Akhushtal: the goddess of Childbirth.
Bacabs: the bacabs are the canopic gods, thought to be brothers, who, with
upraised arms, supported the multilayered sky from their assigned positions at
the four cardinal points of the compass. (The Bacabs may also have been four
manifestations of a single deity.) The four brothers were probably the offspring
of Itzamn , the supreme deity, and Ixchel, the goddess of weaving, medicine, and
childbirth. Each Bacab presided over one year of the four-year cycle. The Maya
expected the Muluc years to be the greatest years, because the god presiding
over these years was the greatest of the Bacab gods. The four directions and
their corresponding colours (east, red; north, white; west, black; south,
yellow) played an important part in the Mayan religious and calendrical systems.
Mayan god of rain, especially important in the Yucatan region of Mexico where
he was depicted in Classic times with protruding fangs, large round eyes, and a
proboscis-like nose. In post-Classic Mayan and Toltec ruins, reclining figures
known as the Chacs Mool are thought to represent the rain god. Following the
Spanish conquest, the Chacs were associated with Christian saints and were often
depicted on horseback.
Cit Bolon Tum: a god of Medicine.
Cizin (Kisin): "Stinking One"; Mayan earthquake god and god of death, ruler
of the subterranean land of the dead. He lives beneath the earth in a purgatory
where all souls except those of soldiers killed in battle and women who died in
childbirth spend some time. Suicides are doomed to his realm for eternity. He
may possibly have been one aspect of a malevolent underworld deity who
manifested himself under several names and guises (e.g., Ah Puch, Xibalba, and
Yum Cimil). In pre-Conquest codices, or manuscripts, the god of death is
frequently depicted with the god of war in scenes of human sacrifice. One aspect
of the dualistic nature of the Mayan religion is symbolically portrayed in the
existing codices, which show Cizin uprooting or destroying trees planted by
Chac, the rain god. Cizin is often depicted on pottery and illustrated in the
codices in the form of a dancing skeleton, holding a smoking cigarette. He is
also known by his death collar, the most prominent feature of which consists of
disembodied eyes dangling by their nerve cords. After the Spanish Conquest,
Cizin became merged with the Christian devil.
Ekahau: the god of Travellers and Merchants.
Itzamn : "Iguana House";, principal pre-Columbian Mayan deity. The ruler of
heaven, day, and night, he frequently appeared as four gods called Itzamn s, who
encased the world. Like some of the other Mesoamerican deities, the Itzamn s
were associated with the points of the compass and their colours (east, red;
north, white; west, black; and south, yellow). Itzamn was sometimes identified
with the remote creator deity Hunab Ku and occasionally with Kinich Ahau, the
sun-god. The moon goddess Ixchel, patroness of womanly crafts, was possibly a
female manifestation of the god. Itzamn was also a culture hero who gave
humankind writing and the calendar and was patron deity of medicine. See also
Bacab.
Ix Chel (Ixchel): the goddess of the Moon.
Ixtab: the goddess of the Hanged. She receives their souls into paradise.
Kan-u-Uayeyab: the god who guarded cities.
Kinich Kakmo: the Sun god symbolised by the Macaw.
Kisin: see Cizin
Kukulcan: the Wind god, who is recognizable in
Classic reliefs is the Feathered Serpent, known to the Maya as Kukulcan (and to
the Toltecs and Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl). Probably the most ubiquitous of all is
the being known as Bolon Tzacab (first called God K by archaeologists), a deity
with a baroquely branching nose who is thought to have functioned as a god of
royal descent; he is often held as a kind of sceptre in rulers'
hands.
Mitnal: Mitnal was the underworld hell where the wicked were
tortured.
Nacon: Nacon was the god of War.
Tzultacaj (Tzuultaq'ah): For the Mayan Indians of central Guatemala, known as
Kekch , this was the god of the mountains and valleys.
Yaxche: Yaxche is the Tree of Heaven under which good souls
rejoice.
Yum Kaax: the Maize god.
Milky Way
Mayans seem to have thought of the Milky Way as the mystic road along which
souls walk into the Underworld. Crossing the Milky Way at the constellation
Scorpio is the ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun, moon, and planets as they
move against the background of stars.
Mayans tracked their creation stories in relation to the movement of the
stars across the heavens. They believed that the point at which the Milky way
appeared as a vertical band in the night sky represented the moment of creation.
Mars
Mayans were sophisticated observers of the sky. Mayans used their
astronomical knowledge to predict future human events. They were aware of the
movements of Mars. In one of the ancient Mayan books, Mars is represented by a
series of pictures of a long-nosed beast shown descending to varying depths from
a sky band.
