	XIBALBA THE MAYAN UNDERWORLD Last Updated: Sunday, 4 May 2008 Mayan Long Count 12.19.15.05.06 Calendar Round 13 Cimi, 9 Wo
An introduction to the mythology behind our chosen namespace. See the Basement Area Network page for details of what we're applying these names to.
XIBALBA, the underworld The Popol Vuh, creation myth of the highland Quiché Maya, tells of an underground realm called Xibalbá ("Place of Fear"). The hero-twins Hun-Hunapú and Vukub-Hunapú were lured to Xibalbá by a challenge to a ball-game, then grotesquely tricked and slaughtered by its demonic inhabitants and their two kings Hun-Camé and Vukub-Camé. However, the twins were avenged by Hun-Hunapú's sons Hunapú and Xbalanqué, posthumously conceived on Xquiq, a passing demon princess.
ZIPACNA, earth-heaper Zipacna was a giant crocodile, one of a family of murderous titans whose boasting offended the gods. He was slain by Hunapú and Xbalanqué, who cunningly distracted him with a lure in the form of a crab and then dropped a mountain on him.
CABRAKAN, earth-shaker Cabrakan was Zipacna's younger brother, and liked to spend his time demolishing mountains. The hero-twins were again commissioned by the gods to kill him; they fed him a poisoned meal, tied him up and buried him.
HURAKAN, creator/destroyer Hurakán "Heart Of The Sky" was a god of the winds and of lightning. He was one of the deities who designed humankind; unsatisfied with the first few versions, he sent catastrophes and plagues of monsters to wipe out these flawed races. Hurakán also gave us the English word hurricane.
EKCHUAH, the black captain Ek Chuah, easily recognised by his black-rimmed eye, intimidating sneer, backpack and scorpion tail, was a god not only of warriors but also of travellers and cocoa-traders - a sort of "deity of foreign affairs". His festivals were unusual in not involving drunkenness.
KAWIL, lord of blood Kawil (or Cauíl) had an animal snout, a smoking obsidian mirror in his forehead, and a serpent for a leg; as patron-god of ruling dynasties, he was also shown as a sceptre of authority. He demanded regular blood-offering rituals in which spiked cords were passed through the ruler's tongue or genitals.
MAM, the ancient one Mam (meaning "grandfather") was a snaggletoothed, cigar-smoking god of disaster and earthquakes; he also had power over jaguars. In modern Guatemalan syncretism he has become a stetson-wearing idol named Maximón, and associated with Judas Iscariot, who sent the Christian God into the Underworld.
YUMCAAX, lord of the woods Yum Caax was the god of agriculture, of young married couples, and of bountiful harvests; his statues showed him with a head elongated like an ear of maize. Being a Mayan deity, he naturally combined this with an insatiable thirst for sacrifice, but he didn't want deaths - just blood.
IXTAB, goddess of suicides Ixtab, portrayed as a putrefying corpse dangling from a noose, fetched directly to paradise all priests, slain warriors, sacrificial victims, and women dying in childbirth, as well as suicides who hung themselves in the socially approved manner - reportedly a popular escape route from the troubles of post-Conquest Mayan life.
KUKULCAN, the feathered serpent Though worshipped as a benevolent deity of air and wind, symbolised by the quetzal, Kukulcán was also a hero-figure said to have arrived from foreign parts bearing the secrets of civilisation. Kukulcán was otherwise known as Kukulkan, Gucumatz or, to the Aztecs, Quetzalcóatl.
ZOTZ, the bat-demon Zotz, AKA Camazotz or Zotzilaha Chimalman, was the god of darkness and caves, and tutelary deity of the Tzotzil Maya, as well as having a month (or uinal) named after him. Although Zotz decapitated the young hero Hunapú, his victim was reanimated with the aid of a tortoise.
AHPUK, the death-god Ah Puk (also spelt Ahpuuc or Ahpuch) was the Mayan equivalent of the Aztec Mictlantecuhtli, ruler of the land of the dead (Mictlan or Mitnal). He was conventionally represented as a seated skeleton bearing a sacrificial knife, or by the skull-faced hieroglyph of Cimi, the kin (weekday) over which he presided.
IXCHEL, the flood-goddess "Lady Rainbow", consort of the moon-god, was a destructive water-goddess (shown as a malevolent old woman surrounded by and clothed in symbols of death) who created storms and cloudbursts unless appeased with sacrifices, but was also credited with feminine crafts such as medicine.
XAN, the mosquito When they ventured into Xibalbá, Hunapú and Xbalanqué created Xan from an enchanted hair, and told it "your food shall be the blood of those whom you bite on the roads". Xan went ahead as a pathfinder and bit the Lords of Xibalbá as they sat on their thrones; they blamed one another, revealing their secret names.
XAMANEK, the pole-star A god of darkness, but in a good way - Xaman Ek (or Ah Chicum Ek) was the guide and protector of merchants, demanding no more in return than offerings of incense on the roadside altars. His monkey-like face formed the hieroglyph for "north".
WAY, the ghost The Mayans used the word way, pronounced "why", to mean one's spirit-double; rulers predictably claimed that theirs took the form of a jaguar. The calendar also had five unlucky "leap days" known by this name and ruled over by malign spirits.
FOOTNOTE Take our accounts with a pinch of salt - in particular, all these losing-Scrabble-hand names vary from source to source. Pronounce the vowels as if they were Spanish ("ah, eh, ee, oh, oo"), stressing the end syllable (QUICHE = "kee-CHAY"); but X means "sh", so it's XIBALBA = "shi-bahl-BAH". Don't worry about it, though; it's not as if these Hispanicised spellings were accurate. Indeed, apart from what we get from the Popol Vuh ("Book of Written Leaves"), little is known about the religious beliefs of the Classic Maya - their inscriptions are still incompletely deciphered, and few legends survived the purges of the Conquistadors. Nonetheless, it seems clear that the Mayan ruling dynasty was itself referred to at one stage as the "Empire of Xibalbá". Return to top

