The balché ritual of the Lacandon Maya

Resumen

According to early 16th century Spanish historical sources, the ritual use of balche (a mildly alcoholic beverage) was a common feature of religious life among the Precolumbian Maya Indians. As thebalche rite involved ritual inebriation and of ferings of the beverage to traditional pagan gods, it was not long before missionaries attempted to terminate the practice of this ritual.