hallucinogenics lead to visions of ancestors or gods. Contemporaneous with the Maya, the south-central panel at the Classic era South Ballcourt at El Tajín shows the rain god piercing his penis, the blood from which flows into and replenishes a vat of the alcoholic ritual drink pulque. Early European reactions Following the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs in 1521, many Spanish missionary-ethnographers arrived and recorded graphic and often unsympathetic descriptions of these rituals among both the Mayan and Nahuatl speaking peoples. Although most Spaniards understood the religious significance of the rites, they believed such idolatry merely confirmed the need for rapid conversion to Christianity. Many also confused genital bloodletting with circumcision, not least because they believed Indians were descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. One of the first to recognise the distinction was Diego de Landa in a 1566 manuscript:"At times they sacrificed their own blood, cutting all around the ears in strips which they let hang as a sign. At other times they perforated their cheeks or the lower lip; again they made cuts in parts of the body, or pierced the tongue crossways and passed stalks through, causing extreme pain; again they hewed at the superfluous part of the penis, leaving the flesh in the form of two floppy ears. It was this custom which misled [engaño] the historian-general of the Indies to say that they practised circumcision." (original translation) Nonetheless, the misconception that the Aztec and Maya people practised circumcision persists to this day. See also Human sacrifice in Maya culture Sacrifice in Maya culture Notes References (2004) Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization, Social Science, 390 pages. Ancient Mexico & Central America. (2003) Mesoamerican Archaeology: Theory and Practice, Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology, Wiley-Blackwell, . (1991) "Olmec Bloodletting: An Iconographic Study" in Sixth Palenque Roundtable, 1986, ed. V. Fields, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. (2001) Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts. (2000) "Early Mesoamerican Writing Systems" on University of Pittsburgh Department of Anthropology website (accessed January 2008). , "Where Do You Wear Your Paint-Pot?", accessed April 2008. (1992) Yaxchilan: The Design of a Maya Ceremonial City 320 pages. (2004), "The Origin and Development of Olmec Research", in Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. External links Portrait of Maya king in bloodletting rites Bloodletting Bloodletting Religious rituals