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30-409: Like other Maya gods, Chaac is both one and manifold. Four Chaacs are based in the cardinal directions and wear the directional colors. East, where the sunrise is, is red, North, mid-day zenith, is represented by white, West is represented by black for the sunset, and South is represented by yellow. There is a fifth color which is associate with the center point, and that is green. In 16th-century Yucatán,

60-450: A black stripe over the eyes and a "darkness" infix in the forehead. Just like death god A, he figures among the Classic wayob . Instead of being a head hunter, however, God A' is a demonic apparition repeatedly shown in the illusionistic act of self-decapitation. He is presented with very pale flesh similar to a corpse. Over his eyes are black bands. Like all deities in the underworld, he wears

90-486: A demonic flying insect sometimes carrying a torch (possibly a blowfly, firefly, or wasp). In spite of the above, it has been suggested that the hieroglyphic name of God A' should be read as Akan , a name otherwise only known as that of a 16th-century deity of alcoholic beverages. A text from the early colonial songbook of Dzitbalche states the Underworld ( Miitnal ) to be opened and Kisin ( Cizin ) to be liberated during

120-593: A smoking cigarette. On his neck is a death collar which consists of embodied eyes hanging by their nerve cords. The black spots on his body represent the decay of the flesh. Since he is a rotting corpse in some images he is shown with a bloated stomach. Both God A and God A' figure prominently in the New Year rites depicted in the Dresden Codex. God A' probably corresponds to the death god Uacmitun Ahau in Landa's description of

150-563: 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 mentioned by Spanish Bishop Diego de Landa . Hunhau is the lord of the Underworld . Iconographically , Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau correspond to the Gods A and A' ("A prime"). In recent narratives, particularly in the oral tradition of the Lacandon people , there

180-470: Is a floating object shaped like an "S" probably an insect carrying a torch. On his forehead like other deities of the underworld he wears an "aqabal" also known as an emblem of "darkness." His head in Maya culture was used to represent the number 10, the lower jawbone meant the numeral ten that was inscribed within all other head variants of the numbers thirteen to nineteen. He was often pictured as dancing and holding

210-473: Is about the opening of the mountain in which the maize was hidden. In Tzotzil mythology, the rain deity also figures as the father of nubile women representing maize and vegetables. In some versions of the Qʼeqchiʼ myth of Sun and Moon, the rain deity Choc (or Chocl) 'Cloud' is the brother of Sun; together they defeat their aged adoptive mother and her lover. Later, Chaac commits adultery with his brother's wife and

240-475: Is duly punished; his tears of agony give origin to the rain. Versions of this myth show the rain deity Chac in his war-like fury, pursuing the fleeing Sun and Moon, and attacking them with his lightning bolts. In some mythologies, it is believed that water and clouds are formed within the Earth in caves and cenotes and then carried into the sky by deities such as Chaac. Classic period Maya sources also suggest that Chaac

270-546: Is known as "One Death," the other is called "Seven Death." They were vanquished by the Hero Twins . The two principal death gods count among the many were-animals and spooks ( wayob ) inhabiting the Underworld, with the God A way in particular manifesting himself as a head hunter and a deer hunter. Ah Puch was banished after he broke his promise with the Maya king and was sent to the storm that would bring him to earth forever. Kisin

300-586: Is only one death god (called "Kisin" in Lacandon ), who acts as the antipode of the Upper God in the creation of the world and of the human body and soul. This death god inhabits an Underworld that is also the world of the dead. As a ruler over the world of the dead ( Metnal or Xibalba ), the principal death god corresponds to the Aztec deity Mictlāntēcutli . The Popol Vuh has two leading death gods, but these two are really one: Both are called "Death," but while one

