White Path
The White Path, Sacbe, or Sakbe, is a religion of Mutulese origin and both the traditional and state religion of the Mutul that focuses on ritual practices to be carried out diligently to establish a connection between a vast pantheon of gods and mankind.
The first archeological proof of the White Path existence go back as far as the Paol’lunyu Dynasty, in 1000 BC, and elements of the religion can even be found in anterior periods of time, such as the Wayeb. Still, these earliest Mutuleses writings do not refer to a unified religion, but rather to a collection of native beliefs and mythology. This patchwork of rarely written, often orals, traditions was first unified during the rule of Tecuman II the Wise, and were henceforth written down in the “most holy of book”, the Yax k’uhulchiho. From there, the state-mandated approach to the religion became the norm, while other form closer to shamanism slowly disappeared or became marginal.
Today, the White Path is the official state religion of the Mutul and is found in all aspects of its society, from the political class, to the health services, to the scientific fields, to education… the very word for “citizenship” doesn’t exist in Mutli. The inhabitants of the country are referred as “Faithfuls” in official documents instead. It has been theorized that the Mutul is not actually a “country”, but a collection of various nations that do not share the same languages, ethnicities, but are unified by a common religion, under its divine-like figurehead, the K’uhul Ajaw.
Etymology
Practices
Calendrical mapping
The Mutulese landscape is a ritual topography, with landmarks such as mountains, wells and caves being assigned to specific ancestors and deities. an important part of ritual takes place in or near such landmarks. Ritual is governed not only by the geographical lay-out of shrines and temples, but also by the projection of calendrical models onto the landscape. specific combinations of day-names and numbers are ascribed to specialized shrines, signalling the appropriate times for their ritual use.
Covenants
At the basis of the White Path is the idea of the existence of “Covenants” or “Pacts” between mankind and superior entities. These Covenants can either concern the entirety of mankind and of the Pantheon, or only a specific group or even a specific individual and a single spirit. Offerings and sacrifices are required to maintain a Covenant, as well as performing specific rituals or following religious rules. It is the respect of the Covenants in all aspects of life that ensure the good balance of the world.
Offerings and sacrifices
Sacrifices, either of animal or of human blood, is ubiquitous of the White Path. Offerings serve to establish or renew Covenants, to thank or ask for forgiveness the gods or the ancestors. the choice, number, preparation, and arrangement of the offered items obey to stringent rules which is why numerous rituals can only be performed by specialized members of the priesthood, even when it comes to the cult of the ancestors.
The forms sacrifice might take vary considerably given the time period or the region, but only the Mutul currently still practice human sacrifices, as a legal and religious form of capital punishment and abortion and therefore relatively uncommon. In all countries with White Pilgrims communities, sacrifice usually consist of animals such as deer, dog, quail, turkey, and fish. The White Path is also caracterized by the wide spread practice of Bloodletting during which the earlobes, tongues, and foreskins are cut to spill blood either over papers to be burned, or directly on altars or idols.
Self Improvement
An important teaching of the White Path is that Physical and Spiritual Improvement are one and the same. In the same way that exercise reinforce the body, physical and moral pains also reinforce the spirit of the individual. Many rituals therefore have a focus on self-harm in a controlled environment. To deal with the “pains of the spirit”, an important, codified, system of confessions exist. In general, priests act as guides in the parcours of an individual, on it’s “Path” toward self-improvement, to avoid the excess and to better handle suffering.
Theology
The White Path is a polytheistic religion, with many kind of gods, themselves with different, independent, aspects. Most gods are associated with a cycle, be it the phase of the moon, the rain, or the winds. For example, every local gods of the rain are considered parts of a larger “rain god” entity, itself part of a larger “water” entity with the gods of the rivers and oceans. Different kind of rain gods exist, such as the “Enraged Chaac”, “Nuturing Chaac”, “Majestic Chaac”, “Silent Chaac”, and so on, all representing both different kind of rain but also different natures and feelings associated with the god. When Chaac grow older, turning in the god of Rivers, Mamlab, he also has various aspects, generally one associated with each river and its particular “temperaments”, up until its death in the ocean.
Contrary to monotheists or even pantheistic religions, the White Path doesn’t recognize a single entity as a Creator God. Instead, the White Path texts teach that the Cosmos was created by Thirteen different Creator Gods, who awaken in the middle of the original creation, and it’s through their attempts to communicate with one another and to name everything present in the original formless void and to order them that they created the Divine Language and the first laws, and that it’s only since then that the days are counted, because things before didn’t count. These thirteen gods aren’t considered part of any larger cycles, and they are “individual” entities in their own rights, but they are almost always invoked together, as one group.
Cosmology
The Cosmology of the White Path is cyclic. it is based on the cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth of various elements, such as the rain and the rivers, the sun, or the moon. Even human beings and living creatures in general are considered part of these cycles of death and rebirth, spending time after death in the Aquatic Flower Paradise (Janab’witz) before being reincarnated. It is also possible for humans to reach godhood, generally through achieving an extremely deep and personal understanding of the Cosmos and of one’s own nature but also through dedicating their life, and death, to the gods.
Once divinized, human join one of the Thirteen Heaven which form the celestial portion of the universe. There's also the Xibalba, and Underworld divided in Nine Levels ruled by the many aspects of the god of death and cohort of legions, with two rulers per level. The Xibalba is an important part of the White Path Cosmology, serving as both a source of illness, a place for those who broke the Covenants to be punished, and an important step in the journey of every hero that they need to face and go through, at the peril of their lives.