Posted on 10/12/2008 6:53:48 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
In early May I went to the Guerrero highlands to see the celebrations that take place during the Catholic Holy week, which coincides with the beginning of the spring planting season. The people in several mountain towns practice a type of Catholicism that incorporates religious beliefs and rituals that pre-date the arrival of Europeans. The most spectacular of these rituals are the Tigré fights. Men in the village of Acatlan dress in jaguar costumes and box each other as a kind of sacrifice to the rain god, Tlaloc. (The goggle-like eyes on their headgear match ancient depictions of both Tlaloc and his Maya counterpart Chaak.) A similar ritual takes place in the town of Zitlala a couple days later where men from rival barrios fight each other with clubs made of rope. The hope is that Tlaloc will be pleased by the rituals and provide enough rain for their crops. Some archaeologists believe that combat rituals like the Tigré fights date back roughly 3,000 years to the earliest days of the Olmec civilization and were also practiced by the Maya, Zapotecs, and Aztecs.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
A monument, right, from the Maya city of El Baul in Guatemala is believed to show the end of a gladiatorial ritual. The victorious fighter is wearing a jaguar mask with blood or vomit spewing from his mouth. (Suzanna Miles) A stone carving, left, from the ancient Zapotec city of Dainzu shows a figure wearing a helmet and holding a small stone ball in his upraised hand. Some scholars think the ball was a weapon used in gladiatorial combat. (Courtesy Javier Urcid)
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i met a mexican curandera who was chief of her tribe.
she said that they hid their ancient religion behind the catholic rituals.
that is, the catholic priests think they are practicing whatever holy day, but
the tribe observes both catholicism and their holy day which may fall close or on.
Chac: Dios de la lluvia, also released as Chac: the Rain God and simply Chac, is a 1975 film written and directed by Rolando Klein. The film involves modern Maya peoples invoking the traditional rain deity Chaac. The film is in the Maya languages. The majority of the cast speak Tzotzil Maya, but one of the main actors, Pablo Canche Balam who plays the shaman, speaks Yukatek Maya.
I saw this movie years ago. As I remember it, the villagers are desperate for rain, and call upon a Mayan shaman who performs many rituals. But the rain does not come. The villagers become upset. The shaman says rain will come. But it does not. Eventually, the villagers turn on the shaman and kill him. And as his blood soaks into the earth, the rain comes.
I saw the one with Burt Lancaster, and there was some guy beating a drum.
I’m sure that was true for pagan Europe as well. :’)
But, but, but our Mayan guide said that neither the Maya or the Aztec sacrificed anyone....ever. It’s just lies made up by white men to kill their culture....
But, but, but our Mayan guide said that neither the Maya or the Aztec had human sacrifices.... ever. It was just lies made up by white men to kill their culture.
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