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| Je'ets Lu'um: A Mayan Ceremony to Calm the Land Modern day Mayans offer blessings to spirits and Gods in authentic ceremonies not performed for tourists |
Photos courtesy Bonnie Briggs
Have you ever heard of a ceremony called "Je'ets Lu'um"? Neither had I. This past year I was privileged to be able to
see and participate in one. The following story tells how it came about.
There is a large ranch in our area that has been for sale a couple of times over the past several years, and recently came on
the market again. I use the word "ranch" loosely, because other than a deep well, a large cracked cattle watering trough,
and the remains of an old building, there isn't much that is substantial on the acreage. The perimeters are roughly
enclosed by old rock walls and strands of loose barbed wire, cut through in many places where the old trails go through.
The native Maya of the village go back and forth across the land to beehives and to their fields. One trail is the old road
from here to Merida, running straight up through the middle of the peninsula, and this has to be left open. People still use
it, although not to go all the way to Merida. Imagine someone just fencing off a state highway where you live! No one
would stand for it, and they would cut the wire. It is the same here. One of the past owners fenced it all in, creating a lot
of ill will amongst the villagers, who promptly cut the fencing.
Nothing good ever happened on the land. Project after project failed, although they shouldn't have, until it was finally
sold for losses, and abandoned. It has always attracted me, this wonderful piece of land, but I wasn't meant to be the
owner. It is being bought by someone else now, people who arrived by sheer fluke, on their first vacation to Yucatan,
no real destination in mind. Gods and the spirits in Uman conspired and sent them south to us, arriving on the doorstep
of our small Inn. In a few short days, they had made up their minds to buy this property.
Because we had shown them the land, and because of the language problems, my Mayan husband and I became the agents
to put this deal together, and in due time the couple returned to explore what they had bought. Part of the land had been
cleared around the main structures, and 2 of the men working it knew the land well. My husband Santiago was working
with the men, and they advised him to do a "Primicia", or "Je'ets Lu'um". This is a Mayan ceremony performed by a
"Hmen", or Shaman, to "soothe the earth spirits". Je'ets means to calm down, and Lu'um means earth. Calm down
the land. This advice was noted, but not acted upon just then. Soon after, the new owners came out to walk the land.
A short way in and the woman was suddenly on the ground, landing hard. There was a rectangular rock just next to
where she had been standing, and at first I thought she had stumbled on that, but she hadn't. She was just suddenly
tossed to the ground, as though a giant hand had thrown her there. She wasn't badly hurt, but needless to say, she was
startled. Her husband asked if she wanted to continue and she decided that she would, although with a degree of obvious
hesitation.
The rest of the walk was uneventful as far as any other strange events, and presented many lovely and odd alignments.
Two large stone entry pillars are located back behind the building remains, leading straight into a long tree tunnel.
Looking back from mid-tunnel, you align with the entry pillars, the door in the structure, and the entry pillars by the road,
a rather strange co-incidence. Or is it? The land has a sort of magic, spiritual quality, which you feel. An energy that
runs through it.
The woman's foot swelled and turned dark, as though kicked by a boot, and again arose the suggestion of "Je'ets Lu'um".
There are four ceremonies that the "Hmen" can perform on the land. One is called "ka'ax lu'um", amarar la tierra, to tie
down the earth. The Hmen buries objects on the four corners of the land, objects that can cause harm to an intruder on
the land. He may be bitten by a snake, a scorpion, fall, or break something.
Another ceremony is the "cha chak", where the entire village participates. Small boys are symbolically tied to the altar
table's 4 legs, and make sounds like frogs, frogs always signifying the coming of the rainy season. The altar table
preparation is attended by men only, and they prepare the food for the formal "hua i col" ceremony, to offer food to the
gods in thanks for past harvests, and to beseech them for bountiful future harvests, and rain. The altar is set with purple
blooms of the Ba'al che tree, which was in flower at this time.
