purpose of discovering the length of the present epoch and how soon the
world would end. They seem to have thought this would take place when
all their various time-measures would merge together into a common
unity, which each could divide without remainder.[59]
3. _Cosmical Conceptions of the Mayas._
The cosmical conceptions of the ancient Mayas have not hitherto been
understood; but by a study of existing documents I believe they can be
correctly explained in outline.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.—The Universe. (From the Chilan Balam of Mani.)]
One of these is the central design in the Chilan Balam, or Sacred Book,
of Mani (Fig. 9). It was copied by Father Cogolludo in 1640, and
inserted in his History of Yucatan, with a totally false interpretation
which the natives designedly gave him.
The lettering in the above figure is by the late Dr. C. H. Berendt, and
was obtained by him from other books of Chilan Balam, and native
sources. In Cogolludo’s work, this design is surrounded by thirteen
heads which signify the thirteen _ahau katuns_, or greater cycles of
years, as I have explained elsewhere.[60] The number thirteen in
American mythology symbolizes the thirteen possible directions of
space.[61] The border, therefore, expresses the totality of Space and
Time; and the design itself symbolizes Life within Space and Time. This
is shown as follows: At the bottom of the field lies a cubical block,
which represents the earth, always conceived of this shape in Mayan
mythology.[62] It bears, however, not the lettering, _lum_, the Earth,
as we might expect, but, significantly, _tem_, the Altar. The Earth is
the great altar of the Gods, and the offering upon it is Life.
Above the earth-cube, supported on four legs which rest upon the four
quarters of the mundane plane, is the celestial vase, _cum_, which
contains the heavenly waters, the rains and showers, on which depends
the life of vegetation, and therefore that of the animal world as well.
Above it hang the heavy rain clouds, _muyal_, ready to fill it; within
it grows the _yax che_, the Tree of Life, spreading its branches far
upward, on their extremities the flowers or fruit of life, the soul or
immortal principle of man, called _ol_ or _yol_.[63]
Turning now to the central design of what has been called the “Tableau
of the Bacabs,” in the Codex Cortesianus, Fig. 10, we can readily see in
the light of the above explanation that its lesson is the same. The
design is surrounded by the signs of the twenty days, beyond which the
field (not shown in this cut) is apportioned to the four cardinal points
and the deities and time-cycles connected with them.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.—Our First Parents. (From the Cortesian Codex.)]
Again it is Life within Space and Time which the artist presents. The
earth is not represented; but we readily recognize in conventionalized
form the great Tree of Life, across it the celestial Vase, and above it
the cloud-masses. On the right sits Cuculcan, on the left Xmucane, the
divine pair called in the _Popol Vuh_ “the Creator and the Former,
Grandfather and Grandmother of the race, who give Life, who give
Reproduction.”[64] In his right hand Cuculcan holds three glyphs, each
containing the sign of Life, _ik_. Xmucane has before her one with the
sign of union (sexual); above it, one containing the life-sign (product
of union); and these are surmounted by the head of a fish, symbolizing
the fructifying and motherly waters.
The total extension of the field in these designs resembles the glyph
_a_ in Fig. 6. It is found in both Mayan and Mexican MSS.,[65] and
expresses the conception these peoples had of the Universe. Hence I give
it the name of the “cosmic sign.”
4. _Pictorial Representations of Divinities._
Turning to the Codices and the monuments with the above mythological
lore in one’s memory, it seems to me there is no difficulty in
identifying most of the pictures presented by them. That this has not
been accomplished heretofore, I attribute to the neglect of the myths by
previous writers, and a persistent desire to discover in the mythology
of the Mayas, not the divinities which they themselves worshipped, but
those of some other nation, as the Nahuas, Quiches, Zapotecs, or Pueblo
dwellers.[66] I shall pay small attention to such analogies, as the
Mayas had a religion of their own, and it is that which I wish to
define. We may turn first to the—
[Illustration: FIG. 11.—Monogram of Itzamna.]
_Representations of Itzamna._—I have no hesitation in identifying
Itzamna with the “god B,” as catalogued by Dr. Schellhas in his
excellent study of the divinities of the Codices,[67] and which he
believes to be Cuculcan, while the Abbé Brasseur, followed by Dr. Seler,
argue, that it is a “Tlaloc” or Chac, _i. e._, a rain god.[68] He is
extremely prominent in the Codices, being painted in the Dresden Codex
alone not less than 130 times, and in the others about 70 times. No
other deity has half so many representations, and we may well believe,
therefore, that he was the Jove of their Pantheon.
