Hanal Pixan... mayan celebration of the death.

Hector
27 oct 2019
3 Min. de lectura

Hanal Pixan, in mayan, is literally: Food for the Death.

This is a mayan tradition with catholic influence, designed to remember those who are no longer with us, those friends and relatives that have begun the "long journey". It is celebrated from October 31 to November 2. In these days the death are given permission to return to the terrenal world.

Mayans believe that people that die do not leave permanently, their souls remain with us, specially in these 3 days, in which they return to "taste" the food prepared by their relatives. They come back from the path that once led them away, but now it is leading them back... to the Hanal Pixan.

First day is dedicated to the children and its called U HANAL PALAL; the second day is specially for adults and its called U HANAL NUCUCH UINICOB; the third day is the U HANAL PIXANOOB, called in some places PIXAN MASS, because on that day a special ceremony for the death is celebrated, must of the time in the cemetery of the town.

It is customary, mainly in the inland of the Yucatan Peninsula, that the children wear a red or black band on their right hand to avoid being "taken" by the death. They also tie house animals in their houses because they can see the death and prevent them to reach the offering.

This tradition includes several rites, but the main one is an offering called ALTAR, where typical food is set: hot chocolate, atole, mucbipollo, jicama, tangerines, papaya candy, coconuts and pumpkin seed, tamales; everything decorated with candles, flowers, local crafts and the pictures of "those gone". For children they include toys and special flowers called XPUJUC (wild yellow flowers), XTÉS (red flowers) and VIRGINIAS. The second and third days it for adults and all adults so they add to the offering liquor and cigarretes.

As you can see, one of the main components of this tradition is food and drinks, following is a list of typical food in the offerings in their mayan original name.

DRINKS

Sa: atole (drink made by mixing corn flour, sugar and water) this comes from Nahutal; Ak Sa: new atole; Cikil Sa: atole with pumpkin seed; Tan Chucuá: chocolate atole; Keyem: pozole (traditional soup that mixes vegetables and meat); Balché: liquor made by fermenting sugar, water and wood form a tree of the same name.

FOOD

Pib: this word literally means: cooked in the ground or underneath the ground. It is an ancient way of cooking the food in hand made "ovens" that are dug in the ground with coal underneath it and covered in different kind of leaves like banana or corn. It also may refer to a type of tamal (filled corn bread) called pibipollo or mucbipollo, but these last terms include the spanish word for chicken: pollo; Chachac Wajes: red tamal. Its name means "very red bread", its color comes from the achiote (seeds) it is made from. Chilmole: kind of a stew made from burnt peppers, meat, tomato and other vegetables. Chacbi Nal: Boiled Corn; Pibi Nal: Corn cooked underneath the ground; Xek: mix of fruits such as orange, tangerines, jicama, etc, with crushed pepper; Chay Wah: tamal made with chaya (regional vegetable similar to spinach); Pin: thick tortilla; Buli Wah: tortilla made with a special kind of bean called espelon; Salbut: fried tortilla with fillings.