File:The myths of Mexico and Peru (1913) (14597408300).jpg

Identifier: mythsofmexicoper01spen (find matches)
Title: The myths of Mexico and Peru
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors: Spence, Lewis, 1874-1955
Subjects: Indians of Mexico Indian mythology Indians of Mexico Indians of South America Indian mythology Indians of South America
Publisher: New York, T. Y. Crowell company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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arch We must now turn to the question of what modernresearch has done to elucidate the character of thevarious Maya deities. We have already seen that theyhave been provisionally named by the letters of thealphabet until such proof is forthcoming as will identifythem with the traditional gods of the Maya, and wewill now briefly examine what is known concerningthem under their temporary designations. God A In the Dresden and other codices god A is repre-sented as a figure with exposed vertebrae and skull-likecountenance, with the marks of corruption on his body,and displaying every sign of mortality. On his headhe wears a snail-symbol, the Aztec sign of birth, perhapsto typify the connection between birth and death. Healso wears a pair of cross-bones. The hieroglyph whichaccompanies his figure represents a corpses head withclosed eyes, a skull, and a sacrificial knife. His symbolis that for the calendar day Cimi, which means death.He presides over the west, the home of the dead, the172
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The House of Bats Gilbert James 172 MAYA GODS region toward which they invariably depart with thesetting sun. That he is a death-god there can be nodoubt, but of his name we are ignorant. He is prob-ably identical with the Aztec god of death and hell,Mictlan, and is perhaps one of those Lords of Deathand Hell who invite the heroes to the celebrated gameof ball in the Kiche Popol Vuh, and hold them prisonersin their gloomy realm. God B is the deity who appears most frequently inthe manuscripts. He has a long, truncated nose, likethat of a tapir, and we find in him every sign of a godof the elements. He walks the waters, wields fierytorches, and seats himself on the cruciform tree of thefour winds which appears so frequently in Americanmyth. He is evidently a culture-god or hero, as he isseen planting maize, carrying tools, and going on ajourney, a fact which establishes his solar connection.He is, in fact, Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl, and on examin-ing him we feel that at least there can

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