This at once suggests Itzamna; but a phrase of the historian Cogolludo
leaves no doubt about it. The “god B” is associated with the signs of
the east, and his especial and invariable characteristic are two long,
serpent-like teeth, which project from his mouth, one in front, the
other to the side and backward.[69] These traits enable us to identify
“B” with Lakin Chan, “the serpent of the east,” who was portrayed “with
strangely deformed teeth,” and this was unquestionably but another name
for Itzamna, the god of the east.[70]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.—Itzamna: from the Codex Troano.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13.—Itzamna: from the Inscription of Kabah.]
An abundance of evidence may be adduced to confirm this opinion. This
deity is represented in close relations with the serpent, holding it in
his hand, sitting upon it, even swallowed by it, or emerging from its
throat. As a “medicine man” he carries the “medicine bag,” and the wand
or baton, called in Maya _caluac_, “the perforated stick,”[71]
surmounted with a hand, hinting at his name above given, _Kabil_, the
Skilful Hand. He is often in a boat, to recall his advent over the
eastern sea, and he is frequently associated with the showers, as was
Itzamna, who said of himself, _itz en muyal, itz en caan_, “I am what
trickles from the clouds, from the sky.” As the rising sun which dispels
the darkness, or else as the physician who heals disease, he is
portrayed sitting on the head of the owl, the bird of night and
sickness; and as the giver of life he is associated with the emblem of
the snail, typical of birth.
He himself is never connected with the symbols of death or misfortune,
but always with those of life and light. The lance and tomahawk which he
often carries are to drive away the spirits of evil.
Besides the above peculiarities, he is portrayed as an elderly man, his
nose is long and curved downward, his eye is always the “ornamented
eye,” which in the Maya Codices indicates a divinity. He is associated
with all four quarters of the globe, for the East defines the cardinal
points; and what is especially interesting, it is he who is connected
with the Maya “Tree of Life,” the celebrated symbol of the cross, found
on so many ancient monuments of this people and which has excited so
much comment. This I shall consider later.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.—Itzamna: from the Dresden Codex.]
[Illustration: FIG. 15.—Mask of Itzamna (?).]
We know from the mythology that Itzamna, like most deities, was
multiform, appearing in various incarnations. In the ceremonies this was
represented by masks; with this in mind I class as merely one of the
forms or epiphanies of Itzamna that figure in the Codices described by
Dr. Schellhas as a separate deity, “the god with the ornamental nose,”
whom he catalogues as “god K.” I am led to this conclusion by a careful
study of all the pictographs in which this deity appears; they all seem
to show that it is Itzamna wearing a mask to indicate some one
manifestation of his power (see especially Cod. Dresden., pp. 7, 12, 25,
26, and 34, 65, and 67, where Itzamna is carrying the mask on his head).
That there is a particular monogram for this character merely indicates
that it was a separate mythological manifestation, not a different
deity.
A remarkable and constant feature in the representations of Itzamna is
his _nose_. Thomas calls it “elephantine,” but, as Waldeck and Seler
have shown, it is undoubtedly intended to imitate the snout of the
_tapir_.[72]
When we remember that this animal was sacred to Votan, who played the
same part in Chiapas that Itzamna did in Yucatan, dividing and naming
the land, etc.; and that the interesting slate tablets from Chiapas, in
the National Museum of Mexico, portray the sacred tapir in intimate
connection with the symbol of _the hand_,[73] that associated with
Itzamna,—we are led to identify the two mythical personages as one and
the same. According to Bishop Landa the tapir was not found in Yucatan
except on the western shore near the bay of Campeche,[74] which shows
that the myth of the tapir god was imported from Tzental territory.
