List of Maya gods and supernatural beings

This is a name list of Maya gods and supernatural beings, mainly taken from the Books of Chilam Balam

Chilam Balam

The so-called Books of Chilam Balam are handwritten, chiefly 18th-century Mayan miscellanies, named after the small Yucatec towns where they were originally kept, and preserving important traditional knowledge in which indigenous Mayan and early Spanish traditions have coalesced...

(CHB), Lacandon ethnography (LAC), Landa (L), and Popol Vuh

Popol Vuh

Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...

(PV). Depending on the source, the name is Yucatec or K'iche'

K'iche' language

The K’iche’ language is a part of the Mayan language family. It is spoken by many K'iche' people in the central highlands of Guatemala. With close to a million speakers , it is the second-most widely spoken language in the country after Spanish...

. The Classic Period names (belonging to a language related to modern Chol

Chol language

Ch'ol is a member of the western branch of the Mayan language family used by the Ch'ol people in the Mexican state of Chiapas. There are two main dialects:...

and Chorti) are only rarely known with certainty. Only those names have been listed which are familiar from popular books on the Maya

Maya civilization

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

, or which play an important role in scholarly discussions. Between square brackets, the correspondence with the deities in the revised Schellhas-Zimmermann-Taube list of codical deities has been indicated.

A

Acan

Acan is the Mayan god of wine. He is identified with the local brew, balche, made from fermented honey to which the bark of the balche tree has been added....

The god of wine. His name means 'belch'.

Acat

The Maya placed great importance on the process of Tattooing, believing that tattoos in the image of a god would imbue a person with some of that god's power. Because of the importance and difficulty of this art form it was only natural that there was a god responsible for it...

Yucatec divine patron of those making scarifications and tattoos (Cogolludo); also called Acaat *CHB* and Ah Cat.

Ah Chuy Kak

A god of war.

Ah Ciliz

A god of solar eclipses.

Ah Mun *CHB*

A designation of the Maya maize god

Maya maize god

Like other Mesoamerican peoples, the traditional Mayas recognize in their staple crop, the 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 Twins have maize plants for alter egos and man...

Ah Muzencab

The gods of bees.

Ah Pekku

The god of thunder.

Ah Pukuh

The god of Deaths

Ah Tabai

The god of the hunt.

Ah Uuc Ticab

A god of the Earth.

Ahau Chamahez

A god of medicine and good health.

Ajbit *PV*

One of the thirteen creator gods who helped construct humanity from maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

Ajtzak *PV*

One of the thirteen creator gods who helped construct humanity from maize.

Akna

Meaning "Our mother," a very general title applied, amongst others, to goddesses of fertility and childbirth.

Alom *PV*

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

Awilix

Awilix was a goddess of the Postclassic K'iche' Maya, who had a large kingdom in the highlands of Guatemala. She was the patron deity of the Nija'ib' noble lineage at the K'iche' capital Q'umarkaj, with a large temple in the city...

*PV*

Patron of the Nija'ib' lineage of the K'iche'.

B

Bacab

Bacab is the generic Yucatec name for each of the four pre-Spanish, aged Maya 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...

*L* [god N]

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

Balam

Any of a group of jaguar gods who protected people and communities.

Bitol *PV*

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

Bolon Ts'akab (Dzacab) *L* (god K

God K

God K is the Schellhas-Zimmermann-Taube designation of a codical Maya deity representing lightning . In earlier, especially Classic depictions, his main characteristics are a blade or torch running through his forehead, and a serpent for one of his legs...

)

Ah Bolon Dzacab 'Innumerable Generations', the Lightning god, patron of the harvest and the seeds.

Bolontiku *CHB*

A group of nine underworld gods.

Buluc Chabtan [god F]

War god.

C

Cabrakan *PV*

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

Cacoch *LAC*

A creator god.

Camazotz

In Maya mythology, Camazotz was a bat god. Camazotz means "death bat" in the K'iche' language. In Mesoamerica the bat was associated with night, death, and sacrifice.-Etymology:...

