How Our Mother Beloved Maiden was Saved from an Untimely Death:  A christianized version of the Xkik’ tale of the Popol Wuj

Xkik’ Tale in Pre-Columbian Wedding Context?

The Beloved Maiden text appears to be an inextricable element of a nuptial rite. It evokes the view that, according to the Maya, every marriage, every merging of social groups, is considered a micro creation in itself, and as such reflects the macro creation of the modern era. After contemplating the similarities between the Xkik’ tale and Beloved Maiden text, one wonders whether the former was the standard story narrated during a Maya wedding ceremony in the pre-Columbian highlands. Mesoamerican scholars, building on the history theory developed by the French Anales-school, have argued that institutions like marriage belong to a slowly changing stratum. That may account for the persistence of the Xkik’ tale through the ages (Carmack, 1973:216-7; López Austin, 1993:304). It would also answer our question about the original nature of the Xkik’ tale positively.

Still, it is wise to be careful with our judgements. The plot of Xkik’s is embedded in a larger epic. It is preceded by the story of Jun Junajpu and Wuqub’ Junajpu and followed by a long series of conspiracies and bold feats of the hero twins in their conflict with the lords of Xib’alb’a. Moreover, the descending of Junajpu and Xb’alan Q’e into the netherworld seems to have been a dance-drama. Dominican friars witnessed its performance at the founding of San Juan Chamelco in 1543 (Estrada Monroy, 1979:172-173). Nonetheless, it is still possible that the entire epic was narrated or perhaps even staged during a royal wedding. Some modern Maya priests do not stop with the birth of the son of Our Mother Beloved Maiden either, but rather continue by recounting the entire life of Christ, which would be the modern parallel of the adventures of the hero twins. Thus, in conclusion, the location of the Beloved Maiden text within the context of a wedding ceremony suggests a similar function for its predecessor from the Popol Wuj. The creational and etiological elements within the Xkik’ tale support such a point of view, but it must not keep us from staying open to other interpretations. More convincing, of course, would be a Maya vase depicting Xkik’s scenes while hieroglyphically explaining the vessel was made to celebrate a royal wedding.

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