The ceremony purposed for this land was "Je'ets Lu'um", followed by a less formal "hua i col", where women can
attend and participate, to appease and soothe the various gods and spirits that had been neglected for so long. In
the Je'ets Lu'um, the new owners would be formally introduced by name to all the past dwellers on the land, the
many gods protecting it, and to the Aluxes - the tiny naked people the Maya believe live in the forests. All of
these would be assured that the new owners would be respectful of the land and it's formations, whether natural or
created, and asked to help, welcome, and protect the new owners, and to ward off any malignant spirits that still
lingered. And then a "hua i col" would be celebrated, to include the villagers, offering the proper foods and drink to
the gods, asking them to give bountiful fruits in the future, as the gods were now being offered.
To do these ceremonies, an area must be prepared for the altar and its offerings, the pits dug for baking the piib,
and the proper food stuffs bought, or found. Turkeys, chickens, licor de cana, cinnamon, anise spice, ground pumpkin
seeds, chives, mint, pepper, honey, ground corn - all must be provided. If it is to be a proper ceremony, all these things
must be done, and correctly. So it is looking like we will be driving all the way to Xkol Ok, a tiny village way back behind
Uxmal, to buy a turkey. It is the wrong time of the year, and no one in our village has one ready to sell. Word has it
that the villagers in Xkol Ok have some.
It has occurred to me that I am in a unique position. I am the only foreigner I know, married to a Mayan, living in a
still fairly traditional village here on the peninsula, surrounded by, and able to participate in, still authentic Mayan
events. Spiritual, cultural, family, and village events. I am not set aside, I am not gawked at, I am a part of a family
who belongs here, and so I have been given the chance to see, and be involved in, many things the average visitor
to our area would never dream still existed.
I am always surprised when tourists ask me, "And what happened to all the Mayans?", as they are standing
among... the Mayans. My husband. My nieces. My mother-in-law, brother Makim, helping with the ceremony.
Auseri, Dimetrio, Luis, Eliseo - the workers. The Mayas. All still here, and arranging this ceremony. Not because
they will earn any money from it, nor for tourism promotion, but because it needs to be done. They want to help
these new owners, to allow them to live at peace, and prosper on the land, to respect the land and the gods and
spirits, and to welcome them into the village. "Come and participate, but accept and believe. Do not scoff at us,
for our beliefs are real. We are still here, guarding the land."
But for now, we still need to find a turkey....
An enormous amount of work went into this ceremony. Village people volunteered to help with every aspect, from
digging the pits to baking the bread called Piib, to hauling water and buckets and a few tables and chairs, to the actual
making of the "Piib" itself. This last, Piib, resembles a very large fat tortilla, each one patted out by hand from fresh
ground corn. The corn had to be arranged for, ground, and hauled to the ranch, which is about 2 K from the village
center, usually reached by bicycle, or walking. We had borrowed a truck, and picked up people, as well as the needed
items, to take to the ranch. While some of the men were digging the pit, about 3 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, and
about 60 centimeters deep, others were gathering rocks and wood, and oak leaf branches. When the pit is ready, it will
be filled with wood and lit, the rocks placed in a layer over the wood. When the fire dies down, the heated rocks fall,
and the piib will be placed on top to cook. The uncooked piibs are stacked, 12 to a pile, with ground pumpkin seeds
between each, rather like a stack of hot cakes, and then wrapped in banana leaves. These bundles are secured with
string made from heneken - which another group of men have been busy making in the morning. One stack is made
with 13 piibs, and this one is placed by the Hmen himself in the cooking pit. After this, the other men can help place
the remaining bundles in the pit. When these are all arranged to satisfaction on the hot rocks, everything is covered
with soil and then with the oak leaf branches, checking carefully that no steam is escaping that could spoil the cooking
process.
This sounds rather simple and easy, when in truth it is more exacting than expected and hot, hard work. The digging
itself is not easy, with just the couple old shovels we have, and moving the hot rocks with long wood poles, to assure
an even bed for cooking, is a hot arduous job. The men are drenched with sweat when they finish, but the pit is now
covered over, no steam escaping, and it will be about an hour and a half until it is judged down, and ready to be taken
out. It is now afternoon.
