Xulu- Maya SpiritSpirit"The Seer"

The Seers of Xibalba

Xulu and his companion Pacam served as diviners in the court of Xibalba, the K'iche' Maya underworld realm ruled by the death lords Hun Came and Vucub Came. Though they dwelt among the lords of death, these two seers became instruments of the Hero Twins' plan to overcome Xibalba from within. The Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque had descended into the underworld to avenge their father Hun Hunahpu and uncle Vucub Hunahpu, who had been defeated and killed by the Xibalbans a generation before. Knowing their own deaths were imminent, the twins summoned Xulu and Pacam before their sacrifice and gave them precise instructions: when the death lords consulted them about disposing of the remains, they were to advise grinding the bones and casting them into the river.

The Counsel of Bone and Water

After the Hero Twins deliberately submit to death on a great pyre, the lords of Xibalba turn triumphantly to their court diviners for guidance on the remains. Hun Came and Vucub Came ask what should be done with the charred bones. Xulu and Pacam, following the twins' prior instructions, counsel the lords to grind the bones into fine powder and scatter the remains into the river. The death lords, trusting their seers completely, comply without suspicion. The bones are ground on a stone as one grinds maize, and the powder is cast into the flowing water.

This is exactly the outcome the Hero Twins had arranged. The river water reconstitutes their essence, and within five days the twins emerge first as catfish swimming in the current, then resume human form to begin their final campaign of deception against the death lords. Disguised as wandering performers, they infiltrate Xibalba and systematically dismantle the power of the underworld lords. Had the Xibalbans chosen another method of disposal, the twins' resurrection could never have occurred. Xulu and Pacam's counsel carried weight because no one in Xibalba doubted their seers. The death lords ground the bones themselves.