AI Art Generated by Goldenmyst
Where the Sacred Cenote Remembers the Taste
of Forbidden Jicama Under a Borrowed Moon
A marital spat erupts between the Mayan creator, Hunab Ku, and the creatrix of humankind because he cheated on her with a mortal woman.
The creatrix said to God, “Did you really think your cheating would go unnoticed by me? And with her perfume still on your clothes? How brash of you. Tell me her name.”
“Tayanna, is her name. I promise never again to sleep with her.”
“Such promises can be frivolous. Men are driven by carnal desires. You must have incentive not to commit adultery. Only by seeing the consequences of your infidelity can I even remotely trust you. Tayanna, must be banished and made to pay. Maybe if you see what happens to your mistress you will think twice before sharing another woman’s bed again.”
He says, “Please spare the woman. I will go without breakfast for a century if you do.”
On his knees he begs her forgiveness which she grants him but standing firm on her condition that he banishes Tayanna to Xibalba in the Mayan underworld. There Tayanna will burn forever in the house of fire. But Hunab Ku could commute her sentence if he so chooses.
Tayanna flees her kingdom to a sacred grotto hoping no deity will not profane this place by harming her there. The wind flaps like angel’s wings across the pool as the sky turns crimson. The blood of the deflowered Madonna, whom the Maya see as their moon goddess Ixchel and no virgin at all, paints the sky. Her fear is buried deep in her heart. The one God Hunab Ku, had threatened to send her to the underworld into the house of fire to burn forever without even death as a final ending to her burning.
His wife is a jealous Goddess. But the Goddess Tayanna adored beyond all, spoke to her a whisper in the night, her voice carrying on the wind in Tayanna’s dreams. “My name is Ixchel whom you have kept me close to your heart. You never ever denied me and I will not abandon you.”
To Tayanna the male as creator never made sense because only a creatrix can give birth.
The Spanish soldiers come upon Tayanna in a phalanx forming a cul-de-sac to trap her in the canyon. Their rapacious rapiers are drawn to burn their truth into her until nothing is left but the sighing wind. Once her body is pillaged they will accuse her of having seduced them and thereby paint her as a woman of loose morals. Hence, her body will take the punishment of thirty lashes while they leer. The husk of her skin is ready to fade into the welted night of the whip master. Having escaped her banishment to the house of fire in the underworld, her hiding place has been discovered by savage men who will show her no mercy.
Suddenly a miniature cyclone pulls Tayanna’s arms up and her sleeveless blouse off into the sky. The vortex suspends her with her feet dangling. The sash that secures her long wraparound skirt comes undone as though it was gift wrapping with her as the gift given to the soldiers by the misogynist God who cheated on his wife to propitiate her in her jealousy. But a birthday gift must be unwrapped and the whirlwind unwinds her skirt until it flies off tumbling across the cracked
earth and onto an updraft into cloud realms. Her heart pounds with the fear of a howler monkey treed by a prowl of jaguars.
Stars emerge, scattered like seeds in the ocean of darkness. Tayanna’s mind settles into endless dreams. She appears shimmering in the purest white robe. Her face is more brilliant than the noon sun. She descends upon Tayanna like a flood of star fire. Her warmth spreads through Tayanna like a warm ocean current.
But with such love, as she created the earth, she recreates Tayanna’s arms into wings, and her coccyx blossoms into tail feathers so that she can make her escape. Like a migratory bird, Tayanna’s inner compass guides her to a sunrise like on the day of creation.
Tayanna is a black hawk with feathers fluttering who plunges into a grotto with a mirrored pool. She gazes at her reflection in the pool. She sees her sharp yellow beak, black aquiline head, and tiny yellow bird eyes. She looks up and is amazed at the sight. A raven-haired beauty with sapphire eyes stares at her. Tayanna scuttles to her and she reaches out to caress Tayanna’s silky head with her fingertips. She mutters words in a language from before time which Tayanna does not understand. Slowly Tayanna grows taller. Arms and hands sprout where wings were. Feet and toes sprout where there were talons. Breasts sprout from her chest. The woman speaks and suddenly Tayanna understands. She looks down at a pool and sees her reflection. Her form is human. She is a woman once more with sparkling hazel eyes, and a sensuously curved body, naked as at birth. Tayanna turns around and reaches out to touch the creamy soft skin of the strange woman’s cheeks. The woman strokes Tayanna’s hips and sides. She embraces her and gently caresses the soft skin of her back. She tells Tayanna that we are all connected to the web of life. We are bird people, brothers, and sisters of the animals, plants, and rocks.
She says, “I am Ixchel here as your intercessor.”
“What can you do? God has been emasculated by his wife. And now my hiding place may have been found. My fate is to live in the house of flames without even cinnabar to paint my face and look presentable. I was a paramour and now won’t even be able to put on perfume for eternity. I am doomed. And even if I am acquitted for this crime that he was equally culpable of what man would marry a woman of loose morals?”
“Men want to know the secrets we women keep between each other in the bond of our sisterhood. Men are insatiably curious about what makes women tick. Don’t give up on men.”
“Men like that are credits to their gender.”
“You were sentenced to dwell in the house of fire and heat. The majority of the heavenly council is male, go figure. And naturally, they all stuck together in this decision. But I have a personal connection with the Mayan Feathered Serpent, Kukulkan, the god of wind and rain. He is a mediator between the heavens and the earth and can secure your liberation.”
“But how can he do this? The one God has exiled me to this place. Can he truly overrule the one God?”
“He is Hunab Ku’s most trusted advisor. Hunab Ku will listen to him.” Suddenly flames leap out of Ixchel’s body consuming her and she melts. She leaves a glittering diamond lying on the sand. Tayanna carries her gem as the key to unlocking the female energy for the rebirth of green as the leafy currency of love songs.
