The Maiden Lady Blood – Descent of Hunahpu and Xbalanque

By Rebecca, Christina, Christina, Marc and Dana

Describing (Summary)

• Maiden Lady Blood-daughter of Gathered Blood• Gathered Blood tells her the story of the Tree of

One Hunahpu • She visits the tree because she wants its fruit• Becomes pregnant • Her father finds out she is pregnant, so he orders

for her to be killed and to bring her heart back• Lady Blood deceives her father

Describing (Summary)

• Lady Blood gives birth to twins named Hunahpu and Xbalanque

• Her mother-in law doesn’t believe Lady Blood is telling the truth

• Orders Lady Blood to do an impossible task of harvesting corn (only one ear of corn in the field)

• Lady Blood performs this task, so One Hunahpu’s mother accepts her

Describing (Summary)

• Hunahpu and Xbalanque have 2 brothers - One Batz and One Chouen -jealous of Hunahpu and Xbalanque• treated Hunaphu and Xbalanque cruelly• Turned into spider monkeys because of their

cruelty

Describing (Summary)

• Twins discovered gaming equipment• Go to ballcourt to play• Lords of Xibalba summon the two to play with them• Lords win the game and order the boys to bring them

back four bowls of flowers• Guards ordered to look after flowers• The two brothers tell ants to gather flowers and therefore defeat the lords

Associate

• Popul Vuh -Maiden Lady Blood• “Bluebeard” -The wife• Bible -Virgin Mary -Eve and the fruit

Comparing

• “Bluebeard” – “So tormented was she by her curiosity…” (Perrault 145)

• Popul Vuh – “she was amazed by the tale” “Can I not come to know it by seeing the tree that has been spoken of?” (Christenson 129)

Comparing (continued…)

• Bible – Mary is expecting a son although she is still a virgin.

• Popul Vuh – “I have no child, my father…” “I have not know the face of any man.” (Christenson 131)

Analyze

Above: Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil“‘I hear that its fruit is truly delicious…’” (Christenson 128)

Above: Mayan skull“‘you do not desire it,’ She was told.” (Christenson 128)

Analyze

Right: Mayan heart sacrifice“‘…bring back her heart inside a bowl…’” (Christenson 131)

Left: Mayan White Dagger“…the White Dagger, the instrument of her sacrifice.” (Christensn 132)

Analyze

Above: Maize“‘…harvest a great netful of maize…’” (Christenson 136)

Above: Rubber ball w/skull drawing“‘It appears to be a skull, but it is merely drawn on the ball…’” (Christenson 164)

Applying the Popul Vuh to real life

The Maiden Lady Blood and the tree of One Hunahpu

• Maiden lady blood was curious about the fruit of a tree

• She was told not to pick the fruit from the tree, but she didn’t listen and she ended up getting pregnant from the tree

• Her father was then told to have her killed because she got pregnant

Popul Vuh has a moral behind the story

Moral of the story

• What should be learned from Maiden Lady blood is to listen to others and not do something that we warned about because if we do we could get into trouble and possibly get hurt.

Argument

• It is arguable that the story of the “Maiden Lady Blood-Descent of Huanaphu and Xbalanque” in the Popul Vuh and stories in the Bible teach similar morals.

• For example, the Maiden Lady Blood was to be put to death when her father discovered that she was with child. She was ordered to be sacrificed because she was a “fornicator.” (Christenson 131) Mayan culture thus emphasized that intimacy should not be pursued until after marriage.

Argument (continued…)

• Similarly the Bible states in 1 Corinthians 7:2, “But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.” In this verse, Paul argues sexual immortality is cured through marriage.

• First Corinthians 7:2 emphasizes that since people cannot control themselves and so many are having immoral sex outside of marriage people should get married so they could have their passions in a way that is moral.

Argument (continued…)

• Numerous Scriptures are present in the Bible that acknowledge sex before marriage is a sin (Acts 15:20; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:13, 18; 10:8 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Jude 7)

• The Bible argues that it is morally right to have complete abstinence before marriage. Sex between a husband and his wife is the only form of sexual relations of which God approves (Hebrews 13:4)

Argument

Question

• Is it a coincidence that Popul Vuh has many things in common with stories such the Bible and fairytales or is it possible that humans rationalize a certain way?

Work Cited• Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya. c. 1556. Ed. Allen

Christenson. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2007. Print.• Tatar, Maria ed., The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W.W. Norton&

Company.1999.Print• "What Does the Bible Say about Sex before Marriage?" Bible

Questions Answered. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.gotquestions.org/sex-before-marriage.html>

• Mayan Uniface Dagger. N.d. Mound City Relics. Web.• Codex Magliabechiano. N.d. Foundation for the Advancement of

Mesoamerican Studies, inc. Web.• Cranach, Lucas the Elder. Tree of Knowledge. N.d. Wikipedia. Web.• Tresscott. Mayan Skull. N.d. Pbase. Web.• Maize. N.d. Watching America. By Alvaro Vargas Llosa. 2007. Web.