The Controversial Mayan Queen: Sak K'uk of Palenque (The Mists of Palenque) (20 page)

The main plaza of Lakam Ha teemed with its residents, both ahauob and commoners, gathering for the accession rites of the newly designated ruler. Tall censers with deity faces lined the stairs of the Royal Palace at the west side of the plaza. Fire priestesses tended the censers, dropping copal crystals over glowing coals to produce undulating columns of incense smoke. Many of the censers were newly crafted to replace those destroyed in the Kan attack. Musicians played flutes and beat drums of wood and turtle shells, accompanied by clacking gourd rattles. From the highest pyramids nearby, long blasts of conch shells saluted the four directions. Several bass rounds from long wooden trumpets announced the appearance of the royal procession.

The crowd became silent as the procession entered the plaza, led by the High Priest and Priestess and their entourage. Several rows of elite nobles followed, all dressed in the finest regalia they could assemble in the short span of two uinals (40 days) since the decision of the Popol Nah. The miraculous happenings in the council house had spread like wildfire through the city and all were eager to see how the new ruler would appear. A cadre of musicians blowing short trumpets and beating hide drums preceded dancers who enacted the rejoicing of animals, birds and humans over the appearance of their K’uhul Ahau to continue royal succession and keep covenant with the gods. The newly woven standards of Lakam Ha, carried by warriors on tall poles, flapped in the soft breeze and reminded the people of their city’s past glories.

Four powerfully built men carried on their shoulders decorated poles supporting the ruler’s palanquin. Its square wooden platform was ornately decorated with red and yellow tassels, bordered by white cloth embroidered with blue and green trim resembling waves. Cavorting among the waves were fish, frogs and turtles. Green rushes attached to corner poles swayed with the movements of the carriers. The aquatic theme of the palanquin was evident to all.

Seated upon the palanquin was an impressive being, clothed in a white sheath with a cape of pure Maya blue and large neck collar of turquoise and creamy jade. More jade and shells adorned wrists and ankles, secured from coffers that ahauob had sequestered. None dared refuse to give adornments to Muwaan Mat’s earthly representative. The headdress and mask of the ruler brought murmurs of admiration from the observers. Towering above, fully half the height of the small form sitting on the palanquin was an immense headdress on a backstrap frame. The chest and long neck of the cormorant, called duck hawk, rose from her elongated skull and arched above her forehead. A band of glittering bronze feathers flared and curled on the bird’s forehead. Its long beak ended with a sharp curve and dangled a fish between its jaws. Rounded eyes sported red stone pupils staring fiercely out of white shell corneas.

The backstrap frame supported a soaring display of shimmering quetzal tail feathers, their blue-green iridescence repeating the watery motif. Along the back of the frame were carved masks of Bahlam royal ancestors surrounded by dangling silver medallions and clinking seashells. The facemask repeated elements of the cormorant with shorter beak and enlarged round eyes, while reedy embellishments and prominent catfish whiskers invoking affinity with the Hero Twins myth.

To complete the royal accession imagery, the ruler held a K’awiil scepter fashioned from rare white jade. This exquisite piece had remained hidden deep within the Temple of the High Priest, buried under a storage chamber floor. Legend had it that it traced back to the founder K’uk Bahlam, though none really knew its origins. Generations of High Priests had guarded this treasure. The scepter was as long as two feet, carved in high relief and fully fashioned on every surface. The lightning-forehead snake-foot deity of royal lineage had a snaky face, a flaming torch spouting and curling from the forehead, wore an Ik-wind pendant and had one elongated leg that ended in an open serpent mouth issuing fiery breath scrolls. K’awiil was the divine patron of noble lineages, the essence of fertility, and integral to the potency of the Maize God.

The power radiating from this imagery overwhelmed the people, who dropped to their knees and clasped both arms across their chests. None doubted that the Primordial Mother Goddess Muwaan Mat had descended into the form on the palanquin. This impressive figure far exceeded and completely eclipsed any presence of the personage known as Sak K’uk.

Behind the palanquin walked members of Sak K’uk’s family and closest courtiers. It was Pakal’s first royal procession, and he stood tall with head proudly upraised. His mother’s transformation made a strong impression upon him, furthering his understanding of the embodiment of deities that was required of rulers.

