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92-603: The Twin motif recurs in many Native American mythologies; the Maya Twins, in particular, could be considered as mythical ancestors to the Maya ruling lineages. After being invited to Xibalba by One-Death and Seven-Death, the Lords of the Underworld, to a game of Pok Ta Pok , a Maya Ballgame, Hun Hunahpu (lit. One-Hunahpu) and Vucub Hunahpu (lit. Seven-Hunahpu) were defeated and executed as

184-499: A ballgame . The Popol Vuh features other episodes involving the Twins as well (see below), including the destruction of a pretentious bird demon, Vucub Caquix , and of his two demonic sons. The Twins also turned their half-brothers into the howler monkey gods , who were the patrons of artists and scribes. The Twins were finally transformed into sun and moon, signaling the beginning of a new age. The Qʼeqchiʼ myth of Sun and Moon, where he

276-543: A Micmac name. It is also noted that the prefix "mal-" is of Latin origin. In the Yuma creation myth , Kokomaht and Bahotahl were the representations of nature. Bahotahl created the animals, but created them imperfectly since he was blind. Kokomaht attempts to correct his mistake, but only makes it worse due to his ineptitude. Tzolkin The tzolkʼin ( Mayan pronunciation: [t͡sol ˈkʼin] , formerly and commonly tzolkin )

368-580: A beard. Certain iconographic scenes are suggestive of episodes in the Popol Vuh . The Twins' shooting of a steeply descending bird (the ' Principal Bird Deity ') with blowguns may represent the defeat of Vucub-Caquix , whereas the principal Maya maize god rising from the carapace of a turtle in the presence of the Hero Twins may visualize the resurrection of the Twins' father, Hun-Hunahpu. This second scene has also been explained differently, however. In any case,

460-557: A bench for visitors, correctly identifying the bench as a heated stone for cooking. Frustrated by the twins' ability to see through their traps, they sent the boys away to the Dark House, the first of several deadly tests devised by the Xibalbans. Their father and uncle had suffered embarrassing defeats in each of the tests, but again Hunahpu and Xbalanque demonstrated their prowess by outwitting

552-422: A climactic performance, Xbalanque cut Hunahpu apart and offered him as a sacrifice, only to have the older brother rise once again from the dead. Enthralled by the performance, One Death and Seven Death, the highest lords of Xibalba , demanded that the miracle be performed upon them. The twins obliged by killing and offering the lords as a sacrifice, but did not bring them back from the dead. The twins then shocked

644-481: A detailed summary of the Popol Vuh Twin Myth, on from the death of the heroes' father and uncle. Hunahpu and his brother were conceived when their mother Xquic , daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba , spoke with the severed head of their father Hun. The skull spat upon the maiden's hand, which caused the twins to be conceived in her womb . Xquic sought out Hun Hunahpu's mother, who begrudgingly took her as

736-557: A game. They gave them seven deadly tasks to complete, but they were only able to complete the last one which resulted in Camazotz cutting off Hunahpu's head. He survived and, with his brother, brought about the end of Xibalba. Their tale ends with them becoming the sun and moon. Yolkai Estsan and Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé are Navajo goddesses, the latter of which gave birth to the Hero Twins Monster Slayer and Born-for-Water. In

828-430: A hieroglyphic element of this meaning precedes the pictogram of the hero (although it has also been suggested to be the female prefix ix- ). For the combination of prefix and pictogram, a reading as Yax Balam has been proposed. The name "Hunahpu" (pronounced [hunaxˈpu] ) is usually understood as Hun-ahpub 'One-Blowgunner', the blowgun characterizing the youthful hero as a hunter of birds. The head of Hunahpu

920-413: A living as doctors and dentists and attempting to care for their orphaned grandchildren. Upon hearing this, Seven Macaw requested that his teeth be fixed since they had been shot and knocked loose by the blowgun, and his eyes cured (it is not specifically said what ailed his eyes). In doing so, the grandparents replaced his jeweled teeth with white corn and plucked the ornaments he had about his eyes, leaving

1012-400: A louse which was hidden in a toad's mouth, which was in turn hidden in the belly of a snake in a falcon. Nevertheless, the boys did receive the message, and much to their grandmother's dismay, set off to Xibalba . When their father had answered the summons, he and his brother were met with a number of challenges along the way which served to confuse and embarrass them before their arrival, but

