This is a list of deities playing a role in the Classic (200–1000 CE), Post-Classic (1000–1539 CE) and Contact Period (1511–1697) of Maya religion. The names are mainly taken from the books of Chilam Balam, Lacandon ethnography, the Madrid Codex, the work of

Diego de Landa Diego de Landa Calderón, O.F.M. (12 November 1524 – 29 April 1579) was a Spanish Franciscan bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán. Many historians criticize his campaign against idolatry. In particular, he burned almost a ...

, and the

Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and ...

. Depending on the source, most names are either

Yucatec Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic commu ...

or Kʼicheʼ. The

Classic Period Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE –&nbs ...

names (belonging to the

Classic Maya language A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

) are only rarely known with certainty.

Maya mythological beings

List Source Key

*CHB – Books of Chilam Balam *LAC – Lacandon ethnography *L – de Landa *M — Madrid Codex *PV – the Popol Vuh.

A

Acan

The god of wine and intoxication, identified with the drink

Balché ''Balché'' is a mildly intoxicating beverage that was commonly consumed by the ancient Maya in what is now Mexico and upper Central America. Today, it is still common among the Yucatec Maya. The drink is made from the bark of a leguminous tree, ...

Acat

A god of tattoos and tattooing.

Alom

The god of the sky and wood, a creator deity.

Ah-Muzen-Cab Ah Muzen Cab is the Maya god of bees and honey. He is possibly the same figure as "the Descending God" or "the Diving God" and is consistently depicted upside-down. The Temple of the Descending God is located in Tulum. The bees used by the Maya ...

God of bees and honey.

Awilix Awilix () (also spelt Ahuilix, Auilix and Avilix) was a goddess (or possibly a god) of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya, who had a large kingdom in the highlands of Guatemala. She was the patron deity of the Nijaʼibʼ noble lineage at the Kʼich ...

The goddess of the moon, queen of the night.

B

Bacab Bacab () is the generic Yucatec Maya name for the four prehispanic aged deities of the interior of the earth and its water deposits. The Bacabs have more recent counterparts in the lecherous, drunken old thunder deities of the Gulf Coast regions. ...

The old god of the interior of the earth and of thunder, sky-carrier, fourfold.

Baalham

The jaguar god of the underworld. Also any of a group of jaguar gods who protected people and communities.

Bitol pv*

A sky god. One of the creator and destroyer deities who participated in the last two attempts at creating humanity.

Bolon Tzʼakab (Dzacab) L god_K_.html" ;"title="god_K.html" ;"title="god K">god K ">god_K.html" ;"title="god K">god K /h2>
''Ah Bolon Dzacab'' "Innumerable Generations", the lightning god, patron of the harvest and the seeds.

Bolontiku CHB

A group of nine underworld gods.

Bolon Yokteʼ

"Nine Strides", mentioned in the Books of Chilam Balam and in Classic inscriptions; functions unknown.

Buluc Chabtan (Deity), Buluc Chabtan [ god F ]

The god of war, violence, sacrifice and gambling.

C

Cabrakan

A god of mountains and earthquakes. He was a son of Vucub Caquix and Chimalmat.

Cacoch LAC

A creator

Camazotz PV

A bat and death god.

Can Tzicnal L

The Bacab of the north, associated with the color white, and the Muluc years. Son of

Itzamna 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

Ixchel 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 ...

Chaac L

The god of rain, thunder, and lightning, wields an axe of lightning, brother to Kinich Ahau.

Chaac Uayab Xoc L

A fish god and the patron deity of

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

Chiccan

A group of four Chorti rain gods who live in lakes and make rain clouds from the water in them. As with the Bacabs, each of the rain gods was associated with a cardinal direction. Chiccan was also the name of a day in the Tzolkin cycle of the calendar.

Cit-Bolon-Tum

A god of medicine and healing

Chimalmat Maya or Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya peoples, Maya tales in which personified forces of nature, Deity, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. The myths of the era hav ...

A giant who was, by Vucub Caquix, the mother of Cabrakan and Zipacna.

Chin

The main god of homosexual relationships.

Cizin Cizin is a Mayan god of death and earthquakes. He is the most important Maya death god in the Mayan culture. Scholars call him God A. To the Yucatán Mayas he was Hun-Came and Vucub-Came. He also has similarities to Mictlāntēcutli. Name ...

