A farmer struggled to burn his milpa until he offered copal incense. Once the fire was set, a massive man in a large hat appeared, descending from the hills. Entering the flames, he spread the fire across the milpa with his arms. This figure was the wind god, embodying the elemental force that completed the ritual.
Source
Ethnology of the Mayas of
Southern and Central British Honduras
by John Eric Thompson
Field Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Series, Pub.274, Vol.17.2
Chicago, 1930
► Themes of the story
Divine Intervention: The appearance of the wind god directly influences the farmer’s efforts.
Conflict with Nature: The farmer’s initial struggle to burn his milpa represents a challenge against natural elements.
Ritual and Initiation: The act of offering incense signifies a ceremonial rite to gain divine favor.
► From the same Region or People
A man one day set fire to his milpa, but it would not burn, because he had not burnt any copal incense (pom). He obtained some and offered it in the milpa. He then set fire to the dry brush.
Presently he saw a huge thick-set man in a large hat descending from the hill behind the milpa. He walked into the midst of the flames, and catching up the fire in his arms, he threw it here and there so that all the milpa was soon burnt.
He was the wind god.
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Dreamtime Whispers 