Sisimito II--Xibalba

by Henry W. Anderson

  Par is Maya for ‘skunk’.

  Pati’: This is a big, square-shaped piece of cloth that is tied around the shoulders.

  Patzoj is Maya for ‘coitus’ or “sex’. As an exclamation and cuss word, it is used here to mean ‘fuck’.

  Pay-che is the Mopan name for ‘skunk root’, Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc. It is also known as ‘rat root’ (English), zorillo (Spanish).

  Peeniwali is the Kriol word for ‘firefly’.

  Pereetos is Kriol for a woman having great sexual ability.

  Pet-kot: This is a garden surrounded by a low wall of stones. Pet is Maya for ‘circular’ and kot for ‘wall of loose stones’.

  Pikaado is Kriol for ‘path or trail’.

  Pikni is Kriol for ‘child’ or ‘children’.

  Pipl is Kriol for ‘people’. By ‘City’, Teul is referring to Belize City where most of the country’s Kriol population lived.

  Pitz is the name of the ballgame played by the Maya. The action of play is Ti Pitziil in Classic Maya, and Chaaj in Ke’kchi.

  Pixoy is the Maya name for Bay Cedar, Guazuma ulmifolia. Bay Cedar is a scruffy-looking tree which produces copious dry, black, pod-like fruits (2-3 cm) which are covered in rough spikes. These fruits have a strong honey scent, and children like to eat them. However, they have a constipating effect when consumed in large quantities and this effect led to the Bay Cedar’s engaging Kriol names such as kaak batam (cork bottom wood), stuck-up-da-butt-nut, and plugabutt. (Trees of Belize - Kate Harris.)

  Pohoc is Ke’kchi for the fine fiber material made from the henequen plant.

  Pokono bwai (Kriol) is Bactris major, Palmae. Another name is Pokeno-boy. This palm was also called Pork and Dough Boy because tongs for cooking or removing coals were made from the fire-resistant wood of its trunk.

  Pom is the resin or sap of the Copal tree.

  Pooch is a tortilla (kua) rolled and wrapped in a waha leaf and cooked on the fire or boiled in a pot.

  Póót is Maya for ‘blouse’.

  Popoxkan is Maya for ‘biting ant’, like the fire ant.

  Pub is Maya for ‘blowgun’.

  Pu-ja is Mopan for Similax sp., also known as China Root, Red China Root, and ‘wild sarsa’.

  Pujila’ is Maya for ‘waterfall’.

  Pujuy is Maya for the Common Pauraque, Nyctidromus albicollis. Other names are Tapacamino and Pucuyo.

  Pulch’ich’ is Maya for the sound of a waterfall or cataract.

  Pumble stoan is Kriol for ‘pumice’.

  Pumpu’ is Mopan for the Blow Fly.

  Punani is Kriol for ‘vagina’.

  Pu-ta is Mopan for ‘guava’, Psidium guajava. Other names are pici, pi-chi (Mopan), pa-tá-h (Ke’kchi), guayaba (Spanish).

  Q’akoj is Maya for ‘pale brown’.

  Q’än-jal is Maya for ‘yellow corn on the cob’.

  Q’aq’-puaq is Maya for ‘gold’.

  Q’osibal is the Ke’kchi noun for ‘club, mallet; hammer; stick used for beating grain; cudgel’.

  Q’oxow-chik is Maya for ‘to need to urinate or defecate’.

  Q’utuj is a drink made of corn dough and cacao.

  Qas Nim Ha’ is Maya for ‘very large lake’ and in the Sisimito Series is the name given to Lake Izabal in Guatemala.

  Qas Nim Wo-ja’ is Maya for ‘very large flood’. Qas nim is Maya for ‘very large’; wo-ja’ is Maya for ‘flood’ or ‘overflow of river’.

  Quash is the Belizean name for the coatimundi, Nasua narica.

  Raax Ch’ayom Puag is Maya for ‘Green Medallion’. In the Sisimito Series it refers to medallions made from jade (ya’ax-chich) on which were carved the images found on the Green Scapular. At times, Bas’ Green Scapular is called by that name.

