THE SOLEMN MAM CELEBRATION

SOLEMN CELEBRATION OF THE MAM FESTIVAL   

WHAT IS THE MAM?
The Mam is the name of an ancient celebration characteristic of the K’iche Mayan town of Momostenango [Guatemala] and of all indigenous people.  The difference today is that the Momostecans [the people of Momostenango] still preserve this celebration of the K’iche Mayan Calendar in their memory.  The ancient Momostecans celebrated this festival, generally the entire town, this ceremonial festival that indicates the beginning and the end of an Agricultural Solar year; it is translated as RI SOL BAL Q’IJ in the K’iche [Mayan] language and it comes under the control of our K’iche Mayan calendar.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MAM CELEBRATION
Our first ancestors understood how to control time through knowledge based on the movements of the Earth and through the stations of the Moon and the stars.  This scientific and chronology knowledge is based on agricultural knowledge about the energies located in the universal cosmos and this gave birth to the knowledge of how to measure time; for our Momostecan K’iche ancestors and [for people] today, this must be a great Privilege and [source of] Pride because this ancient Authentically K’iche Mayan cultural festival is still preserved in our conscience. And we will give a few brief details below about how this was celebrated in different time periods depending upon the historical situations.

Today, the best way to celebrate [the Mam] is to value and honor it in a real and practical manner such as is still celebrated, according to the evidence, within the family, that is to say, each family at their ALASHIK [outdoor ceremonial altar used by a specific family or lineage], as this is a way of educating [the people] by taking up again this knowledge of [how to] celebrate the aforementioned festival which is a great devotion toward the Spirit of the calendar. MAM means Solar New Year; it’s a ritual celebration that consecrates the Spirit of Corn, the sacred food.  It is custom to make tayuyo [ceremonial tamales that contain layers of corn and black beans] and the ceremonial drink Wiya, [a form of] atole which is a sacred dessert for our Nawales [Spirits of the day signs and the ancestors]. [Atole is a drink often made from corn dough and spices which is widely consumed in Mexico and Guatemala. Wiya is a very special type of atole that is ceremonially made and consumed for the Mam festival.  It contains unusual and unique ingredients or spices. It is often poured into decorative gourd cups and placed on altars as an offering.]

HOW THE MAM WAS CELEBRATED IN ANCIENT TIMES   
Some elders say that before the arrival of the Spanish in our lands, only tayuyo and the sacred ceremonial atole Wiya were eaten on the days of the MAM.  Wiya has a meaning; this food was consumed during the days that the sacred festival went on.  At midnight, the head grandfather of the house [patriarch of the family] awaited the arrival of the Year Lord [year-bearer for that particular year that ruled and influenced a given solar year] seated at the main door of the house.  Shortly afterwards, [the family patriarch or a very respected community elder] gave a “pishab” to the parents. [Pishab is a ritual in which a wise and greatly respected elder imparts words of wisdom, advise and counseling to younger generations of a large extended family.]  Then some natural instrument was played and they danced the “son” [traditional Mayan ceremonial dance] with a basket of tayuyo held in their arm, in the case of a man, or on top of their head, in the case of a woman. The door of the house was decorated with pine branches and flowers as well as the leaves of fragrant plants; a lot of copal incense was burned in the yard.  It was very original because at that time, there wasn’t yet any Roman Catholic or Evangelical religions. 

HOW THEY CELEBRATED IN THE COLONIAL ERA
The Catholic priests forcibly imposed [Christian] prayer, hymns and chants, catholic prayers for the dead, images of saints, rockets and bombs [festival fireworks]; and so they began to mix [western or Christian] spiritual celebration with K’iche Mayan ritual and ceremonies in order to save their lives, but against the will of our ancestors.  In this way, many K’iche Mayan ceremonial rules and norms were clouded over and for this reason, many CHUCHKAJAU or AJ Q’IJAB [Maya daykeepers and priests] have distorted celebration dates and with a mixture [of Catholic and Mayan rituals]. The only thing that was preserved in the memory, that is to say, it wasn’t lost, is the tying of thread around the hands and feet of children at the start of the full moon.  The pishab was given to all the children and at midnight, to all the adults.  At midnight, the dance and ceremony, at dawn, they would perform the [fire] ceremony at the sacred site that was ruled by [that particular] year-bearer. 

THIS IS HOW IT IS CELEBRATED TODAY
The house is put in order at 6PM; if a person is Chuchkajau [Maya priest], it’s his responsibility to tie [red thread around the wrists and ankles of] the children so that they wake up very active on the day of the MAM. [One should] eat only tayuyo and drink Wiya, the ceremonial atole, with suchile [spice made by grinding up a local root]; at midnight, one should burn copal and frankincense incense, storax [small pieces of bark used as a ceremonial offering and burned] and play only natural musical instruments [such as] conch shells, maracas or rattles, ceramic whistles and drums.  One [should] not burn bombs or rockets because these items can be harmful to the environment. The [arrival of] the year lord is symbolically awaited in the door of the house with an [empty] chair draped with a table cloth or traditional fabric; the year lord sits down [in the empty chair] and then at midnight, a tayuyo wrapped in corn husk is placed between the branches of a peach tree or another tree.  The mythological significance of this is to [prevent] the birds and insects from harming the ears of corn [in the cornfields].  During these two days, only tayuyo with atole is eaten; this shows that the Spirit of the corn, the sacred food, is respected. 

Translated into the English by Anita Garr