mul pyramid. 120 steep steps to the top...and then back down

 

 And, on a hot day, those Mayan limos are a welcome and breezy ride back to the front of the complex.

 

Casa de los Venados

"It is my belief that while the high level of culture of any country can be found in its fine arts, it is also vital that we should be able to examine and enjoy the proofs of the culture of the great mass of the people, which we call folk art. The former are made by a few for the few, but the latter, made by the many for many, are a truer test. The quality of the life of the people of that country as a whole can best be judged by the folkcrafts."

The Unknown Craftsman - A Japanese Insight into Beauty, Sōetsu Yanagi, Kodansha International, New York, 1989

This is one of my favorite folk art quotes because it provides a simple and eloquent definition of folk art that can be easily and readily understood by nearly anyone. The artistic self expression of a person, people, community, culture or county that provides a common cultural understanding is one of the things that has resonnated and compelled me to include it in my life and living space. In Valladolid I encountered a rather amazing and even somewhat overwhelming collection of Mexican folk art.

 

The facade was simple, marked only by a metal deer head that gave no hint of the impressive collection that lurked inside. Once through the door, however, there was a riotous explosion of color, clay, wood, metal and every other imaginable artistic media that all somehow fuse together as the remarkable Casa de los Venados .

 10 years of careful design and renovation have resulted in this 18,000+ square feet colonial building that does double duty as a priavte residence and folk art gallery. There are 5 suites for the owner's family and friends as well as their own 2-story living quarters. All of it has been lavishly decorated with the an enormous collection of folk art covering nearly every imaginable genre. Some of the pieces were commissioned specifically for the house, some were from well known folk artists while still others, in the true tradition of folk art, were the work of purely anonymous craftsmen and women. Much to their credit, the owners, John and Dorianne Venator, collected what they liked.

Words really cannot adequately describe or do justice to the depth and breadth of the collection. Photos do a better job in conveying the creativity found in the collection.

 
Life size mariachi musicians made out of metal hold court in the courtyard

 
 

 

 
For the collector there never seems to be enough space to display everything. Vertical shelves always help!

 
 
I've collected Mexican folk art off and on for a long time but more seriously and extensively over the last 10 years. Collectors have many different reasons and criteria for selecting a piece, for me it has always been the sense of whimsy or fun the artist has brought to the piece. The above 2 pieces really struck my fancy with their playfulness. As do the pieces below. 

 

 
 

 

The Venators had a vision for their collection, for their home, for the future of both and for their adopted community of Valladolid. Casa de los Venados has been frequently used for civic and cultural functions but is open to the public on Tuesdays, the tour begins at 10 am. Admission is nominal (about $5 USD) and, along with donations and miscellaneous sales, is used to support a local medical project devoted to providing health care and medical services to those people in the community who lack the resources

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this video must be worth a million