  Ralxik is Maya for ‘large snake’.

  Renk is Kriol for ‘rank’.

  Req’apunik is Ke’kchi for ‘brilliant’.

  Req’apunik chun is used to mean ‘marble (shining limestone)’. Req’apunik is Ke’kchi for ‘brilliant’. Chun is Ke’kchi for “lime or limestone’.

  Rio Blanco is Spanish for ‘White River’.

  Robaal is Ke’kchi for the ‘snook’ fish. The Mopan name is Aj-no-chi.

  Rok’men is Maya for ‘wet (place)’.

  Roninz is Kriol for ‘diarrhea’.

  Rum-p’ok (Ke’kchi) is Spondias radlkoferi Donn.Sm. Other names are hog plum (English), jobo (Spanish), puk (Mopan).

  Sa’il-úúk is Maya for ‘underwear’.

  Sacbeob is Maya for ‘road’.

  Sachoj is Maya for ‘viper’ or poisonous snake like the Fer-de-Lance.

  Sacpa or chí are Maya names for Craboo, Byrsonima crassifolia. The Kriol name is kraabu. The Wild Craboo fruit is sour and is called sour craboo. It is often soaked with very hot peppers and usually eaten while men are drinking.

  Sak-ya is the Maya name for the Sapodilla tree, Manilkara zapota. It is also known as chico zapote, sapote, zapote (Spanish); sapadilli, cheekleh (Kriol); chicle, sapodilla.

  Saks is Kriol for “socks’.

  Saksa’ is Maya for ‘atol’, a traditional hot corn and massa (corn hominy flour) beverage.

  Saq-ki is Ke’kchi for the ‘fiber of the maguey plant (agave)’. Ke’kchi for the maguey plant is ki-che’.

  Saq-puaq is Maya for ‘silver’.

  Sent is Kriol for ‘smell (odor)’. Renk is Kriol for ‘rank’.

  Sha-an is the Maya name for the Bayleaf Palm, Sabal mauritiiformis ( syn S. morrisiand). In Kriol, it is called boataan.

  Shaat-jekit is the Kriol name for a blood-sucking black fly.

  Sheg is the Belizean name for the Neotropic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, also known as Comorán.

  Shitninz is Kriol for ‘diarrhea’.

  Shooz is Kriol for ‘shoes’.

  Shot is Kriol for ‘shirt’.

  Sib Juyub is used to mean ‘Smoke Hill’.

  Síina’an is Maya for ‘scorpion’.

  Soch is Ke’kchi for ‘gourd rattles’.

  Sorosi (Spanish) is Momordica charantia L. Another name is condiamor (Spanish). Its mature yellow-orange fruit, containing seeds in a red pulp, are edible.

  Sotz’ is Maya for the ‘common bat’.

  Spudi is potato wine, a favorite home-made wine in Belize.

  Sutbal-ja’ is Maya for ‘whirlpool’.

  Sutul-q’um is Maya for ‘hurricane’ or ‘tornado’. Here it refers to a tornado.

  Suum is Maya for ‘rope’.

  T’ix is Maya for ‘tapir’.

  T’oit’ik-jolom is Maya for a renowned warrior, soldier, one that has achieved great esteem, regardless of rank.

  Tor Pa-raqan-ja is the name used for the passageway or chamber known as the Quiet Way or Paso Silencios in the Caves of Naj Tunich.

  T’ot’ is Maya for ‘vagina’, but when used as an exclamation the vulgar form (cuss word) ‘pussy hole’ is meant. It is not to be mistaken with töt which is Maya for ‘conch shell’.

  T’uyul is the Maya name for the ‘North Star’, also known as the ‘Pole Star’, in the constellation Ursa Minor.

  Taat is Maya for ‘father’.

  Tak sáamal is Maya for ‘Until tomorrow’.

  Tak sáamal, Molly. Ka xi’ik te’ex hatz’utzil. Tu láak’ k’iin … Ke’eleen is Maya for ‘Goodbye, Molly. Good luck. Until another day … I’m cold’.