A god of earthquakes and death who lived in Metnal. He is often depicted as a dancing human skeleton smoking a cigarette.

Colel Cab

Goddess of the bees.

Colop U Uichkin RITUAL OF THE BACABS

An eclipse deity.

Coyopa

The god of thunder. Brother of Cakulha.

E

Ek Chuaj M (God M)

Ek Chuaj, the "black war chief" was the patron god of

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

s and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s. He was depicted carrying a bag over his shoulder. In art, he was a dark-skinned man with circles around his eyes, a scorpion tail and dangling lower lip.

G

GI, GII, GIII

The three patron deities of the

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...

kingdom, made up of a sea deity with a shell ear, GII a baby lightning god (

god K In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

), and GIII the jaguar god of fire, also patron of the number seven.

Gukumatz > Qʼuqʼumatz PV

A feathered snake god and creator. The depiction of the feathered serpent deity is present in other cultures of Mesoamerica. Gukumatz of the Kʼicheʼ Maya is closely related to the god

Kukulkan K’uk’ulkan, also spelled Kukulkan, ( "''Plumed Serpent''", "''Amazing Serpent''") is the name of a Mesoamerican serpent deity that was worshipped by the Yucatec Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula before the Spanish conquest of Yucat ...

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

and to Quetzalcoatl of the Aztec. God of the seas, oceans, wind, and storms.

H

Hachäkʼyum LAC

Patron deity of the Lacandon.

Hobnil L

Bacab of the east.

Hozanek L

Bacab of the south.

Hum Hau

A god of death and the underworld.

Hun-Batz PV

"One Howler Monkey", one of two stepbrothers of the

Hero Twins The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Kʼicheʼ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the Kʼic ...

, one of the

Howler Monkey Gods Among the Classic Mayas, the howler monkey god was a major deity of the arts—including music—and a patron of the artisans, especially of the scribes and sculptors. As such, his sphere of influence overlapped with that of the Tonsured Maize God ...

and patron of the arts.

Hun-Came The Maya death gods, (also Ah Puch, Ah Cimih, Ah Cizin, Hun Ahau, Kimi, or Yum Kimil) known by a variety of names, are two basic types of death gods who are respectively represented by the 16th-century Yucatec deities Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau ment ...
PV

"One-Death", a lord of the underworld (Xibalba) who, along with Vucub-Came "Seven-Death", killed Hun Hunahpu. They were defeated by the latter's sons the Hero Twins.

Hun-Chowen PV

One of the two stepbrothers of the

, one of the

and patron of the arts.

Hun-Hunahpu Hun Hunahpu (pronounced ), or 'Head- Apu I' (a calendrical name) is a figure in Mayan mythology. According to ''Popol Vuh'' he was the father of the Maya Hero Twins, Head-Apu and Xbalanque. As their shared calendrical day name suggests, Head-Apu I w ...
PV

The father of the Maya Hero Twins Ixbalanque and Hun-Ahpu by a virgin. Beheaded in Xibalba, the underworld, by the rulers of Xibalba, Hun Came and Vucub Came.

Hunab Ku Hunab Ku () is a colonial period Yucatec Maya ''reducido'' term meaning "The One God". It is used in colonial, and more particularly in doctrinal texts, to refer to the Christian God. Since the word is found frequently in the Chilam Balam o ...

"Sole God", identical with Itzamna as the highest Yucatec god; or a more abstract upper god. *Current research now indicates this 'Maya' symbol is not of Maya origin and rather an invention by a Catholic missionary to more easily introduce one-god concept into the Maya culture.

Hun-Ahpu PV

One of the

Maya Hero Twins The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Kʼicheʼ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the Kʼi ...

Hunahpu-Gutch PV

One of the thirteen creator gods who helped create humanity.

Hunahpu Utiu PV

One of the thirteen creator gods who helped to create humanity.

Hun-Ixim

"One-Maize", a reading of the name glyph of the Classic Period

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 ...

Hun-nal-ye

A now-obsolete reading of the name glyph of the Classic Period

Hunraqan PV

"One-Leg", one of three lightning gods together called "Heart of the Sky", and acting as world creators. God of the

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...

storms A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

, and

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

I

;

:The founder of maize and cacao, as well as writing, calendars, and medicine. Once mentioned as the father of the Bacabs. ; Itzananohkʼu :A patron god of the Lacandon people. ;

Ixbalanque The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Kʼicheʼ kingdom of Qʼumarkaj, Kʼicheʼ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Huna ...

