The Maiden Lady Blood – Descent of
Hunahpu and Xbalanque
By Rebecca, Christina, Christina, Marc
and Dana
Describing (Summary)
• Maiden Lady Blood-daughter of Gathered Blood
• Gathered Blood tells her the story of the Tree of
One Hunahpu
• She visits the tree because she wants its fruit
• Becomes pregnant
• Her father finds out she is pregnant, so he orders
for her to be killed and to bring
her heart back
• Lady Blood deceives her father
Describing (Summary)
• Lady Blood gives birth to twins named
Hunahpu and Xbalanque
• Her mother-in law doesn’t believe Lady Blood
is telling the truth
• Orders Lady Blood to do an impossible task of
harvesting corn (only one ear of corn in the
field)
• Lady Blood performs this task, so One
Hunahpu’s mother accepts her
Describing (Summary)
• Hunahpu and Xbalanque have 2 brothers
- One Batz and One Chouen
-jealous of Hunahpu and Xbalanque
• treated Hunaphu and Xbalanque cruelly
• Turned into spider monkeys because of their
cruelty
Describing (Summary)
•
•
•
•
Twins discovered gaming equipment
Go to ballcourt to play
Lords of Xibalba summon the two to play with them
Lords win the game and order the boys to bring them
back four bowls of flowers
• Guards ordered to look after
flowers
• The two brothers tell ants to
gather flowers and therefore
defeat the lords
Associate
• Popul Vuh
-Maiden Lady Blood
• “Bluebeard”
-The wife
• Bible
-Virgin Mary
-Eve and the fruit
Comparing
• “Bluebeard” – “So
tormented was she by her
curiosity…” (Perrault 145)
• Popul Vuh – “she was
amazed by the tale”
“Can I not come to know it
by seeing the tree that has
been spoken of?”
(Christenson 129)
Comparing (continued…)
• Bible – Mary is
expecting a son
although she is still a
virgin.
• Popul Vuh – “I have no
child, my father…” “I
have not know the face
of any man.”
(Christenson 131)
Analyze
Above: Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil
“‘I hear that its fruit is truly
delicious…’” (Christenson 128)
Above: Mayan skull
“‘you do not desire it,’
She was told.”
(Christenson 128)
Analyze
Left: Mayan White
Dagger
“…the White Dagger,
the instrument of her
sacrifice.” (Christensn
132)
Right: Mayan heart
sacrifice
“‘…bring back her heart
inside a bowl…’”
(Christenson 131)
Analyze
Above: Maize
“‘…harvest a great netful of
maize…’” (Christenson 136)
Above: Rubber ball w/skull
drawing
“‘It appears to be a skull,
but it is merely drawn on
the ball…’” (Christenson
164)
Applying the Popul Vuh to real life
The Maiden Lady Blood and the tree of
One Hunahpu
• Maiden lady blood was curious about the fruit
of a tree
• She was told not to pick the fruit from the
tree, but she didn’t listen and she ended up
getting pregnant from the tree
• Her father was then told to have her killed
because she got pregnant
Popul Vuh has a moral behind the
story
Moral of the story
• What should be learned from Maiden Lady
blood is to listen to others and not do
something that we warned about because if
we do we could get into trouble and possibly
get hurt.
Argument
• It is arguable that the story of the “Maiden Lady
Blood-Descent of Huanaphu and Xbalanque” in
the Popul Vuh and stories in the Bible teach
similar morals.
• For example, the Maiden Lady Blood was to be
put to death when her father discovered that she
was with child. She was ordered to be sacrificed
because she was a “fornicator.” (Christenson 131)
Mayan culture thus emphasized that intimacy
should not be pursued until after marriage.
Argument (continued…)
• Similarly the Bible states in 1 Corinthians 7:2,
“But since there is so much immorality, each man
should have his own wife, and each woman her
own husband.” In this verse, Paul argues sexual
immortality is cured through marriage.
• First Corinthians 7:2 emphasizes that since
people cannot control themselves and so many
are having immoral sex outside of marriage
people should get married so they could have
their passions in a way that is moral.
Argument (continued…)
• Numerous Scriptures are present in the Bible that
acknowledge sex before marriage is a sin (Acts
15:20; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:13, 18; 10:8 2
Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3;
Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Jude 7)
• The Bible argues that it is morally right to have
complete abstinence before marriage. Sex
between a husband and his wife is the only form
of sexual relations of which God approves
(Hebrews 13:4)
Argument
Question
• Is it a coincidence that Popul Vuh has many
things in common with stories such the Bible
and fairytales or is it possible that humans
rationalize a certain way?
Work Cited
• Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya. c. 1556. Ed. Allen
Christenson. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2007. Print.
• Tatar, Maria ed., The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W.W. Norton&
Company.1999.Print
• "What Does the Bible Say about Sex before Marriage?" Bible
Questions Answered. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.gotquestions.org/sex-before-marriage.html>
• Mayan Uniface Dagger. N.d. Mound City Relics. Web.
• Codex Magliabechiano. N.d. Foundation for the Advancement of
Mesoamerican Studies, inc. Web.
• Cranach, Lucas the Elder. Tree of Knowledge. N.d. Wikipedia. Web.
• Tresscott. Mayan Skull. N.d. Pbase. Web.
• Maize. N.d. Watching America. By Alvaro Vargas Llosa. 2007. Web.