It may be asked why the tapir, a dull animal, loving swamps and dark
recesses of the forests, should have been chosen to represent a divinity
of light. I reply, that it arose from the “ikonomatic” method of
writing. The word for tapir in Maya is _tzimin_, in Tzental _tzemen_,
and from the similarity of this sound to _i-tzam-na_ the animal came to
be selected as his symbol. No such sacredness attached to the brute
among the Quiches, for in their tongue the allusive sound did not exist,
the tapir being called _tixl_. This rebus also confirms the identity of
Itzamna with the tapir-nosed deity of the Codices.[75]
The annual festival to Itzamna was called _Pocam_, “the cleansing.” On
that occasion the priests, arrayed in all their insignia, assembled in
the house of their prince. First, they invoked Itzamna as the founder of
their order and burned to him incense with fire newly made from the
friction of sticks. Next they spread out upon a table covered with green
leaves the sacred books, and asperged their pages with water drawn from
a spring of which no woman had ever tasted. This was the ceremonial
“cleansing.” Then the chief priest arose and declared the prognostics
for the coming year as written in the holy records.[76]
We may well believe that the Dresden Codex, pages 29–43, which are
entirely taken up with the deeds and ceremonies of Itzamna, was one of
the books spread out on this solemn occasion.
_Representations of Cuculcan._—As I believe the reasons above given are
sufficient to establish the identity of the “god B,” of Dr. Schellhas’
catalogue, with Itzamna, so I think his “god D” is Cuculcan.[77] He
himself believes it to be a “night god,” or a “moon god,” while Dr.
Seler considers it to portray Itzamna.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.—Monogram of Cuculcan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.—Cuculcan, with owl head-dress.]
The characteristics of this divinity are: A face of an old man, with
sunken mouth and toothless jaws, except one tooth in the lower jaw,
which, in the Tro. and Cortes. Codices, is exaggerated as a distinctive
sign; he has the “ornamented eye” peculiar to deities; and to his
forehead is attached, or over it hangs, an affix, which generally bears
the sign _akbal_, which means “darkness,” because he is the setting or
night sun; for which reason his head-dress is often the horns of the
eared owl. He is clearly a beneficent deity, and is never associated
with symbols of misfortune or death. Indeed, he is at times evidently a
god of birth, being accompanied with the symbol of the snail, above
explained, and is sometimes associated with women apparently as an
obstetrician. He is connected with serpent emblems, and holds in his
hand a sacred rattle formed of the rattles of the rattlesnake.
All these traits coincide with the myths of Cuculcan; but when we
perceive that he, and he alone of all the deities, is occasionally
depicted _with a beard under his chin_, just as Cuculcan wore in the
legend, the identification becomes complete.[78]
The most striking of his representations, and that which is most
distinctive of his identity with the “green-feathered serpent,” is the
picture which extends over pp. 4 and 5, middle, of the Dresden Codex.
Here he is seen with face emerging from the mouth of the great,
green-feathered snake-dragon, indicative of his own personality, his
hieroglyph immediately above his head.[79]
_Representations of Kin ich._—As has already been observed, the sun at
noon, conceived as a divinity, did not occupy a prominent place in Maya
mythology; and this is also the case in the pictorial designs.
[Illustration: FIG. 18.—Monogram of Kin ich.]
There is no doubt as to his representation. It is accompanied by the
well-known ideogram of the sun scattered over his body and represented
above him. It will be seen on a later page.
He is richly arrayed with large ear-rings and a characteristic,
prominent nose decoration. He has the “ornamented eye” and a full head
dress. (God “G” of Schellhas.)
Proceeding now to consider other divinities of the beneficent class, I
begin with—
_Representations of Xaman Ek, the Pole Star._—This is the “god C, of the
ornamented face,” of Dr. Schellhas’ list, who suggests its identity with
the pole star. The very characteristic face recurs extremely frequently,
especially in Codices Troano, Cortesianus, and Peresianus. We have
evidently to do with an important divinity, and, as Dr. Schellhas says,
“one of the most remarkable and difficult figures in the manuscripts.”
That it is the personification of a star he argues, (1) from the ring of
rays with which it is surrounded, Cod. Cort., p. 10; (2) from its
appearance in the “constellation band;” (3) from its surmounting in
certain pictures the “tree of life;” and that it is the North Star is
shown by its presence in the hieroglyph of that quarter and its
association with the sign for north.
There is another, and, to me, decisive argument, which at once confirms
Dr. Schellhas’ opinion, and explains why the north star is represented
by this peculiar, decorated face.
The term for “north” in Maya is _xaman_, whence _xaman ek_, north star.
The only other word in the language which at all resembles this is
_xamach_, the flat, decorated plate or dish (Nahuatl, _comalli_) on
which tortillas, etc., are served. In the rebus-writing the decorations
on the rim of this dish were conventionally transferred to the face of
the deity, so as to distinguish it by recalling the familiar utensil.
