A Bit o' Mayan Awesomeness: Seven Macaw versus the Hero Twins on a Plate.

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Here's something I just found: a surrealistic, psychedelic depiction of Seven Macaw/ Vucub Caquix's fight with the Hero Twins, from a Late Classic Maya polychrome plate. (Found here). I love the way it shows Seven's defiance and his overall weirdness.

Here, Seven is getting shot at from both sides, but he's fighting back proudly, using the powers of the cosmos which he controls. I just love that expression on his face: sort of like, "Just you try and get me!"

In this picture, Seven is perched not on an ordinary tree, but on a giant head with an elaborate rayed, petaled or plumed crown, which, I think, represents the "false" Sun-Moon of Seven's creation. Hunahpu and Xbalanque are seated on the "real" Sun and Moon.

Here, Vucub-Caquix has shapeshifted into a hybrid form, a bird with a mainly-human head. This picture illustrates one of the puzzling features of the Seven Macaw character: the fact that he is described in the Popol Vuh as having both a bird's beak and human teeth. He also appears to have a Cosmic Serpent entity sprouting from the top of his head, like a jack-in-the-box. The seven vertebrae in the serpent's neck may represent the seven stars in the Big Dipper. In Mayan art, the Cosmic Serpent is often shown associated with the Itzam-Yeh or Vucub-Caquix character, sometimes entwined around him and/or his tree. In these representations, he may be an ally, or an aspect of the Bird Deity himself.

In this image, the serpent on Seven Macaw's head is disgorging the night sky, filled with stars and constellations, from his mouth. This symbolizes how Vucub-Caquix is wielding the power of the cosmos against Hunahpu to prevent him from ascending as the new Sun God. There's also a stream of blood flowing from the serpent's lower jaw, showing that he's already been shot by Hunahpu. Hunahpu has struck Seven Macaw not on his human face but on the serpent's head -- meaning that he has attacked and injured the part of Seven which contains his divine power. That is why Seven is unable to heal & regenerate himself after this injury.

It's the beginning of the end for Seven, but he still doesn't seem the slightest bit intimidated.

The fish (left and right of the center figure) are symbols of the Hero Twins, who have the power to shapeshift into fish (unlike Seven, who can't turn into a fish -- something which will cause him a lot of trouble when he gets hurled into the Cosmic Ocean later in my narrative.) The fish are swimming toward the right, the direction from which the new creation will emerge.

The Twins, as a dyad, are also right-oriented. Hunahpu, the Sun-twin, typically takes the role of leader & initiator. He is facing toward the right as he directly confronts Seven Macaw. Xbalanque is facing in the opposite direction, shooting Seven from behind. As the Moon-twin, he plays the role of Hunahpu's satellite, reflecting back his energy & activity. They're trying to turn the universe around in the direction they think it should go.

If you look closely, you can see that Seven Macaw's symbols (such as the double-curlicues around the rim, which give me the impression of replicating the dragon-serpent motif) are all oriented toward the left, the direction toward which he also faces, resisting the linear, forward movement which the Hero Twins seek to impose on him.

I think this picture is saying that Hunahpu and Xbalanque are destroying not just Seven Macaw/ Vucub-Caquix himself, but the entire Third Age cosmos of which he is the etal: the sign, example or representative.

Another interesting thing is that this picture was originally on a plate. Was the plate intended to be purely decorative, or did people actually eat off of it? I can just imagine it: "Finish up your veggies, Junior, so you can see the really weird birdie on the bottom of the dish."

Cabracan Bites the Dust.

[This story takes place in the time period after the death of Seven Macaw and before the Flood. It follows the Popol Vuh plotline closely, with additional descriptive detail and character development. Contains profanity.]

Cabracan was very alone in the world now. Not only were both his parents gone, but he hadn't seen or heard from his brother Zipacna for a long time. No one that Cabracan had met knew what had happened to him. It was as if he had vanished off the face of the earth.

The world was very dark now that the Sun and Moon had died. At the times of day-night when the sky turned pitch-black, his father's sign, the Big Dipper, hung low over the horizon, upside-down, its bowl turned over as if about to pour rain on the world. Cabracan still felt a pang of grief every time he saw it.