The procession moved into the main square and along each quadrant, giving all assembled a clear view of the ruler’s palanquin, finally crossing through the center to the palace stairs. Lesser priesthood and ahauob lined the stairs near the smoking censers. To the single beat of a huge turtle carapace, the carriers set down the palanquin and assisted the ruler to rise, for the weight of her apparatus was considerable. Once balanced on her feet, she slowly and carefully ascended the stairs, feathers waving and adornments jangling. Reaching the top platform, she turned to face the plaza and raised the K’awiil scepter in one hand, making the scattering gesture with the other. The crowd broke into cascading roars, crying the Goddess’ name over and over.

“Muwaan Mat! Muwaan Mat! K’uhul B’aakal Ahau Muwaan Mat!”

Coming to stand beside the ruler, the High Priest and Priestess chanted incantations for a prosperous, peaceful and creative reign. They also did ritual to dispel adversities and bring healing to the people and land.

Although much time elapsed in the ceremony, and the bright sun shone warmly on this clear autumn day, the ruler stood still and straight, showing no signs of fatigue. Kan Mo’ Hix, standing near the top steps, worried that her strength might fail under the heavy costume and preparatory cleansings. Pakal, standing near his father, sensed that his mother was completely immersed in divine energy and marveled at her ability to subsume her consciousness so totally to the Goddess.

When the chants and rituals were complete, the conches blew four times and the long trumpets gave four blasts. In the hush that followed, the ruler moved slowly toward the throne room in the central chamber facing the square. Only her clinking adornments and distant birdcalls broke the silence. On the double-headed jaguar throne, covered with dappled black and gold jaguar pelts, the newly acceded ruler K’uhul B’aakal Ahau Muwaan Mat sat regally, accepted the white headband from the High Priest and tied it around the cormorant headdress, to rapid drumbeats and the wild cheers her people.

The date of Muwaan Mat’s accession was later carved and inscribed:

Baktun 9, Katun 8, Tun 19, Uinal 7, Kin 18 – on 9 Etznab 6 Keh.

(October 22, 612 CE)

The hoof-binding ceremony to designate Pakal as heir, as the ba-ch’ok, took place 5 moon cycles later at the time of spring equinox. This pre-accession ritual was called
K’al May
. The symbolism of renewed life as K’in Ahau-Sun Lord reached his halfway point, the time when light and darkness are perfectly in balance, created the proper framework for initiating the process that would prepare the next ruler. The ceremony was simple and pure. Sak K’uk in modified Muwaan Mat costume tied two deer hoofs around her son’s waist with woven cords of red, yellow and black. To bind the deer hoofs meant that his path was established and set the direction where his footsteps would lead.

The deer was an important symbol to the Maya. As a major food source, it was a prognosticator of rain and renewal, but when portrayed as dead it augured drought and death. In winter the deer carried the sun quickly across the sky, denoting shorter days while the peccary carried it slowly during the long days of summer. In a particular rendition, the deer was associated with Mars, depicted as the Mars Beast with a fret-nosed snout, starry eye and cleft hoofs. When suspended from the sky band, it referred to periods when Mars was moving in retrograde while crossing the Milky Way. During this period typical weather conditions occurred leading to rainfall. Mars crossing the Milky Way often brought rain, and its recurring cycles were used for weather predictions. Rain was the essential source of itz needed to bring new plant life and stimulate maize seeds to grow.

The hoof-binding ceremony signaled that Pakal had embarked on the path of rulership, and he assumed the accoutrements that activated deer qualities to bring life-giving rain to the land. The ritual began in the forest where deer lived, and involved a procession from the low forests to the plains, where Pakal enacted rites of sprinkling water upon cornfields. A select contingent of priesthood and ahauob witnessed this event, accompanied by musicians rapping wooden sticks on hollow tubes for the clacking of hoofs, with long hollow bamboo rain-tubes full of seeds to simulate raindrops.

This also signaled a period of intense training for Pakal as designated heir. His instruction included further shamanic training by the High Priest, lessons in statesmanship from his father, grandfather and leading courtiers, and review of the history, calendars and cosmology of B’aakal with experienced scribes. Sak K’uk made certain there was time for study of building and architectural arts. The Nakom taught about strategies of competition and battle, and young warriors trained Pakal in basic fighting techniques. The boy’s natural talents and inclinations were toward the creative and mystical aspects of Maya sciences, rather than disposing him to become a mighty warrior. But he was required to become competent in battle skills and develop strength.

