According to a piece on Reuters' website, some archaeologists believe that they have unearthed at least one of the ritaul entrances to Xibalba, one of the least appealing places one could possibly want to stumble upon in mythologies of the New World.
Xibalba roughly translates into "Place of Fear" or "Place of Phantoms." A real fun place dedicated to "sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, and ultimately death." To arrive at this destination one has to travel through rivers filled with really cheery stuff like scorpions, blood, and pus. If, and when, you finally threaded your way past confusing crossroads, disguised benches that might roast you if you made the error of resting upon it, the shrieking bats, living razors, fires and hail, if you actually made it that far--guess what?
You won a ticket to a ball game! And what a ball game it was featuring a deadly razored ball. The Mesoamericans loved their ball courts and their ritual ball games and Xibalba seemed to feature one of the deadliest sporting destinations in the local mythology!Beanworld's Der Stinkle was, in part anyway, inspired by Xibalba and the other Mesoamerican underworlds.
I've been thinking about Der Stinkle a lot lately. Nice slice of synchronicity to stumble across this news piece, don't'cha think?
3 comments:
does this mean that Mr. Spook or another bean, possibly Beanish, is going to have to journey through der Stinkle on some sort of quest?
and Wow, finding Xibalba is just...wow
Hi Larry!
I am an entomologist and a HUGE fan of Beanworld and of der stinkle (obviously). I've always tried to identify in my head what type of insect der stinkle was...of course, they don't fit correctly into any group (and that is a good thing!) but i've always thought about it as if they are social, soil-dwelling, detritivores that have the attitude of gremlins. So, somewhere between termites and ants.
If there is any insect information that you are interested in, shoot me an e-mail!
-Monique
I think it's very interesting that they have unearthed this portal to the underworld so close to the end date of the Mayan calendar. Kind of makes you wonder.
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