330-733: Is the name of the death god among the Lacandons as well as the early colonial Choles, kis being a root with meanings like "flatulence" and "stench." Landa uses another name and calls the lord of the Underworld and "prince of the devils" Hunhau , a name that, recurring in early Yucatec dictionaries as Humhau and Cumhau , is not to be confused with Hun-Ahau; hau , or haw , means 'to end' and 'to lay on its back (mouth up)'. Other names include Yum Kimil , "Lord of Death" in Yucatán and (Ah) Pukuh in Chiapas. The name Hun Ahau ("One Lord") appears frequently in

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360-401: Is the war-like fury of the rain deity that receives emphasis (as is also the case in the myth mentioned above). The king personifying the rain deity is then shown carrying war implements and making prisoners, while his actions seem to be equated with the violence of a thunderstorm. About Chaahk's role in Classic period mythological narrative, little is known. He is present at the resurrection of

390-509: The Hero Twins descend to the "Place of Fright" ( Xibalba ), where a pair of Death Gods, Hun-Came ("One-Death") and Vucub-Came ("Seven-Death"), rule over a series of disease-bringing deities. They defeat the Death Gods and put restrictions on their cult. According to one of the earliest sources on Maya religion (Francisco Hernández 1545), Eopuco (i.e., Ah Pukuh) mistreated and killed the Bacab , who

420-470: The Maya maize god from the carapace of a turtle, possibly representing the earth. The so-called 'confrontation scenes' are of a more legendary nature. They show a young nobleman and his retinue wading through the waters and being approached by warriors. One of these warriors is a man personifying the rain deity. He probably represents an ancestral king, and seems to be referred to as Chak Xib [Chaahk]. Together with

450-799: The Ritual of the Bacabs , but is never specified as a death god. Ah Puch , though often mentioned in books about the Mayas, does not appear to be an authentic Maya name for the death god. (An Ah Puch is mentioned in the opening of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel in passing as a ruler of the North, and one of the Xibalba attendants in the Popol Vuh is called Ahal Puh.) In the Popol Vuh ,

480-515: The "aq'ab'al" which is the sign of underworld darkness and divination. The god is shown wearing a large headdress with a femur bone going through the center of it. In most images, he is shown holding either a stave, pipe, or orb. Like most deities in the Maya religion, he wears jewelry around the neck, wrist, and ankles. He wears a gown or cloth that covers his pelvis area in the front and his backside. His iconography shows considerable overlap with that of an anthropomorphic way (labeled Mokochih ) and of

510-627: The Central Mexican ( Teotihuacan ) precursor of Tlaloc. A large part of one of the four surviving Maya codices, the Dresden Codex , is dedicated to the Chaacs, their locations, and activities. It illustrates the intimate relationship existing between the Chaacs, the Bacabs , and the aged goddess, Ixchel . The main source on the 16th-century Yucatec Maya, Bishop Diego de Landa , combines the four Chaacs with

540-447: The New year rites. He presides over a year of great mortality. To ward off evil during this year, men would walk over a bed of glowing embers that possibly represented the fires of the Underworld. Temple priests would get in costumes of God A' and performed rites of bloodletting and human sacrifice. Those who impersonated this deity would dance out the steps of ritual sacrifice, putting terror in

570-463: The concluding twenty days of the year ( Uayah-yaab ). In the Classic period, the head of the skeletal God A serves as (i) the hieroglyph for the day Kimi, "Death," corresponding to Kame' in Quiché, also the name of the paired rulers of Xibalba in the Popol Vuh ; (ii) the hieroglyph for the number ten ( lajun ), perhaps because the verbal stem laj- means "to end;" (iii) a variable element in glyph C of

600-517: The directional Chaac of the east was called Chac Xib Chaac 'Red Man Chaac', only the colors being varied for the three other ones. Contemporary Yucatec Maya farmers distinguish many more aspects of the rainfall and the clouds and personify them as different, hierarchically-ordered rain deities. The Chorti Maya have preserved important folklore regarding the process of rain-making, which involved rain deities striking rain-carrying snakes with their axes. The rain deities had their human counterparts. In