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1104-518: A number of architectural complexes built in the late second and early first millennia BCE in the area along the southern Gulf coast in Mexico are oriented to the Sun's positions on the horizon on certain dates, separated by multiples of 13 and 20 days. Since these were elementary periods of the 260-day cycle, the orientations marking these intervals can only be explained in association with this calendar. The dating of

1196-508: A pair of mythological twin heroes from Crow folklore known as the Sacred Twins. Curtain-Boy was raised by his father while Spring-Boy grew up in the wilderness. Lodge Boy and Thrown Away are young heroes from the legends of the Midwestern and Plains people. In most versions of the story, the monster Two-Face cuts a pregnant mother open and throws one of her unborn children out the door into

1288-534: A poison to the god. Upon eating it, he was weakened and the boys were able to bind him and cast him into a hole in the earth, burying him forever. Sometime after the expulsion of their older siblings, the twins used their special powers or abilities to expedite their gardening chores for their grandmother—a single swing of the axe would do a full day's worth of clearing, for example. The pair covered themselves in dust and wood chippings when their grandmother approached to make it seem they had been hard at work, in spite of

1380-477: A result. Hun-Hunahpu's head was put in a tree. When Blood Moon, the daughter of Blood Gatherer, one of the Lords of the Underworld, passes by the tree, his head speaks to her and then impregnates her with his spittle. Her father finds out that she is pregnant and convenes with One-Death and Seven-Death. They decide that if Blood Moon is not willing to tell them who the father is, she should be killed. Blood Moon truthfully answers that she has not slept with anyone, which

1472-486: A reward they thought impossible, for the flowers were guarded by birds. The birds however, failed to notice as the ants trimmed the flowers. The Xibalbans were furious upon receiving bowls of their own flower petals, and split open the birds' beaks, giving nightjars their distinctive gape. Each of the following days resulted in a tied game and a new test. In the Cold House, the twins kept the cold at bay by pure willpower. In

1564-654: A tradition of Red Horn's Sons . The mythology of Red Horn and his two sons have some interesting analogies with the Maya Hero Twins mythic cycle. Hero Twins in Native American culture The Hero Twins (or God Boys) are recurring characters from the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas . The specifics of each myth vary from tribe to tribe, but each story has a pair of twins (usually with magical powers) who were born when their pregnant mother

1656-399: A tree and were unable to retrieve them. The older brothers were brought to the tree and climbed up to get the birds when the tree suddenly began to grow even taller, and the older brothers were caught. This is also the first instance in which the twins demonstrate supernatural powers, or perhaps simply the blessings of the greater gods; the feats of power are often only indirectly attributed to

1748-530: A truly authentic sonic expression of its inner workings. In 1995, Maria von Boisse translated the mathematical matrix of the tzolkʼin to musical notes and set them into music. The final version of the work was developed in collaboration with Hubert Bognermayr in the Electronic Försterhaus in Linz , Austria . In 1998, composer Michael John Wiley discovered mathematical and aesthetic correlations between

1840-423: A ward after setting up a number of trials to prove her identity. Even after birth, Hunahpu and Xbalanque were not well treated by their grandmother or their older half-brothers, One Howler Monkey and One Artisan. Immediately after their births, their grandmother demanded they be removed from the house for their crying, and their elder brothers obliged by placing them on an anthill and among the brambles. Their intent

1932-554: A wolf brother (Moqwaio) or the Iroquois culture hero, whose evil twin is Flint. It's also possible that some Malsum stories were originally told about Lox , a malevolent Wabanaki trickster figure. The first recorded version of the Malsum story that we're aware of is in "The Algonquin Legends of New England" by Charles Leland, where he attributes his information to a Micmac despite Malsum not being

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2024-465: Is Gluskab's adopted brother and can shift back and forth between his human form and the form of a type of weasel which was considered sacred by some Mi'kmaq bands. In some Maliseet and Passamaquoddy legends, Gluskab's brother is Mikumwesu, the progenitor of the race of dwarves known as Mikumwesuck. Unlike the others, Mikumwesu is heroic, good-natured, and loyal. He uses a bow and arrow and has magical powers similar to his brother. Mateguas (or Rabbit )

2116-510: Is a trickster rather than a villain, and the brothers' relationship is one of rivalry rather than enmity. Drinks Brains is an Arikara hero, one of a pair of magical twins. His twin brother Long Teeth was magically generated from the afterbirth and grew up in the wilderness. When their mother is killed, his father took Drinks Brains from her womb and sustained him on a broth made from deer brains in place of mother's milk. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca are culture heroes and creator deities of