*PV*

Bat god, tries to kill the Hero Twins

Can Tzicnal *L*

Bacab of the north, is assigned the color white, and the Muluc years, son of Itzamna

Itzamna

In Yucatec Maya mythology, Itzamna was the name of an upper god and creator deity thought to be residing in the sky. Little is known about him, but scattered references are present in early-colonial Spanish reports and dictionaries. Twentieth-century Lacandon lore includes tales about a creator...

and Ixchel

Ixchel

Ixchel or Ix Chel is the 16th-century name of the aged jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine in the ancient Maya culture. She corresponds, more or less, to Toci Yoalticitl ‘Our Grandmother the Nocturnal Physician’, an Aztec earth goddess inhabiting the sweatbath, and is related to another...

Chac

Chaac

Chaac is the name of the Maya rain deity. With his lightning axe, Chaac strikes the clouds and produces thunder and rain. Chaac corresponds to Tlaloc among the Aztecs.-Rain deities and rain makers:...

*L*

The god of Storms

Chac Uayab Xoc *L*

A fish god and the patron deity of fishermen.

Chicchan

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

Cit-Bolon-Tum

A god of medicine and healing.

Chimalmat *PV*

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

Cizin

A god of death who lived in Metnal.

Colel Cab

Mistress of the Bees

Colop U Uichkin *RITUAL OF THE BACABS*

An eclipse deity.

Coyopa

The god of thunder and brother of Cakulha.

Cum Hau

A god of death and the underworld.

E

Ekchuah

Also spelled Ek Chuah, the "black war chief" was the patron god of warriors and merchants, 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. In early modern studies of Maya art and iconography, he was sometimes referred to as God M before his identity was firmly established.

G

Gukumatz *PV*

Feathered Snake god and creator. The depiction of the feathered serpent deity is present in other cultures of Mesoamerica. Gukumatz of the K'iche' Maya is closely related to the god Kukulkan

Kukulkan

Kukulkan is the name of a Maya snake deity that also serves to designate historical persons. The depiction of the feathered serpent deity is present in other cultures of Mesoamerica. Kukulkan is closely related to the god Q'uq'umatz of the K'iche' Maya and to Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs...

of Yucatán

Yucatán

Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....

and to Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...

of the Aztec.

H

Hachäk'yum *LAC*

Worshipped by the Lacandon

Lacandon

The Lacandon are one of the Maya peoples who live in the jungles of the Mexican state of Chiapas, near the southern border with Guatemala. Their homeland, the Lacandon Jungle, lies along the Mexican side of the Usumacinta River and its tributaries. The Lacandon are one of the most isolated and...

people as their patron deity.

Hobnil *L*

Bacab of the east

Hozanek *L*

Bacab of the south; the ek element in the name may refer to a star or constellation.

Hun Batz *PV*

'One Howler Monkey', one of the two stepbrothers of the Hero Twins, one of the Howler Monkey Gods

Howler Monkey Gods

The howler monkey god was a major deity of the arts - including music - and a patron of the artisans among the Classic Mayas, 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 *PV*

A demonic lord of the underworld (Xibalba) who, along with Vucub Caquix, killed Hun Hunahpu. They were killed in turn by the latter's sons, the Maya Hero Twins.

Hun Chowen *PV*

One of the two stepbrothers of the Hero Twins, one of the Howler Monkey Gods

Howler Monkey Gods

and patron of the arts.

Hun Hunahpu *PV*

The father of the Maya Hero Twins Ixbalanque and Hun-Apu by a virgin. Beheaded in Xibalba, the underworld, by the rulers of Xibalba, Hun Came and Vucub Caquix. His sons avenged his death.

Hunab Ku

Hunab Ku is the name of a supposed Maya deity, described as "the supreme god" whose name appears in only two colonial sources: the Motul Dictionary and the Chilam Balam of Chumayel...

'Sole God', identical with Itzamna as the highest Yucatec god; or a more abstract upper god.

Hunahpu *PV*

One of the Maya Hero Twins

Maya Hero Twins

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

Hunahpu-Gutch *PV*

One of the thirteen creator gods who helped create humanity.

Hunahpu Utiu *PV*

One of the thirteen creator gods who helped create humanity.