XIBALBA

THE MAYAN UNDERWORLD
Last Updated: Sunday, 4 May 2008
Mayan Long Count 12.19.15.05.06
Calendar Round 13 Cimi, 9 Wo

An introduction to the mythology behind our chosen namespace. See the Basement Area Network page for details of what we're applying these names to.

XIBALBA, the underworld

The Popol Vuh, creation myth of the highland Quiché Maya, tells of an underground realm called Xibalbá ("Place of Fear"). The hero-twins Hun-Hunapú and Vukub-Hunapú were lured to Xibalbá by a challenge to a ball-game, then grotesquely tricked and slaughtered by its demonic inhabitants and their two kings Hun-Camé and Vukub-Camé. However, the twins were avenged by Hun-Hunapú's sons Hunapú and Xbalanqué, posthumously conceived on Xquiq, a passing demon princess.

ZIPACNA, earth-heaper

Zipacna was a giant crocodile, one of a family of murderous titans whose boasting offended the gods. He was slain by Hunapú and Xbalanqué, who cunningly distracted him with a lure in the form of a crab and then dropped a mountain on him.

CABRAKAN, earth-shaker

Cabrakan was Zipacna's younger brother, and liked to spend his time demolishing mountains. The hero-twins were again commissioned by the gods to kill him; they fed him a poisoned meal, tied him up and buried him.

HURAKAN, creator/destroyer

Hurakán "Heart Of The Sky" was a god of the winds and of lightning. He was one of the deities who designed humankind; unsatisfied with the first few versions, he sent catastrophes and plagues of monsters to wipe out these flawed races. Hurakán also gave us the English word hurricane.

EKCHUAH, the black captain

Ek Chuah, easily recognised by his black-rimmed eye, intimidating sneer, backpack and scorpion tail, was a god not only of warriors but also of travellers and cocoa-traders - a sort of "deity of foreign affairs". His festivals were unusual in not involving drunkenness.