2208-666: Is a light-hearted trickster in other Wabanaki tribes, but a serious character in Abenaki legend. After his death, Mateguas became ruler of the underworld, communicating with Gluskab from beyond the grave to give him secrets and advice. Mateguas shares many similarities with death deities of the Great Lakes Algonquian tribes such as the Potawatomi and Ojibwe rather than the more typical figures of Wabanaki mythology. Malsumis (or Malsum) means " wolf " in southern Wabanaki languages and

2300-450: Is conceived as linked firmly to worldly or earthly affairs, mirroring no astronomical period but rather the period of human gestation. Past ethnographic accounts of this cycle contain various conflicting opinions as to what its first day is, but a comparison of the present results and those of previous studies indicates that there is no fixed first day." Anthony Aveni asserts, "Once a Maya genius may have recognized that somewhere deep within

2392-477: Is distinguished by black spots on his skin, interpreted as the stains of a corpse or as pustules. On the Preclassic murals from San Bartolo , the king, marked with a black spot on the cheek, and drawing blood from his genitals in the four corners of the world, appears to personify the hero Hunahpu. Xbalanque—the 'War Twin'—is more animal-like, in that he is distinguished by jaguar patches on his skin and by whiskers or

2484-552: Is hunting for deer (a metaphor for making captives), and capturing the daughter of the Earth Deity. In these cases, Hunahpu has no role to play. Another main source for Hero Twin mythology is much earlier and consists of representations found on Maya ceramics until about 900 AD and in the Dresden Codex some centuries later. Clearly recognizable are the figures of Hunahpu, Xbalanque, and the howler monkey scribes and sculptors. Hunahpu

2576-603: Is lost in the woods. Eventually the two brothers are reunited and avenge their mother's murder. The twins are associated with thunder and lightning. Makunaima ("He Works By Night") and Piai ("Medicine Man") are the Creator gods of the Akawaio and neighboring Cariban tribes, said to never have been seen by mortals. Though older myths feature Makunaima as a legendary culture hero who slays monsters, in more recent texts those exploits are ascribed to Sigu instead while Makunaima becomes

2668-598: Is numbered from 1 to 13, and then starting again at 1. The 20 individual named days are the following: NOTES: The tzolkʼin does not have a generally recognized start and end, although there are specific references in the books of Chilam Balam to 1 Imix as the beginning day. Each of the twenty days has its specific primary association connected to the day name's meaning. The variant names and associations below are common to three post-conquest Guatemalan highland calendars. Their interpretations are based primarily on an 1854 manuscript by Hernandez Spina . The tzolkʼin

2760-531: Is opposed by Evangelical Christian converts in some Maya communities. The word tzolkʼin , meaning "division of days", is a western coinage in Yucatec Maya . Contemporary Maya groups who have maintained an unbroken count for over 500 years in the tzolk'in use other terms in their languages. For instance, the Kʼicheʼ use the term Aj Ilabal Qʼij [aχ ilaɓal qʼiχ] or Raj Ilabal Qʼij [ɾaχ ilaɓal qʼiχ], 'the sense of

2852-577: Is said to be the name of an evil spirit who is the twin brother of Glooscap, however some Wabanaki elders have been stated that this is not a real Wabanaki myth. Wolves are not evil figures to the Wabanaki and the wolf is even Gluskab's loyal companion in Maliseet legends. Malsumis also does not appear in older texts of the story. Folklorists might have confused Gluskab with the Anishinabe culture hero who often has

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2944-399: Is taken as a lie because she is visibly pregnant. Thus, they order their Owl Messengers to kill her and bring back her heart as proof. Blood Moon then tells the owls the truth and they agree to spare her. They create a faux heart out of red tree sap which they bring back to the Lords of the Underworld. The owls then show her the way to the world above. Here she goes to the house of Xmucane ,

3036-499: Is the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica . The tzolkʼin, the basic cycle of the Maya calendar , is a preeminent component in the society and rituals of the ancient and the modern Maya. The tzolkʼin is still used by several Maya communities in the Guatemalan highlands. While its use has been spreading in this region, this practice

3128-399: Is the length of human pregnancy . This is close to the average number of days between the first missed menstrual period and birth, unlike Naegele's rule which is 40 weeks (280 days) between the last menstrual period and birth. It is postulated that midwives originally developed the calendar to predict babies' expected birth dates. Vincent Malmström identifies a correlation between

