uinal

This month was a kind of New Year, it was a highly celebrated festival. They renewed all household items such as plates, glasses, stools, clothes, shawls, and swept their house, casting out any impurities from the village. But before the festival, they fasted for at least 13 days and abstained from having sex. They didn't eat salt or chili, and some people extended this period of abstinence up to three uinales. Then all the men gathered with the priest in the temple courtyard and placed a portion of copal on the brazier to burn it.

In this month, festivities were held for priests, diviners, the ceremony was called pocam, and they prayed by burning copal to Kinich Ahau Itzamná, whom they considered the first priest. With "virgin water brought from the mountain, where no woman arrived", they anointed the boards of the books, and the priest made predictions for the year. They performed a dance called okotuil.

In this month, the priests gathered with their wives, and they used idols of the goddess Ixchel, and the festival was called Ibcil Ixchel. They invoked the gods of medicine, who were Itzamná, Citbolontun, and Ahau Chamahez, and performed a dance called Chantunyab. On the seventh day of the uinal zip, they invoked the gods of the hunt, Ah Cancum, Zuhuyzib Zipitabai, and others. Each hunter took out an arrow and a deer head, which were coated with blue wax, and they danced with the arrows in their hands. They pierced their ears, tongues, and passed seven leaves of a herb called Ac through the holes. The next day was the turn of the fishermen, but they coated their fishing gear with blue wax and did not pierce their ears; instead, they used harpoons and danced the Chohom. After the ceremony, they went to the coast to fish. The gods invoked were Abkaknexoi, Abpua, and Ahcitzamalcun.

In this month, beekeepers began their preparations but celebrated their festival in the following uinal, tsek. The priests and officials fasted, as well as some volunteers.

In this month, they did not shed blood. The revered gods were the four bacabs, especially Hobnil. They offered honey-shaped dishes to the bacabs, and the Maya drank a wine called balche, which was processed from the bark of the tree of the same name (Lonchocarpus violaceus). Beekeepers gave away honey abundantly.

This month was dedicated to Kukulcán. The Maya would go for the supreme leader of the warriors called Nacom, whom they would seat in the temple while burning copal. They performed a warrior dance called Holkanakot, sacrificing a dog and breaking pots filled with drink to conclude their festival, and returning with honors to the Nacom's house. This ceremony was celebrated everywhere until the destruction of Mayapán. Afterward, it was only celebrated in Maní, in the jurisdiction of the Tutul xiúes. All the lords gathered, presented five feather banners, and went to the temple of Kukulcán, where they prayed for five days. Afterward, Kukulcán descended from the sky and received the offerings. The festival was called Chikabán.

In this month, the ceremony called Olob-Zab-Kamyax was performed. All the tools of every trade were coated with blue wax. The children of the town gathered, and they were given light taps on their knuckles, with the idea that the children would become skilled in their parents' trades. From this uinal, they began to prepare for the ceremony of the Mol uinal.

In this month, beekeepers prayed to the gods for good flowers and thus a good production of bees. It was during this month that they made the wooden effigies or idols, which were somehow blessed by the priests. A ritual was practiced in which the ears were bled.

In this month, they held a festival called ocná, which means «temple renewal», held in honor of the maize gods. The Maya used to have idols of the gods with small braziers where they burned copal. During this festival, every year, they renewed the clay idols and their braziers.

In this month, they held a festival called ocná, which means «temple renewal», held in honor of the maize gods. The Maya used to have idols of the gods with small braziers where they burned copal. In this festival, every year, they renewed the clay idols and their braziers.

In this month, the priest and the hunters performed a ceremony to appease the gods of anger, as a form of penance for the bloodshed during the hunts (the Maya considered any bloodshed as a "horrendous thing" if it was not in their sacrifices). That's why when they went hunting, they invoked the god of hunting, burned copal for him, and if they could, they smeared the face of the hunting idol with the blood from the prey's heart.

In the vicinity of this month, there was a very large and movable feast that lasted three days, with the burning of copal, which Landa called «sahumerías», offerings, and revelry. The priests took care to give advance notice for a pre-fast.

In this month, the elderly people performed a ceremony called «tupp kak» (extinguishing the fire), which was directed to the gods of bread and Itzamná. They burned hearts of birds and animals in a bonfire, and once the hearts were incinerated, they extinguished the fire with water pitchers. The community and the priests gathered and coated the first steps of their temple stairs with mud and blue wax. Fasting was not observed during this festival, except by the priest.

Up to this date, the gods honored during this period of the Maya year remain unknown.

During this month, it was the cacao growers' turn to perform a ceremony to the gods Chac Ek chuah and Hobnil. They sacrificed a dog with the color of cocoa, burned incense, and offered blue iguanas (likely coated with blue wax) and certain bird feathers. Once the ceremony was over, the Maya people consumed the offerings.

In this month, the ceremony was called pacum chac, and for a period of five nights, the lords (batab) and the priests (ah kin) of the smaller towns (batabil) gathered in the capitals to worship Cit chac cob. They paid homage with copal to the chief of the warriors (nacom) for five days and performed a warrior dance called HOLKANAKOT. The purpose of this ceremony was to ask their gods for victory over their enemies. A dog was sacrificed, and its heart was extracted. Large pots containing beverages were broken, and thus the ceremony concluded, with them returning to their towns.

During the months kayab and Kumku, in each community, they held festivals called zabacilthan, gathering to present offerings, eat, and drink, preparing for the uayeb, the short month of the five unlucky days.

During the months kayab and Kumku, in each town, they held festivals called zabacilthan, where they gathered to present offerings, eat, and drink, preparing for the uayeb, the short month of the five unlucky days.

When the five nameless days known as uayeb arrived, the Maya people did not bathe, nor did they perform servile or work-related tasks, because they feared that engaging in any activity would bring them misfortune.