The main gods of the Mayans

For many ancient cultures the only way to explain what happened in their lives was to attribute it and relate everything to the gods. For example, in the case of the Mayas, a civilization of Pre-Columbian America that was highly developed, that managed to establish a very prosperous and well-structured society since 2000 BC. C., and that were based on a polytheistic beliefIn other words, they had different gods like most ancient cultures. The Mayans managed to explain the creation of the cosmos, meteorological phenomena, natural balance, life, death and what happens after it, among many other things, through the belief that life was linked to infinite time, within a cycle of creation and destruction, and through its gods. In fact, the Mayans believed that life had been destroyed 4 times and formed 5 times, for this reason they controlled very well everything related to time and cycles.

In addition, the Mayans managed to expand throughout the American territory, especially in the southeast of present-day Mexico, taking their gods to different peoples of the area. For the Mayans, the gods were able to appear in their daily life, that is, in reality earthly, with different forms such as animals, natural phenomena, plants and even humanoids imposing. Before entering

Index

1. Hunab Ku Mayan god creator of the world
2. Itzamná Mayan god of the sky
3. Ixchel mayan goddess of the moon
4. Yum Kaax Mayan god of corn
5. Other important Mesoamerican deities in the Mayan culture

Hunab Ku was the Mayan creator god of the world, also known by the name of Hunab-Ku or Hunab. In fact, the name given to this god means "a single god", which is why he is considered one of the main gods of the Mayans. It was believed that this god not only created the world, but also created the human being from an ear of corn and, for all this, he was considered as the father of all, both humans and other deities Mesoamerican.

Hunab Ku, the main Mayan god and creator of everything, was also the lord of the day and of the heavens, considered the center of the universe. The Mayans believed that Hunab-Ku was the god who created the world 3 times of the 5 who believed that life had been created. The first time Hunab created the world he inhabited it with sages, the second time he filled it with Dzolob a race malevolent and dark, and the third and last time this god created the world and life, it was to create the Mayans.

In a teacher we discover the religion and culture of the Mayans in a short summary so you can study it quickly.

Itzamná or Itzam Na was the Mayan god of the sky, so he was in charge of protecting the sciences, especially astrology in which the Mayans stood out a lot, and writing. In fact, Itzam-Na, also called Zamná, is believed to have helped the Mayans invent their writing and calendar.

The Yucatecan Mayas, the Mayas who inhabited the Yucatan peninsula, considered the god Izamná as the supreme god for being the creator of Everything, he was considered the god and lord of the sky, the sun, the day and the night, a fact that made him one of the main gods of the Mayans. He was seen as the Mayan deity that symbolized the energy that created water and the Yucatecans also attributed the invention of writing, the calendar, but also the invention and care of medicine and agriculture. In the Mayan scriptures, Zamná is very often related to the god Chaac, since both symbolize water in some of its forms.

We can see Itzam-Na in the different codices, both in the Dresden codex as well as in the Madrid and Paris codex. He is seen represented as a winged dragon with two heads that from the sky pours water to the earth, but it can also be seen in the form of a bird and with the features of a snake. In addition, the Mayan god Itzamná was also often depicted in the humanoid form of him as an old man toothless, with sunken cheekbones, large, rectangular or square eyes, a large, curved nose and a beard.

In order for you to have more information about the Mayans, in a teacher we explain in a short and easy summary to study everything that is necessary to know about them. Mayan empire.

Ixchel or Ix Chel was the Mayan goddess of the moonshe, of the art of weaving and fabrics, of medicine, of pregnancies and childbirth. Furthermore, it was believed that she represented water in its most destructive form, such as floods and other water-related natural disasters. Ix Chel was the wife of the god Itzam-Na, so the goddess of the moon was the consort of the god of the sun for the Mayans Yucatecans, all this made the goddess of the moon the most relevant female deity among the main gods of the Mayans. Just as her husband allowed himself to be seen in the daylight hours, the goddess Ixchel only allowed himself to be seen at night when the moon rose.

The Mayans believed that man has two shadows: a warm shadow that is the daughter of the sun and the cold shadow daughter of the moon and goddess Ix Chel. It was also believed that the warm shadow daughter of the god Itzamná was mute, on the other hand, the shadow daughter of the goddess Ixchel could speak, but she only spoke with some sorcerers. For the Mayans, the relationship of a human being with his shadow was very important since they believed that if they separated or if the shadow thins a lot, the human was close to death. Because of this, wizards sometimes tried to communicate with the cold shadow.

The Mayan goddess of the moon was represented as an elderly woman with symbols related to death, like a twisted snake on the head or crossbones on her skirt. She is also seen in her codices as an old woman pouring a jug of water onto the earth or with a loom tied around her waist.

Yum Kaax is the Mayan god of cornHe also receives other names such as Itzam Na Kuil, Kauil, Ah Uaxac Yokauil, Ah Nun and Ah Mun. His main name, Yum Kaax, means "lord of the forests" and he was not only the god of forests and corn, but also of agriculture. As he was considered a very benevolent god, it was totally forbidden in the Mayan culture to say words related to death in front of the god of corn. This god was vital to the Mayans because his diet was based mainly on ears of corn, so he was very important for them to duly venerate this Mesoamerican deity that they considered one of the main gods of the Mayans.

Yum Kaax or Ah Mun was represented as a strong and handsome young man carrying an ear of corn usually on the head or with corn husks coming out of the head of it. Furthermore, he was also represented with a pot in his hands with three ears of corn in it.

Other relevant deities that we can find among the main gods of the Mayans are the following:

• Yum Cimil: also known by the name of Yum Kimil or Kizin, he is the god of death, he lives in the underworld, his mission is to shelter all the dead except those who have been chosen and his wife was the goddess Xtabay o Xtabai. For the Yucatecan Mayans this god was known as Ah Puch and his name meant "the fleshless god", he was the patron of the day of death known as "cimi". He was represented with a skull instead of a head and with some ribs exposed.
• Kinich-Ahau: also called Kinich Ajaw or Ahau Kin, he was the Mayan god of the sun, he was related to life and to the prosperity and fertility of the earth. He was depicted as an old, square-eyed, somewhat cross-eyed man with a four-petalled flower and worn incisor teeth. In animal form he was seen as Kinich Kakmó, an anthropomorphic macaw with a burning torch in his hand.
• Chaac: Also written as Chac, he was the Mayan deity of rain, prosperity and fertility. In fact, it was believed that when it rained it was because Chaac came down to Earth to visit the Mayans. He was sometimes represented as a man and at other times as a woman, but always with a reptilian appearance. Chac was also related to the four cardinal points.
• Kukulkan: he was the Mayan god of the wind and was also known as "the feathered serpent" or "the feathered serpent". It was believed that she always preceded the god Chaac as there is usually wind before she starts to rain and that, thus, the rains that fell to Earth were water that had been cleaned by the Kukulkan wind.
• Buluc Chabtan: he was the Mayan god of war, destruction and human sacrifice, as well as violent and sudden death. He was represented with a line of black dots over his eyes and on his cheeks, as a mask. This god also known by the name of Achuykaak was closely related in the Mayan codices with the god of death Yum Cimil or Ah Puch.
• Ixtab: the name of Ixtab means "the one of the rope". Also known as Xtabay, this female deity was the Mayan goddess of suicide. She protected those who committed suicide by hanging and was related to life in paradise, this was because the Mayans believed that men and women who committed suicide went straight to paradise. For this reason, this goddess was one of the main gods of the Mayans. She was represented as a woman hanging from a rope wrapped around her neck and falling from the sky, a black circle on her cheek and with her eyes closed.

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