3220-400: Is used as a variant sign for the 20th day in the day count or tzolkin , which in these cases may actually have been read as (Hun)ahpu , rather than Ahau (Lord or King). The 20th day is also the concluding day of all vigesimal periods, including the katun and baktun . The head of Xbalanque is used as a variant for the number nine ( balan being similar to bolon 'nine'). The following is

3312-532: The Anishinabe hero Nanabozho or the Wabanaki hero Glooscap . Hunahpu and Xbalanque, the Maya Hero Twins , were conceived when the severed head of Hun Hunahpu spat in the hand of their mother, Xquic . Huracan first met the twins when he needed their assistance with killing Seven Macaw . After the boys got their ball back from their grandmother by outsmarting her, the lords of Xibalba invited them to play

3404-489: The Aztecs and are said to be brothers. They are often seen in competition with each other, like when the two fought over who would become the sun. They are also seen as allies however, as both are considered protectors of Earth. They are also depicted as having another brother, Xolotl . He is even shown as helping Quetzalcoatl returning the bones of the humans to the land of the living to bring them back to life. Keri and Kame are

3496-509: The Harmonic Convergence , inspired by a single paragraph of Argüelles's book "The Mayan Factor" (wherein he refers to each day as a "tone"), singer/songwriter and sound healer, Alyras (aka Mirai), translated the tzolkʼin's harmonic values into sound, with the tutelage of Barbara Hero. Eschewing extensions of the tzolkʼin, Alyras opted for strict mathematical adherence to the tzolkʼin's fundamental structure and sequences, in order to present

3588-480: The Olmec Gulf Coast region. However, either the dating method or the calendric nature of the glyphs are disputed by scholars. The earliest unequivocal written record is a 7 Deer day sign found in mural paintings at the central lowland Maya site of San Bartolo, Guatemala, dated to the 3rd century BCE, but it is now obvious that the origin of the 260-day is much earlier. An archaeoastronomical study has shown that

3680-489: The creation myth of the Navajo the hero twins Monster Slayer and Born for Water acquire lightning bolt arrows from their father, the Sun, in order to rid the world of monsters that prey upon the people. The Little Thunders were a pair of spirit twins from Miccosukee legend, who were the dual chiefs of the water spirits. One brother was the sound of thunder while the other was the flash of lightning. Jukihú and Juracán are

3772-417: The sun or the moon . Seven Macaw was also extremely vain, adorning himself with metal ornaments in his wings and a set of false teeth made of gemstones. In a first attempt to dispatch the vain god, the twins attempted to sneak up on him as he was eating his meal in a tree, and shot at his jaw with a blowgun . Seven Macaw was knocked from his tree but only wounded, and as Hunahpu attempted to escape, his arm

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3864-431: The 260-day cycle and the 260-day gap between zenithal passages of the sun . According to this hypothesis, the 260-day cycle originated in the narrow latitudinal band (14°42′N to 15°N) in which the sun is vertically overhead about 12–13 August and again 260 days later about 30 April – 1 May (Malmström identifies the proto-Classic Izapan culture as one suitable candidate at this latitude). This period may have been used for

3956-399: The 260-day cycle in the agricultural cycle of highland Guatemala , which is also about 260 days. Aveni notes that "the average duration between successive halves of the eclipse season, at 173 ½ days, fits into the tzolkin in the ratio of 3 to 2." This may seem contrived, but the Maya did employ the tzolkin to predict positions of Venus and eclipses. Another theory is that the 260-day period

4048-596: The Great Spirit, though Cariban cosmology became muddled since the arrival of Christian missionaries. Amalivaca , and his twin brother Vochi , are benevolent demigods from the Tamanac and other Cariban tribal legends. Amalivaca transforms the world for the humans and shows them how to survive. In some Carib traditions, they are combined with Sigu and considered to be the son of the high god Tamosi . Curtain Boy and Spring Boy are

4140-563: The Jaguar House, they fed the jaguars bones to survive. In the Fire House, the twins were sightly singed, but not burned. The Lords of Xibalba were dismayed at the twins success until the twins were placed in Bat House. Though they hid inside their blowguns from the deadly bats, Hunahpu peeked out to see if daylight had come, and was decapitated by a killer bat. Xbalanque summoned the beasts of