Cabracan couldn't stop the hurricane alone; the storm kept coming closer, slowly, as if to mock and torture the world's people with their impending doom. For the first time in his life, Cabracan was afraid.

Then, one day-night, as Cabracan walked down the road alone, two young men, just in their late teens, came out of the forest.

"Hello," said Cabracan, with a good-natured smile. "I'm Cabracan."

"Hello, Cabracan," said one of the two boys. "I'm Juan, and this is my brother Jose." The other boy nodded. The boys were almost exactly the same height. Juan stood slightly in front, a bright, mischievous smile beaming on his face, while Jose stayed a few paces behind, looking quiet and thoughtful.

"Nice to meet you," said Cabracan. He looked the pair over curiously. "Which one of you is older?" he asked.

"Neither," said Juan. "We're twins." Jose nodded, and asked, "What about you, Cabracan? Are you all by yourself?"

"Yes," Cabracan nodded sadly. "All I've got is one brother, and I haven't heard from him in a long time. I'm worried about him."

"Well, why don't you come wifh us?" said Juan. "Jose and I travel a lot. Maybe we can help you find your brother."

"Okay," Cabracan nodded. He joined the pair, and smiled. "Thank you. It's good of you to help."

"No problem," said Juan. They walked along together for a while, and Juan asked, "So what do you like to do, Cabracan?"

"I break mountains," said Cabracan proudly.

"Really?" asked Juan. "Can you really break mountains?"

"Sure I can," said Cabracan. "Just watch!" He stretched up, and made himself grow really tall, like a giant. Then he hopped on top of a nearby mountain, and tapped his foot a few times. Rocks began to tumble and roll down the mountainside. The whole slope slipped down like a landslide.

Juan and Jose clapped their hands, applauding. "Wow," said Juan. "That's amazing. Really impressive, Cabracan."

"Yeah," said Jose. "I've never seen anyone do that before."

Cabracan beamed happily. "I'm the only one who can." Then he hopped down from the mountain and returned to normal size as he rejoined the twins.

"You look like the kind of person we've been wanting to meet," said Juan. "Jose and I like sports a lot, too." Jose nodded.

"Oh? What do you do?" asked Cabracan.

"We play ball and we hunt," said Juan. "This is what we hunt with." He pulled out his blowgun to show Cabracan.

Cabracan watched as Juan showed off his weapon. "Are you any good at it?" he asked.

"My brother Juan is the best there is," said Jose. "He can hit things no one else can."

"Wow. Could you show me?" asked Cabracan.

"I'm sure I will," Juan nodded, "once we find a suitable target."

So they continued along the road. "You know, Cabracan," said Juan, "we just saw a really huge mountain the last day-night. It was just humongous."

"Yes, it was," nodded Jose.

Juan continued, "I bet even you couldn't knock it down, Cabracan."

"I bet I could!" replied Cabracan, planting his hands on his hips. "Where is it? Can you show me?"

"Sure!" said Juan. "Just follow us, Cabracan." And he and Jose led Cabracan off the road, into the mountains, where no one would see them.

Afer they had walked through the rocky foothills for a while, Juan said, "Are you hungry, Cabracan? Let's get something to eat." He and Jose pulled out their blowguns, and went hunting for wild quetzal, while Cabracan tagged along. To Cabracan's amazement, the two boys shot the birds without using darts or pellets. They just blew air, and the birds fell down.

"Wow, that really is amazing!" said Cabracan. "Thanks for showing me. You really are cool guys."

"Anything for a friend," said Juan. "Now, Jose and I are going to cook these birds. Why don't you go in the forest, Cabracan, and look for some fruit and vegetables to go with them?"

Cabracan nodded, and went off to forage in the woods. He was very happy to have found his two new friends. Juan and Jose were such great guys -- they really knew how to have fun. Cabracan needed some fun in his life now; he hadn't had any for a very long time.

Meanwhile, while Cabracan was away, Juan and Jose dug up gypsum and plaster from the earth, and coated one of the birds with it. Then they roasted the birds over a spit.

Finally, Cabracan came back from the woods with a bag of fresh vegetables and fruit. They all sat down around the campfire to eat.

"This roast fowl is really good, Juan," remarked Cabracan. "What did you put in it?'

