THE BOOKS OF THE CHILAM BALAM

The Jaguar, a symbol of nobility among the Maya.

Text by Beatriz Martí

The Catholic church of sixteenth-century Mexico was as much an educating force as an evangelizing one, although its main purpose was propagation of the faith. Shortly after the conquest (between 1519 and 1549), Spanish monks and friars set about teaching the Maya to read and write their own language. They adapted the Latin alphabet to Maya, innovating where necessary to cover sounds foreign to the romantic languages.

    The new writing was intended for Christian purposes only, but the Maya, no strangers to writing, were quick to see the script's potential. They recorded everything from prophecies and rituals to petitions to the Crown. But of all the manuscripts created in this manner in the century following the Conquest, the Books of the Chilam Balam were the most important.

    The Chilam were native priests, shamans or seers. Balam means "jaguar" and is used here as a title of rank, or to bestow respect. The original "Jaguar Priest" may have been a real person whose greatness prompted the use of his name for these texts.

    The narratives contain a lot of information on life in Colonial Yucatan, and are at least partially shaped by the milieu in which they were written (dominated by the Spanish culture); but basically, they reflect the religious and mythological traditions of the Maya.

    From a historical standpoint, the "count of the katuns" as given in the Books of the Chilam Balam, is a major find. It discusses the leading events of the region's history in terms of the Maya's concept of cyclical time, or as we imagine it, the cyclical nature of history.

    A given community's Chilam Balam was written and maintained by its leader, usually a sage or priest. He wrote the name of the community in the Chilam for identification purposes: thus we have the Chilam Balam of Chumayel. Other than that of Chumayel, only those of Mani, Tizimin, Kaua, Ixil, and Tusik have survived.