“Did she ever mention a woman, maybe it was a young girl, named Elie?”
“Hmmm, not that I can recall. So many years and events have passed; I rarely visit these childhood memories. That is an unusual name.”
“She comes from foreign people, I believe,” said Pakal. “From somewhere far away.”
“Why are you asking this? How did you learn of her and what is the connection with my mother?” Sak K’uk was now thoroughly perplexed.
“You will recall my journey into the Underworld required by Pasah Chan, some moons ago.”
“Indeed, for much worried I was and thankful for your safe return.”
“While inside the caverns and swamps of Xibalba, after the tests and meeting with Yohl Ik’nal through the Vision Serpent – which I described to you – I had another experience that I was not yet ready to discuss. It involved fulfilling a request my grandmother made of me, and I could not mention it until it was completed. Recently I did complete it.”
“And this request involved the woman Elie?” Sak K’uk had a quick mind.
“Just so. My grandmother said Elie was her friend, a golden-haired woman from a distant place who became trapped in Xibalba. Grandmother asked me to help Elie escape the clutches of the Death Lords, saying it was of great importance to our family. And something else appeared during the time I was helping Elie. . I saw our city nearly covered by jungle, in ruins and being explored by Elie’s companions, who were angry and violent men seeking treasures.”
Sak K’uk frowned, concentrating. She dredged up faint recollections of stories her mother told, flitting impressions that she could not decipher.
“I remember once my mother tried to explain a visionary experience that showed the future of our people, and how the immense cycles of the calendar worked. She talked about rising and falling of cultures, but it was too complicated for my young mind.”
Sak K’uk sighed, giving the hand signal of regret.
“Much do I wish that I had listened more carefully, learned more from my mother about visioning.”
“But you do not recall any mention of the golden-haired girl?”
“No, my dearest. To my dismay, for I see it holds significance, I cannot recall anything.”
Time was once again much on Pakal’s mind. Since the Katun 9 ceremonies, K’in Ahau had completed two journeys from north to south, two full seasonal cycles. The passage of two tuns brought changes in both his body and mind. With the approach of his twelfth tun, Pakal had grown noticeably taller, his body well muscled from physical training and his face assuming mature proportions with a prominent straight-bridged nose that swept in a clean line from tip to elongated forehead. His long oval face had high cheekbones, arched brows over tilted almond eyes, and sculpted lips giving a sensitive expression. Immersion in esoteric sciences expanded his inquisitive mind and created a thoughtful quality in his manner. Constant awareness of his ba-ch’ok status and the heavy responsibilities that accompanied it, as well as the expectations placed upon him to repair the city and renew links with the deities, gave him a solemn character.
The attainment of 12 tuns not only signaled his accession to rulership, but also his transformation from childhood into early adulthood. Another 6 tuns were needed for full adulthood, although many young people assumed adult responsibilities, married and began families before then. The signs of a maturing body, of developing manhood, were evident and Pakal was instructed in management of sexual energy. Pasah Chan taught him the spiritual meanings and techniques for directing this powerful force.
“Sexuality is a very important tool of spiritual development. Sexual acts have procreative and recreational ends, but the greatest purpose is sacred union – more valuable than jade, more exquisite than cacao, and sweeter than ripe figs. All creatures of earth, air and water, the fruit and flowers, exchange masculine and feminine energies. The subtlest exchange, however, is between humans and the divine, and this requires spiritual contemplation and practices.
“First you must learn to sublimate your sexual impulses and use their power to boil the vapors within your body that propel spiritual expansion. This mix of desire, sexuality and breath creates the water and fire of these vapors. Take the principles you have mastered for movement of Ik’-wind-breath to control your mind, physical posture and respiration. Apply these now to the surges of sexuality moving through your being, bring this intense energy deep into your core and channel it upward along the spine to the center of spiritual awareness between your brows. Then will you experience the ecstatic explosion into sacred union.