The women meanwhile, have split into groups, some preparing the chickens and turkeys and spices and condiments for
cooking. While the men have earlier butchered and defeathered the birds, saving the blood for the broth to be used later,
the women now prepare it all for the cooking kettle. This is an enormous pot, looking like one a cannibal might use, that
we borrowed for the ceremony. I have been sent to find more cilantro, chives, and mint - the cooks deciding we hadn't
enough. By now I have been through half the gardens in town, and gained 4 more volunteers to work. We have already
made what seem like hundreds of fat tortilla piibs, but still there are buckets of dough yet to form. The American woman
is helping at this table, and another Canadian lady whom we invited to see the ceremony. Neither speak Spanish, let alone
Mayan, but everyone is laughing and joking anyway. The universal language of hand signals serves to break the barriers.
The foreigner's tortillas are poorly made, but they are trying very diligently to help. I am pressed into service for a while
here and the village ladies are impressed by my Piib. They nod and say "seugra" with approval, meaning my Mayan
mother-in-law has taught me well, and I realize I am happy for her. She will hear of it, and it will make her happy.
But shortly I am called away to run more errands.
While the piibs are being formed, the cooking fire has been built, and now the poultry and spices are ready to be put in
the broth. Everything from the birds will go in, except the entrails, lungs, and claws. Head, neck, feet, heart, liver, etc.,
all go in the broth. The spices and condiments are placed in a clean cloth, tied, and submerged in the broth to cook
and flavor it, later to be removed.
And of course another group has been preparing food for we mere mortals to eat. "Frijol con puerco", beans with pork,
naturally. This is to keep us all going until the special food is ready and has been offered to the gods, and we can partake.
The men have been out here since 5:30 a.m., working to have the piibs ready to be removed from the pit by about 3 p.m.
We are almost into the rainy season, which brings late afternoon rain, but it hasn't begun yet. It would be wonderful if
our ceremony brought the first rains, but not before the piib is removed from the pit. That would be considered rather
ill fortune indeed.
All has been going well. Smaller piibs called "Hu'o", or sapos, (frogs), (or ninos), have also been prepared, and are ready
and placed in the pit. These are wrapped in Ba'tun leaves, a plant found only in certain places, and are a special offering
to the rain gods. The Hmen has done the first 2, of 3, orations. The first is to start the ceremony, blessing the turkeys
and chickens, and the "sacah", which is a drink of ground corn and water with bee's honey - miel de abejas. The
second blessing is when the birds are cooked and placed on the offering altar. The last oration will be the "Cho K'o,
performed after the piib is cooked.
Looking around, I realized what a lot of goodwill and happiness there was, on everyone's part. Everyone working
together, helping, to make this special ceremony for people they barely had met. The new owners of the ranch.
The people had studied the new comers and decided. They would be accepted, and it showed. Living here, I have
come to watch certain village people for their reactions. They give unseen signals of acceptance, or disapproval.
These new owners had been approved. By their actions they had shown their willingness to work, and that they
were taking the ceremony seriously. And so had been accepted in return.
And at that point, you knew it was all going to work, the ceremony would be a success, the gods would approve.
So did it rain? Yes. In fact, it poured. But not until the piib was out of the pit, and the last blessing was almost completed.
On the grounds is the shell of an old building where the chapel still has a roof. We had all gathered in there, when it
began to sprinkle, waiting for the Hmen and his assistants to finish the last blessing, where women are not allowed.
As he finished, it began to rain hard, so we all stayed put. One of the village men, a self styled comedian, began to
sing a Mayan love song to the Canadian woman, who had a marvelous sense of humor. Then the man began the play
an invisible guitar and sing. The new American owner happens to be a school band director, and he stepped over to
tune-up the invisible guitar! This made everyone roar with laughter, and looking at all the different happy faces, I
knew I had rarely had a better day down here. I think the Je'ets Lu'um will be a success, the land calmed down
and accepting again. I think future projects on the ranch will now be a success, thanks to all of these people.
Indeed, a very special day.