> Xbalanque ;

*L* oddess O:Jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine. ;

Ixmucane In Maya mythology, Chriakan-Ixmucane was a creator goddess formed out of four earlier creator god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, ...

*PV* :One of the thirteen creator gods who helped create humanity, grandmother of the Hero Twins. ;

Ixpiyacoc In Maya mythology, Ixpiyacoc was one of the thirteen creator gods who helped construct humanity. See also

* Xmucane and Xpiayoc Creator gods Maya gods {{Mesoamerica-myth-stub es:Ixpiyacoc ...

*PV* :A creator god who helped create humanity. ;

Ixtab At the time of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán (1527–1546), Ix Tab or Ixtab ( ʃˈtaɓ "Rope Woman", "Hangwoman") was the indigenous Maya goddess of suicide by hanging. Playing the role of a psychopomp, she would accompany such suicides to hea ...

*L* :Goddess of suicide, represented with a rope around her neck.

J

Jacawitz Jacawitz () (also spelt Jakawitz, Jakawits, Qʼaqʼawits and Hacavitz) was a mountain god of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya of highland Guatemala. He was the patron of the Ajaw Kʼicheʼ lineage and was a companion of the sun god Tohil. It is ...
PV

mountain god of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya

K

Kʼawiil Kʼawiil, in the Post-Classic codices corresponding to God K, is a Maya deity identified with lightning, serpents, fertility and maize. He is characterized by a zoomorphic head, with large eyes, long, upturned snout and attenuated serpent foot. A ...
(Kawil, Kauil)

Assumed to have been the Classic name of God K (Bolon Dzacab). Title attested for Itzamna, Uaxac Yol, and Amaite Ku; family name; probably not meaning "food", but "powerful".

K'inich Ahau

The solar deity.

Kisin Cizin is a Mayan god of death and earthquakes. He is the most important Maya death god in the Mayan culture. Scholars call him God A. To the Yucatán Mayas he was Hun-Came and Vucub-Came. He also has similarities to Mictlāntēcutli. Name an ...
(Cisin)

The most commonly depicted god of death.

Kukulkan K’uk’ulkan, also spelled Kukulkan, ( "''Plumed Serpent''", "''Amazing Serpent''") is the name of a Mesoamerican serpent deity that was worshipped by the Yucatec Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula before the Spanish conquest of Yucat ...

"Feathered Serpent". Although heavily Mexicanised, Kukulkan has his origins among the Maya of the Classic Period, when he was known as Waxaklahun Ubah Kan (/waʃaklaˈχuːn uːˈɓaχ kän/), the War Serpent, and he has been identified as the Postclassic version of the Vision Serpent of Classic Maya art.

M

Mam

A title of respect meaning "Grandfather" and applied to a number of different Maya deities including earth spirits, mountain spirits, and the four Bacabs.

Maximon

A god of travelers, merchants, medicine men/women, mischief and fertility, later conflated with Saint Simon and in modern times part of the celebrations surrounding

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

N

Nakon Nako, Nakon, Nakko, or Nacco (flourished 954 – c. 966) was an Obotrite leader who, along with his brother Stoigniew, led the forces of a Slavic confederacy in a revolt against the Germans, especially Herman Billung, Duke of Saxony. Małec ...

The god of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. A Powerful god, claimed to be stronger than all the other gods of war in every other religion.

Nohochacyum

A creator-destroyer deity, the brother of the death god Kisin (or possibly another earthquake god also known as Kisin). He is the sworn enemy of the world serpent Hapikern and it is said that, in the end of days, he will destroy Hapikern by wrapping him around himself to smother him. In some versions, this will destroy life on Earth. He is related, in some stories, to Usukan, Uyitzin, Yantho and Hapikern, all of whom wish ill to human beings. Brother of Xamaniqinqu, the patron god of travelers and merchants.

Q

Qaholom PV

One of the second set of creator gods.

Qʼuqʼumatz Qʼuqʼumatz () (alternatively Qucumatz, Gukumatz, Gucumatz, Gugumatz, Kucumatz etc.) was a deity of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya. Qʼuqʼumatz was the Feathered Serpent divinity of the ''Popol Vuh'' who created humanity together with the go ...
PV

Feathered Snake god and creator. The depiction of the feathered serpent deity is present in other cultures of Mesoamerica. Qʼuqʼumatz of the Kʼicheʼ Maya is closely related to the god

and to Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs.