  Taman is Maya for ‘cotton’.

  Tapesco is a triangular platform built above ground. It is used for sleeping and storing goods.

  Temax. is the Maya name for the Temash River, Belize.

  Tenleb is a mortar, a chalice-shaped hollow log, about thirty inches in height, used for threshing rice grain or coffee beans. The grain is pounded with a pestle, a three-foot wooden bar shaped like a drumstick, usually made from mahogany or cedar.

  Teonanácatl is the Nahuatl name for the psychedelic mushroom Psilocybe mexicana.

  Tiáálinbil is a th
ick stew with meat seasoned with traditional herbal ingredients.

  Tie-tie, Desmoncus schippii, Palmae., is also known as ‘Basket tie-tie’ because the vine, once stripped, can be split into strips for basket weaving. This is done by the Maya.

  Tijobal is Ke’kchi for ‘classroom’ or ‘school’. In the Sisimito Series, it is used to mean ‘university’.

  Tijonel is Ke’kchi for ‘teacher’.

  Tijoxel is Ke’kchi for ‘student’ or ‘disciple’.

  Tijoxel Ja is Maya for ‘Student House’. In the Sisimito Series, it refers to a complex housing the University level. Today, in Caracol, the complex is known as the Barrio.

  Tin bin ichkíil is Maya for ‘I’m going to take a bath’.

  Tin bin tz’oon is Maya for ‘I’m going hunting’.

  Ti Pitziil is the action of play in the Maya ballgame Pitz.

  Tlitliltzin is Nahuatl for the Mexican Morning Glory, Ipomoea tricolor. It was used in rituals to give the victim a “horror trip”.

  To’bal-rib is Maya for ‘shield’.

  Tok’ is Maya for ‘quartz or flint’. The important ingredient here is silica. It is being used for its healing qualities and as a desiccant.

  Toni’co’oc is Ke’kchi for ‘coconut tree’.

  Tóolok is Maya for ‘lizard’. Eutimio calls his penis Tóolok.

  Toon is Maya for ‘penis’.

  Töt is both Ke’kchi and Mopan for ‘conch shell’. It is not to be mistaken with t’ot’ which is Maya for ‘vagina’.

  Tsu-jipox or oop are the Maya names for the Wild Custard Apple tree, An- nona reticulate L. Other names are ‘bullock’s heart’ (English), anona del monte (Spanish).

  Ts’unu’un is the general Maya name for the ‘hummingbird’.

  Tukan is Maya for ‘blackberry’.

  Tun is the Maya time period of 360 days. This approximates one solar year.

  Tutuchci is Maya for ‘stiff penis’. In the Sisimito Series, Chakuj tutuchci means ‘to work the stiff penis’ or ‘to have sex’.

  Tutz or manaca are the Maya names for the ‘Cohune Palm’, Orbigyna co- hune.

  Tuucha’ is Maya for ‘monkey’. K’oy is the ‘Spider Monkey’. Batz is the ‘Howler Monkey’.

  Tye-pú (Ke’kchi), Anthurium schlechtendalii Kunth, is Pheasant Tail. Other names are cola de faisán (Spanish), xiv-yak-tun-ich (Mopan).

  Tz’aqom is a large tamale taken on hunting and other trips.

  Tzitz is the Maya word for ‘bloodletter’.

  Tz’o’okeen is Maya for ‘I am done’.

  Tz’o’om is Maya for ‘brains’.

  Uhatz’il-chaak is Maya for ‘lightning bolt’.

  U Wach Ulew is the name of the Surface World.

  Uye’el-toon is Maya for ‘testes’ or (vulgar) ‘balls’.

  U-yeh is Maya for ‘blade’.

  Uinal is a Maya period of 20 days. The year was divided into 19 months, each a uinal with a name and a glyph. Of those months, the first eighteen have twenty days and the last one, called Uayeb, has only five.

  U-k’is-ch’imil is Maya noun for ‘shooting star’.

