This is Bolon-ti-ku. Bolon Chan is the face of the ruler of men, the two day occupant of the mat and throne. He came in Katun 3 Ahau. After that there will be another lord of the land who will establish the law of another katun, after the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau shall have run its course. At that time there shall be few children; then there shall be mourning among the Itza who speak our language brokenly. Industry vigor finally take the place, in the first tun , of the sin of the Itzá who speak our language brokenly. It is Bolon-ti-ku who shall come to his end the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau. Then the riddle of the rulers of the land shall end the law of the katun. Then those of the lineage of the noble chiefs shall come into their own, with the other men of discretion and with those of the lineage of the chiefs. Their faces had been trampled on the ground, and they had been overthrown by the unrestrained upstarts of the day and of the katun, the son of evil and the offspring of the harlot, who were born when their day dawned in Katun 3 Ahau. Thus shall end the power of those who are two-faced toward our Lord God.
But when the law of the katun shall have run its course, then God will bring about a great deluge again which will be the end of the world. When this is over, then our Lord Jesus Christ shall descend over the valley of Jehoshaphat beside the town of Jerusalem / where he redeemed us with his holy blood. He shall descend on a great cloud to bear true testimony that he was once obliged to suffer, stretched out on a cross of wood. Then shall descend in his great power and glory the true God who created heaven and earth and everything on earth. He shall descend to level off the world for the good and the bad, the conquerors the captives.
B. The Katun Prophecies from the Chilam Balam of Chumayel
There are multiple versions of the katun prophecies in the
Chilam Balam of Chumayel
as translated by Ralph Roys. These prophecies are recorded in chapters 18, 22, & 24 of his translation. Below you will find all of these versions for the three
katun
periods covered in this book,
katuns
4, 2 and 13. Use them to understand what type of events the Maya believed were cyclical and thus predictable.
Image: The Katun Wheel from the
Chilam Balam of Chumayel
Chapter XVIII A Series of Katun Prophecies
Katun 4 Ahau
The katun is established at Uuc-yab-nal in Katun 4 Ahau. At the mouth of the well, Uuc-yab-nal, it is established ... It shall dawn in the south. The face of is covered; his face is dead. There is mourning for water; there is mourning for bread. His mat and his throne shall face the west. Blood-vomit is the charge . At that time his loin-cloth and his mantle shall be white. Unattainable shall be the bread of the katun. The quetzal shall come; the green bird shall come. The kax tree shall come; the bird shall come. The tapir shall come. The tribute shall be hidden at the mouth of the well.
Katun 2 Ahau
The katun is established at Maylu, Zaci, Mayapan in Katun 2 Ahau. The katun is on its own base. The rope shall descend; the poison of the serpent shall descend, pestilence three piles of skulls. The men are of little use. Then the burden was bound on Buluc-chabtan. a dry wind. The ramon is the bread of 2 Ahau. It shall be half famine and half abundance. This is the charge of Katun 2 Ahau.
Katun 13 Ahau
The Katun is established at Kinchil Coba, Maya Cuzamil, in Katun 13 Ahau. Itzamna, Itzam-tzab, is his face during its reign. The ramon shall be eaten. Three years shall be locust years, ten generations . The fan shall be displayed; the bouquet shall be displayed, borne by Yaxaal Chac in the heavens. Unattainable is the bread of the katun in 13 Ahau. The sun shall be eclipsed. Double is the charge of the katun: men without offspring, chiefs without successors. For five days the sun shall be eclipsed, then it shall be seen . This is the charge of Katun 13 Ahau.
Chapter XXII A Book of Katun Prophecies
Katun 4 Ahau
Katun 4 Ahau is the eleventh katun according to the count. The katun is established at Chichen Itzá. The settlement of the Itzá shall take place . The quetzal shall come, the green bird shall come. Ah Kantenal shall come. Blood-vomit shall come. Kukulcan shall come with them for the second time. the word of God. The Itzá shall come.
Katun 2 Ahau
Katun 2 Ahau is the twelfth katun. At Maya [uaz] Cuzamil the katun is established. For half there will be bread; for half there will be water. the word of God. For half of it there will be a temple for the rulers. the end of the word of God.
Katun 13 Ahau
The judgment.