S

Sip

A hunting god of the Yucatec Maya arguably corresponding, in the Classic period, to an elderly human with deer ears and antlers.

T

Tepeu Tepeu is a word of the K'iche' Maya language meaning "sovereign" (also "one who conquers" or "one who is victorious"). The title is associated with the god Q'uq'umatz of the K'iche'-Maya, one of the creation gods of the Popol Vuh; his whole name ...
PV

A sky god and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity.

Tohil Tohil (, also spelled Tojil) was a deity of the Kʼicheʼ Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Tohil was the patron god of the Kʼicheʼ. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity a ...
PV

A patron god of the Kʼicheʼ, to whom a great temple was erected at the Kʼicheʼ capital

Qʼumarkaj Qʼumarkaj ( Kʼicheʼ: ) (sometimes rendered as Gumarkaaj, Gumarcaj, Cumarcaj or Kumarcaaj) is an archaeological site in the southwest of the El Quiché department of Guatemala.Kelly 1996, p.200. Qʼumarkaj is also known as Utatlán, the Nahuatl ...

Tunkuruchu PV

An ancient owl, one who foretells death. At a party held by all birds, he was humiliated by some humans, and as revenge, he would visit them announcing their deaths.

V

Vatanchu

"Straight God", a mountain god of the Postclassic

Manche Chʼol The Manche Chʼol were a former Chʼol-speaking Maya people inhabiting the extreme south of what is now the Petén Department of modern Guatemala, the area around Lake Izabal (also known as the ''Golfo Dulce''), and southern Belize. The Manche ...

Votan Votan is a legendary or mythological figure mentioned in early European accounts of the Maya civilization. Origins of the Votan story The story of Votan in Mexico dates back to at least the late 17th century. It was first published in ''Constit ...

Legendary ancestral deity, Chiapas.

Vucub-Caquix Vucub-Caquix ( quc, Wuqub’ Kaqix, , possibly meaning 'seven-Macaw') is the name of a bird demon defeated by the Hero Twins of a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ-Mayan myth preserved in an 18th-century document, entitled ʼPopol Vuhʼ. The episode of t ...
PV

A bird being, whose wife is Chimalmat and whose sons are the demonic giants Cabrakan and Zipacna.

X

Xaman Ek

The god of travelers and merchants, who gave offerings to him on the side of

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s while traveling.

Xbalanque The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Kʼicheʼ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the Kʼi ...
PV
od CH OD or Od may refer to: Education * Old Diocesan, a former pupil of Diocesan College * Old Dunelmian, a former pupil of Durham School Medicine * OD or o.d., an abbreviation used in medical prescriptions for or "once daily" both meaning "take on ...
/h2>
One of the
Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
or War Twins and companion to Hunahpu.

Xcarruchan

A mountain god of the Postclassic Manche Chʼol.

Xmucane and Xpiayoc Xmucane () and Xpiacoc (), alternatively Xumucane and Ixpiyacoc, are the names of the divine grandparents of Maya mythology of the Kʼicheʼ people and the daykeepers of the ''Popol Vuh''. They are considered to be the oldest of all the deity, gods ...
PV

A creator god couple which helped create the first humans. They are also the parents of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu. They were called Grandmother of Day, Grandmother of Light and Bearer twice over, begetter twice over and given the titles midwife and matchmaker.

Xquic Xquic (or Ixquic , Mayan languages#Modern orthography, ALMG: Xkikʼ, sometimes Gloss (annotation), glossed as ''"Blood Moon"'' or ''"Blood Girl/Maiden"'' in English) is a mythological figure known from the 16th century Kʼicheʼ language, Kʼiche� ...

She was the daughter of Cuchumaquic, one of the lords of the underworld,

Xibalba (), roughly translated as "place of fright", is the name of the underworld (or quc, Mitnal) in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a ...

. She is noted for being the mother of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque and is sometimes considered to be the Maya goddess associated with the waning moon.

Y

Yaluk

One of four Mopan "Grandfathers" of the earth and chief lightning god.