4232-591: The Moon. Many Native American cultures in the United States have traditions of two male hero twins. For instance, in the creation myth of the Navajo (called the Diné Bahaneʼ ) the hero twins Monster Slayer and Born for Water (sons of Changing Woman ) acquire lightning bolt arrows from their father, the Sun, in order to rid the world of monsters that prey upon the people. Ho-Chunk and other Siouan -speaking peoples have

4324-584: The Twins are often depicted together with the main maize god , and these three semi-divinities were obviously felt to belong together. Therefore, it is probably no coincidence that in the Popol Vuh , the Twins are symbolically represented by two maize stalks. The name "Xbalanque" (pronounced [ʃɓalaŋˈke] ) has been variously translated as 'Jaguar Sun' ( x-balam-que ), 'Hidden Sun' ( x-balan-que ), and 'Jaguar Deer' ( x-balam-quieh ). The initial sound may stem from yax (precious), since in Classical Maya,

4416-419: The Xibalbans by revealing their identities as Hunahpu and Xbalanque, sons of One Hunahpu whom they had slain years ago along with their uncle Seven Hunahpu. The Xibalbans despaired, confessed to the crimes of killing the brothers years ago, and begged for mercy. As a punishment for their crimes, the realm of Xibalba was no longer to be a place of greatness, and the Xibalbans would no longer receive offerings from

4508-413: The Xibalbans on the first of the tests. The twins placed macaw feathers in the torch and fireflies on the tips of their cigars, making the Xibalbans believe that they kept their torches and cigars lit all night. Dismayed, the Xibalbans bypassed the remaining tests and invited the boys directly to the game. The Xibalbans insisted on using their own ball for the game, and the twins consented. The ball, however,

4600-479: The Xibalbans. Tales of their transformation from catfish spread, as well as tales of their dances and the way they entertained the people of Xibalba . They performed a number of miracles, setting fire to homes and then bringing them back whole from the ashes, sacrificing one another and rising from the dead. When the Lords of Xibalba heard the tale, they summoned the pair to their court to entertain them, demanding to see such miracles for themselves. The boys answered

4692-469: The ball with the squash. The game continued until the squash burst, resulting in an embarrassing defeat for the Xibalbans. Embarrassed by their defeat, the Xibalbans still sought to destroy the twins. They had a great oven constructed and once again summoned the boys, intending to trick them into the oven and to their deaths. The twins realized that the Lords intended this ruse to be the end of them, yet, despite this, allowed themselves to be burned to death in

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4784-410: The calendar system lay the miraculous union, the magical crossing point of a host of time cycles: 9 moons, 13 times 20, a birth cycle, a planting cycle, a Venus cycle, a sun cycle, an eclipse cycle. The number 260 was tailor made for the Maya". Others have observed that the "Venus Table" in the Dresden Codex , is an accurate ephemeris for predicting Venus positions. Others have also observed a basis for

4876-667: The calendar systems, with an origin predating its first appearances in Maya inscriptions. The earliest evidence of this calendar comes from a possible day sign with a dot numeral coefficient in an Olmec-like inscription in Oxtotitlán cave dated to 800-500 BCE. Some of the next oldest calendric inscriptions are from early strata of Zapotec in the Oaxacan highlands at sites such as Monte Albán , dating from mid-1st millennium BCE. A few earlier-dated inscriptions and artifacts have what appear to be calendric glyphs, such as at San José Mogote and in

4968-414: The contemporary Kʼiche Maya community of the municipality of Momostenango in highland Guatemala. She underwent a formal apprenticeship in calendar divination with a local adept, and was initiated as a diviner in 1976. She says: "The Momostecan calendar embraces both the 260-day cycle and the 365-day solar year, with the four Classic Maya Year-bearers, or Mam, systematically linking the two. The 260-day cycle

5060-508: The creator gods in Bakairi legend, adapting the world for humans to live on as well as teaching them to use fire and how to hunt. Village Boy and Wild Boy are young heroes from the Caddo Nation . In most versions, the monster Caddaja kills a pregnant woman while her husband is hunting. Both of the children survive, but Village Boy is found by his father and raised in civilization while Wild Boy

5152-405: The culture hero kills him to avenge their mother's death in childbirth, but in other stories Flint remains as one of the seasonal or directional demigods. In Iroquois legends, Flint's brother is the creator god Sky Holder . According to some versions the twins created humankind together, explaining why people can be both good and evil or creative and destructive. In other versions his brother alone

