The Mayan Pantheon.
We have seen that during the earliest culture of Mexico and Central America there were no figurines of individualized gods, simply straightforward representations of human beings and animals. With the Mayan culture, however, we enter upon an epoch of rich religious symbolism. The serpent, highly conventionalized as we have just seen, and variously combined with elements taken from the quetzal, the jaguar, and even from man himself, appears as a general indication of divinity. The Ceremonial Bar, essentially a two-headed serpent carrying in its mouths the heads of an important god, is one of the earliest religious objects. The heads that appear in the mouths are usually those of a Roman-nosed or of a Long-nosed god. Other representations of divinities are combined with the Two-headed Dragon that also has reptilian characters; still others appear as headdresses and masks on human figures. Strange to say, the gods are supplementary to the human figures on all the early sculptures. In the codices, however, they are represented apart from man, as engaged in various activities and contests. Mayan religion was clearly organized on a dualistic basis. The powers for good are in a constant struggle with the powers for evil and most of the benevolent divinities have malevolent duplicates. In actual form the gods are partly human, but ordinarily the determining features are grotesque variations from the human face and figure. While beast associations are sometimes discernible, they are rarely controlling. Sometimes, however, beast gods are represented in unmistakable fashion, good examples being the jaguar, the bat, and the moan bird. All of these have human bodies and animal heads.
Fig. 33. The Manikin Scepter, a Grotesque Figure with one Leg modified into a Serpent.
The head position in the Mayan pantheon may with some assurance be given to a god who has been called the Roman-nosed god and who is probably to be identified with Itzamna. According to Spanish writers Itzamna was regarded by the Mayas as the creator and father of all, the inventor of writing, the founder of the Mayan civilization, and the god of light and life. This Zeus of the Mayas is represented in the form of an old man with a high forehead, a strongly aquiline nose, and a distended mouth, toothless, or with a single enlarged tooth in front. On the ancient monuments he is frequently seen in the mouths of the Ceremonial Bar and also in association with the sun, moon, and the planet Venus. In the codices he is shown as a protector of the Maize God and in other acts beneficial to man. There is, however, a malevolent aspect of this god or possibly another being who imitates his features but not his qualities. This being may be an old woman goddess who wears a serpent headdress and who is associated with destructive floods, the very opposite of life-giving sunshine.
Of almost equal importance to the Roman-nosed god is a god whose face is a more or less humanized serpent. His proper name is Ah Bolon Dzacab.
Fig. 34. The Two-Headed Dragon, a Monster that passes through many Forms in Mayan Sculpture. It apparently symbolizes calamities at inferior conjunction of Venus and the Sun. Copan.
On the early monuments this god is shown in connection with the Ceremonial Bar. He also appears at a somewhat later date as the Manikin Scepter, an object in the form of a manikin that is held out by a leg modified into a serpent’s body. Since a celt is usually worn in the forehead of the manikin it has been suggested that this curious object represents a ceremonial battle-ax. The face of the Long-nosed god is frequently worn by high priests and rulers either as a headdress or, more rarely, as a mask. It is possible that this divinity was regarded as primarily a war god but in the codices he is evidently a universal deity of varied powers. Especially he is shown in connection with water and maize and it seems likely that his principal function was to cause life-giving rain. A malevolent variant of the Long-nosed god has a bare bone for the lower jaw, a sun symbol on his forehead, and a headdress consisting of three other symbols. This head is associated with the Two-headed Dragon, a monster which brings calamity at times of the inferior conjunction of Venus and the Sun.
Fig. 35. Gods in the Dresden Codex: God B, the Long-Nosed God of Rain; God A, the Death God; God G, the Sun God.
Ah Puch, the Lord of Death, was the principal malevolent god. His body as figured in the codices is a strange compound of skeletal and full-fleshed parts. His head is a skull except for the normal ears. His spinal column is usually bare and sometimes the ribs as well, but the arms and legs are often covered with flesh. As added symbols black spots and dotted lines are sometimes drawn upon his body and a curious device like a percentage sign upon his cheek. The Death God in complete form is rarely shown in the earlier sculptures, although grinning skulls and interlacing bones occur as temple decorations. As has already been pointed out, Mayan religion was strongly dualistic and the evil powers are usually to be identified by death symbols such as a bare bone for the lower jaw, or the percentage symbol noted above on the cheek. Death heads of several kinds are frequent in the hieroglyphic inscriptions.
[Plate XX.]
(a) Top of Stela 1 at Yaxchilan, dealing with the Heavens. The Sky God is seen in the center with the moon at the left and the sun at the right. Below these is the Two-Headed Dragon bearing planet signs and additional heads of the Sky God.
(b) Analogous Detail of Stela 4, Yaxchilan. The moon is at the right and the sun at the left. The figure in the sun is male and that in the moon, female. The faces of the Sky God hang from the lower part of the Two-Headed Dragon, being attached to it by symbols of the planet Venus.
The Maize God, figured so frequently on the ancient monuments and in the Mayan codices may be the same that in the time of the Conquest was called Yum Kaax, Lord of the Harvest. He is represented as a youth with a leafy headdress that is possibly meant to represent an opening ear of maize. The kan sign, a grain of maize, is constantly associated with him. He appears to be at the mercy of the evil deities when not protected by the good ones.
Space considerations forbid a further study of Mayan gods. Suffice it to say that several other divinities are shown in the sculptures and codices including a somewhat youthful appearing war god, as well as a more mature and grotesque war god called Ek Ahau, the Black Captain. There is an old god with a shell attached to his body, a god with the face of a monkey who is associated with the North Star, a god in the form of a frog and another in the form of a bat. In the Spanish accounts we can also glean scanty information concerning Ixchel, Goddess of the Rainbow and mate of Itzamna; Ixtubtun, patroness of jade carvers; Ixchebelyax, patroness of the art of weaving and decorating cloth, etc.