Yopaat Yopaat was an important Maya storm god in the southern Maya area that included the cities of Copán and Quiriguá during the Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 250–900 AD). Yopaat was closely related to Chaac, the Maya rain god.Gutiér ...

An important rain god at Copán and Quiriguá in the southern Maya area.Gutiérrez González 2012, p. 1061.

Yum Cimil

God of death, disease, and the underworld.

Yum Kaax Yum Kaax (Mayan pronunciation: um kaːʃ "Lord of the forest") is a Yukatek Maya name for the god of the wild vegetation and guardian of its animals. In the past, this god has wrongly been described as an agricultural deity or even as the Maya mai ...

God of the woods, of wild nature, and of the hunt; invoked before carving out a maize field from the wilderness.

Z

Zac Cimi Zac is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Zachary or Zechariah. It may refer to: People: * Zac Alexander (born 1989), Australian professional squash player * Zac Brooks (born 1993), American National Football League play ...
L

The

Bacab Bacab () is the generic Yucatec Maya name for the four prehispanic aged deities of the interior of the earth and its water deposits. The Bacabs have more recent counterparts in the lecherous, drunken old thunder deities of the Gulf Coast regions. ...

of the west.

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 chara ...
PV

A demonic personification of the earth crust.

Notes

References

* * Knowlton, Timothy W., ''Maya Creation Myths: Words and Worlds of the Chilam Balam''. University Press of Colorado, Boulder 2010. * Taube, Karl, ''The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatán''. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington 1992. * Mark, Joshua (2012)
"The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya"
''worldhistory.org''. * * Thompson, J. Eric S. ''Maya History and Religion''. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1970. * * {{List of mythological figures by region * Maya gods Maya goddesses Mesoamerican deities Maya gods and supernatural beings Maya gods and supernatural beings

Maya mythological beings

List Source Key

A

Ah-Muzen-Cab Ah Muzen Cab is the Maya god of bees and honey. He is possibly the same figure as "the Descending God" or "the Diving God" and is consistently depicted upside-down. The Temple of the Descending God is located in Tulum. The bees used by the Maya ...

Awilix Awilix () (also spelt Ahuilix, Auilix and Avilix) was a goddess (or possibly a god) of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya, who had a large kingdom in the highlands of Guatemala. She was the patron deity of the Nijaʼibʼ noble lineage at the Kʼich ...

B

Bacab Bacab () is the generic Yucatec Maya name for the four prehispanic aged deities of the interior of the earth and its water deposits. The Bacabs have more recent counterparts in the lecherous, drunken old thunder deities of the Gulf Coast regions. ...

Bitol pv*

Bolon Tzʼakab (Dzacab) *L* god_K_.html" ;"title="god_K.html" ;"title="god K">god K ">god_K.html" ;"title="god K">god K /h2> ''Ah Bolon Dzacab'' "Innumerable Generations", the lightning god, patron of the harvest and the seeds.

Bolontiku *CHB*

Bolon Yokteʼ

Buluc Chabtan (Deity), Buluc Chabtan [ god F ]

C

Cacoch *LAC*

Camazotz *PV*

Can Tzicnal *L*

Chaac *L*

Chaac Uayab Xoc *L*

Chimalmat Maya or Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya peoples, Maya tales in which personified forces of nature, Deity, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. The myths of the era hav ...

Cizin Cizin is a Mayan god of death and earthquakes. He is the most important Maya death god in the Mayan culture. Scholars call him God A. To the Yucatán Mayas he was Hun-Came and Vucub-Came. He also has similarities to Mictlāntēcutli. Name ...

Colel Cab

Colop U Uichkin *RITUAL OF THE BACABS*

E

Ek Chuaj *M* (God M)

G

GI, GII, GIII

Gukumatz > Qʼuqʼumatz *PV*

H

Hachäkʼyum *LAC*

Hobnil *L*

Hozanek *L*

Hun-Batz *PV*

Hun-Came The Maya death gods, (also Ah Puch, Ah Cimih, Ah Cizin, Hun Ahau, Kimi, or Yum Kimil) known by a variety of names, are two basic types of death gods who are respectively represented by the 16th-century Yucatec deities Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau ment ... *PV*

Hun-Chowen *PV*

Hun-Hunahpu Hun Hunahpu (pronounced ), or 'Head- Apu I' (a calendrical name) is a figure in Mayan mythology. According to ''Popol Vuh'' he was the father of the Maya Hero Twins, Head-Apu and Xbalanque. As their shared calendrical day name suggests, Head-Apu I w ... *PV*

Hunab Ku Hunab Ku () is a colonial period Yucatec Maya ''reducido'' term meaning "The One God". It is used in colonial, and more particularly in doctrinal texts, to refer to the Christian God. Since the word is found frequently in the Chilam Balam o ...