5244-596: The day' or 'the round of the days' and the Kaqchikel use the term Chol Qʼij [t͡ʃol qʼiχ], 'the organization of time'. The names of this calendar among the pre-Columbian Maya are not widely known. The corresponding Postclassic Aztec calendar was called tonalpohualli in the Nahuatl language . The tzolkʼin calendar combines a cycle of twenty named days with another cycle of thirteen numbers (the trecena ), to produce 260 unique days (20 × 13 = 260). Each successive named day

5336-508: The death of their mother. The Twin Heroes share many similarities in the mythology of different tribes, but are different in their relationships with other mythological figures, their associations with stars or animal spirits, and the nature of the particular adventures they go on. In some traditions, the twins personified good and evil: one twin is good while the other is evil, but in others both are benevolent heroes. In some versions of this myth,

5428-459: The earliest constructions indicates that it was in use by 1100 BCE. The original purpose of such a calendar, with no obvious relation to any astronomical or geophysical cycle, is not securely known, but there are several theories. One theory is that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty, which were important numbers to the Maya, (Thompson 1950: Maya Hieroglyphic Writing:Introduction). The number twenty

5520-482: The evil twin manipulates others into blaming his good brother for his misdeeds. The two brothers coexisted for a while, each making their own changes to the world. In the end, though, the Twin Gods fight each other, and the good brother prevails. In other traditions, the Twin Gods are not considered good or evil but instead represent day and night, summer and winter, and life and death. In some versions of that tradition, one

5612-407: The fact they spent the day singing and playing while the younger twins were working. Hunahpu and Xbalanque demonstrated their wit at a young age in dealing with their older half brothers. One day, the pair returned from the field without any birds to eat and were questioned by their older siblings. The younger boys claimed that they had indeed shot several birds but that they had gotten caught high in

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5704-507: The fact they spent the whole day relaxing. However, the next day they returned to find their work undone by the animals of the forest. Upon completion of their work, they hid and lay in wait, and when the animals returned, they attempted to catch or scare them off. Most animals eluded their capture. The rabbit and the deer they caught by the tail, but these tails broke off, thus giving all future generations of rabbits and deer short tails. The rat, however, they did capture, singeing his tail over

5796-474: The field and asked them to bring him their food. The coatimundi brought a squash, which Xbalanque placed on Hunahpu's body. Xbalanque then asked the rabbit to distract the Xibalbans when the ball landed outside the court. The new game begun, and Hunahpu's head was used as the ball. When Hunahpu's head went off the court, however, the Xibalbans mistook the bouncing of the rabbit for the ball, and chased after it. Xbalanque then retrieved his brother's head, and replaced

5888-414: The fire in revenge for the act. In exchange for mercy, the rat revealed an important piece of information: the gaming equipment of their father and uncle was hidden by their grandmother in her grief, for it was playing ball that was directly responsible for the deaths of her sons. Again, a ruse was devised to get their equipment, the twins once more relying upon trickery to meet their goals. The pair sneaked

5980-456: The garden, however, there is only one maize plant. She calls upon the Guardians of Food and the corn plant magically produces enough ears to fill the net. Xmucane now recognizes that Blood Moon is telling the truth. She later gives birth to the children, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. The sons—or 'Twins'—grow up to avenge their father, and after many trials, finally defeated the lords of the Underworld in

6072-445: The god destitute of his former greatness. Having fallen, Seven Macaw died, presumably of shame. Seven Macaw's sons, Zipacna and Cabrakan, inherited a large part of their father's arrogance, claiming to be the creators and destroyers of mountains, respectively. The elder son Zipacna was destroyed when the twins tricked him with the lure of a fake crab , burying him beneath a mountain in the process. The Maya god Huracan again implored

6164-507: The grandsons of the sky goddess Atahensic . In Iroquoian and Algonquian mythology, the culture hero has a brother named Flint who is often malevolent (associated with winter, night, and death) going on to create hardships for humans and fighting with his brother. In Algonquian legends, Flint does not generally commit any further crimes or problems other than the death of his mother whom he killed in childbirth by intentionally cutting his way out rather than waiting to be born. In some stories

6256-570: The ground, and the day "net" is the opening of the Venus cycle which follows "ahau" ("ajpu" in Kʼicheʼ), just as her child is the heir of Hun Hunajpu. The uses to which the ancient Maya applied the calendar are unknown, nonetheless modern Maya communities employ the calendar as follows: The 260-day calendar spread throughout the Mesoamerican cultural region and is regarded as the oldest and most important of

