Maya Bloodletting Rituals: Lintels 24 & 25 from Structure 23, Yaxchilan

Ancestor oil is a spiritual preparation used for veneration, honoring, and communicating with deceased ancestors, created by combining specific ingredients including carrier oils (grapeseed or olive oil), herbal components (mullein for channeling the dead, frankincense and myrrh for enlightenment, mugwort for psychic visions, and tobacco as an offering), and essential oils (orange for ancestral connection, benzoin for portal opening and closing, and crown chakra oil for spiritual communication), with the mixture blessed and charged on an altar before use.

Veneration in the context of icons is defined as the sense that the image constitutes a link between the worshipper and the thing which is signified. This concept is often referred to as icons being 'Windows to Heaven,' a phrase that dates from the late 7th century or at best the 6th century according to Gavin's sources.

Ancestor veneration is fundamentally about continuing communication with family bloodline relatives who no longer have physical bodies. It is not about ignoring them due to ignorance of other dimensions of life. This practice represents a mature and informed view of life that recognizes existence beyond the physical realm.

The shaman can put participants of the ritual into a trance which allows them to contact the spirits of their ancestors and magical beings who offer advice and service. Spiritual guides sometimes the brew also gives the ability to see the future or tap into the collective memory of an entire tribe or even humanity. Some gain memories of the past of their past selves.

The Atlantean crystal represents ancestor veneration—the world's oldest religious practice of praying to deceased family members. As tribes merged, family spirits became chief gods representing broader people histories. This evolved into Egyptian Osiris mythology, where Pharaohs could spiritually ascend to join Osiris in the underworld, guiding people left behind. Jewish tradition similarly honors ancestor Enoch who ascended as an angel. The crystal requires righteous royal vessels to channel energy, eventually merging humans into its hive mind. The circle-with-dot symbol (representing the sun and later Saturn) appears throughout esoteric traditions: Egyptian sun symbolism, Disney's spinning crystal resembling Saturn, and the Atlantean logo. This symbol serves as a secret initiation code connecting esoteric media, allowing deeply researched individuals to recognize each other across different works.

Yaxchilan's famous lintels (24, 25, 26) form a narrative sequence depicting ritual and battle preparation. Lintel 24 shows Bird Jaguar holding a torch during night rituals, with Lady Shook Xoox performing bloodletting through her tongue. Lintel 25 depicts her vision of a war god emerging from smoke. Lintel 26 shows final battle preparation with Shield Jaguar in armor. These were installed in 726 A.D. but created between 681-709 A.D., demonstrating how Maya art combined narrative storytelling with political messaging about royal power and divine connection.

The famous Lintels 24 and 25 at Yaxchilan provide detailed visual documentation of Maya bloodletting ceremonies. Lintel 24 depicts Shield Jaguar II standing over his wife Lady Six Sky, who kneels over a brazier pulling a stingray barbed rope through her perforated tongue, with blood covering her cheeks. Shield Jaguar prepares to let his blood, probably from his penis, while further sacrifices of captured prisoners occur. The inscription dates this to October 28, 709 CE, indicating Shield Jaguar was aged 60-80 with titles including 'Captor of Ahawaha' and 'Bloodlord of Yaxchilan.' Lintel 25 shows Lady Six Sky holding braziers filled with blood-soaked bark paper, with the vision serpent rising from the smoke and an ancestor spirit emerging from its maw as a warrior figure. These carvings reveal the integration of political power, religious devotion, and artistic expression in Maya civilization.

Shield Jaguar II was enthroned in October 681 AD and ruled for over 60 years, making him one of the longest-reigning Maya rulers. He was frequently referred to in hieroglyphic texts as 'Master of Yanic,' a title referencing his first captive before becoming ruler. This phrase was combined with his name in 32 different occasions throughout his reign.