“The woman is earth, is sweet, is cold and is night. The man is sky, is fire, is heat and is day. The two together create a vaporous force that awakens the Plumed Serpent to climb the central column of the body and open its energetic centers to the fullest until both attain the cosmic realm and know the infinite. Thus can you fully participate in the game of life and the miracle of creation.
“The lower centers along the spine have masculine nature, are filled with heat and fire, have to do with control, force and sexual drive. The upper centers are feminine and have to do with love, compassion, self-transcendence and spirituality. Dark shamans work with the lower centers and evoke their powers for harm or manipulation. Mystics work with the upper centers, but may be unable to accomplish practical worldly things. A real human, Halach Uinik, must master both lower and upper forces. True mystical guidance must be grounded in the earth, or it takes flight into mere imagination. Your accomplishments as a child in applying subtle energies have been impressive. Now your real work begins. You must become master of your body and mind, to serve your higher divine nature.”
Pakal listened to his mentor with avid interest. He recently began experiencing sexual urges, a mixture of intense surges of pleasure and disturbing agitation. The new things his body seemed capable of doing, particularly his genitals, made him bemused and eager. Pasah Chan was still a young man, and had married shortly before the Kan attack. Pakal was curious.
“Yum Ah K’in,” he said, using the honorific title Yum-Master, “have these things been your experience since you married?”
Pasah Chan tilted his head and eyed Pakal warily. The boy was nothing if not clever in probing for the information he sought.
“To some degree, yes,” the priest replied. “Mastery of sexual energy is a lengthy process. The innate skill and depth of insight possessed by the woman is key. Of this will I speak next.”
“Women must also learn control of sexual forces?”
“Indeed. In particular those women who will unite with rulers and ahauob leaders. These are ancient arts but sadly overlooked among many families.”
“With all respect, Master, was your esteemed wife so trained?”
Pasah Chan hoped the slight flush he felt spread across his face did not show.
“Not well-trained,” he admitted, quickly shifting focus back on Pakal.
“The woman chosen in the future as your wife must have outstanding training,” he said. “Your destiny calls for a consort whose ability to apply esoteric sexual techniques can match those you will develop. Where to find such a woman I do not yet know. Such training in Lakam Ha has fallen from favor among noble families. We shall search when the time comes.”
“When will be that time?” Pakal asked with more eagerness than pleased his teacher.
“Not for many tuns,” the priest replied sternly. “Great care must be taken, and you need time to perfect your abilities and assume your rulership responsibilities. Let such questions fall from your mind, Pakal. You have much to accomplish.”
Pakal lowered his eyelids and accepted the reprimand.
Pasah Chan continued on a cautionary note.
“Many women will look at you with eyes of desire, and you can choose to have them because of who you are. But you should choose not to have them, because of who you are. Your mission in life is ultimate service to your people. Your life is not your own, it belongs to the B’aakal lineage. It belon
gs to the deities from whom you are descended. Those in the most powerful positions have the greatest obligations, the grandest opportunities and the most profound risk. Your people’s destiny rests upon your shoulders; you may take it to new heights or plunge it into abysmal depths. For you – for rulers – the dangers to overcome arise from selfishness, greed, pride, and sensuality. Each danger has its snares that will entrap your spirit and cloud your mind.
“To avoid the snares of the sexual drive, you must master its forces and move them according to your intention. For this, you will need knowledge and experience. The first I can provide, the second a special Lunar Priestess will give at the appropriate time. She will teach you to manage your sexual energy using the ingredient most powerful upon the earth – the feminine essence. Woman is a gift of Hun Ahb Ku to men, and is considerably stronger on the spiritual and energetic level than men. When male and female sexual energies combine in sacred ways, immense creative forces are produced. The Lunar Priestess will give you techniques for shaping sexual intentions and focusing sexual forces. But not until you are united with the woman chosen as your royal consort, who is also well-trained and carries the correct bloodlines for your dynasty, will the fullness of this potential be realized.
“Until then, practice as I am teaching you with breath, meditation, physical postures and mental focus. Do not allow your mind or body to run away with you. Discipline is essential every moment. Apply the enormous will that you possess, and you shall successfully become master of yourself – as well as of vast knowledge, wisdom and power.”