"Oh, just a secret ingredient," said Juan. "Come on, let's go and look for that mountain." So the three got up and went walking again.

But, before they had gone very far, Cabracan began to feel very strange. First his arms and legs became weak and numb; then, his stomach began to hurt. Soon, it was aching terribly, like he'd just swallowed a whole pile of rocks.

"Juan, Jose -- I think something's wrong with me," Cabracan said. "I don't feel well." He sank down weakly to the ground.

"Aww," said Juan. "Maybe something you ate didn't agree with you."

Lying helplessly on the ground, Cabracan held out his hand to his two friends. "Help me, please."

"Sure, we'll help you, Cabracan," said Juan. "Won't we, Jose?" Jose nodded. The two boys opened their packs, and took out some rope. They began to tie up Cabracan's wrists and ankles.

"Please, don't," said Cabracan. "If you want my money, you can take it."

"This isn't about money, Cabracan," said Juan. He looked at Jose. "What do you think, should we hogtie him?"

"Good idea," said Jose.

The two boys bent Cabracan's weakened body backwards, like an arch, and then they tied his wrists to his ankles. Soon, Cabracan's back was beginning to ache just like his stomach.

Sandwiched between twin sheets of pain, front and back, Cabracan gasped and cried out. "Why?" he asked. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Juan leaned against a tree. "Let's just say we've got a score to settle," he said. Beside him, Jose took a shovel and began to dig.

Lying on the ground, hogtied, Cabracan craned his neck, trying to look up at the two boys. It was hard to see their faces from where he was. "You work for Hurucan," he said.

"Wow, this kid is a bright one," Juan smirked. He reached into his pack and pulled out a cigar.

"Yeah, he must be related to the sun god or something," said Jose. His shovel thudded in he ground as he tossed up piles of dirt.

The two boys laughed mockingly. Juan reached into his pack again, and took out a brilliant scarlet feather. He stroked the end of the feather, and a bright, radiant flame burst out of it. The feather burned without being consumed. Juan used the flame to light his cigar.

When Cabracan saw that, he felt even more sick than he was already. He knew where that feather had come from. And, now, he knew exactly who his two "friends" really were.

Cabracan knew the whole story -- he'd heard it from his brother, who'd heard it from someone who had been there in the great city. These same two people, these twins, had shot Cabracan's father, Seven Macaw, with a dart. Seven Macaw hadn't let anyone take the dart out because he was too angry, and he'd gotten very sick -- as sick as Cabracan was now. Then, these twins came back, disguised as friendly strangers. They promised to help Seven Macaw -- and what had they done to him? What had they done?

Cabracan knew, now, that it would be no good begging the twins for mercy, or trying to talk to them. They weren't people who could be reasoned with. They were just enemies, nothing more.

Cabracan's father had held out his hand to these two, and said, "Take pity on me." And what had happened to him?

Now, Cabracan knew that he, too, had been just as naive as his father. He had fallen into the same trap, and now he was paying the same price. But his father had also been brave; and now Cabracan had to be brave, too.

For all of his life, Cabracan had been just a boy -- but now, he was going to die like a man.

Cabracan set his face into an expression of cold defiance and contempt. He would not beg for mercy, nor cry before his foes. He made himself hard as wood, cold as stone. He became firm, stiff, unbending, with a wooden person's unbreakable pride.

Jose jumped out of the deep hole he had dug. "Okay, let's pitch him in," he said. He and Juan picked up Cabracan's hard, wooden form and tossed him in the hole.

"Goodbye, Cabracan," they called mockingly. "Goodbye, little friend."

"Fuck you," said Cabracan.

And they piled the earth on top of him, and he was buried in the ground, along with his bitter, hard-won wisdom. But Cabracan did not die, for he was one of those condemned by Hurucan to be among the more-than-dead: to become a lifeless, motionless object, turned into stone, into petrified wood. But it is said that at times Cabracan manages to regain his power of movement, and then he struggles to escape. And that is what causes earthquakes.

Author's Note on May 28, 2012: "All the Time in the World".