Kristine,
Flycatcher Inn, Santa Elena,
15 minutes southeast of Uxmal in Yucatan, Mexico
Have you ever heard of a ceremony called "Je'ets Lu'um"? Neither had I. This past year I was privileged to be able to
see and participate in one. The following story tells how it came about.
There is a large ranch in our area that has been for sale a couple of times over the past several years, and recently came on
the market again. I use the word "ranch" loosely, because other than a deep well, a large cracked cattle watering trough,
and the remains of an old building, there isn't much that is substantial on the acreage. The perimeters are roughly
enclosed by old rock walls and strands of loose barbed wire, cut through in many places where the old trails go through.
The native Maya of the village go back and forth across the land to beehives and to their fields. One trail is the old road
from here to Merida, running straight up through the middle of the peninsula, and this has to be left open. People still use
it, although not to go all the way to Merida. Imagine someone just fencing off a state highway where you live! No one
would stand for it, and they would cut the wire. It is the same here. One of the past owners fenced it all in, creating a lot
of ill will amongst the villagers, who promptly cut the fencing.
Nothing good ever happened on the land. Project after project failed, although they shouldn't have, until it was finally
sold for losses, and abandoned. It has always attracted me, this wonderful piece of land, but I wasn't meant to be the
owner. It is being bought by someone else now, people who arrived by sheer fluke, on their first vacation to Yucatan,
no real destination in mind. Gods and the spirits in Uman conspired and sent them south to us, arriving on the doorstep
of our small Inn. In a few short days, they had made up their minds to buy this property.
Because we had shown them the land, and because of the language problems, my Mayan husband and I became the agents
to put this deal together, and in due time the couple returned to explore what they had bought. Part of the land had been
cleared around the main structures, and 2 of the men working it knew the land well. My husband Santiago was working
with the men, and they advised him to do a "Primicia", or "Je'ets Lu'um". This is a Mayan ceremony performed by a
"Hmen", or Shaman, to "soothe the earth spirits". Je'ets means to calm down, and Lu'um means earth. Calm down
the land. This advice was noted, but not acted upon just then. Soon after, the new owners came out to walk the land.
A short way in and the woman was suddenly on the ground, landing hard. There was a rectangular rock just next to
where she had been standing, and at first I thought she had stumbled on that, but she hadn't. She was just suddenly
tossed to the ground, as though a giant hand had thrown her there. She wasn't badly hurt, but needless to say, she was
startled. Her husband asked if she wanted to continue and she decided that she would, although with a degree of obvious
hesitation.
The rest of the walk was uneventful as far as any other strange events, and presented many lovely and odd alignments.
Two large stone entry pillars are located back behind the building remains, leading straight into a long tree tunnel.
Looking back from mid-tunnel, you align with the entry pillars, the door in the structure, and the entry pillars by the road,
a rather strange co-incidence. Or is it? The land has a sort of magic, spiritual quality, which you feel. An energy that
runs through it.
The woman's foot swelled and turned dark, as though kicked by a boot, and again arose the suggestion of "Je'ets Lu'um".
There are four ceremonies that the "Hmen" can perform on the land. One is called "ka'ax lu'um", amarar la tierra, to tie
down the earth. The Hmen buries objects on the four corners of the land, objects that can cause harm to an intruder on
the land. He may be bitten by a snake, a scorpion, fall, or break something.
Another ceremony is the "cha chak", where the entire village participates. Small boys are symbolically tied to the altar
table's 4 legs, and make sounds like frogs, frogs always signifying the coming of the rainy season. The altar table
preparation is attended by men only, and they prepare the food for the formal "hua i col" ceremony, to offer food to the
gods in thanks for past harvests, and to beseech them for bountiful future harvests, and rain. The altar is set with purple
blooms of the Ba'al che tree, which was in flower at this time.