Another aspect of time engulfed Pakal while studying the dynastic history of B’aakal. He memorized the lengthy recitation of origins tracing back to Muwaan Mat in the celestial realm, and the names and ruling dates of all his human predecessors from K’uk Bahlam. This story would be told during his accession ceremony, as it had been told by all designated as carrier of the royal bloodline. He reflected upon the character and qualities of each ruler, their accomplishments and building programs. He imagined how Lakam Ha appeared during the different time periods, and how the Lords of the Katuns influenced the city’s fortunes.
During one meditation about the Bahlam dynasty, he slipped into a spontaneous vision. On a cloud-enshrouded mountain several gentle hills surrounded a valley that cupped a small lake. Tall reeds grew along the shore, their narrow spires waving in soft breezes. Among the reeds, long-legged herons speared the shallow waters with pointed beaks. Clusters of green-backed ducks swam while numerous dark cormorants swooped and dove into the water. The forests beyond the lake were full of colorful red and blue macaws, magnificent iridescent quetzals, doves, owls, and sparrows. Howler monkeys cavorted in treetops. On the forest floor walked deer, peccary, coati and jaguars. Across the grassy hills near the lake, several snakes, turtles and lizards slithered.
The creatures began to form a procession, led by a jaguar with a quetzal perched on its back. Other strange combinations included a howler monkey grasping the long tail of a white coati, an open-mouth turtle with a macaw on its carapace, a snake twining around the neck of a peccary, a jaguar with a snake coiled on its back, a wind blowing from the north, a cormorant wearing a heart pendant, and a hawk-cormorant paired with a white quetzal.
The creature combinations morphed together into the forms of Maya men and women in royal regalia. They bore the countenances of the succession of B’aakal rulers:
K’uk Bahlam I-Quetzal Jaguar
Caspar
Butzaj Sak Chiik-Howler Monkey White Coati
Ahkal Mo Nab I-Open Mouth Turtle Macaw
Kan Joy Chitam-Snake Binds Peccary
Ahkal Mo Nab II-Open Mouth Turtle Macaw
Kan Bahlam I-Snake Jaguar
Yohl Ik’nal-Heart of North Wind
Aj Ne Ohl Mat-Heart Cormorant
Muwaan Mat-Duck Hawk-Cormorant
Sak K’uk-White Quetzal
When the White Quetzal-Sak K’uk had passed, a brilliant sun face appeared on a shield. Pakal recognized himself in the progression of rulers: K’inich Janaab Pakal-Sun-Faced Lord Shield. Then followed a reverse order of creature combinations, leaving out two male and the two female rulers. These rulers all had an added sun face to their names.
K’inich Kan Bahlam II-Sun-Faced Snake Jaguar
K’inich Kan Joy Chitam II-Sun-Faced Snake Binds Peccary
K’inich Ahkal Mo Nab III-Sun-Faced Open Mouth Turtle Macaw
K’inich Janaab Pakal II-Sun-Faced Lord Shield
K’inich K’uk Bahlam-Sun-Faced Quetzal Jaguar
When K’inich K’uk Bahlam-Quetzal Jaguar passed, darkness began falling over the hills and lake. Mists from the high mountains thickened and swirled around, dissolving the creatures. One final apparition lingered among the mists, the face of Six Death Lord on a shield. Then the scene faded into total darkness, complete emptiness, chiasmic nothingness.
Tears streamed down Pakal’s face as he returned to waking consciousness. His heart felt wrenched by a sorrow so profound he thought it might cease beating. Confused and distraught, he searched for meaning in this dynastic parade through past and future time. Nothing made sense to him; he needed someone with deeper insight to interpret this vision. At once he thought of his mother Sak K’uk.
She had slowly changed since becoming the earthly vessel of the Primordial Mother Goddess. Now she seemed distant, less involved in his activities and preoccupied with her duties as K’uhul Ahau. Although he reasoned this was to be expected, emotionally he felt the loss of her closeness. His own training took him away for uinals at a time, and they had not visited for over two moons. Knowing her many obligations, he sent ahead by messenger to request an audience.
