Maya mythology

Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Maya mythology

Maya mythology refers to the pre-Columbian Maya civilization's extensive polytheistic religious beliefs. These beliefs had most likely been long-established by the time the earliest-known distinctively Maya monuments had been built and inscriptions depicting their deities recorded, considerably pre-dating the 1st millennium BC. Over the succeeding millennia this intricate and multi-faceted system of beliefs was extended, varying to a degree between regions and time periods, but maintaining also an inherited tradition and customary obs ...

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Maya mythology - Bacabs

Maya mythology - The First Humans

Maya mythology: Encyclopedia II - Maya mythology - Overview The Maya believed there were five different cardinal directions four of which were associated with colors: north/white, south/yellow, east/red, west/black, and center which was associated with a great ceiba tree that was the center of the cosmos. Mayan gods had different aspects based on these five directions as well as the different natural cycles that the Maya observed. The gods also had dualistic natures associating them with day or night, life or death. There were thirteen gods of the thirteen heavens of the Maya religion and nine gods o ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Underworld

Underworld - Aboriginal mythology. Beralku Underworld - Akkadian mythology. Ereshkigal Nergal Underworld - Babylonian mythology. Kurnugia Underworld - Buddhist mythology. Naraka (also Neraka) Underworld - Celtic mythology. Annwn Mag Mell ...

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Underworld - Underworlds

Underworld - Rulers of the Underworld

Underworld - Fictional underworlds

Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Maya civilization

Archaeological evidence shows the Maya had started to build ceremonial architecture by approximately 1000 BCE. There is some disagreement about the boundaries which differentiate the physical and cultural extent of the early Maya and their neighboring Pre-Classic Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec culture of the Tabasco lowlands and the Mixe-Zoque– and Zapotec–speaking peoples of Chiapas and southern Oaxaca. Many of the earliest significant inscriptions and buildings appeared in thi ...

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Maya civilization - Writing and literacy

Maya civilization - Reference

Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Vision Serpent

The Vision Serpent is an important creature in Pre-Columbian Maya mythology. The serpent was a very important social and religious symbol, revered by the Maya. Maya mythology describes serpents as being the vehicles by which celestial bodies, such as the sun and stars, cross the heavens. The shedding of their skin made them a symbol of rebirth and renewal. They were so revered, that one of the main Mesoamerican deities, Quetzalcoatl, was represented as a feathered serpent. T ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Camazotz

In Maya mythology, Camazotz was a bat god. Camazotz - Mythology. In the Popol Vuh the common noun refers to bat-like monsters encountered by the Maya Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque during their trials in the underworld of Xibalba. Forced to spend the night in Bat House, the boys are able to keep the creatures at bay until Hunahpu loses his head while trying to watch for the coming of dawn. The grieving Xbalanque calls all the animals, instructing each to bring back its favorite food. When the coat ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Xibalba

In Maya mythology Xibalba is the name of the underworld, ruled by the Mayan deities of death. The name roughly translates to "Place of Fear". The entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Coban, Guatemala. To some of the Quiché descendants of the Maya people still living in the vicinity, the area is still associated with death. In the heavens, the Road to Xibalba was represen ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Chaac

Chaac (also rendered as Chaak or Chac) is an important deity in the pantheon of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. In Maya mythology, Chaac was the god associated with rain and thunder, and was also significant in rites and observances associated with fertility and agriculture. Like some other Maya gods, Chaac was sometimes thought of as one god, and other times as 4 separate gods based in the four cardinal directions: "Chac Xib Chaac", Red Chaac of the East; "Sac Xib Chaac", White North Chaac; "Ek Xib Chaac" Black West Chaac", and ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Ixbalanque

In Maya mythology, Ixbalanque or Xbalanque was originally a son of Hun Hunahpu and the virgin Blood Moon. His twin was Hunahpu. The two were the Maya Hero Twins and together their story forms a large part of the Popol Vuh, documenting the Mayan creation myth. Xbalanque and his brother Hunahpu were quite inseperable in their lives, together outwitting arrogant gods and the lords of the Mayan underworld, Xibalba. Although it is not explicitly stated in the Popol Vuh, Hunahpu seems to have been the dominant one among the br ...

Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Ah Puch

In Maya mythology, Ah Puch was the God of Death and King of Metnal, the underworld, which was the worst of all nine hells. He was depicted as a skeleton or corpse adorned with bells, sometimes the head of an owl; even today, some Mexicans and Central Americans believe that an owl's screeches signify imminent death... as the following saying, in local Spanish, indicates: Cuando el tecolote canta... el indio muere (When the great owl sings, the Indian dies) It is also known as Hun ahau (where the first /a/ is sometimes omit ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Yum Caax

In Maya mythology, Yum Caax ("lord of the woods") was the personification of maize and a god of agriculture and nature. Alternative names: Yum Kaax, God E. Perhaps having origins in ancient northern hunting tradition, Yum Ka'ax, also called U Kanin Ka'ax, is known to indigenous peoples of North America. The one invoked by hunters, he is owner of all the game. He can appear to hunters in an instant, and possesses songs that will allow a hunter s ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Hunab Ku

The name Hunab Ku can refer to either the Mayan god of the same name, or the Mayan symbol. For the Mayan god, please see Maya mythology The Mayan symbol is vaguely reminiscent of the Chinese yin-yang, and is the emblem of the Mayan god of the same name. The symbol represents the solar calendar, balanced forces, and perfection. It is believed by ancient Mayans to be the gateway to other galaxies beyond our sun. Staring at the symbol is thought to allow us to transcend the barriers of perception and time. ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Camaxtli

In Aztec and Maya mythology, Camaxtli was a god of hunting, war, fate and fire (which he invented). He was one of the four creator gods, who made the Earth. The Chichimec considered him their tribal deity. He leads human sacrifices and warriors who have been slain in battle to the eastern sky, where they become stars. Alternative name: Mixcoatl-Camaxtli-Xocotl Categories: Maya gods | Aztec gods ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Zipacna

In Maya mythology, Zipacna was a son of Vucub Caquix (Seven Macaw) and Chimalmat. He and his brother, Cabrakan (Earthquake), were often considered demons. Zipacna, like his relatives, was said to be very arrogant and violent. Zipacna was characterized as a large caiman and often boasted to be the creator of the mountains. The Popol Vuh tells the story that one day Zipacna was basking on the beach when he was disturbed by the Four Hundred Boys (possibly patron deities of alcohol), who were attempting to construct a hut. T ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Mayasura

In Hindu mythology, Maya, or Mayasura was a great ancient king of the Asura, Daitya and Rakshasa races upon earth. He was also the chief architect of the peoples of the netherworlds. Mayasura - Tripura. He was the designer and king of the three flying cities, known as the Tripura. They were great cities of prosperity, power and dominance over the world, but due to their impious nature, Maya's cities were torched out of the sky by Lord Shiva. Hindu mytholo ...

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Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - World tree

In certain Indo-European religions there was a belief in a world tree, such as Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, an Oak in Slavic mythology and in Hinduism, a banyan tree. Although the concept is absent from the Greek mythology, medieval Greek folk traditions and more recent ones claim that the Tree that holds the Earth is shewn by goblins (Kallikantzaroi). A World Tree (Wacah Chan) also appears in the Maya religion as the axis mundi. It connects the Middleworld of man, with Xibalba (Otherwor ...

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World tree - In popular culture

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