For a similar reason it is also called “the shield star,” _chimal ek_
(like _chimal ik_, north wind); but as this is a foreign word (from the
Nahuatl, _chimalli_, shield), it was doubtless later and local. I shall
refer to this peculiar edging or border as the “pottery decoration,” and
we shall find it elsewhere.
That the figure is associated at times with all four quarters of the
world, and also with the supreme number 13 (see above, p. 24), are not
at all against the identification, as Dr. Schellhas seems to think, but
in favor of it; for at night, all four directions are recognized by the
position of the pole; and its immovable relation to the other celestial
bodies seems to indicate that it belongs above the highest.
The North Star is especially spoken of as “the guide of merchants.” Its
representation is associated with symbols of peace and plenty (removing
the contents of a tall vase, C. Cortes., p. 40; seated under a canopy,
ibid., p. 29). In front of his forehead is attached a small vase, the
contents of which are trickling into his mouth (?).
[Illustration: FIG. 19.—The North Star God.]
He is especially prominent in the earlier pages of the Cod. Peres.,
where his presence seems to have been practically overlooked by previous
writers; and it is true that the drawings are nearly erased. Close
inspection will show, however, that he is portrayed on both sides of the
long column of figures which runs up the middle of page 3. On the left,
he is seated on the “Tree of Life,” as in Cod. Troanus, p. 17, _a_
(which is growing from the vase of the rains, precisely as in Cod. Tro.,
14, _b_, where the star-god is sailing in the vase itself). On the right
of the column he is shown in the darkness of night (on a black
background), holding in his hand the _kan_ symbol of fortune and food. A
similar contrast is on page 7, where on the right of the column he is
seen above the fish, and on the left, in the dark, again with the _kan_
symbol. On the intermediate page he is seated opposite the figure of Kin
ich Ahau, which is head downward, signifying that when the sun is absent
the pole star rules the sky.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.—The Bee god. (Codex Troano.)]
_Representations of the Planet Venus._—In view of the prominent part
which the Venus-year plays in the calculations of the Codices, it has
surprised students that no pictorial figures of this bright star appear
on their pages. On this point I have some suggestions to make.
In one part of the Codex Troano (pp. 1*–10*) there are a great
many—nearly fifty—pictures of an insect resembling a bee in descending
flight. These pages have been explained by Thomas as relating to
apiculture and the festivals of the bee-keepers, and by Seler, who
rejects that rendering, as referring generally to the descent of deities
to receive offerings. Direction downward is indicated not only by the
position of the insect, but by the accompanying hieroglyph, which reads
_caban_, the first syllable of which, _cab_, means “downward.” My
suggestion is that in this bee-like insect we have an ikonomatic
allusion to the Evening Star, which, as I have already stated, was
sometimes called _xux ek_, “the bee or wasp star.”[80]
Not only is the picture phonetically appropriate, and the “sign”
consistent, but that a deity is referred to is shown by three
anthropomorphic pictures of the bee (two on p. 4* and one on p. 5*).
Furthermore, the “sign” or monogram of the bee deity (Fig. 20) appears
on the so-called “title pages” of the Cod. Tro. and Cod. Cortes.,
adjacent to that of the north star, indicating that another stellar
deity is represented.
The object toward which the insect descends is generally either a fire,
or that shown in Fig. 22.[81] This was supposed by Brasseur to be a
honeycomb, and by Seler, a food offering. It is almost precisely the
conventional representation of the clouds, as may be noted in the
interesting scene on Cod. Tro., p. 5*, where this object is placed upon
the earth, below which is the cloud symbol. Often it is yellowish, a
point which has been urged in proof that it is honey. Does it not mean
the golden-hued clouds of sunset, and the fire, the flame of the setting
sun, into which the Evening Star descends?
The sign _caban_, “downward,” naturally refers to the Earth.[82] Thither
sinks the star of evening to join the departed orb of day; hence this
star mythically becomes the Earth-goddess, the associate of the setting
sun. Cuculcan is very frequently depicted in relation to an old crone,
having, like himself, but one tooth, and, like himself, ever engaged in
kindly offices, good to men. She, I take it, is the Evening Star in her
epiphany as Mother Earth, source of life, ancestress of the race.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.—Monograms of the Bee God.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.—Offerings to the Bee God.]