Today, May 28, is the anniversary of the day, May 28, 3149 BC, when, in the Mayan calendar, Seven Macaw, or Vucub-Caquix, is shot down from his tree and begins his descent into the Underworld. At the same time, Seven Macaw's constellation, the Big Dipper, appears to turn upside down when viewed from the tropic latitudes, and begins to set below the horizon shortly after sunset.

Many scholars believe that the Seven Macaw character was based upon an earlier entity, the Primary Bird Deity, Itzam-Yeh, who in pre-Classic times was regarded as a genuine god, an animal aspect of Itzamna, The God of Magic.  By the time of the Popol Vuh story, however, Vucub Caquix is no longer a true god but only a "false deity", variously described as a bird, a demon, a monster, or a shapeshifting man. It's thought by writers such as John Major Jenkins that Seven Macaw's fall from grace represents a shift from the Polar Center, represented by the Big Dipper which orbits the Pole Star, to the Galactic Center whose bulge could be seen clearly in the tropical sky.

According to this theory, as the ancestors of the Maya moved southward, away from the Pole, they observed the Big Dipper sinking lower and lower in the sky, and in the spring, they saw it turn upside down like a bird plummeting to its death.

I was thinking about what it must have been like for Itzam Yeh's worshippers to see this happen for the first time. It must have been terrifying to see something they'd counted & relied on for so long, suddenly appear to be dying.

This date also has a personal meaning for me. Last year, on the day after May 28 -- May 29, 2011 -- my beloved grandmother Lillian Futo passed away. She was my Pole Star, the one person who was always there for me.

The Zipacna story I've just posted was suggested to me by the passage in the Popol Vuh where Zipacna meets the 400 Boys:

“Stay with us, boy. Do you have a mother or a father?”
“There is no one,” he replied.

This struck me as quite sad -- Zipacna has just become an orphan. Poor Zipacna. What was it like for him to lose his parents that way? A few days ago, Zipacna came to me & told me, so I wrote this short tale.

I've posted Zipacna's story on this date in honor of Vucub-Caquix, my grandmother and all of our lost loved ones.

~ Myrna Sabor

Zipacna: All the Time in the World.

"Zipacna's Travels"

Image reproduced with permission of the artist, Bruce Rimell.

http://www.biroz.net/

Zipacna, the older son of Seven Macaw, bounded from peak to peak amid the rugged stone range. He was at his work, awash in the joy of creation. He raised his arms, and great columns of black basalt rose from the earth like menhirs, soaring into the sky. He jumped on the ground, and red hot lava spurted out from below, shaping itself into stone as if guided by the strokes of a painter's brush. The rock shifted and molded fluidly beneath his feet as he leapt from ledge to ledge. A mountain was rising. He was building his new masterpiece.

The two proud sons of Seven Macaw lived happy lives, roaming through the world wherever they wished, getting into all sorts of wild adventures and escapades. But what they both loved best was being out alone in the wilderness, working their art, sculpting the landscape. Zipacna, the elder, was the Maker-of-Mountains; he built great mounds and piles and jagged peaks of stone. His younger brother, Cabracan, was the Breaker-of-Mountains; he broke down the peaks, carved out canyons and valleys, levelled the hills, and made the land flat.

The two brothers were thousands of years old now, but they were still young in their looks and ways, still almost boys.They lived as if their future was always before them.

Their father had always let both of them do whatever they wanted.

Zipacna wasn't complaining. He loved his life, exploring the world and following his passion.

Today, however, he felt a bit uneasy. The sunlight was flickering strangely; it had been doing so for the past few days. Sometimes it would flare up brightly, then fade down to a hazy dimness. What was going on with Father?  he wondered. Was there some kind of trouble?  Zipacna shrugged. Whatever it was, Father could handle it. He'd never known of anything his father couldn't handle.

Zipacna returned to his great artwork. Soon, he had lost track of time completely, as he often did, immersed in the pleasure of building. Stone boomed and cracked around him, the ground shifting, the land molding into new shapes.

Then, there was a sharp, bright flash, like a stroke of lightning, a cry of pain, followed by a slow fade to grey. The sun's flickering continued, even more erratically.

Zipacna was alarmed now. Something must really be wrong. "Father!" he shouted. In three great leaps, he bounded down the mountainside and hit the road running. As swiftly as his strong, young legs could take him, he ran down the road leading to his father's city, down through the winding hills.and the forest to the city by the sea.