Hun-Ahpu *PV*

Hunahpu-Gutch *PV*

Hunahpu Utiu *PV*

Hunraqan *PV*

I

J

Jacawitz Jacawitz () (also spelt Jakawitz, Jakawits, Qʼaqʼawits and Hacavitz) was a mountain god of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya of highland Guatemala. He was the patron of the Ajaw Kʼicheʼ lineage and was a companion of the sun god Tohil. It is ... *PV*

K

Kʼawiil Kʼawiil, in the Post-Classic codices corresponding to God K, is a Maya deity identified with lightning, serpents, fertility and maize. He is characterized by a zoomorphic head, with large eyes, long, upturned snout and attenuated serpent foot. A ... (Kawil, Kauil)

Kisin Cizin is a Mayan god of death and earthquakes. He is the most important Maya death god in the Mayan culture. Scholars call him God A. To the Yucatán Mayas he was Hun-Came and Vucub-Came. He also has similarities to Mictlāntēcutli. Name an ... (Cisin)

Kukulkan K’uk’ulkan, also spelled Kukulkan, ( "''Plumed Serpent''", "''Amazing Serpent''") is the name of a Mesoamerican serpent deity that was worshipped by the Yucatec Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula before the Spanish conquest of Yucat ...

M

N

Nakon Nako, Nakon, Nakko, or Nacco (flourished 954 – c. 966) was an Obotrite leader who, along with his brother Stoigniew, led the forces of a Slavic confederacy in a revolt against the Germans, especially Herman Billung, Duke of Saxony. Małec ...

Q

Qaholom *PV*

Qʼuqʼumatz Qʼuqʼumatz () (alternatively Qucumatz, Gukumatz, Gucumatz, Gugumatz, Kucumatz etc.) was a deity of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya. Qʼuqʼumatz was the Feathered Serpent divinity of the ''Popol Vuh'' who created humanity together with the go ... *PV*

S

T

Tepeu Tepeu is a word of the K'iche' Maya language meaning "sovereign" (also "one who conquers" or "one who is victorious"). The title is associated with the god Q'uq'umatz of the K'iche'-Maya, one of the creation gods of the Popol Vuh; his whole name ... *PV*

Tohil Tohil (, also spelled Tojil) was a deity of the Kʼicheʼ Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Tohil was the patron god of the Kʼicheʼ. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity a ... *PV*

Tunkuruchu *PV*

V

Votan Votan is a legendary or mythological figure mentioned in early European accounts of the Maya civilization. Origins of the Votan story The story of Votan in Mexico dates back to at least the late 17th century. It was first published in ''Constit ...

Vucub-Caquix Vucub-Caquix ( quc, Wuqub’ Kaqix, , possibly meaning 'seven-Macaw') is the name of a bird demon defeated by the Hero Twins of a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ-Mayan myth preserved in an 18th-century document, entitled ʼPopol Vuhʼ. The episode of t ... *PV*

X

Xmucane and Xpiayoc Xmucane () and Xpiacoc (), alternatively Xumucane and Ixpiyacoc, are the names of the divine grandparents of Maya mythology of the Kʼicheʼ people and the daykeepers of the ''Popol Vuh''. They are considered to be the oldest of all the deity, gods ... *PV*

Xquic Xquic (or Ixquic , Mayan languages#Modern orthography, ALMG: Xkikʼ, sometimes Gloss (annotation), glossed as ''"Blood Moon"'' or ''"Blood Girl/Maiden"'' in English) is a mythological figure known from the 16th century Kʼicheʼ language, Kʼiche� ...

Y

Yopaat Yopaat was an important Maya storm god in the southern Maya area that included the cities of Copán and Quiriguá during the Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 250–900 AD). Yopaat was closely related to Chaac, the Maya rain god.Gutiér ...

