A man was carried to the ninth heaven from a forest, discovered by diviners using a sacred crystal. Villagers used a cotton cord to pull him back, but he began growing wings. Blood and ashes rained down, terrifying everyone. Fearing he caused the calamity, the villagers burned him in a large fire to end their fears.
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
Journey to the Otherworld: The man’s ascent to the ninth heaven represents a voyage to a realm beyond the earthly experience.
Divine Intervention: The man’s sudden transportation to the ninth heaven suggests the influence of supernatural forces in mortal affairs.
Forbidden Knowledge: The villagers’ use of a sacred crystal to locate the man indicates the pursuit of hidden or restricted truths.
► From the same Region or People
A man, sitting on a stone in the forest, was suddenly carried up into the sky, right to the ninth heaven. Brujos (Sayam or Kini winik) found out where he was by means of a sastun (a ball of rock- crystal or jade used for divination purposes). All the women of the village made a long cord by twisting cotton (holkuts), and threw it up into the sky. They pulled the man down to earth again from the ninth heaven with it. When he reached earth, the man had already begun to grow wings. It began to rain blood and ashes, and the people were very frightened. They thought the man they had rescued from the sky was the cause, so they made a large fire and burnt him.
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Dreamtime Whispers 