by Gary Daniels
for the black-breasted pi¢oy to sit upon. Then the yellow tree of abundance was set up , as a symbol of the destruction of the world, for the yellow-breasted pi¢oy to sit upon, for the yellow cock oriole to sit upon, the yellow timid mut. Then the green tree of abundance was set up in the center as a record of the destruction of the world.
The plate of another katun was set up and fixed in its place by the messengers of their lord. The red Piltec was set at the east of the world to conduct people to his lord. The white Piltec was set at the north of the world to conduct people / to his lord. Lahun Chaan was set to bring things to his lord. The yellow Piltec was set to bring things to his lord. But it was the whole world that Ah Uuc Cheknal was set up. He came from the seventh stratum of the earth, when he came to fecundate Itzam-kab-ain, when he came with the vitality of the angle between earth heaven. They moved among the four lights, among the four layers of the stars. The world was not lighted; there was neither day nor night nor moon. Then they perceived that the world was being created. Then creation dawned upon the world.✠ During the creation thirteen infinite series to seven was the count of the creation of the world. Then a new world dawned for them.
The two-day throne was declared, the three-day throne. Then began the weeping of Oxlahun-ti-ku. They wept in this reign. The reign became red; the mat became red; the first tree of the world was rooted fast. The entire world was proclaimed by Uuc-yol-zip; but it was not at the time of this reign that Bolon-ti-ku-wept. Then came the counting of the mat in its order. Red was the mat on which Bolon-ti-ku sat. His buttock is sharply rounded, as he sits on his mat. Then descended greed from the heart of the sky, greed for power, greed for rule.
Then the red foundation was established; the white foundation of the ruler was established; the black foundation was established; the yellow foundation was established. Then the Red Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne. The White Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne. The Black Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne. The Yellow Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne. As a god, it is said; whether or not gods, their bread is lacking, their water is lacking. /
There was only a portion for them to eat together…but there was nowhere from which the quantity needed for existence could come. Compulsion and force were the tidings, when he was seated ; compulsion was the tidings, compulsion by misery; it came during his reign, when he arrived to sit upon the mat ... Suddenly on high fire flamed up. The face of the sun was snatched away, taken from earth. This was his garment in his reign. This was the reason for mourning his power, at that time there was too much vigor. At that time there was the riddle for the rulers. The planted timber was set up. Perishable things are assembled at that time. The timber of the grave-digger is set up at the crossroads, at the four resting places. Sad is the general havoc, at that time the butterflies swarmed. Then there came great misery, when it came about that the sun in Katun 3 Ahau was moved from its place for three months. After three years it will come back into place in Katun 3 Ahau. Then another katun will beset . The ramon fruit is their bread, the ramon fruit is their drink; the jícama cimarrona is their bread, the jícama cimarrona is their drink; what they eat and what they drink. The ix-batun, the chimchim-chay, are what they eat. These things were present here when misery settled, father, in Tun. At that time there were the foreigners. The charge was sought for all the years of 13 Ahau.
Then it was that the lord of 11 Ahau spread his feet apart. Then it was that the word of Bolon ¢acab descended to the tip of his tongue. Then the charge of the katun was sought; nine was its charge when it descended from heaven. Kan was the day when its burden was bound to it. Then the water descended, it came from the heart of the sky for the baptism of the House of Nine Bushes. With it descended Bolon Mayel; sweet was his mouth and the tip of his tongue. Sweet were his brains. Then descended the four mighty supernatural jars, this was the honey of the flowers. / Then there grew up for it the red unfolded calyx, the white unfolded calyx, the black unfolded calyx and the yellow unfolded calyx, those which were half a palm and those which were a whole palm . Then there sprang up the five-leafed 10 flower, the five drooping , the cacao a row of teeth, the ix-chabil-tok, the little flower, Ix Macuil Xuchit, the flower with the brightly colored tip, the laurel flower, and the limping flower. After these flowers sprang up, there were the vendors of fragrant odors, there was the mother of the flowers. Then there sprang up the bouquet of the priest, the bouquet of the ruler, the bouquet of the captain; this was what the flower-king bore when he descended and nothing else, so they say. It was not bread that he bore. Then it was that the flower sprang up, wide open, to introduce the sin of Bolon-ti-ku. three years was the time when he said he did not come to create Bolon ¢acab as the god in hell. Then descended Ppizlimtec to take the flower; he took the figure of a humming-bird with green plumage on its breast, when he descended. Then he sucked the honey from the flower with nine petals. Then the five-petaled flower took him for her husband, Thereupon the heart of the flower came forth to set itself in motion. Four-fold was the plate of the flower, and Ah Kin Xocbiltun was set in the center. At this time Oxlahun-ti-ku came forth, but he did not know of the descent of the sin of the mat, when he came into his power. The flower was his mat, the flower was his chair. He sat in envy, he walked in envy. Envy was his plate, envy was his cup. There was envy in his heart, in his understanding, in his thought and in his speech. Ribald and insolent was his speech during his reign. At that time his food cries out, his drink cries out, from the corner of his mouth when he eats, from the back of his claw when he bites his food. He holds in his hand a piece of wood, he holds in his hand a stone. Mighty are his teeth; his face is that of Lahun Chan, as he sits. Sin is his face, in his speech, in his talk, in his understanding his walk. His eyes are blindfolded. He seizes, he demands as his right, the mat on which he sits / during his reign. Forgotten is his father, forgotten is his mother, nor does his mother know her offspring. The heart is on fire alone in the fatherless one who despises his father, in the motherless one. He shall walk abroad giving the appearance of one drunk, without understanding, in company with his father, in company with his mother. There is no virtue in him, there is no goodness in his heart, only a little on the tip of his tongue. He does not know in what manner his end is to come; nor does he know what will be the end of his reign, when the period of his power shall terminate.
