From Google Maps: Santa Ana, El Salvador
‘See!’ Chimalis addressed the pilgrims. ‘At Huracan’s first creation, the gods created humans from mud. But mud has no voice to worship the gods, and so the gods destroyed them in a deluge.’
The pilgrims knew the story, yet the priestess repeated it. For the story would lead her to their blood.
‘See! At Huracan’s second creation, the gods created men from wood and women from reeds. But wood and reeds have no souls to worship the gods, and so the gods destroyed them with boiling water.
‘See!’ She looked behind her at the mountain. Need she say the words? Couldn’t they guess it? ‘At Huracan’s third creation, the gods created humans, and gave them blood from their own bodies. Now the gods have enlisted Kisim, The Flatulent One, to destroy this creation … unless you give me your blood.’
Wordcount 139
Written for What Pegman Saw: Santa Ana, El Salvador
Close by Santa Ana, lay the ancient Mayan settlement of Sihuatehuacan, a name which translates as The Place of the Priestesses. While priestesses served many functions, they most often worked as oracles at sites of pilgrimage. In the fifth century CE, many Mayan cities, including The Place of the Priestesses, were destroyed in a powerful pyroclastic flow when the volcano Ilopango erupted. It seems to me that Kisim, god of death and decay, as the Flatulent One, would have been accorded prime responsibility.
crispina kemp 
Oooo a delicious slice of life I was unfamiliar with..
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You know me; I like to delve. I also like to show the truth behind the facile factoids. Although human sacrifice was practised, it was more usual just to cut a hand or a finger give one’s own blood. A bit like the Vikings. And although their myths told of Ages destroyed by catastrophes, those catastrophes swept away a defective creation.
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Interesting mythology, and what a funny name: the Flatulent One. I’m not at all surprised that people think of volcanoes as gods and try to please them with sacrifices. It would be surprising if they didn’t, really, given that it’s physically right there (unlike, say, “weather” or “death”) and is obviously powerful and apparently capricious and can destroy everything around it.
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I wasn’t surprised to find Kisim, god of death and decay, also called the Flatulent One. The Rainbow Goddess, who to us might seem a thing of beauty, despite her role as midwife and fertility deity, is also refered to as the Flatulence of Demons. I tell you, these folks were obsessed with stinky smells.
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I’ve heard that an active volcano can put out god-level odors, so I suppose an obsession with stinky smells would naturally follow!
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Sulpher tri-oxide, if my chemistry memory serves me. 🙂
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Mm, that does sound pretty stinky. 🙂
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Memories of experiment performed in the *fumes cabinet*, result whiff stank strongly of hardboiled eggs gone off.
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Ew, I know that stench!
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Once smelled, never forgotten 🙂
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An imaginative re-creation of a scene that must have been played out dozens if not hundreds of times.
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Apparently, a Mayan city exceedingly close to present day Santa Ana was so-swallowed.
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This was great, Crispina! Love your take.
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I thank you, Dale. It kinda encapsulates me interests. No, I don’t mean the flatulence.
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How’d you know I was gonna jump on that very fact?
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Cos I released I’d laid myself open for it. 🙂
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I am laughing all by myself here!
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I think that should have been realised. Wretched grammarly!
And it’s good when a laugh is infectious. Even a silent one that wafts across the blogosphere.
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Could not agree more.
As for Grammarly, it can only do so much!
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I’ve only been using it a couple or three weeks. I like it for online use, but it’s not a touch on Word’s own spelling and grammer checker.
At the moment I’m trying Pro-Writing-Aid as a final editor of The Spinner’s Game. See how it goes. Only the freebie, of course. Though if I find I like it I might fork for the annual licence.
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It bugs me more than anything. But is great to pick up little typos
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Memories of the spellchecker on WordPerfect, way back, The open letter to be published in the local press was supposed to read *we apologise to members of the public; monies will be refunded*. It was a cancellation of an event. But my speedy fingers missed the -l-, and so did the spellchecker. Luckily, the GM preferred to trust his eyes. He roared with laughter. He was a great boss. Apologies to members of the pubic …. Oops.
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Buahaha!!! Too funny!
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Yea, and I was new in post, and I was only typing his dictation cos his secretary was off ill. How to impress your new boss. Yet he was the one who promoted him to theatre manager.
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No kidding! 😉
One typo does not a character make! He saw that, obviously.
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I think he saw the truth of me when, in a Heads of Department meeting, I chided (polite word) them all for being like kids in the playground, everyone stabbing each other’s back instead of pulling together as a team. I was events coordinator at the time; my job was logistics, to get all the departments to deliver the best to satisfy the event organiser requirements. He promoted me onto another site.
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Sometimes it pays to speak up!
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I’d just got pissed off with their games. I do often wonder if the GM moved me to another site cos I was hell-bent on making trouble. Though first he did test me thoroughly to ensure I could deal with the swollen egos of has-been stars!
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I don’t blame you. It is a hideous waste of time.
And probably is the reason… 😉 OR maybe he wanted you to clean things up there as well
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Unlikely. Quite a small staff, and my remit didn’t extend to backstage. All experienced staff, been at it for years; it would have been wrong for me to interfere. Though I did kick arse once or twice when they messed up with visiting star’s hospitality. Oh how the mighty cry when they do fall. 🙂
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Gotcha
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🙂
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Wow. This was great to read and imagine. I always love mythology😃
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I thank you. Me too, I mean the love of mythology
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What a name! Love your take on this. The Flatulent One no doubt got the blame!
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Well, everyone else gets serious, especially when it’s somewhere like El Salvadore. So … let’s lighten the mood. Yet still it’s real. Just old.
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Beautifully told, crimson prose, and oh so haunting. Great storytelling.
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Oh shucks, thank you. 🙂
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