  Ukab Atan is Maya for ‘Second Wife’.

  Ukab is Maya for ‘second’.

  Ukab K’ojol is Maya for ‘Second Son’.

  Ukab Mial is Maya for ‘Secondborn Daughter’.

  Ukabal is Maya for ‘second child’.

  Ulew-q’a’m is Maya for ‘isthmus’ or ‘land-bridge’.

  Úúk is Maya for ‘skirt’.

  Waach is another Maya word for ‘soldier’. In the Sisimito Series, it is used to mean the lowest rank in the military.

  Waata daag is Kriol for ‘water dog’. It is the Neotropical River Otter, Lon- tra longicaudis.

  Wahmil is a secondary fresh-scrub growing on what was originally a milpa.

  Wangla is a sesame seed candy. It is also known as ‘jojoli‘.

  Weda is the Kriol word for ‘weather’, usually bad weather.

  Weech is Maya for ‘armadillo’.

  Wi da famili is Kriol for ‘We are family (immediate)’.

  Wo’qibal is Ke’kchi for ‘eating place’. In the Sisimito Series it is used for ‘Mess Hall’.

  Worq’otik is Ke’kchi for the ‘sound of an earthquake’.

  Wowla or Owla are the Belizean names for the Boa Constrictor.

  Wuch’ is Ke’kchi for ‘opossum’.

  Xan-coti is Maya for the Spot-Breasted Wren, Thryothorus maculipectus. Another name is Troglodita Pechimanchada (Spanish).

  Xch’uup is Maya for ‘woman’.

  Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’ is Molly’s Maya name translated as ‘Woman With No Name’. Xch’úup is ‘woman’. Xma’ is ‘without’. K’aaba’ is ‘name’.

  Xcoch (Mopan) is Ricinus communis L. Other names are castor bean plant, oil nut (English), higuera, ricino (Spanish).

  Xhom-bzan is Maya for the Yellowtail bird, Psarocolius mantezuma, also known as Montezuma Oropendola and Zacua Mayor.

  Xibalba, roughly translated as “place of fear”, is the name of the Underworld in Ke’kchi’ Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya Death Gods and their helpers.

  Xir is Maya for the insect ‘cricket’.

  Xjos is Maya for ‘small sickle’ or ‘hoe’, used for cutting grass. It was also used as a weapon.

  Xmutz is Mopan for Twelve-O’Clock, Mimosa pudica L. Other names are ‘prickle’ (English), dormilon (Spanish).

  Xotik si’ is Maya for ‘Cut firewood’.

  Xpoo is the Maya name for the local ‘puffer fish’. If one scratches its belly, the fish swells up. Once it is replaced in the water, it returns to normal size. It is commonly found in the Corozal Bay, Belize.

  Xt’ut is Maya for the White-Crowned Parrot, Pionus senilis. It is also known as Perico Cabeza Blanco.

  Xtabentún is the Maya name for the Morning Glory. It was used in rituals to give the victim a “horror trip”.

  Xtyay-ach-bak-shúl is Ke’kchi for Vervain, Stachytarpheta cayennensis. Other names are cot-a-cam or kaba-yax-nik (Mopan), vervine (English), verbena (Spanish).

  Xul is Ke’kchi for ‘clay whistle’.

  Xut’ is Maya for anus. When used as a cuss word, it is ‘asshole’ or the vulgar Kriol form, ‘raas’.

  Xuulab is Maya for ‘marching army ant’.

  Xya’axkach is Maya for ‘flies’.

  Ya’ax-chich is Maya for ‘jade’.

  Ya’ax-chich Mayul refers to the green luminance or mist that grew out of the Raax Ch’ayom Puag. It was the color of jade. Ya’ax-chich is ‘jade’ and mayul means ‘fog; mist; haze’.

  Yax’-nik is Maya for the fiddlewood tree, Vitex gaumeri.

  Yaxal is the Maya name for the Moho River.

  Yich-che’ is Maya for ‘fruit’.

  Yoo da mai kozn is Kriol for ‘You are my cousin’.