But, as Zipacna was running to help his father, the sky suddenly shone with a brilliant flash of light, brighter than any day that had ever before dawned. The whole sky was lit up; everything in the landscape was limned in pure white.

Then, the sky went completely black. All was silent. There was only darkness and stillness over the face of the earth.

Zipacna stopped running, right in his tracks. "No!" he wailed into the blackened heavens. But he knew it was too late. His father was dead now. And, soon, his mother would be too. She would not let her husband walk the Dark Road to Xibalba alone; she would choose to follow him there. His parents were like that.

Zipacna dropped to his knees in the road, crying, "Mommy, Daddy," his whole body shaking as he wept with overwhelming grief. A few drops of rain drifted down around him. Over the distant sea,  thunder rumbled faintly.

When he was finally able to pull himself back to his feet, Zipacna gazed bleakly at the once-familar landscape of his father's country. It was much harder to see now; the only light came from a thin crack at the horizon's edge. The trees, hills, and valleys loomed like dusky shadows in the dark grey dimness.

What was he to do now? Zipacna wondered. With his father gone, there was no one left to hold back the hurricane except him and his little brother Cabracan. They had inherited their father's power, but they didn't have his knowledge, skill, training or experience. They had never bothered to acquire these things; it had just always seemed like there would be enough time.

It had always seemed like they had all the time in the world.

He had to try, now, somehow. Perhaps he could find some of the other people who knew about magic. Maybe he could bring them together, to fight the gods; maybe someone could teach him what to do. There had to be a way.

Zipacna looked for the last time down the hill, down the road leading to the city by the sea where his home had been. For all of his life, like the sun in the sky, his parents had been a constant, abiding presence, always there, always to be relied on, often taken for granted. Wherever he had roamed in the world, no matter how far he had gone, there had always been a home to come back to -- a candle in the window, a bed for him to sleep in, arms to hug him. Now it was all gone. Zipacna couldn't go home now, for there was no home left.

Zipacna could never go home again.

So he turned around, and went the other way up the road.

Hun Caquix Buys the Farm.

Once there was a farmer who had two sons,
Hun Caquix and Vucub Caquix:
One Macaw and Seven Macaw.

The time came when the father died,
For his mortal legacy to divide.

The older brother was the heir;
He wished to still remain a pair.
And so he said to Seven Macaw:
We must be two, it is the way:
One the first and one the second,
One the elder, one the younger,
One the greater, one the lesser.
With me in my house you must stay.

But Seven Macaw thought to himself:
I can stay with Hun Caquix
Forever on my brother's leash;
Or I can go off on my own,
To see what fortune may have sown.

So Seven Macaw left the farm behind
A destiny of his own to find.

Verse Drama: The Shaking of the Day of Seven Macaw.

[I've completed the first part of this project, "The Shaking of the Day of Seven Macaw", a verse drama set during the cataclysmic events at the end of the Third Age, which closely follows the Popol Vuh storyline. Here is the complete drama, linked into the correct narrative order.]

The Shaking of the Day of Seven Macaw

A Verse Drama Based on the Popol Vuh

Dramatis Personae

[The characters' Mayan names have different pronunciations. The ones I've given here make my rhymes work right.]

Hurucan (pronounced like "Hurricane"), also "Heart-of-Sky": storm-god, Chief Sky God, Cosmic Creator-Destroyer Deity.

The Hero Twins, Hunahpu (HOO-na-poo) and Xbalanque (Ex-ba-LAN-kay): sons of the original sun god, One-Hunahpu.

Seven Macaw, also Vucub Caquix (WOO-koob Ka-KEESH): bird-human shapeshifter and self-styled sun god.

Chimalmat (Chee-MAL-mot or Chee-mal-MOT): bird-human shapeshifter, wife of Seven Macaw


Contents


1. Among the Sky Gods.

2. In the Nance Tree. 

3. The Hero Twins' Challenge (or, "Xbalanque, Hunahpu, Have I Got a Deal For You!") 

4. The Fall of Seven Macaw (or, Hunahpu Flips the Bird). 

5. The Bird Is Caught in the Snare.

6. The Death of Seven Macaw (or, "This Is an Ex-Parrot!").

The Bird Is Caught in the Snare.

