Teacher’s Lesson Part One: The Apprentice
Will questioning the gods invite chaos?
The apprentice ah k’in or “calendrical priest” sat on a cornstalk mat inside of the Temple of Frescoes in Tulum, Yucatan. Next to him was his teacher, the Nacom or “killer of men” who reported to the Chilan or “oracle”, himself. The Chilan controlled the Temple of the Frescoes, the largest temple in Tulum which was itself rich from the jade and turquoise trade. The apprentice asked his master a question.
“I saw a canoe sink below the horizon, like it was sailing around a ball, not a flat surface like a table. I saw a campfire from afar but thought it was Hunaphu, the morning star. But it wasn’t, it was a distant flame. What if the stars moving across the sky are distant fires, not the Gods we think they are? What if we live on a ball and they are balls of flame?”
The Nacom frowned and tried to explain.
“What you saw was Hunaphu rising from the ballgame in the underworld to join his twin brother, the Jaguar Sun. As Gods they burn like a flames to our eyes.” The Nacom smiled to show that the matter should be closed.
“But teacher, I was praying nose on the ground, tears in my eyes. The sand became like mountains and I saw creatures like ticks or beetles, moving boulders. When I blinked, they disappeared and all was the right size. What if we are filled with and surrounded by these invisible creatures and we don’t even know it? What if Hunaphu is as ignorant of us as I am of the little creatures? Wouldn’t it be as if he was a ball of flame?” The apprentice shook his head, jostling his headband and its feather.
“You ask many disturbing questions and one taboo. There is a hierarchy, the Gods in the sky descend to their images in the God house to talk to the Chilan. He is born to that purpose and never moves from the God house. He communicates down to me, tells me who to sacrifice. You ah k’in record the calendar, the alignment of the Gods around the wheels of existence. And the convergence of the Gods create those moments, inflection points, where blood and only blood, that life essence, can appease them and prevent cosmic war. The ah k’in tell the Chilan when those moments come, and he placates the Gods through me, the Nacom, with perfect ritual and sacrifice. We do not communicate up to tell him who the Gods have called. Don’t talk again of balls, and fires and tiny invisible bugs. Questioning Hunaphu will anger Hunaphu and all the Gods and invite chaos back into the world.”
The Nacom grabbed his headdress and made as if to rise. Before he could the apprentice asked him another question.
“But what if they are all wrong? Do I deny my eyes, my senses? Can the Chilan or the ah k’in tell me red is blue? Nacom, I watched the ball game. When I was a boy, the famous one between Tulum and Koba.”
“Ah, yes I was there, on Pacum Chac. Tulum represented the sacred twins and Koba was the lords of the underworld. Again and again the players threw themselves against stone, acrobatic in their attempts to get the ball through the ring. But only knowing a God’s favor can allow it to happen. And Hunaphu called the Tulum team, his proxies to him.”
“Yes, I remember as a child. Tedious yet fascinating as again and again they bound into the ball to bounce it off stone and then flung into the ball and stone again and again. The most adept players juggled the ball and passed it back and forth while moving toward the ring and around the opposing team. No one had scored. I remember like me the royals were bored and impatient, the game becoming more a religious duty than entertainment as they barely watched the jump and bounce of the teams moving up and down the sloping sides of the smooth stone court.”
“Yes, it started like most ball games, the Gods indifferent, the players begging for attention and invitation. So?”
“This time it was as if time stood still. The Tulum players moved down the court in perfect synchrony. They ran up the sloped stone wall and flipped to kick the rock hard ball to the other slope where a teammate deftly channeled the ball with the smack of a shoulder catch and a thigh kick to the center. The bouncing ball flew to the players who balanced around unseen ropes of force. The crowd was hushed, attentive, the bored royals dropping their tetzal feather fans to watch intently. And then the ball came to the Tulum captain who let it smack his chest, bounce down to a thigh hit, two thigh hits and then he flung himself around and upside down to give the ball a tremendous calf kick. While he rolled the ball sped in an impossible arc to fly through the ring. It was as if the hole widened to accept the ball.”
The Nacom smiled and shook his head in happy agreement. “I remember. The crowd was stunned. The Tulum team screamed in joy, slapping each other. The Koba team was despondent, shocked, horrified.”
The apprentice nodded and said. “Yes, the ecstatic Tulum team lined up before the Royals, eyes to the sky kissing their hands upward to thank Hunaphu for the blessing. Jaguar warriors filed in, pushed the Koba team to the side and shoved them as they tried to join the Tulum team. They cried and pushed but the Jaguar warriors forcefully corralled them, hitting one or two to get their obedience.
Another group of Jaguar warriors stood behind the Tulum team, with the captain in the center. They stepped forward to raise the arms of the victors. The Feathered Snake, headdress standing up behind his jade and gold crown, stood to address the teams and crowd.
The Gods have blessed you, he said, and cursed your opponents. You will become immortals, joining Hunaphu and the Jaguar Sun by their invitation.
Looking at the Koba team he said, Even as these are made wretched and shamed. The Gods will be fed, the journey for some is blessed but for the rest wretched.
With that he raised his arm and dropped it. The Koba team fell on their knees and dropped their eyes. A few tried to grab the black glass knives of the warriors surrounding them but they were rebuffed and held down.
The Tulum Team led by their proud captain turned to look at the other team. They kneeled and smiled defiantly as a group. Then in unison they leaned their heads back as the Jaguar warriors cut their throats with obsidian blades. They continued sawing until each warrior lifted a dripping head toward the Royal box. Only the moaning of the Koba team was heard. The king and his advisors were taken aback when the captain’s severed head smiled and his eyes opened wide as if seeing heaven.”
The Nacom rubbed his belly symbolically. “That was auspicious. And these past ten years have been good, the Tulum team’s dripping heads have given us plenty of rain.”
“That day the Royals bowed their heads, wondering what it would be like to wake up in the world of the Gods. The Koba team knew they would never know. The Gods had condemned them to life on Earth. But, Nacom, what if there are no Gods, but only burning fires? What if the players were just killed, the goal only luck? How do we know?”
The Nacom looked sadly at his apprentice, such a mind but so little understanding of the world. The Gods blessed the priests with special knowledge but to question was to anger them, raise doubts among the people, and invite in destruction. If only his apprentice knew how precarious all their existence was, the danger of allowing in doubt.
Standing behind the apprentice, he asked him to turn around as he drew his long black blade. He hoped his apprentice would soon have the answer to all his questions.
