Vestiges of the Past: The Role of the Grandmother in Contemporary Yucatec Literature

Abstract

In the Popol Vuh, Xmukane', the old moon goddess, is a very imposing and extremely important figure in illo tempore.' She not only acts with other deities in the formation of the earth and its inhabitants, but she is the star actress when it comes to the creation of the corn men. On the other hand, she is also associated with death as evidenced when she cleverly kills Wucub Cac'ix. She also has a religious nature seen in her roles of a diviner, exemplified when she and Xpiyacoc divine with beans and corn in preparation for the creation of people, and a priestess, illustrated in the corn ritual and the rite of the con andnine beverages. In addition, Xmukane' was a doctor who treated Wucub Cac'ix's bad teeth and Hun Ajpu's broken arm. Finally, this goddess, who was a mother and a grandmother in the primordial era, had the responsibility of establishing rules of behavior for mankind to follow. To distinguish the roles of Xmukane', let's look briefly at the schemes repeated in her behavior. These schemes will be divided into the categories of religious, judiciary, political, and cultural. In her religious roles she acts together with other gods, provides the substances from which men of the second and third eras are made, and performs religious rites as a diviner, curer, and a priestess. Her position of a rain goddess is indicated when, with her water jar, she accompanies Jun Ajpu and Xbalanque several times to the river and cries when her sons and grandsons leave for Xibalba. Her judiciary roles are making family