[This section explains something rather puzzling in the Popol Vuh story: when Seven Macaw is shot in the jaw by the Hero Twins, instead of getting the wound treated immediately by someone he trusts, he just lies around for several days letting it fester, until he is so weakened that he easily falls prey to the Twins' ruse in the final episode. What is the reason for his self-destructive behavior? A simplistic explanation would be that the character is just stupid. But I really don't think Seven is stupid.

Here, I've put together a plausible dramatic scenario. I'm rather proud of having come up with this plot device -- no, not THAT proud. Don't shoot me! =)]

Xbalanque:
What shall we do about Seven Macaw?
So far we have only broken his jaw.

Hunahpu:
Seven Macaw's pride will destroy him.
He won't seek help until it's too late.
Then we will offer him help, indeed --
When he is sick, we'll take his riches.
We'll beguile him with friendship,
We will kill him with kindness.

The two brothers laughed at their sport;
And it happened as Hunahpu said.

For thus said Seven Macaw:
Hunahpu claims I am not divine;
He knows not the glory that is mine.
Because of the metal in my eyes
I am immortal; I cannot die.
I need no aid to mend my bone;
I'll heal this ill by will alone.
They all the world will know and see
Seven Macaw's divinity.

But the wound made by Hunahpu
Rankled and festered.

And worms came to Seven Macaw's jaw,
And the worms crawled in his teeth,
They climbed into his nose and eyes;
And in Seven Macaw's unyielding pride
The worms grew thick and multiplied.

And the Lords of Xibalba sent their demons,
With powers to sicken and weaken,
With powers to torment and stricken:

Flying Scab and Gathered Blood,
Master of Pus,  Master of Jaundice,
Bone Scepter and Skull Scepter,
Sweepings Demon, Stabbings Demon,
Wing and Packstrap --

The demons danced around Seven Macaw,
To poison his blood, to swell up his jaw,
To fill his bones and veins with putrescence.

And so the magnificent Seven Macaw,
Stubbornest of the stubborn People of Wood,
Was caught in the hunters' snare.

But while Seven Macaw sickened with pride,
His wife Chimalmat stayed by his side.

At sunset, Seven Macaw sank down in relief
And sighed, too weary even to speak,
Worn and drained, torn with pain,
Seven Macaw lay weary but awake,
Deprived of sleep by his jaw's unending ache.

And Chimalmat spoke to him softly:
Now you must rest from making light,
Let me hold you through the night.

She embraced him in her arms,
She folded him in her wings,
And Seven Macaw closed his shining eyes
Enclosed in her soft green wings.

And he who would be Moon & Sun
Surrendered to her, who surrendered to none.

Then Chimalmat sang to him in the night,
To soothe his pain, to bring respite.

And here is one song she sang:

"Remember, my dearest, how we flew through the trees
In the green forest shadows, aloft on the breeze.
Remember, my dear one, those days long ago,
When we met in the darkness, your eyes all aglow.

And I tell thee true, my dearest one,
You have always been my Moon and Sun.

In days long ago, before you were the Sun,
We sang in the treetops, our souls became one.
Even before you had lit up the Moon,
We danced in the branches, we both to one tune.

BuI I tell thee true, my dearest one,
You have always been my Moon and Sun."

And Seven Macaw said to Chimalmat,
Fortunate I am before all others,
Happy I am beyond others,
Not because I am the Sun,
Not because I am the Moon,
But because thou art my love.

And Chimalmat wept.

When the time of dawn came to the skies,
Seven Macaw opened up his eyes;
With terrible effort, he brought forth the light;
Screaming in anguish, like one giving birth
He brought the sunrise back to the Earth.

Meanwhile, the Hero Twins stood watching
For signs of Seven Macaw's downfall
.
Hunahpu:
See how the sunlight flashes and fades,
How it flutters and flares
Like a flickering flame;
Seven Macaw is crying in pain,
Now he is sobbing, now he is weeping.
Now he is weakened,
Now we will kill him.

Xbalanque,:
I see it, Brother. He's ripe for the killing.
He'll fall into our hands like the fruit of his nance tree,
He'll fall to the ground like that fruit he's so fond of.