It is Katun 13 Ahau according to the count. The katun is established at Kinchil Coba, the thirteenth katun. The bouquet of the rulers of the world shall be displayed. There is the universal judgment of our Lord God. Blood shall descend from the tree and stone. Heaven and earth shall burn. It is the word of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is the holy judgment, the holy judgment of our Lord God. There shall be no strength in heaven and earth. Great cities shall enter into Christianity, any settlements of people whatever, the great towns, whatever their names are as well as the little towns, all over our land of Maya Cuzamil Mayapan. for our two-day men, because of lewdness . . . the sons of malevolence. At the end of our blindness and shame our sons shall be regenerated from carnal sin. There is no lucky day for us. It is the cause of death from bad blood, when the moon rises, when the moon sets, the entire moon, its power; all blood. So it was with the good planets looked upon as good. It is the end of the word of God. The waters of baptism shall come over them, the Holy Spirit. They receive the holy oil without compulsion; it comes from God. There are too many Christians who go to those who deny the holy faith, . . . the Itzá and the balams. There is then an end to our losing...
Chapter XXIV Prophecies of a New Religion
Katun 4 Ahau
The prophecy of Nahau Pech the great priest. At that time when the sun shall stand high , lord, when the ruler has had compassion, in the fourth katun it shall come to pass, the tidings of God are truly brought. They ask perchance what I recommend, lord. You see your guests upon the road, oh Itzá! It is the fathers of the land who will arrive. comes from the mouth of Nahau Pech, the priest in the time of Katun 4 Ahau at the end of the
katun, lord. The food of the ant<-like> men shall be destroyed. They shall be at the end of their food <-supply> because of the boboch food, the great hawk food, the ant, the cowbird, the grackle, the blackbird, the mouse.
Katun 13 Ahau
The prophecy of Chilam Balam, the singer, of Cabal-chen, Mani. On 13 Ahau the katun will end in the time of the Itzá, in the time of Tancah , lord. There is the sign of Hunab-ku on high. The raised wooden standard shall come. It shall be displayed to the world, that the world may be enlightened, lord.
There has been a beginning of strife, there has been a beginning of rivalry, when the priestly man shall come to bring the sign in time to come, lord. A quarter of a league, a league he comes. You see the mut-bird surmounting the raised wooden standard. A new day shall dawn in the north, in the west.
Itzamná Kauil shall rise. Our lord comes, Itzá. Our elder brother comes, men of Tantun. Receive your guests, the bearded men, the men of the east, the bearers of the sign of God, lord. Good indeed is the word of God that comes to us. The day of our regeneration comes. You do not fear the world, Lord, you are the only God who created us. It is sufficient, then, that the word of God is good, lord. the guardian of our souls. He who receives him, who has truly believed, he will go to heaven with him. Nevertheless the beginning were the two-day men.
Let us exalt his sign on high, let us exalt it with the raised standard. Great is the discord that arises today. The First Tree of the World is restored; it is displayed to the world. This is the sign of Hunab-ku on high. Worship it, Itzá. You shall worship today his sign on high. You shall worship it furthermore with true good will, and you shall worship the true God today, lord. You shall be converted to the word of Hunab-ku, lord; it came from heaven. Oh it is he who speaks to you! Be admonished indeed, Itzá. They will correct their ways who receive him in their hearts in another katun, lord.
Believe in my word itself, I am Chilam Balam, and I have interpreted the entire message of the true God the world; it is heard in every part of the world, lord, the word of God, the Lord of heaven and earth. Very good indeed is his word in heaven, lord. He is ruler over us; he is the true God over our souls.
But those to whom is brought, lord: thrice weighed down is their strength, the younger brothers native to the land. Their hearts are submerged . Their hearts are dead in their carnal sins. They are frequent backsliders, the principal ones who spread , Nacxit Xuchit in the carnal sin of his companions, the two-day rulers. crookedly on their thrones; crookedly in carnal sin. Two-day men they call them. For two days their seats, their cups, their hats. They are the unrestrained lewd ones of the day, the unrestrained lewd ones of the night, the rogues of the world. They twist their necks, they wink their eyes, they slaver at the mouth, at the rulers of the land, lord. Behold, when they come, there is no truth in the words of the foreigners to the land. They tell very solemn and mysterious things, the sons of the men of Seven-deserted-buildings, the offspring of the women of Seven-deserted-buildings, lord.