The ceremony purposed for this land was "Je'ets Lu'um", followed by a less formal "hua i col", where women can
attend and participate, to appease and soothe the various gods and spirits that had been neglected for so long. In
the Je'ets Lu'um, the new owners would be formally introduced by name to all the past dwellers on the land, the
many gods protecting it, and to the Aluxes - the tiny naked people the Maya believe live in the forests. All of
these would be assured that the new owners would be respectful of the land and it's formations, whether natural or
created, and asked to help, welcome, and protect the new owners, and to ward off any malignant spirits that still
lingered. And then a "hua i col" would be celebrated, to include the villagers, offering the proper foods and drink to
the gods, asking them to give bountiful fruits in the future, as the gods were now being offered.
To do these ceremonies, an area must be prepared for the altar and its offerings, the pits dug for baking the piib,
and the proper food stuffs bought, or found. Turkeys, chickens, licor de cana, cinnamon, anise spice, ground pumpkin
seeds, chives, mint, pepper, honey, ground corn - all must be provided. If it is to be a proper ceremony, all these things
must be done, and correctly. So it is looking like we will be driving all the way to Xkol Ok, a tiny village way back behind
Uxmal, to buy a turkey. It is the wrong time of the year, and no one in our village has one ready to sell. Word has it
that the villagers in Xkol Ok have some.
It has occurred to me that I am in a unique position. I am the only foreigner I know, married to a Mayan, living in a
still fairly traditional village here on the peninsula, surrounded by, and able to participate in, still authentic Mayan
events. Spiritual, cultural, family, and village events. I am not set aside, I am not gawked at, I am a part of a family
who belongs here, and so I have been given the chance to see, and be involved in, many things the average visitor
to our area would never dream still existed.
I am always surprised when tourists ask me, "And what happened to all the Mayans?", as they are standing
among... the Mayans. My husband. My nieces. My mother-in-law, brother Makim, helping with the ceremony.
Auseri, Dimetrio, Luis, Eliseo - the workers. The Mayas. All still here, and arranging this ceremony. Not because
they will earn any money from it, nor for tourism promotion, but because it needs to be done. They want to help
these new owners, to allow them to live at peace, and prosper on the land, to respect the land and the gods and
spirits, and to welcome them into the village. "Come and participate, but accept and believe. Do not scoff at us,
for our beliefs are real. We are still here, guarding the land."
But for now, we still need to find a turkey....
An enormous amount of work went into this ceremony. Village people volunteered to help with every aspect, from
digging the pits to baking the bread called Piib, to hauling water and buckets and a few tables and chairs, to the actual
making of the "Piib" itself. This last, Piib, resembles a very large fat tortilla, each one patted out by hand from fresh
ground corn. The corn had to be arranged for, ground, and hauled to the ranch, which is about 2 K from the village
center, usually reached by bicycle, or walking. We had borrowed a truck, and picked up people, as well as the needed
items, to take to the ranch. While some of the men were digging the pit, about 3 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, and
about 60 centimeters deep, others were gathering rocks and wood, and oak leaf branches. When the pit is ready, it will
be filled with wood and lit, the rocks placed in a layer over the wood. When the fire dies down, the heated rocks fall,
and the piib will be placed on top to cook. The uncooked piibs are stacked, 12 to a pile, with ground pumpkin seeds
between each, rather like a stack of hot cakes, and then wrapped in banana leaves. These bundles are secured with
string made from heneken - which another group of men have been busy making in the morning. One stack is made
with 13 piibs, and this one is placed by the Hmen himself in the cooking pit. After this, the other men can help place
the remaining bundles in the pit. When these are all arranged to satisfaction on the hot rocks, everything is covered
with soil and then with the oak leaf branches, checking carefully that no steam is escaping that could spoil the cooking
process.
This sounds rather simple and easy, when in truth it is more exacting than expected and hot, hard work. The digging
itself is not easy, with just the couple old shovels we have, and moving the hot rocks with long wood poles, to assure
an even bed for cooking, is a hot arduous job. The men are drenched with sweat when they finish, but the pit is now
covered over, no steam escaping, and it will be about an hour and a half until it is judged down, and ready to be taken
out. It is now afternoon.