6348-400: The mother of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, who lives with One-Monkey and One-Artisan, the first born children of Hun Hunahpu which he conceived with Egret Woman. Blood Moon tells Xmucane she is pregnant with her grandchildren. Xmucane at first does not believe her and orders her—as a trial—to pick a big netful of corn ears from the garden of One-Monkey and One-Artisan. When Blood Moon arrives in

6440-498: The noise had disturbed the Lords of Xibalba , rulers of the Maya Underworld . The Xibalbans summoned them to play ball in their own court. When the twins began to play ball in the court, once again the Lords of Xibalba were disturbed by the racket, and sent summons to the boys to come to Xibalba and play in their court. Fearing they would suffer the same fate, their grandmother relayed the message only indirectly, telling it to

6532-554: The number 260 has multiple sources. The tzolkʼin is the basis for the modern, New Age invention of the " Dreamspell " calendar, developed by the esoteric author José Argüelles . The Dreamspell calendar is sometimes mistakenly identified as an authentic interpretation or extension of the original Maya calendar, although Argüelles himself acknowledges the Dreamspell calendar is a new and syncretic creation, inspired by elements from Mesoamerican and non-Mesoamerican sources. In 1987, before

6624-423: The one to bring down the mountains, and upon hearing such a tale, he predictably demanded to be shown the mountain. Hunahpu and Xbalanque obliged, leading Cabrakan toward the non-existent mountain. Being skilled hunters, they shot down several birds along the way, roasting them over fires and playing upon Cabrakan's hunger. When he asked for some meat, he was given a bird that had been prepared with plaster and gypsum,

6716-424: The oven and the ashes of their bones ground into dust. The Xibalbans were elated at the apparent demise of the twins and cast their ashes into a river. This was, however, a part of the plan devised by the boys, for, once in the river, the ashes regenerated into bodies - at first those of a pair of catfish, which transformed in turn into those of a pair of young boys. Unrecognized, the boys were allowed to remain among

6808-416: The pair. Hunahpu further humiliated his older brethren by instructing them to remove their loincloths and tie them about their waists in an attempt to climb down. The loincloths became tails, and the brothers were transformed into monkeys . When their grandmother was informed that the older boys had not been harmed, she demanded they be allowed to return. When they did come back to the home, their grandmother

6900-475: The people who walked on the Earth above. All of Xibalba had effectively been defeated. The twins returned to the ballcourt and retrieved the buried remains of their father, Hun Hunahpu. Their mission accomplished, the pair left Xibalba , climbing back to the surface of the Earth; but they did not, however, stop there and continued climbing straight on up into the sky - Hunahpu became the Sun, and Xbalanque became

6992-413: The planting schedule of maize . However, others object to this conception, noting that while the 260-day calendar runs continuously the interval between autumn-spring and spring-autumn positions alternates between 260 and 105 days, and that the earliest-known calendric inscriptions are from considerably farther north of this zone. Consequently, this theory is not widely supported. It is also possible that

7084-404: The rat into their home during dinner and had their grandmother cook a meal of hot chili sauce . They demanded water for their meal, which their grandmother went to retrieve. The jar of water, however, had been sabotaged with a hole, and she was unable to return with the water. When their mother left to find out why and the pair were alone in the home, they sent the rat up into the roof to gnaw apart

7176-406: The ropes that held the equipment hidden and were able to retrieve the equipment their father and uncle had used to play ball. It had long been a favorite past-time for their father, and soon would become a favored activity for them as well. Hunahpu and Xbalanque played ball in the same court that their father and his brother had played in long before them. When One Hunahpu and his brother had played,

7268-411: The summons and volunteered to entertain the Lords at no cost. Their identities remained secret for the moment, claiming to be orphans and vagabonds, and the Lords were none the wiser. They went through their gamut of miracles, slaying a dog and bringing it back from the dead, causing the Lords' house to burn around them while the inhabitants were unharmed, and then bringing the house back from the ashes. In

7360-613: The twin sons of Atabex (Mother Nature), the personifications of Order and Chaos, respectively; from the Arawak nation which once stretched from South America through the Caribbean and up to Florida in the US. Gluskap is a cultural hero who sometimes has a twin brother in Wabanaki folklore. Malsumis is the most common brother used by folklorists but sometimes his brother is Mikumwesu, Mateguas, or Marten. In Mi'kmaq legends, Marten (or Apistanewj)

