[Aztlan] God L's tobacco

[Karen Bassie]

<>Hi Justin, You were a smoker? I am totally shocked.
Regarding the food for traveling, balls of corn dough were certainly 
taken on trips and ingested during the day. Stephens refers to his Ch'ol 
carriers wearing a gourd on their heads while traveling. They would stop 
at a stream, fill the gourd with water and mix in corn dough to create a 
nourishing and refreshing posol drink. But it would be hard to sustain 
long, hard travel without a substantial evening meal.
I have tried carrying coals in a container, but it is a cumbersome 
method, and the container gets unbelievably hot to handle. Although it 
could have hung off the end of the back rack that merchants carried, a 
burning ceramic container would certainly add weight and bulk to the 
carrier's load. There are a number of references about road side altars 
where merchants were expected to stop and burn incense to the merchant 
gods. Landa said the merchants also burnt incense for the god every 
night they were away from home. He said they carried a little incensario 
dish for this purpose, but he doesn't say anything about what they used 
to ignited the incense. It is the practical side of things that always 
intrigues me.