This is Bolon-ti-ku. Bolon Chan is the face of the ruler of men, the two day occupant of the mat and throne. He came in Katun 3 Ahau. After that there will be another lord of the land who will establish the law of another katun, after the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau shall have run its course. At that time there shall be few children; then there shall be mourning among the Itza who speak our language brokenly. Industry vigor finally take the place, in the first tun , of the sin of the Itzá who speak our language brokenly. It is Bolon-ti-ku who shall come to his end the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau. Then the riddle of the rulers of the land shall end the law of the katun. Then those of the lineage of the noble chiefs shall come into their own, with the other men of discretion and with those of the lineage of the chiefs. Their faces had been trampled on the ground, and they had been overthrown by the unrestrained upstarts of the day and of the katun, the son of evil and the offspring of the harlot, who were born when their day dawned in Katun 3 Ahau. Thus shall end the power of those who are two-faced toward our Lord God.
But when the law of the katun shall have run its course, then God will bring about a great deluge again which will be the end of the world. When this is over, then our Lord Jesus Christ shall descend over the valley of Jehoshaphat beside the town of Jerusalem / where he redeem
ed us with his holy blood. He shall descend on a great cloud to bear true testimony that he was once obliged to suffer, stretched out on a cross of wood. Then shall descend in his great power and glory the true God who created heaven and earth and everything on earth. He shall descend to level off the world for the good and the bad, the conquerors the captives.
B. The Katun Prophecies from the Chilam Balam of Chumayel
There are multiple versions of the katun prophecies in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel as translated by Ralph Roys. These prophecies are recorded in chapters 18, 22, & 24 of his translation. Below you will find all of these versions for the three katun periods covered in this book, katuns 4, 2 and 13. Use them to understand what type of events the Maya believed were cyclical and thus predictable.
Image: The Katun Wheel from the Chilam Balam of Chumayel
Chapter XVIII A Series of Katun Prophecies
Katun 4 Ahau
The katun is established at Uuc-yab-nal in Katun 4 Ahau. At the mouth of the well, Uuc-yab-nal, it is established ... It shall dawn in the south. The face of is covered; his face is dead. There is mourning for water; there is mourning for bread. His mat and his throne shall face the west. Blood-vomit is the charge . At that time his loin-cloth and his mantle shall be white. Unattainable shall be the bread of the katun. The quetzal shall come; the green bird shall come. The kax tree shall come; the bird shall come. The tapir shall come. The tribute shall be hidden at the mouth of the well.
Katun 2 Ahau
The katun is established at Maylu, Zaci, Mayapan in Katun 2 Ahau. The katun is on its own base. The rope shall descend; the poison of the serpent shall descend, pestilence three piles of skulls. The men are of little use. Then the burden was bound on Buluc-chabtan. a dry wind. The ramon is the bread of 2 Ahau. It shall be half famine and half abundance. This is the charge of Katun 2 Ahau.
Katun 13 Ahau
The Katun is established at Kinchil Coba, Maya Cuzamil, in Katun 13 Ahau. Itzamna, Itzam-tzab, is his face during its reign. The ramon shall be eaten. Three years shall be locust years, ten generations . The fan shall be displayed; the bouquet shall be displayed, borne by Yaxaal Chac in the heavens. Unattainable is the bread of the katun in 13 Ahau. The sun shall be eclipsed. Double is the charge of the katun: men without offspring, chiefs without successors. For five days the sun shall be eclipsed, then it shall be seen . This is the charge of Katun 13 Ahau.
Chapter XXII A Book of Katun Prophecies
Katun 4 Ahau
Katun 4 Ahau is the eleventh katun according to the count. The katun is established at Chichen Itzá. The settlement of the Itzá shall take place . The quetzal shall come, the green bird shall come. Ah Kantenal shall come. Blood-vomit shall come. Kukulcan shall come with them for the second time. the word of God. The Itzá shall come.
Katun 2 Ahau
Katun 2 Ahau is the twelfth katun. At Maya [uaz] Cuzamil the katun is established. For half there will be bread; for half there will be water. the word of God. For half of it there will be a temple for the rulers. the end of the word of God.
Katun 13 Ahau
The judgment.