KAWIL, lord of blood

Kawil (or Cauíl) had an animal snout, a smoking obsidian mirror in his forehead, and a serpent for a leg; as patron-god of ruling dynasties, he was also shown as a sceptre of authority. He demanded regular blood-offering rituals in which spiked cords were passed through the ruler's tongue or genitals.

MAM, the ancient one

Mam (meaning "grandfather") was a snaggletoothed, cigar-smoking god of disaster and earthquakes; he also had power over jaguars. In modern Guatemalan syncretism he has become a stetson-wearing idol named Maximón, and associated with Judas Iscariot, who sent the Christian God into the Underworld.

YUMCAAX, lord of the woods

Yum Caax was the god of agriculture, of young married couples, and of bountiful harvests; his statues showed him with a head elongated like an ear of maize. Being a Mayan deity, he naturally combined this with an insatiable thirst for sacrifice, but he didn't want deaths - just blood.

IXTAB, goddess of suicides

Ixtab, portrayed as a putrefying corpse dangling from a noose, fetched directly to paradise all priests, slain warriors, sacrificial victims, and women dying in childbirth, as well as suicides who hung themselves in the socially approved manner - reportedly a popular escape route from the troubles of post-Conquest Mayan life.

KUKULCAN, the feathered serpent

Though worshipped as a benevolent deity of air and wind, symbolised by the quetzal, Kukulcán was also a hero-figure said to have arrived from foreign parts bearing the secrets of civilisation. Kukulcán was otherwise known as Kukulkan, Gucumatz or, to the Aztecs, Quetzalcóatl.

ZOTZ, the bat-demon

Zotz, AKA Camazotz or Zotzilaha Chimalman, was the god of darkness and caves, and tutelary deity of the Tzotzil Maya, as well as having a month (or uinal) named after him. Although Zotz decapitated the young hero Hunapú, his victim was reanimated with the aid of a tortoise.

AHPUK, the death-god

Ah Puk (also spelt Ahpuuc or Ahpuch) was the Mayan equivalent of the Aztec Mictlantecuhtli, ruler of the land of the dead (Mictlan or Mitnal). He was conventionally represented as a seated skeleton bearing a sacrificial knife, or by the skull-faced hieroglyph of Cimi, the kin (weekday) over which he presided.

IXCHEL, the flood-goddess

"Lady Rainbow", consort of the moon-god, was a destructive water-goddess (shown as a malevolent old woman surrounded by and clothed in symbols of death) who created storms and cloudbursts unless appeased with sacrifices, but was also credited with feminine crafts such as medicine.

XAN, the mosquito

When they ventured into Xibalbá, Hunapú and Xbalanqué created Xan from an enchanted hair, and told it "your food shall be the blood of those whom you bite on the roads". Xan went ahead as a pathfinder and bit the Lords of Xibalbá as they sat on their thrones; they blamed one another, revealing their secret names.

XAMANEK, the pole-star

A god of darkness, but in a good way - Xaman Ek (or Ah Chicum Ek) was the guide and protector of merchants, demanding no more in return than offerings of incense on the roadside altars. His monkey-like face formed the hieroglyph for "north".

WAY, the ghost

The Mayans used the word way, pronounced "why", to mean one's spirit-double; rulers predictably claimed that theirs took the form of a jaguar. The calendar also had five unlucky "leap days" known by this name and ruled over by malign spirits.

FOOTNOTE

Take our accounts with a pinch of salt - in particular, all these losing-Scrabble-hand names vary from source to source. Pronounce the vowels as if they were Spanish ("ah, eh, ee, oh, oo"), stressing the end syllable (QUICHE = "kee-CHAY"); but X means "sh", so it's XIBALBA = "shi-bahl-BAH". Don't worry about it, though; it's not as if these Hispanicised spellings were accurate.

Indeed, apart from what we get from the Popol Vuh ("Book of Written Leaves"), little is known about the religious beliefs of the Classic Maya - their inscriptions are still incompletely deciphered, and few legends survived the purges of the Conquistadors. Nonetheless, it seems clear that the Mayan ruling dynasty was itself referred to at one stage as the "Empire of Xibalbá".

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