This study, based on fieldwork in rural Lanquín, Guatemala, discusses cultural continuity and the sense of historicity through agricultural rituals and worship of the agricultural deity Tzuultaq’as.

The conceptualisation of Tzuultaq’a can be traced to the K’iche’ creation mythology, Popol Vuh, commonly known as the bible of the Mayas.

The spirit of Tzuultaq’a has managed to endure. As Stefan Permanto (2015: 76) observes in his fieldwork in the municipality of Chisec in Alta Verapaz, “the beliefs and ritual practices concerning the Tzuultaq’a were never completely eradicated”.

Prior to sowing, the man first conducts a ceremony and has candles lit in the temples. Then, back at home, he burns copal on the eve of sowing [as an offering to the deities, Tzuultaq’as]; before dawn, he grabs a planting stick to plant the maize seeds, as has always been done since the time of antiquity. (FM June 2015)

The reference to his birth place, Rube-hal, invokes both a cave, known as Rubehal, one kilometre away from his hut, and a Tzuultaq’a who supposedly resides in the place. Responding to my further queries about Tzuultaq’as, he explains, “Tzuultaq’a is our belief, different from yours. They are the own-ers of land.” The term Tzuultaq’a encodes a two-fold semantic reference: animistic spir-ituality and dominant territories. He further explains, “Tzuultaq’as are how we name our mountains/hills, where there are rains, and the thunders are heard. Tzuultaq’as have different names, such as Rubehal, Saqik, and Sebach” (FM June 2015). Thus, where the Tzuultaq’a dominates or the mountain and valley meet invokes a personal and ethnic reference to one’s origins.

The ceremony involves offering candles and burning copal pom as tribute to the Tzuultaq’as. The incense of the burning copal carries messages to the deities in prayers: “I’m pleading and I’m confrming. […] And our copal is burning, so is the candle, which I am submitting to you as a gift to make the request for your permission.” The prayers are to the Tzuultaq’as, who sustain human life with food and drink from the sacred plant, maize.