Yum Kaax Yum Kaax (Mayan pronunciation: um kaːʃ "Lord of the forest") is a Yukatek Maya name for the god of the wild vegetation and guardian of its animals. In the past, this god has wrongly been described as an agricultural deity or even as the Maya mai ...

Z

Zac Cimi Zac is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Zachary or Zechariah. It may refer to: People: * Zac Alexander (born 1989), Australian professional squash player * Zac Brooks (born 1993), American National Football League play ... *L*

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 chara ... *PV*

See also

Notes

References

Bolon Tzʼakab (Dzacab) L god_K_.html" ;"title="god_K.html" ;"title="god K">god K ">god_K.html" ;"title="god K">god K /h2>
''Ah Bolon Dzacab'' "Innumerable Generations", the lightning god, patron of the harvest and the seeds.

Bolontiku CHB

Cacoch LAC

Camazotz PV

Can Tzicnal L

Chaac L

Chaac Uayab Xoc L

Colop U Uichkin RITUAL OF THE BACABS

Ek Chuaj M (God M)

Gukumatz > Qʼuqʼumatz PV

Hachäkʼyum LAC

Hobnil L

Hozanek L

Hun-Batz PV

Hun-Came The Maya death gods, (also Ah Puch, Ah Cimih, Ah Cizin, Hun Ahau, Kimi, or Yum Kimil) known by a variety of names, are two basic types of death gods who are respectively represented by the 16th-century Yucatec deities Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau ment ...
PV

Hun-Chowen PV

Hun-Hunahpu Hun Hunahpu (pronounced ), or 'Head- Apu I' (a calendrical name) is a figure in Mayan mythology. According to ''Popol Vuh'' he was the father of the Maya Hero Twins, Head-Apu and Xbalanque. As their shared calendrical day name suggests, Head-Apu I w ...
PV

Hun-Ahpu PV

Hunahpu-Gutch PV

Hunahpu Utiu PV

Hunraqan PV

Jacawitz Jacawitz () (also spelt Jakawitz, Jakawits, Qʼaqʼawits and Hacavitz) was a mountain god of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya of highland Guatemala. He was the patron of the Ajaw Kʼicheʼ lineage and was a companion of the sun god Tohil. It is ...
PV

Kʼawiil Kʼawiil, in the Post-Classic codices corresponding to God K, is a Maya deity identified with lightning, serpents, fertility and maize. He is characterized by a zoomorphic head, with large eyes, long, upturned snout and attenuated serpent foot. A ...
(Kawil, Kauil)

Kisin Cizin is a Mayan god of death and earthquakes. He is the most important Maya death god in the Mayan culture. Scholars call him God A. To the Yucatán Mayas he was Hun-Came and Vucub-Came. He also has similarities to Mictlāntēcutli. Name an ...
(Cisin)

Qaholom PV

Qʼuqʼumatz Qʼuqʼumatz () (alternatively Qucumatz, Gukumatz, Gucumatz, Gugumatz, Kucumatz etc.) was a deity of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya. Qʼuqʼumatz was the Feathered Serpent divinity of the ''Popol Vuh'' who created humanity together with the go ...
PV

Tepeu Tepeu is a word of the K'iche' Maya language meaning "sovereign" (also "one who conquers" or "one who is victorious"). The title is associated with the god Q'uq'umatz of the K'iche'-Maya, one of the creation gods of the Popol Vuh; his whole name ...
PV

Tohil Tohil (, also spelled Tojil) was a deity of the Kʼicheʼ Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Tohil was the patron god of the Kʼicheʼ. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity a ...
PV

Tunkuruchu PV

Vucub-Caquix Vucub-Caquix ( quc, Wuqub’ Kaqix, , possibly meaning 'seven-Macaw') is the name of a bird demon defeated by the Hero Twins of a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ-Mayan myth preserved in an 18th-century document, entitled ʼPopol Vuhʼ. The episode of t ...
PV

Xmucane and Xpiayoc Xmucane () and Xpiacoc (), alternatively Xumucane and Ixpiyacoc, are the names of the divine grandparents of Maya mythology of the Kʼicheʼ people and the daykeepers of the ''Popol Vuh''. They are considered to be the oldest of all the deity, gods ...
PV

Zac Cimi Zac is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Zachary or Zechariah. It may refer to: People: * Zac Alexander (born 1989), Australian professional squash player * Zac Brooks (born 1993), American National Football League play ...
L

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 chara ...
PV