  Yu aan tinait is Kriol for ‘You’re in good form tonight’.

  Yu gwaan juk is Kriol for ‘You’re going to have sex’.

  Yu is Kriol for ‘your’.

  Yu peg owt is Kriol for ‘you die’.

  Yuself is Kriol for ‘yourself.

  BELIZE FOLK CHARACTERS:

  BRIEFS AND NAMES USED IN THE SISIMITO SERIES.

  Cadejo (Patzapik) is a hairy, goat-like animal or a large shaggy dog. Cadejo means tangled hair. Patzapik is Maya for ‘hairy, shaggy, thick (beard)’. He has the hooves of a goat, horns of a bull, tail of a puma, and his flaming eyes and foaming mouth gives him an aura of evil. He may appear as a white animal and protect drunks, or a black animal who licks the mouths of fallen drunks, follow them for nine days after which the drunks cannot get well again. He can also appear as a human skeleton pulling a chain and the haunting clatter is terrifying. If you hear the rattling sound nearby, Cadejo is far away. If the rattling is distant, Cadejo may be near enough to touch you. If you see him, you are paralyzed with fear and get a high fever only a curandero (bush doctor) can cure.

 
Duenditos (Alaj Ponopik) are playful characters, miniature duendes (dwarfs). Ponopik is Maya for ‘dwarf person or animal, Alaj for ‘small; little’. At night, they play, leap in the ashes of the burnt milpa, and create a ruckus by throwing stones and whistling continuously, imitating the sound of the wind.

  El Dueno de Los Kekeos (Kitam Ajchaq’e) is Spanish for Master of the Peccaries. Ajchaq’e is Maya for ‘owner; master’, Kitam for peccary. He is an old man with beady eyes, a long white beard, and wears tattered clothes and a strange hat. He looks after the collard peccaries that are grey in color with a light-colored strip across their ‘collars’. He treats their wounds with mud and spit, and punishes hunters who kill more than needed for food. At the head of his drove are the mature animals, then the younger ones, then the old and sick. He communicates by a loud, eerie hoot.

  Hashishi Pampi (Alaj Chaj-r-ij Wíinik) are small creatures that look like little men, smaller than duendes. They have the color of ashes and frolic mischievously in the fire-hearth at night. They are harmless and found where milpas are burnt or there has been a forest fire. Hashishi refers to their ashen color. The word Pampi comes from the Caribbean and refers to a small boy or dwarf. Alaj is Maya for ‘little’, Chaj-r-ij for the color ‘grey’, Wíinik for ‘man’.

  Kechelaj Jupuq is the Jungle Horde. In the Sisimito Series, this refers to all the animals under Sisimito’s (Mahanamatz’) control.

  Kechelaj Komon refers to all the Jungle Folk in the Sisimito Series.

  La Llorona (Xwáay Ok’ol). Xwáay is Maya for ‘witch’, Ok’ol for ‘cry’. This woman has haunting cries, can float, and can turn into a two-tailed snake. She can stick her tails into nostrils and squeeze. She is found near rivers on a rock and under almond and breadfruit trees. She drowned her illegitimate child and at night she has haunting cries, and appears helpless thus attracting men. She can also have a glowing light or fire coming from her fingers.

  La Sigua (Xwáay Mulibal-k’ux’) is a wicked witch whose eerie laughter and loud whistling frightens. Xwáay is Maya for ‘witch’, Mulibal-k’ux for ‘ugly, nauseating’. She is unbearably ugly and she comes out of the bush at nights looking for drunks who she takes away. When they return to the village, they are ill and no medical doctor, priest, or curandero (bush doctor) can help. Mustard seeds distract her and make her cry like a child. Her hair is the stem of a bunch of bananas, her mouth is the jawbone of an old cow, her arms are covered with the greenish hair of young corn, her dress is made from dried banana leaves, in one ear she wears a black flower. In one hand, she holds another black flower and in the other she carries a stick that supports her jaw. When she finds a drunk, she takes his hands and wrap her arms around his neck. She then takes him into the bush.