Hun-nal-ye

Hypothetical hieroglyphic reading of the name of the Classic Maya maize god

Maya maize god

Huraqan *PV*

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

I

Itzamna

The founder of the Maya culture, he taught his people to grow maize and cacao, as well as writing, calendars and medicine. Once mentioned as the father of the Bakabs. Connected to Kinich Ahau and Hunab Ku.

Itzananohk'u

A patron god of the Lacandon people.

Ixbalanque > Xbalanque
Ixchel

Ixchel

*L* [goddess O]

Jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine.

Ixmucane *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 Xmucane and Xpiayoc...

*PV*

One of the thirteen creator gods who helped create humanity.

Ixtab

Ixtab or Rope Woman was the Yucatec Mayan goddess of suicide according to Diego de Landa. In Yucatec society, suicide, especially suicide by hanging, was under circumstances considered an honorable way to die. Ixtab would accompany such suicides to paradise...

*L*

Goddess of suicide.

Ixazaluoh

A goddess of water and weaving.

K

Kauil (Kawil, K'awiil)

Assumed to have been the Classic name of god K

God K

(Bolon Dzacab). Title attested for Itzamna, Uaxac Yol, and Amaite Ku; family name; probably not meaning 'food', but 'powerful'.

Kinich Ahau

Kinich Ahau is the 16th-century Yucatec name of the Maya sun god, designated as god G in the Schellhas-Zimmermann-Taube classification. In the Classic period, god G is depicted as a middle-aged man with an aquiline nose, large square eyes, cross-eyed, and a filed incisor in the upper row of teeth....

*L*

The solar deity.

Kinich Kakmo

A solar deity represented by a macaw, patron of Izamal (Yucatan).

Kukulkán

Kukulkan

The plumed serpent. A Mayan aspect of the Mesoamerican traditional God Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl

O

Oxlahuntiku *CHB*

'Thirteen Gods', possibly sky gods, opposed to Bolontiku. Mentioned in an eschatological passage.

Q

Qaholom *PV*

one of the second set of creator gods.

Q'uq'umatz *PV*

Feathered Snake god and creator. The depiction of the feathered serpent deity is present in other cultures of Mesoamerica. Q'uq'umatz of the K'iche' Maya is closely related to the god Kukulkan

Kukulkan

of Yucatán

Yucatán

and to Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl

of the Aztecs.

T

Tepeu *PV*

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

Tohil

Tohil was a deity of the K'iche' Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Tohil was the patron god of the K'iche'. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity and he was also both a sun god and the god of rain. Tohil was also associated with...

*PV*

Tohil was a patron deity of the K'iche'. There was a great temple to him at their ancient capital of Q'umarkaj.

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 Constituciones diocesanas del obispado de Chiappa by Francisco...

legendary ancestral deity, Chiapas.

Vucub-Caquix

In the ancient Quichean document, Popol Vuh, Vucub-Caquix is a bird demon pretending to be the sun and moon of the twilight world in between the former creation and the present one. He is husband to Chimalmat, and father to the two earthquake demons, Cabracan and Zipacna...

*PV*

Bird demon, severs arm of Hero Twin, wife is Chimalmat, sons the demonic giants Cabrakan and Zipacna.

X

Xaman Ek

god of travelers and merchants, who gave offerings to him on the side of roads while traveling.

Xbalanque *PV* [god CH]

War Twin, one of the Hero Twins, companion to Hunahpu

Xmucane and Xpiayoc *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.

Y

Yaluk

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

Yum Caax

In Maya mythology, Yum Kaax is literally translated as "lord of the forests" in Yucatek and is the Maya agricultural deity. Yum Kaax is the so-called "God E" of Mayan mythology and is viewed as the god of wild plants and animals that are important to hunters...

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

Z

Zac Cimi *L*

Bacab

of the west.

Zipacna

In Maya mythology, Zipacna was a son of Vucub Caquix and Chimalmat. He and his brother, Cabrakan , were often considered demons. Zipacna, like his relatives, was said to be very arrogant and violent...

*PV*

Demonic personification of the earth crust.

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