Before her in the grotto is a ceiba tree whose roots reach deep underground with its branches high in the sky. The ceiba tree is nature’s connection between Xibalba, the earth, and the heavens. The tree speaks to her and it is the voice of the Kukulkan, the plumed serpent who is a confidant of Ixchel. He says, “Ixchel has convinced me to get your sentence removed. I am going out on a limb for you because Hunab Ku’s wife will not be pleased at all if he releases you. But he owes me one. And his wife will give him a cold bed for a while but she will let it go. Ixchel told me you had trouble finding a good guy who isn’t married. I have been in touch with a good guy who also isn’t married. I will also get you a date with this guy. But you must promise never to commit adultery again.”
“I promise. I will be a good girl from now on, no tricks up my skirt anymore.”
Then a man as dark as her native soil stands before her. She remembers the strange ships with windblown sails that came ashore and wonders if he is part of their crew. He says, “How, fortunate to have met you. I am a slave who escaped the Spaniards. Do you know of a safe place where I can hide?”
“You are so beautiful. I know a place that is so secluded they will never find you there. Come follow me, I will take you there. But tell me how do you speak such good Mayan?”
“I was an interpreter for my masters. My gift with language was treasured by them. But sadly, it didn’t earn me my emancipation.” He follows her to a place where their love blossoms. Their home is deep in the rainforest where an ancient temple stands abandoned to the mists of time.
His hazel eyes marvel at her beauty. And he learns to be fluent in Mayan. One day he says to her, “I was taken away from my homeland so young that I never married. So, your touch is new to me.” As she tells him the Mayan legends the prismatic gems of her eyes float in a liquid sunshine dream as seen in the sensual light of her gaze. His clothes fall in heaps. She tells him stories of her people passed down in oral histories from even before glyphs were made.
On the trail to a sacred grotto, the jungle is pregnant with the possibility of progeny. Tayanna, says, “Look at the orchid whose flower is a universe unto itself that bears seeds yet also possesses the anther for pollen. I don’t know if you ever learned about the birds and bees but to make children requires both genders.” Tayanna names her lover Aapo. One morning she takes him to the temple where she prays in the evening.
She tells Aapo, “At this very moment, I will take a stand with you. Will you join me in a circle of light with the feminine as our true deity?”
“When I grew up in mother Africa, I worshipped Oshun the Goddess of love and rivers among my people. So, I am no stranger to Goddess worship.”
“Yes, but will you serve me Xocolatl, my favorite cacao breakfast drink in bed upon my awakening? Even mortal women like me need some Goddess pampering.”
“I’ll even massage your feet at the end of the day. But hey what do you people here do for recreation? I am a virgin when it comes to what Mayans do when not working.”
Tayanna intones, “Methinks you are a virgin indeed. There is a manuscript from the Yucatán known as ‘Ritual of the Bacabs’ that speaks poetically of lovemaking. The author says, ‘I dip, my wick with the petals of she who gave birth to you and the stamen of he who planted your seed.”
Aapo waxes poetic, “Thou art the yearning of the offspring of the womb, the pining of the progeny of the seed planters.” The sage smoke from the incense Tayanna burns while praying in the abandoned temple scents them into an amorous mood. A lone jaguar growls from the forest and parakeets sing from a Ceiba tree much like the one through which their matchmaker, the plumed serpent spoke. The jungle is celebrating their union.
Tayanna doesn’t miss her former life in one of the old Mayan capitals known as Palenque. But tragically her husband becomes more fascinated by the ancient religious codices stored in the temple than their love life. That is until she supplements his morning cacao drink with her potion and old age becomes fiesta time when he wonders why he was so engrossed in the doctrinal manuscripts with their homegrown religion of physicality.
I like how you blend Mayan and African in this. The gods would never be as severally punished as a human would. Then she found or they found someone for her. To make her behave. I like it.
Love your thoughts on my story my friend. Indeed the human woman seems to be the most punished. Very glad you enjoyed how I put African and Mayan cultures together in my story. Yes indeed she was made to behave. Thank you so much for reading my friend.
John
You are a master at your craft, Sir.
This is an exquisite story demonstrating the complexities of a woman’s burden. The imagery in your words is stunning.
Brava.
Deep gratitude. I very much appreciate your reflections on my story. Love your impressions on my story. Really means so much to me. Great thanks.
John
This is such a truly mesmerizing story. I was captivated from the very first line. You weave a vivid, beautiful tale of myth, transformation, and empowerment.
Tayanna’s journey from mortal victim to spiritually and physically reborn heroine is stunning, and I love the playful ending where she cleverly draws her distracted partner back to their love and intimacy. A brilliant blend of legend, heart, and agency.
Your words here are true to my story, Romaj. Your review is so excellently written and so perceptive as you followed the story’s threads with amazing insight. I thank you from my heart for your keen understanding of the underlying themes held within my tale. Your comment clearly reflects your in depth reading of this tale and I am truly grateful to you.
John
This, to me, is a story of trials and the wisdom that is gained from them for Tayanna. It’s also about second chances and forgiveness. The potion itself seems a lock and key. Well done, John.
Thank you so much Tim. I love your keen observations here. You really have a great mind that sees into the heart of the themes of my stories. I am forever grateful to you for really delving deep into the meaning of my tale. And very grateful for your behind the scenes advice on revisions that made the story so much clearer and better. Most grateful.
John
Marvelous piece here John. You have the gift of telling a story and keeping us intrigued from start to finish. A story I would love to see converted to film. Bravo!
Deep gratitude my friend for your reading of my story. Your words on my prose are taken to heart. Much appreciated especially your thoughts on how this could make a good film. Thank you so much.
John