RAIN GOD’S BRIDE

New Zealand Times, Volume LIV, Issue 12652, 12 January 1927, Page 9

RAIN GOD’S BRIDE

OLD WELL TRAGEDY . CITY OF HUMAN SACRIFICE. Grim sacrifice of human beings have been brought to light by recent discoveries in tho buried cities of Yucatan by Mr Edward Thompson, tho famous archaeologist. For centuries tho tragedy of the Sacred -Well was enacted yearly. The grim, old well still exist®, a vast, black pool, overgrown with trees, at the end of a broad, raised roadway, along which tho sacrificial cortego used to pass. In its murky depths Ho the mouldered bones ot tho one© lovely maidens of the Maya race, sacrificed to appease tho grim Bain

Leaving the sacred temple, the funeral cortege, with its still living victim, passed along tho great highway. At tho head of tho procession the stately figure, of the high priest marched slowly, clad in ceremonial vestments and feathered headdress. Following him came the embroidered litter, borne bv sturdy priests, in which reposed tho most lovelv maiden to be found in tho Moya kingdom. with , terror in hoc eyes she goes to tho consummation of the supremo honour, her bridal with the Bain God in the depths of the Sacred 'Well. Two muscular priests lift tho maiden from her litter, forming with their arms a sling in which she lies motionless ns they carry her to the edge of tlio great well.

With a last forward swing the priests holding tlio maiden hurl her fair body far out over tho waters of the well.

According to Mr T. A. Willard, who tells the story of tho ancient sacrifice in his just-published book. "The City of the. Sacred Well," the city of ChichonTtzn, in which these sacrifices wove held, still contains many secrets of the old Maya races.