THE MAYAN PANTHEON

CHAC Mayan god Chac was the god of rain. He was a benevolent god for the Mayans who often sought his help for their crops. Chac was associated with creation and life.

ITZAMNA The ruler of heaven, day, and night, he frequently appeared as four gods called Itzamn s, who encased the world. Itzamna was also a culture hero who gave humankind writing and the calendar and was the patron deity of medicine.

CIZIN Often called "Stinking One“, he is the 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. 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 which consists of disembodied eyes dangling by their nerve cords. After the Spanish Conquest, Cizin became merged with the Christian devil.

The Maize god is representative of the ripe grain which was the base of the Mayan agriculture. In certain areas of Mesoamerica, like Yucatan. The Maize god is principally shown with a headdress of maize and a curved streak on his cheek. He is also noticeable from other gods through his youth. Despite this youth, the Maize god was powerless by himself. His fortunes and misfortunes were decided by the control of rain and drought. The Rain god would protect him. However, he suffered when the Death god exercised drought and famine. Yumil Kaxob

HUNAHPU One of the Hero Twins of the the Maya creation story

XBALANQUE One of the Hero Twins of the the Maya creation story (pronouced schpah-len-kay)

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YOUNG MOON GODDESS Patron of fertility and love

IX CHEL Ix Chel, the "Lady Rainbow," was the old Moon goddess in Mayan mythology. The Maya people lived around 250 AD in what is now Guatemala and the Yucatan in Mexico. Mayans associated human events with phases of the moon. Ix Chel was depicted as an old woman wearing a skirt with crossed bones, and she had a serpent in her hand. She had an assistant sky serpent, whom they believed carried all of the waters of the heavens in its belly. She is often shown carrying a great jug filled with water, which she overturns to send floods and powerful rainstorms to Earth.

MONKEY-MAN SCRIBE The monkey scribes seem to be inverted reflections of the Hero Twins. They too are twins and the older brothers of the Hero Twins. Their names were Hun Batz (howler monkey.) and Hun Chuen (spider monkey), and they were gifted artists and musicians. Hun Batz and Hun Chuen tormented and abused their younger brothers, the Hero Twins. But one day the younger twins outsmarted their brothers, luring them into a tree from which they were unable to descend. That is how they became monkeys. The monkey twins were gifted, industrious, and licentious. They were the patron gods of writing, dance, the visual arts, and calculating.

AHAW K’IN Ahaw K’in was the Sun god. He was the patron god of the city Itzamal. Supposedly, he visited the city at noon everday. He would descend as a macaw and consume prepared offerings. Ahaw K’in is usually shown with jaguar-like features (ex. filed teeth). He also wears the symbol of Kin, a Mayan day.

Ekahau The god of Travelers and Merchants.