He arrived at her small reception chamber in the palace with both anticipation and trepidation. The dynastic procession vision haunted his mind, and he reached the conclusion that he was the “central sun” of his dynasty. This imagery emerged from the brilliant sun faces linked with each ruler following him.
When they met, Sak K’uk embraced Pakal warmly but her eyes remained remote. Settling down on mats, they exchanged small updates before she inquired about the purpose of her son’s visit. He described the vision in complete detail, every nuance of and color and image, every shadow of light and sense of setting. Her eyes became bright with focus as she listened, her mind no longer partly distracted with other thoughts. She nodded a few times as he spoke, making hand signs for understanding.
Pakal finished with his sense of being the “central sun” and of the dynasty that faded away into non-existence at the end. Once again he choked with emotion, but kept it under control with breath and determination.
“What you have seen is indeed prophetic,” said Sak K’uk. “The gods have chosen to reveal difficult things to one so young. This vision takes place in Toktan, the place where our dynasty began in the confluence of the Upperworld and Middleworld. As with everything in life, our dynasty has its cycle of beginning and ending. You have been shown what is to follow, the sequence taking our people toward the cycle closing. It is destined that those so named will be our rulers in the reverse order of our ascension.”
“Is such destiny then un-alterable? Did not the gods give us, as Halach Uinik, the rights of making choices that can shape our future?”
“We can affect how the future unfolds through choices we make now, and that have been made in the past,” his mother replied. “But we cannot alter the broad strokes of destiny, or the patterns set into the stones of the katuns. These things will play out, for they are woven into the fabric of the cosmos as it is reflected in our realm, the Middleworld. How we anticipate, how we deal with and adapt to these patterns is within the domain of our choices. Lord Time, Ahau Kinh is the primary reality, divine and limitless. Ahau Kinh embraces all cycles, all solar and cosmic ages. There is no beginning and ending, only cycles upon cycles that continue and repeat and circle into the immemorial past and the infinite future, until it curves back into itself and we understand that all time is one.
Nothing is lost, nothing is new, only the surface of appearances changes.”
Pakal shook his head, confused.
“Honored Mother, this is too abstract for me. I am seeing the end of my entire world, the dissipation of everything I hold valuable, the erasing of my life purpose. If all is to end, why should we continue to make efforts? It all seems useless to me.”
“Your life here is but a small sliver of your eternal existence,” said Sak K’uk, gently laying her hand upon Pakal’s arm. “Here we live in the world of space, but it is only another aspect of time. Time and space are the same primordial reality, time is the spatial measure of our everyday life, it shows how the sun is maker of the day, how stars are directors of celestial cycles, how the Witz Monster opens inner earth, the squaring and measuring of earth, the quadripartite gods who support the pillars of the sky. Every city reflects the cosmos above and the cycles of stellar movements. Our lives fulfill our destiny given by endless time, played out in earthly space, to be consummated in the immortal universe.”
“And then we return to the stars,” Pakal reflected. “We become ancestors and shine in the night sky, to give wisdom and guidance to those still walking in earth space.”
“You have said it truly. This is the grand cycle of life. The spatial world exists, changes, dies and is reborn in each Sun-Age. This is the consequence of the actions of the gods whose countenances are time. Space is not static. It changes like colors change with the daily passage of K’in Ahau. Space and our lives on earth exist as the handiwork of the gods, and have in themselves divine meanings. We ourselves are embodied time and are always changing throughout our lives. Without time-cycles there is no life, nothing happens, even death. The primeval darkness would return, devoid of all meaning. So we must live our lives in this time-space reality and understand that everything is both fleeting and significant.”
“Even if our dynasty were no more,” Pakal began, “our people no more, our cities abandoned and lost into ruin, you say we would still exist in the great time-space cycles? We would still make our ancestral wisdom and guidance available to others?” This idea made Pakal a bit more hopeful.
The Controversial Mayan Queen: Sak K'uk of Palenque (The Mists of Palenque) Page 19