A Grammar of the Yucatecan Mayan Language
by David & Alejandra Bolles

Two Bee Chants by Felipe Paz

The two chants presented here are chants by Don Felipe Paz of Tecoh, Yucatan, Mexico, recorded on tape by two different anthropologists about a decade apart. The first one was done for Carol Leonard in about 1964 with William Follan in attendance. The second chant was done for Malcolm Shuman in 1972.

In both instances Don Felipe explains in Spanish the purpose of the bee chant. Briefly stated, the bee hive has come under attack from various pests and diseases and the hive owner has failed in his efforts to ward off the attacks. The H-Men is called in to alleviate the situation. It is the job of the H-Men to call on the various spirits which will aid the bees to overcome the distressed situation. While no mention is made by Don Felipe in his discussions of other actions taken by either the H-Men or the hive owner, it should be noted that physical remedies as well as spiritual ones are taken also. (eg. if the xulab ants are attacking the hive then the appropriate steps are taken to make the hive inaccessible to the ants.)

For the bee chants presented here there are these following points which are common in both:

a)  certain deities must be called upon, namely colel cab, colel peten, colel holo, and colel ek tun;
b)  certain trees which have good flowers for bees are called upon to open their flowers to the bees;
c)  the deities called upon above should aid in keeping away the various pests which are destroying the bee hive.

Beyond these points there seems to be no set rule. The first chant is sung in it entirety. The second chant parallels the first in the sung part in the presentation of ideas, but then Don Felipe has added a chanted section which recapitulates the themes except that he leaves out the idea of keeping the pests away.

Just as the words in the sung parts are different, so too are the melodies. In still other examples of Don Felipe's melodies (in a Cħa Chac - rain ceremony - for example) still other melodies are used. How a melody is arrived at is something which we have yet to learn.

Of the deities called upon here at least two are spirits associated with definite places:

X-Colebil Ek Tun (Lady Black Rock) is a site in the Progresso township lands a few kilometers northwest of the Hacienda San Ignacio which is situated on the road from Mérida to Progresso. The site consists of several early classic or late early period platforms (visual observation by E. Wyllys Andrews V), the highest and most important of which is not over two meters high and roughly 20 meters square. To the southwest corner of the largest platform there is a plain unfaced stela roughly 20 cm thick, 1-1.5 m wide, and above the actual ground level about 2.5 m high (visual observation). This stela is the actual X-Colebil Ek Tun. The face of the stela is roughly north-south. Around the base of the stela is an altar of rock and rock rubble of about 2 m square and 70-80 cm high. The stela area is covered by a tin roof supported by four chacah trees which seem not to have any particular world direction as alignment. On the altar, particularly on the south side of the stela, there are various offerings including the remains of vigil candles, flowers (both real and plastic) and tin cans and tin lard cans (five gallon size) of various ages containing various types of offerings. One of these cans sometimes contains monetary offerings, but this cash may be used by a visitor in case of need!?

The people of Kom Cħeen (five km south of X-Colebil Ek Tun) and the vicinity use the spirit of X-Colebil Ek Tun mainly as an aid for deer hunting since in part it is from this site northwards into the Koxol Ak (mosquito grass - savanna) that the deer hunting area begins. Most of the offerings (mainly candles) are offered without any prayers or chants, but it is mentioned that knowledge of the proper words would certainly enhance the offering. No use of the spirit of X-Colebil Ek Tun for aiding bees in Kom Cħeen has come to our attention.

It should be noted that the normal water level in this area is only 2 meters below ground level and that there are several small dzonots about the site. Some are covered over and seem to be sources for zuhuy ha (virgin water) for H-Menoob.

X-Colebil Hol (Lady Hole) as a site is a dzonot in the Calkini region. Since we have not seen it personally the following is a description from various local sources. The dzonot is a "large" one, apparently meaning any dzonot over 3 meters across. The water is deep (over 5 meters?) and at the bottom on good days the actual stone image of X-Colebil Hol can be seen (imagined?). Some people of Kom Cħeen know of X-Colebil Hol, but no particular power has yet been described to me.

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