 Corn
Panting
-
Corn Planting: Corn is the staple food of the Mayas. The Mayas plant
corn the way our elders taught us to do. It is very important to do it
right because it concerns life. Seed selection is crucial. The farmer first
chooses the biggest corn. When the corn seeds are ready, the farmer and
his wife set a date for the planting, and find an additional man to help,
while the wife gets the other women to help her cooking meals for that
special corn planting day.
-
The Corn Cob: Traditionally the corn cobs are put away in various
ways. Some are thrown into a river or put permanently under a cool place
in the forest.
Preparing for Corn Planting: The day before the corn planting, the
corn seeds are placed into a bag to be carried before daybreak to the area
to be planted. Then other corn seeds are placed on a table and one candle
is placed standing by the corn seeds, to be ignited later in the evening,
together with the copal incense and the incense burner. This day is very
busy for the man and wife. Today the wife cooks the corn to be used for
the **pooch** or **kayem'lab** drink and also the corn to be used for wah
or tortillas, and the chickens are to be hanged in the morning on the planting
day,o if they are to be used. If not, the husband then butchers a pig in
the evening. Some friends are invited to this evening's activities. Then
at about 6 to 7:00 o'clock a small spiritual ceremony is performed on the
seeds to be planted the next day. Firstly, other lady brings the lighted
candle, puts the copal incense on the fire, followed by the making of the
**cur**, spiritual cardinal signs on the body, then the traditional Mayan
prayers, and lastly the passing of the copal smoke on the corn seeds. During
this special short devotion, communication is made with the divine spirits
of corn and the great spirit of creation, to beg a blessing on the corn
plants. Some friends play a game using some corn. The game is called **buul**.
The people wait for the evening meal that will be served hot, with cocoa
drinks&emdash;and of course with a lot of tortillas. At this night
meal, it is a practice to incense the food for thanksgiving before it is
eaten.
Corn Planting Day: The wife gets up at about 2:30 in the morning
to prepare her husband's necessary things to carry to the planting area.
She grinds the posol to wrap in waha leaves. The man wraps a piece of copal
to burn in the center of his field. He carries a planting bag, machete,
cups and other items. The man leaves his home at approximately 4:00 o'clock
in the morning, because the area of work is quite far from home. He performs
a few minutes alone by burning the incense and planting three or four holes
of corn with a maximum of four to six grains of corn in each hole. The
man begins to plant taking a deep breath because he is sorry about piercing
the face of the earth with a planting rod. The other friends continue the
work until the field is planted.
At about 10:00 o'clock, the woman may carry food prepared in the village
to feed the men. If there are mounds of leaf-cutting ants or **wiwi** nests
in the area, the dinner will be postponed for a few minutes while the youngest
first born female carries bits of food to the ant nest. Inside a bowl,
twelve pieces of meat from the chest of a chicken are used. with water
in which the meat is cleaned and bits of tortilla. The young female first
born will sprinkle this **cumla** on the ant nest, saying **"Mash que i
cah ah th-lesh ma me, ma ma,"** three times. This is done to prevent the
ants from destroying the plants. Now the planters may eat dinner. The women
eat afterwards. If the area is planted and done all may go home. But if
not, the planters will stay until evening to complete the planting. |