The women meanwhile, have split into groups, some preparing the chickens and turkeys and spices and condiments for
cooking. While the men have earlier butchered and defeathered the birds, saving the blood for the broth to be used later,
the women now prepare it all for the cooking kettle. This is an enormous pot, looking like one a cannibal might use, that
we borrowed for the ceremony. I have been sent to find more cilantro, chives, and mint - the cooks deciding we hadn't
enough. By now I have been through half the gardens in town, and gained 4 more volunteers to work. We have already
made what seem like hundreds of fat tortilla piibs, but still there are buckets of dough yet to form. The American woman
is helping at this table, and another Canadian lady whom we invited to see the ceremony. Neither speak Spanish, let alone
Mayan, but everyone is laughing and joking anyway. The universal language of hand signals serves to break the barriers.
The foreigner's tortillas are poorly made, but they are trying very diligently to help. I am pressed into service for a while
here and the village ladies are impressed by my Piib. They nod and say "seugra" with approval, meaning my Mayan
mother-in-law has taught me well, and I realize I am happy for her. She will hear of it, and it will make her happy.
But shortly I am called away to run more errands.
While the piibs are being formed, the cooking fire has been built, and now the poultry and spices are ready to be put in
the broth. Everything from the birds will go in, except the entrails, lungs, and claws. Head, neck, feet, heart, liver, etc.,
all go in the broth. The spices and condiments are placed in a clean cloth, tied, and submerged in the broth to cook
and flavor it, later to be removed.
And of course another group has been preparing food for we mere mortals to eat. "Frijol con puerco", beans with pork,
naturally. This is to keep us all going until the special food is ready and has been offered to the gods, and we can partake.
The men have been out here since 5:30 a.m., working to have the piibs ready to be removed from the pit by about 3 p.m.
We are almost into the rainy season, which brings late afternoon rain, but it hasn't begun yet. It would be wonderful if
our ceremony brought the first rains, but not before the piib is removed from the pit. That would be considered rather
ill fortune indeed.
All has been going well. Smaller piibs called "Hu'o", or sapos, (frogs), (or ninos), have also been prepared, and are ready
and placed in the pit. These are wrapped in Ba'tun leaves, a plant found only in certain places, and are a special offering
to the rain gods. The Hmen has done the first 2, of 3, orations. The first is to start the ceremony, blessing the turkeys
and chickens, and the "sacah", which is a drink of ground corn and water with bee's honey - miel de abejas. The
second blessing is when the birds are cooked and placed on the offering altar. The last oration will be the "Cho K'o,
performed after the piib is cooked.
Looking around, I realized what a lot of goodwill and happiness there was, on everyone's part. Everyone working
together, helping, to make this special ceremony for people they barely had met. The new owners of the ranch.
The people had studied the new comers and decided. They would be accepted, and it showed. Living here, I have
come to watch certain village people for their reactions. They give unseen signals of acceptance, or disapproval.
These new owners had been approved. By their actions they had shown their willingness to work, and that they
were taking the ceremony seriously. And so had been accepted in return.
And at that point, you knew it was all going to work, the ceremony would be a success, the gods would approve.
So did it rain? Yes. In fact, it poured. But not until the piib was out of the pit, and the last blessing was almost completed.
On the grounds is the shell of an old building where the chapel still has a roof. We had all gathered in there, when it
began to sprinkle, waiting for the Hmen and his assistants to finish the last blessing, where women are not allowed.
As he finished, it began to rain hard, so we all stayed put. One of the village men, a self styled comedian, began to
sing a Mayan love song to the Canadian woman, who had a marvelous sense of humor. Then the man began the play
an invisible guitar and sing. The new American owner happens to be a school band director, and he stepped over to
tune-up the invisible guitar! This made everyone roar with laughter, and looking at all the different happy faces, I
knew I had rarely had a better day down here. I think the Je'ets Lu'um will be a success, the land calmed down
and accepting again. I think future projects on the ranch will now be a success, thanks to all of these people.
Indeed, a very special day.
Kristine,
Flycatcher Inn, Santa Elena,
15 minutes southeast of Uxmal in Yucatan, Mexico
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