Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/106

 gentlemen who wished to take part in certain religious ceremonies, abstained from all indulgence that might give them any gratification: and fasted a longer or shorter time, according to the strength of their devotion to the gods. Some fasted three months (sixty days), others only one. Once having commenced a fast, none would dare to break it until the end of the year, believing that if they did, dire misfortune would befall them. Throughout their fast they painted themselves black. The priests meanwhile elected four officials to assist them in the religious services of New-Year's Day. These assistants, called chacob, were supposed to represent the gods of rain and agriculture, also called chacob. The duty of the four men elected was to make a number of balls and cakes of incense needed for the occasion.

On the first day of Pop, those who had prepared themselves by fasting and other abstinence, washed off all the black paint, putting on red instead. We may suppose that the black paint signified the death of the old year; as for the red they considered it very becoming, using it because it was fashionable. It might on that particular occasion have been also symbolical of the new fire, likewise kindled on the first day of the year.