”And this is the cry of their hearts, here it is:

‘Wait! On this blessed day,

Thou Hurricane, thou Heart of the Sky-Earth,

thou giver of ripeness and freshness,

and thou giver of daughters and sons,

spread thy stain, spill thy drops

of green and yellow;

give life and beginning

to those I bear and beget,

that they might multiply and grow,

nurturing and providing for thee,

calling to thee along the roads and paths,

on rivers, in canyons,

beneath the trees and bushes,

give them their daughters and sons.

‘May there be no blame, obstacle, want, or misery;

let no deceiver come behind or before them,

may they neither be snared nor wounded,

nor seduced, nor burned,

nor diverted below the road nor above it;

may they neither fall over backward nor stumble;

keep them on the Green Road, the Green Path.

‘May there be no blame or barrier for them

through any secrets or sorcery of thine;

may thy nurturers and providers be good

before thy mouth and thy face,

thou, Heart of Sky; thou, Heart of Earth;

thou, Bundle of Flames;

and thou, Tohil, Aulix, Hacauitz,

under the sky, on the earth,

the four sides, the four corners;

may there be only light, only continuity within,

before thy mouth and thy face, thou god.’

So it was with the lords when they fasted during nine score, thirteen score, or seventeen score days; their days of fasting were many. They cried their hearts out over their vassals and over all their wives and children. Each and every lord did service, as a way of cherishing the light of life and of cherishing lordship.

Such were the lordships of the Keeper of the Mat, Keeper of the Reception House Mat, Minister, and Herald. They went into fasting two by two, taking turns at carrying the tribes and all the Quiché people on their shoulders.”

(Popol Vuh)