The universal Jesus Christ was known in the heavens by those of all cultures as the great cross.

A return of the universal. They knew the Jesus Christ of the cross within the universal hunab ku. The great cross in the sky. What was made manifest in heaven so came to earth.



The most famous of the katun prophecies in the Books of Chilam Balam are predictions of the coming of Christianity and the Spanish Conquest, purportedly made decades, or even centuries, before the arrival of the Europeans in the Yucatan. The most complete version of the prophecy is attributed to "Chilam Balam, the singer, of Cabal-chen, Mani," a chilan who the Books tell us lived shortly before the Conquest, in the katun 2 Ahaw which began in about 1500.
The singer of Cabel-chen's prophecy is for katun 13 Ahaw, which ended about 1539. Cortez reached Mexico is 1519, near the beginning of the katun; The Spanish established themselves at Merida in the Yucatan at the end of the katun. The Book of Chilam Balam of Chuyamel records the prophecy thus:


The prophecy of Chilam Balam, the singer, of Cabal-chen, Mani. On [the day] 13 Ahau the katun will end in the time of the Itzá [a people of the Yucatan], in the time of Tancah [Mayapan, the last Maya city to dominate the Yucatan], Lord. There is the sign of Hunab-ku [the one true God] on high. The raised wooden standard [Christian Cross] shall come. It shall be displayed to the world, that the world may be enlightened, Lord. There has been a beginning of strife, there has been a beginning of rivalry, when the priestly man shall come to bring the sign [of God] in time to come, Lord. . . .
Receive your guests, the bearded men, the men of the east, the bearers of the sign of God, Lord. Good indeed is the word of God that comes to us. The day of our regeneration comes. . . .

The First Tree of the World [The World Tree, a symbol of the cosmos associated with the Christian cross by the Maya] is restored; it is displayed to the world. This is the sign of Hunab-ku on high. Worship it, Itzá. You shall worship today his sign on high. You shall worship it furthermore with true good will . . . You shall be converted to the word of Hunab-ku, Lord; it came from heaven.

Believe in my word itself, I am Chilam Balam, and I have interpreted the entire message of the true God. (Chapter XXIV)


This prophecy is the last of a series of five reproduced in the Chuyamel and several other Books of Chilam Balam. They are contained in separate chapters from the other katun prophecies in the Books. As we have them, these prophecies have almost certainly been re-worked after the time of the events they predict, by Maya writers who had accepted at least a semblance of Christianity.

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