are Nymphaea ampla even though they are not in pro- 

 portion to the size of the vessel. We know that balche 

 was a drink fortified with several other plants, and that 

 N, ampla is implicated. This would permit the ritual 

 beverage to transcend the ordinary inebriated state that 

 one might expect from a mere fermented alcoholic bev- 

 erage. The associated glyphs are indecipherable, but 

 Thompson's suggestion that they are associated with 

 Tl and therefore also with Almanac 13 implies the bee 

 which produces honey. It was honey that was fer- 

 mented to produce the mead-like balche. Honeycombs, 

 hives, and N, ampla are seen together in the Codex 

 Vindobonensis Mexicanus. It is suggested by Thomp- 

 son that this is possibly Xcolel (Our Mistress), but she 

 may well be one of the shamanic caste of women who 

 played an important role in Maya shamanic stratifica- 

 tion and were most probably the preparators of balche. 

 The serpent in the hair of Xcolel may be emblematic 

 of the cordate-leaved plant and I have suggested as 

 Ipomoea violacea in Tl and T2. The Aztecs knew the 

 morning glory as coatl-xoxuhqui or "green snake plant," 

 because of its vining habit. This may imply one more 

 additive to the balche. Glyph 3 indicates white God H 

 who may be a prophet or priest of either sex. There can 

 be little doubt that we are dealing with shamanic div- 

 ination in this picture and the two previous ones. 

 T4. (p. 16b) The God M sits holding a bone as a sort of 



scepter. From his turban there emerge two flowers. The 

 attendant glyphs in no way clarify the nature or func- 

 tion of these. 



Almanac 24 (pp. 4c-5c) Divinatory 



Commentary: Kinich Ahau, the sun god, and Itzam Na, God D, 



both figure in this almanac and this has led Thompson (1972) 



to suggest that the almanac deals with divining the outcome 



of disease. 



T3. God H is seated on a dias and has in his head dress a 



water lily flower on a peduncle. 



98 