It is Katun 13 Ahau according to the count. The katun is established at Kinchil Coba, the thirteenth katun. The bouquet of the rulers of the world shall be displayed. There is the universal judgment of our Lord God. Blood shall descend from the tree and stone. Heaven and earth shall burn. It is the word of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is the holy judgment, the holy judgment of our Lord God. There shall be no strength in heaven and earth. Great cities shall enter into Christianity, any settlements of people whatever, the great towns, whatever their names are as well as the little towns, all over our land of Maya Cuzamil Mayapan. for our two-day men, because of lewdness . . . the sons of malevolence. At the end of our blindness and shame our sons shall be regenerated from carnal sin. There is no lucky day for us. It is the cause of death from bad blood, when the moon rises, when the moon sets, the entire moon, its power; all blood. So it was with the good planets looked upon as good. It is the end of the word of God. The waters of baptism shall come over them, the Holy Spirit. They receive the holy oil without compulsion; it comes from God. There are too many Christians who go to those who deny the holy faith, . . . the Itzá and the balams. There is then an end to our losing...
Chapter XXIV Prophecies of a New Religion
Katun 4 Ahau
The prophecy of Nahau Pech the great priest. At that time when the sun shall stand high , lord, when the ruler has had compassion, in the fourth katun it shall come to pass, the tidings of God are truly brought. They ask perchance what I recommend, lord. You see your guests upon the road, oh Itzá! It is the fathers of the land who will arrive. comes from the mouth of Nahau Pech, the priest in the time of Katun 4 Ahau at the end of the
katun, lord. The food of the ant<-like> men shall be destroyed. They shall be at the end of their food <-supply> because of the boboch food, the great hawk food, the ant, the cowbird, the grackle, the blackbird, the mouse.
Katun 13 Ahau
The prophecy of Chilam Balam, the singer, of Cabal-chen, Mani. On 13 Ahau the katun will end in the time of the Itzá, in the time of Tancah , lord. There is the sign of Hunab-ku on high. The raised wooden standard shall come. It shall be displayed to the world, that the world may be enlightened, lord.
There has been a beginning of strife, there has been a beginning of rivalry, when the priestly man shall come to bring the sign in time to come, lord. A quarter of a league, a league he comes. You see the mut-bird surmounting the raised wooden standard. A new day shall dawn in the north, in the west.
Itzamná Kauil shall rise. Our lord comes, Itzá. Our elder brother comes, men of Tantun. Receive your guests, the bearded men, the men of the east, the bearers of the sign of God, lord. Good indeed is the word of God that comes to us. The day of our regeneration comes. You do not fear the world, Lord, you are the only God who created us. It is sufficient, then, that the word of God is good, lord. the guardian of our souls. He who receives him, who has truly believed, he will go to heaven with him. Nevertheless the beginning were the two-day men.
Let us exalt his sign on high, let us exalt it with the raised standard. Great is the discord that arises today. The First Tree of the World is restored; it is displayed to the world. This is the sign of Hunab-ku on high. Worship it, Itzá. You shall worship today his sign on high. You shall worship it furthermore with true good will, and you shall worship the true God today, lord. You shall be converted to the word of Hunab-ku, lord; it came from heaven. Oh it is he who speaks to you! Be admonished indeed, Itzá. They will correct their ways who receive him in their hearts in another katun, lord.
Believe in my word itself, I am Chilam Balam, and I have interpreted the entire message of the true God the world; it is heard in every part of the world, lord, the word of God, the Lord of heaven and earth. Very good indeed is his word in heaven, lord. He is ruler over us; he is the true God over our souls.
But those to whom is brought, lord: thrice weighed down is their strength, the younger brothers native to the land. Their hearts are submerged . Their hearts are dead in their carnal sins. They are frequent backsliders, the principal ones who spread , Nacxit Xuchit in the carnal sin of his companions, the two-day rulers. crookedly on their thrones; crookedly in carnal sin. Two-day men they call them. For two days their seats, their cups, their hats. They are the unrestrained lewd ones of the day, the unrestrained lewd ones of the night, the rogues of the world. They twist their necks, they wink their eyes, they slaver at the mouth, at the rulers of the land, lord. Behold, when they come, there is no tr
uth in the words of the foreigners to the land. They tell very solemn and mysterious things, the sons of the men of Seven-deserted-buildings, the offspring of the women of Seven-deserted-buildings, lord.
Who will be the prophet, who will be the priest who shall interpret truly the word of the book?
C. The Mayan Chronicles from the Chilam Balam of Chumayel
Within the Chilam Balam of Chumayel translated by Ralph Roys were a series of chronicles or histories recorded for each katun. The Maya believed that what happened in one katun could happen again when the katun returned in the future. Since each named katun reoccurred every 256 years, the Maya priests wanted to keep track of events in each katun in order to detect patterns in each katun from which they could make more accurate predictions about the future. This is little different than modern forecasting.
Below you will find the events which the Maya recorded as happening in previous katuns. I’ve only included events for the three katun periods covered by this book: katuns 4, 2 and 13. If the katun is blank then that means nothing was recorded for this katun. Since each katun cycle consisted of 256 years and there are five katun cycles for which events were recorded, these chronicles cover around 1200 years of Maya history.
Chapter XIX The First Chronicle
4 Ahau.
2 Ahau.
13 Ahau was when the mat was counted in order.