The Messiah Maya Matrix is a methodological approach to discovering parallels between Mesoamerican history and Book of Mormon history. This approach, coined by Neil Stith, assumes that major Book of Mormon characters are also major Mesoamerican characters, and major Book of Mormon cities are major Mesoamerican cities. Researchers look for patterns and trends rather than exact name matches. The Book of Mormon provides a unique pattern for Zarahemla: a list of four kings ending with a transition to judges. Through comparing Book of Mormon king lists with Mayan king lists, researchers identified Yaxchilan as the Book of Mormon city of Zarahemla. Shield Jaguar II (Mosiah) came to Yaxchilan from the highlands, and temple building flourished in the lowlands during his reign. His introduction into the lowland culture created a unifying trend but also created a strain of royal heirs who laid claim to the throne. Shield Jaguar II married Lady Kook, the daughter of Zarahemla. This marriage explains how Mosiah came into Zarahemla after 300 years of Mulekite kings. The marriage required divine approval, depicted with Lady Kook petitioning her ancestor. In the second lintel, Lady Kook performs a bloodletting ceremony in front of Shield Jaguar II, pulling a thorn rope through her tongue. In the third lintel, Shield Jaguar II receives the crown from Lady Kook. Named glyphs have been erased from lineage stelae at Yaxchilan. The researchers believe the Sun Kings or King Men are responsible for the removal of the names. Messiah possessed the brass plates with the record of the Israelite people, bringing spiritual knowledge distributed to the Mulekite-Nephi population. King Benjamin's Mayan name is Yo at Balam, and very little is known about him from the archaeological record because he was a humble servant king. Shield Jaguar II demonstrated he honored the Mulekite heritage by placing the list of Mulekite kings on hieroglyphic stairway number three at Yaxchilan. Shield Jaguar II and Lady Kook named their firstborn son Yo at Balam, which is the same name as the founder of the Mulekite lineage (Mosiah). Shield Jaguar III (Messiah the younger) is depicted with Bird Jaguar (Alma 2) being given permission. He brings with him the Covenant illustrated by the bond rope on his back and the message of the Church of Quetzalcoatl depicted by the bird head and cattle feathers on his headdress. The bloodletting ritual on Stela 3 references Mosiah the younger and Alma 2. The blood coming out of the hands forms an outline of a corn leaf, as corn and blood in Mayan culture both represent life. The blood is being poured into codices (records) at the base of the illustration, representing the passing of the plates. The codices have six layers because in six days God created the heaven and earth, and on the seventh he rested. Six represents the work of God, the creation of God. The flap staff ceremony depicts Bird Jaguar (Alma 2) and Shield Jaguar III (Messiah the younger). This event portrays when Messiah retired the throne and Alma became the chief judge. Mosiah abdicated the throne because his sons would not take the throne, and it went to judges. The judgeship is represented by the flap staff, which is passed on to Alma, making him both high priest and chief judge. This event is mentioned in the Book of Mormon and seems that a specific event occurring in both the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerica is not coincidental. The researchers argue that specific events occurring in both the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerica are not coincidental. They find that historical figures and specific historical events recorded at Yaxchilan fit the prominent Book of Mormon characters and stories recorded in Zarahemla. The geography and interactions with other cities and subculture groups are also consistent with Book of Mormon stories. After assessing the entire body of evidence, the researchers find an overwhelming list that signifies Yaxchilan as a direct parallel to Zarahemla.

The Yaxchilan lintels (24, 25, and 26) are ancient Maya limestone carvings from Structure 23 in Chiapas, Mexico, dating to the Late Classic period around 725 AD. Lintel 24 depicts a bloodletting ritual performed by Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc on 5 Eb 15 Mak, 709 AD. These lintels were discovered in their original context and later removed by Alfred Maudslay (1882-1883) to the British Museum, while Lintel 26 went to the Museo Nacional de Antropología in 1964. Created in high relief with deeply recessed backgrounds, they represent the pinnacle of Mayan art, showing elaborate royal costumes with remarkable detail. Each lintel was signed by different artists, indicating specialized craftsmanship rather than common trade.

Yaxchilan is located deep in the jungle on the Mexico-Guatemala border, accessible only by boat along the Usumacinta River. The river, meaning 'place of many small or revered monkeys' in Nahuatl, was a crucial ancient Maya waterway. The site faces challenges including tropical diseases, wildlife, and security risks. The visitor explores palace-style rooms belonging to kings and queens, discovering that only a small portion of the large site has been excavated. Building 23 and 24 contain three significant lintels depicting Lady Xok, an important queen performing bloodletting rituals and consulting with the war god Akbalchu. These lintels were taken by British archaeologist Alfred Maudslay in the 19th century, with two now in the British Museum.

Museums worldwide face ongoing ethical debates about whether they serve as sacred repositories of cultural heritage or as accumulators of stolen artifacts, with many objects in foreign museums having been acquired through illegal means, colonial-era looting, or questionable circumstances, leading to increasing global movements for repatriation to countries of origin.

Contemporary developments in repatriation have opened up questions about the processes by which collections have been made, whether there is such a thing as a natural community for objects and collections of art, and what have been the forms and histories of care for these objects. These issues represent a new vitality and urgency in museum studies, particularly in light of ongoing debates about returning cultural heritage to source communities.

Ethnographic museums emerged from colonial extraction, where administrators removed material expressions of technology, religion, ecology, and aesthetics from colonized regions to Europe. These collections represent 'musiological gluttony'—vast quantities of artifacts held in inaccessible storage without proper contextualization. The fundamental ethical problem is that repatriating a few objects cannot address the systemic closure surrounding access rights when entire collections remain in Europe. This creates an 'elephant in the room' blind spot in progressive curating, as institutions avoid confronting the foundational injustices of their establishment.