The

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

Maya religion knew various jaguar gods, in addition to jaguar demi-gods, (ancestral) protectors, and transformers. The main jaguar deities are discussed below. Their associated narratives (part of

Maya mythology Maya or Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. The myths of the era have to be reconstruct ...

) are still largely to be reconstructed. Lacandon and Tzotzil- Tzeltal oral tradition are particularly rich in jaguar lore. The Maya people saw the jaguar's attributes as a strong and powerful creature, as well as its easily recognizable coat, and incorporated it into their mythology. Many gods were portrayed as jaguars, or at least had characteristics not unlike jaguars, due to their powerful nature.

The Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire and War ('Night Sun')

The Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire is recognizable by a '

cruller A cruller () is a deep-fried pastry like a doughnut popular in Europe and North America often made from a rectangle of dough with a cut made in the middle that allows it to be pulled over and through itself, producing twists in the sides of the p ...

' around the eyes (making a loop over the nose), jaguar ears, and fangs. He personifies the number seven, which is associated with the day ''Akʼbʼal'' ('Night'). Usually called 'Jaguar God of the Underworld', he has been assumed to be the 'Night Sun' - the shape supposedly taken by the sun (

Kinich Ahau Kinich Ahau (Kʼinich Ajaw) is the 16th-century Yucatec name of the Maya sun god, designated as God G when referring to the codices. In the Classic period, God G is depicted as a middle-aged man with an aquiline nose, large square eyes, cross-eye ...

) during his nightly journey through the underworld - by reason of having the large eyes and filed incisors that also occur with the sun deity, and of sometimes evincing a ''k 'in'' infix. The deity's hypothetical aspect of a nocturnal sun (that is, a subterranean fire) should perhaps be connected to his proven association with terrestrial fire. He is often represented on incense burners and connected to fire rituals, while his 'cruller' may represent a cord used in making fire with a stick (Taube). Moreover, vases in codical style show him, captured, about to be burnt with torches. The nocturnal sun hypothesis is complicated by this very incident, and even more so by the fact that the fiery jaguar deity is identified with a star (or perhaps a constellation or planet).Finamore and Houston 2010: 281 The god's other sphere of influence is war, witness for example the stereotypical presence of his face on war shields.

God L

God L God L of the Schellhas-Zimmermann-Taube classification of codical gods is one of the major pre-Spanish Maya deities, specifically associated with trade. Characterized by high age, he is one of the Mam (Maya mythology), Mam ('Grandfather') deities. ...

is one of the oldest Mayan deities, and associated with trade, riches, and black sorcery, and belongs to the jaguar deities: he has jaguar ears, a jaguar mantle and lives in a jaguar palace. Some take him to be the main ruler over the Underworld. In that sense, he would have to be considered the true "Jaguar God of the Underworld".

The Jaguar Goddess of Midwifery and War

The aged goddess of midwifery, curing, and war

Ix Chel Ixchel or Ix Chel () is the 16th-century name of the aged jaguar Goddess of midwifery and medicine in ancient Maya culture. In a similar parallel, she corresponds, to Toci Yoalticitl "Our Grandmother the Nocturnal Physician", an Aztec earth God ...

, belongs to the jaguar deities. She has jaguar ears and claws and can show the looped cruller element and the large eye of the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire (Birth Vase), suggesting that she might be a spouse to this deity.

The Jaguar Patron of the War Month of Pax

The patron deity of the month of Pax has jaguar paws above his ears, a removed lower jaw, and vomits blood. In 16th-century Yucatán, rituals held in the month of Pax centered on the war leader and the puma deity, Cit Chac Coh. Personified as a tree, the Pax deity witnesses the shooting of the

Principal Bird Deity Itzamna () is, in Maya mythology, an upper god and creator deity thought to reside in the sky. Itzamna is one of the most important gods in the Classic and Postclassic Maya pantheon. Although little is known about him, scattered references are pre ...

and equally of a Vulture King by Hun-Ahpu. The tree personification serves as a metonym for uninhabited wooded areas and their menace (Taube). Particularly scenes on pottery show the Pax deity to be intimately associated with war and human sacrifice.

The Aged Jaguar Paddler

One of two aged deities associated with the base date of the

Long Count Long count or slow count is a term used in boxing. When a boxer is knocked down in a fight, the referee will count over them and the boxer must rise to their feet, unaided, by the count of ten or else deemed to have been knocked out. A long count ...

and steering the canoe with the

Tonsured Maize God Like other Mesoamerican peoples, the traditional Maya recognize in their staple crop, maize, a vital force with which they strongly identify. This is clearly shown by their mythological traditions. According to the 16th-century Popol Vuh, the Hero ...

has a jaguar headdress and is connected to Night, like the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire. (The other Paddler God is an aged form of the sun deity apparently connected to Daylight.)

The Jaguar Twin Hero

The Jaguar Twin Hero, companion to Hun-Ahpu (or Hun-Ajaw) and thus corresponding to Xbalanque in the much later Popol Vuh Twin myth, has patches of jaguar skin stuck to his arms and body, in addition to jaguar pimples around his mouth. Fittingly, in the Popol Vuh, Xbalanque is the more violent Twin.

Jaguar Protectors and Jaguar Transformers

Less clearly classifiable as deities are jaguar protectors (perhaps ancestors) and jaguar transformers. The Water Lily Jaguar (so called because of the water lily on its head) is both a giant jaguar protector, looming large above the king (e.g.,

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-C ...

wooden lintel 3, temple I), and a transformer often shown amidst flames.

Jaguar Baby

A specific and as yet unexplained transformation into a jaguar involves a male child with jaguar ears and a jaguar tail (the so-called Jaguar Baby) shown in a transformational somersault. This Jaguar Baby can assume the features of the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire.

Notes

References

*Finamore, David, and Stephen Houston (eds.), ''The Fiery Pool''. New Haven: Peabody Essex Museum in association with Yale U.P., 2010. *Mary Miller and Karl Taube, ''The Gods of Ancient Mexico and the Maya''. Thames and Hudson. *David Stuart, 'The Fire Enters His House': Architecture and Ritual in Classic Maya Texts', in Houston, ''Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture'' (1998): 373-425. *Karl Taube, ''The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan''. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1992. {{Maya Maya deities