Two moon cycles later arrived the much-anticipated ending of Katun 8. Sak K’uk and Pasah Chan conferred frequently about how and where to enact the K’altun ceremony. They decided to conduct it at the High Priest’s temple, the least damaged pyramid remaining in Lakam Ha, in the large plaza overlooking the plains below. Period-ending rituals were concerned with time and cycles, part of the Maya’s esoteric knowledge and special relationships with the Lords of Time. These were not public rituals and had always been conducted inside the hidden Sak Nuk Nah in the past. The elite ahauob, those with closest ties to the rulers, usually attended the rituals to bear witness to the ruler’s completion of the prescribed and proper offerings.

Now the location was no longer hidden and all were acutely aware of Lakam Ha’s unusual predicament. Interest in attending this ceremony was intense, and Sak K’uk chose to include all ahauob although this meant the temple plaza would be packed. The ceremony took place around dawn and had two parts; the ending of Katun 8 as darkness began to yield to light, and the beginning of Katun 9 when the sun rose above the horizon. Just as Muwaan Mat performed her offerings and gave bundles to the deities in the Upperworld, Sak K’uk enacted her truncated ritual in the Middleworld.

Pakal as ba-ch’ok was given a place of honor close to the altar where the ritual would be conducted. He eagerly watched the eastern sky for the first signs of dawn.

In the pale pre-dawn light the ceremonial entourage entered the crowded plaza accompanied by a single slow drumbeat. The High Priest and Priestess preceded Sak K’uk and several attendant priests followed carrying ritual items. Sak K’uk was dressed in a pure white huipil bound at the waist by thick cords that also encircled her hands, tied behind her back in captive position. She wore no headdress or adornments and her hair was tied into a single topknot, the long black tail hanging down her back. This was the characteristic appearance of noble captives taken in battle. A barely audible gasp rippled through the gathered ahauob at the implication of captive sacrifice.

Solemnly the entourage crossed the plaza and ascended the stairs to the temple atop the highest pyramid of the complex. Censers carried by attendants were placed at both sides of the top platform, their smoke curling into the stillness. Sak K’uk knelt between Pasah Chan and Usin Ch’ob as an attendant placed a large bowl filled with bark paper next to her. The High Priest addressed the assembly.

“Ixik Sak K’uk, royal lady of B’aakal, brings Katun 8 to a close by her sacrifice, by her surrender into servitude to the Primordial Mother Muwaan Mat. The Lord of Katun 8, Oaxac Tiku, has extracted severe payment from Lakam Ha. May his desires now be satisfied and set aside. With the rise of K’in Ahau this day, we finish Katun 8, it is done, it is completed. As the penance of Muwaan Mat brought forth the birth of her sons, the Triad Deities, so now the penance of Sak K’uk will birth the next Katun. People of Lakam Ha, witness the travail of Sak K’uk and the penance of she who is the form and essence of Muwaan Mat among us.”

Usin Ch’ob grasped and lifted the long tail of Sak K’uk’s hair while the attendant lit the paper in the bowl with a small torch. Pasah Chan drew a long obsidian knife from his waistband and raised it high for all to see. Torchlight glinted off the sharp knife-edges. Pakal’s eyes widened with terror as he stared upward from his vantage point at the foot of the stairs. With a sudden swipe, Pasah Chan slashed off Sak K’uk’s hair leaving the long strands dangling in Usin Ch’ob’s hands. The High Priestess dropped the hair onto the burning paper, releasing an acrid smell that burned the nostrils as flames sputtered and crackled. Sak K’uk remained perfectly still, head bent over her knees and hands tied behind. Pakal held his breath, his body stiff with tension.

The first rays of sunlight crept over the eastern mountains and tinted the temple roofcomb with rosy hues. From the four corners of the temple platform, conches sounded their deep blasting tones to the four directions. Lilting clay flute melodies mingled with twittering birdcalls as the surrounding jungle awakened. Several drums took up a commanding rhythm as nine strong men entered the plaza, each carrying a large stone on his back using trump lines across foreheads. The men climbed the temple stairs and deposited the nine stones in a pyramid shaped heap near the platform’s east corner.

Quickly the sunlight swept across the face of the temple and illuminated the top platform, shining golden tones on the heap of stones and the figures standing nearby. When the drums ceased, the High Priest released Sak K’uk’s hands from the cords and unwound her waist. The High Priestess lifted the magnificent cormorant headdress Sak K’uk had worn for the accession ritual of Muwaan Mat, and with help of attendants placed it upon Sak K’uk’s head, attaching the feathered back frame that stabilized it. They helped the ruler to rise and Pasah Chan placed the cords in her hands.