630-406: The four Bacabs and Pauahtuns into one concept. The Bacabs were aged deities governing the subterranean sphere and its water supplies. In the Classic period, the king often impersonated the rain deity (or an associated rain serpent) while a portrait glyph of the rain deity can accompany the king's other names. This may have given expression to his role as a supreme rain-maker. Typically, however, it

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660-462: The jaguar transformation of a man (possibly a hero) who is usually shown as a baby, and who seems to disappear into the underworld.-- Apart from these contexts, on a Copan bench, the earth-carrying Bacabs are paired off with death gods A. This may relate to the fact that in Yucatán, one of the four Bacabs was called "White Death" (Zaccimi). The other codical death god is God A' ("A prime"), corresponding to Landa's Uac Mitun Ahau, and characterized by

690-537: The movement originated as a joke, many took it seriously and attempted to vandalize the statue. Activist lawyers sought to have the statue removed, and some people in Mexico cited Tropical Storm Alberto and Hurricane Beryl as proof that Chaac was upset at Poseidon. List of rain deities There are many different gods of rain in different religions: God A The Maya death gods (also Ah Puch , Ah Cimih, Ah Cizin, Hun Ahau, Kimi, or Yum Kimil) known by

720-464: The one hand, this deer hunt may metaphorically refer to a hunt for human victims. On the other hand, there also seems to be a connection with certain wayob shaped like deer but with the tail of a spider monkey. On the famous peccary skull from Copan, for example, such a deer way appears to be welcoming the death god returning from a hunt. Together with the Rain Deity Chaac , God A is present at

750-536: The rituals for the rain deities, the Yucatec Chʼa Cháak ceremony for asking rain centers on a ceremonial banquet for the rain deities. It includes four boys (one for each cardinal point) acting and chanting as frogs. Asking for rain and crops was also the purpose of 16th-century rituals at the cenotes , of Yucatán. The rain deity is a patron of agriculture. A well-known myth in which the Chaacs (or related Rain and Lightning deities) have an important role to play

780-593: The skeletal Death God ( God A ), Chaahk also appears to preside over an initiate's ritual transformation into a jaguar. Chaac continues to hold importance for Maya groups in Mexico. In 2024, a statue of the Greek god Poseidon located in Progreso, Yucatán , caused controversy for locals who deemed it offensive to their beliefs in Chaac. Many locals organized with the goal of destroying the statue because it supposedly angered Chaac. While

810-464: The soul of ritual participants and the spectators who witnessed these sacred events. With varying hieroglyphic names and attributes, God A figures in processions and random arrays of were-animals and spooks ( wayob ). In connection with these apparitions, he tends to be depicted either as a headhunter or as deer hunter (see figure). On the grandiose Tonina stucco wall, the severed head is that of an enemy king. The death god's deer hunt has two sides. On

840-470: The traditional Maya (and Mesoamerican) community, one of the most important functions was that of rainmaker, which presupposed an intimate acquaintance with (and thus, initiation by) the rain deities, and a knowledge of their places and movements. According to a Late-Postclassic Yucatec tradition, Chac Xib Chaac (the rain deity of the east) was the title of a king of Chichen Itza , and similar titles were bestowed upon Classic rulers as well (see below). Among

870-558: Was resurrected three days later. The skeletal death god Kisin plays a prominent role in Lacandon mythology, chiefly in the following tales: During the Classic period, his abdomen is sometimes replaced with out-pouring swirls of blood or rotting matter. He is usually accompanied by spiders, centipedes, scorpions, a vulture, an owl, and a bat. He is pictured with jewelry usually on his wrists and ankles. On his lower extremity, he has around "molo" sign that putrid smells of death. Over his head

900-541: Was the god who opened the mountain containing maize, using his lightning axe, K'awiil . Chaac is usually depicted with a human body showing reptilian or amphibian scales, and with a non-human head evincing fangs and a long, pendulous nose. In the Classic style, a shell serves as his ear ornament. He often carries a shield and a lightning axe, the axe being personified by a closely related deity, K'awiil , called Bolon Dzacab in Yucatec. The Classic Chaac sometimes shows features of

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