A striking verbal analogy supports this. In the Popol Vuh, the sacred
book of the Quiches, the “feathered serpent,” Gukumatz, is positively
said to be the bisexual principle of life represented by the male
Xpiyacoc and the female Xmucane, ancestor and ancestress of all that
is.[83] Here, _x-mucane_ is most likely the Quiche feminine form of
_muc_ (_ul_) _canan_, which is a Tzental name for the planet Venus, as I
have already mentioned.[84] My conclusion is, therefore, that the old
woman so frequently associated with Cuculcan is the Evening Star, in her
form as the Earth-Goddess. I shall recur to her on a later page.
I think all these representations of the bee should be interpreted as
indicating the movements of Venus, and the mythical conceptions with
which they were connected in the native mind.
_Representation of Ghanan, God of Growth and Fertility._—Bishop Nuñez de
la Vega tells us that in the calendar he discovered among the natives of
his diocese, the fourth “sign” or day corresponded to the Mexican
Centeotl, god of fertility and the maize harvests. This fourth day in
the Tzental calendar bore the name _Ghanan_, and on turning to the
Tzental Dictionary prepared by Father Lara, we find that _ghan_ is the
general term for the ear of maize; _aghan_, when the grains are still
soft.
His representations in the Codices are moderately frequent and quite
peculiar. They all present in a marked degree the flattening of the
forehead and prolongation of the occiput upward which is so striking in
many of the sculptures.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.—From the Head-dress of the God of Growth.]
Dr. Schellhas, indeed (who catalogues him as “God E”), is so impressed
by this that he argues that all such forms were imaginary, obtained by
the artists through copying the conventional drawings of an ear of maize
arranged as a head-dress. This, however, is going too far, as there is
evidence, derived from ancient skulls, that certain classes of Maya
priests used to have the head artificially flattened in this manner.[85]
Perhaps they were those destined for the service of this or similar
deities. The officiants on the Palenque “Tablet of the Cross,”
presenting offerings to the “tree of life,” are both deformed in this
manner.
The maize god is associated with symbols of food, of vegetable growth,
and of prosperity. He carries a vase or is drawing forth the contents of
one, Cod. Cort., p. 40; he is seen with the loom, Cod. Dres., p. 45, and
he generally has about him the _kan_ symbol, that of means and comfort.
_Representations of the Serpent Goddess._—One of the most striking
pictures in the Codices is the Serpent Goddess, whose familiar is the
rattlesnake, which she wears as a head-dress or as a girdle. She is
depicted as an old woman, her costume ample and often splendid,
decorated with embroidery and bells, with necklace and ear-rings of
jade.
In expression she is severe, her lips protrude in anger, and her hands
and feet sometimes end in claws. The sinister cross-bones sometimes
decorate her skirts. Her business is with water and the rains. She is
pouring from a vase (_Cod. Dres._, pp. 43, 67, 74); or water is flowing
from her armpits, hands, and mammæ; or she is ejecting it forcibly from
her mouth (_Cod. Tro._, pp. 25, 27, 34*).
She is, however, not always represented as in old age, or else there was
another serpent goddess in the mythology; for in a number of places a
similar serpentine head-dress is borne by a young woman who holds a vase
containing the rattles of the rattlesnake (_Cod. Dres._, pp. 15, 18); or
(ibid., p. 20), a figure which shows seven black dots. May this be a
sign of the constellation of the Pleiades, which in the Maya language
bore the same name as the rattles of the rattlesnake, _tzab_?
As to the signification of the serpent goddess, I think there can be no
question of it, from a study of her appearance, signs, and associations.
She was the _personification of the thunderstorm_. The vase she empties
is the descending torrent of rain, the rattles she carries are the
thunderclaps, her severe mien is the terror inspired by the din of the
elements. In Maya, the word for “thunder,” _pecchac_, is derived from
the noun _pec_, which means “a sound like that of a bell or rattle”
(_Dicc. Motul_).
_Representations of Xmucane._—A third goddess who can be clearly
distinguished is one with features of an old woman, her face wrinkled,
her mouth sunken, and but one tooth left in her lower jaw. She usually
wears her hair in a peculiar style, two wisps or ends of it twisted
above her head.
She does not appear in the Peresianus, and perhaps not in the Dresden
manuscript, but holds a prominent place in the Troanus and Cortesianus.
Her occupations are peaceable; she is weaving on a loom (C. Tro., p.
11), carrying a plate of cakes, etc. (Cod. Cortes., pp. 10, 11).