7452-440: The yard, forgetting the other in the lodge. Because of their magic both children survive, but Lodge Boy is found by his father while Thrown Away is not found. In some versions, Lodge Boy is moral while Thrown Away is wicked. Ho-Chunk and other Siouan -speaking peoples have a tradition of Red Horn and his sons. Dore and Wahredwa are a pair of monster hunters, one being uncontrollable and chaotic. Flint and his brother are

7544-452: The young twins for help in dealing with Seven Macaw's younger son, Cabrakan, the Earthquake. Again, it was primarily through their cleverness that the pair were able to bring about the downfall of their enemy, having sought him out and then using his very arrogance against him; they told the story of a great mountain they had encountered that kept growing and growing. Cabrakan prided himself as

7636-404: The younger twins would not fall victim to the same tricks. They sent a mosquito ahead of them to bite at the Lords and uncover which were real and which were simply mannequins , as well as uncovering their identities. When they arrived at Xibalba , they were easily able to identify which were the real Lords of Xibalba and address them by name. They also turned down the Lords' invitation to sit on

7728-399: Was a skull with a blade inside of it, and when Hunahpu hit the ball, the weapon was revealed. Complaining that they had been summoned only to be killed, Hunahpu and Xbalanque threatened to leave the game. As a compromise, the Lords of Xibalba allowed the boys to use their own rubber ball, and a long and proper game ensued. In the end, the twins allowed the Xibalbans to win the game, but this

7820-451: Was again a part of their ruse. They were sent to Razor House, the second deadly test of Xibalba , filled with knives that moved of their own accord. The twins spoke to the knives, and promised them the flesh of all animals in the future. In exchange, the knives stopped moving. Then, they sent leafcutter ants to retrieve petals from the gardens of Xibalba , a reward to be offered to the Lords for their victory. The Lords had intentionally chosen

7912-454: Was extensively used in Mayan inscriptions and codices. Symbolism related to the tzolkʼin is also observed in the Popol Vuh (which, though written in the early post-conquest period, is probably based on older texts). For instance, when Xmucane has set an impossible task for Xquic of collecting a netful of corn from one stalk and Xquic successfully completes it, she leaves the imprint of her net in

8004-409: Was grabbed by the god and torn off. In spite of their initial failure, the twins again demonstrated their clever nature in formulating a plan for Seven Macaw's defeat. Invoking a pair of gods disguised as grandparents, the twins instructed the invoked gods to approach Seven Macaw and negotiate for the return of Hunahpu's arm. In doing so, the "grandparents" indicated they were but a poor family, making

8096-441: Was killed by the tale's antagonist. Twins were considered unnatural in many cultures of this region, with beliefs about them having supernatural abilities. Sometimes, the twins are separated at birth. Various versions have their mother's killer leaving one where he could be easily be found by his family and the other deep in the wilderness so that one boy grew up civilized and the other wild. Eventually they become reunited and avenge

8188-471: Was the basis of the Maya counting system, taken from the total number of human digits. (See Maya numerals ). Thirteen symbolized the number of levels in the Upperworld where the gods lived, and is also cited by modern daykeepers as the number of "joints" in the human body (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and neck). The numbers multiplied together equal 260. Barbara Tedlock studied this system in

8280-453: Was the creator of humans while Flint was the god of death. In some myths, Flint deceives his grandmother into believing his brother was the killer, but his brother defeats and imprisons him. Flint and Sky Holder are said to exist in cosmic balance, with both light and darkness being necessary for life. Flint is less prominent in Algonquian mythology, but is sometimes described as the brother of

8372-542: Was to kill their younger half-brothers out of jealousy and spite, for the older pair had long been revered as fine artisans and thinkers and feared the newcomers would steal from the attention they received. The attempts to kill the young twins after birth were a failure, and the boys grew up without any obvious spite for their ill-natured older siblings. During their younger years, the twins were made to labor, going to hunt birds which they brought back for meals. The elder brothers were given their food to eat first, in spite of

8464-502: Was unable to contain her laughter at their appearance, and the disfigured brothers ran away in shame. At a point in their lives not specified in the Popol Vuh, the twins were approached by the god Huracan regarding an arrogant god named Seven Macaw ( Vucub Caquix ). Seven Macaw had built up a following of worshipers among some of the inhabitants of the Earth , making false claims to be either

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