THE SKY

Chaac
Rain God

The sky is called Caan. For the Maya, this sphere represents peace, goodness and light. Caan is the masculine force who joined with the feminine Earth so that life could be brought forth into the world. Upon death, it is towards Caan that upright humans ascend, climbing the trunk and branches of the great yaxche tree. Men who die in battle and women who die during childbirth also ascend the tree of life.

    Caan is divided into thirteen levels, represented graphically by a pyramid with six steps located in the east, six in the west and a seventh step acting as a pinnacle in the center of the cosmos. The thirteen levels are governed by Oxlahuntiku gods, also considered as a single god. Not all their full names and glyphs known. What has been possible to decipher is that these celestial gods interrelate closely with the inhabitants of the earth as with the gods of the underworld.

    Ruling over the various sky gods—inhabiting the seventh level—is the creative divinity Hunab Ku, who being incorporeal, is one of the few gods lacking an actual graphic representation. When honored, the associated rituals were a standard part of any priest's duties and so sacred that they remained hidden from the average Maya.

    Itzam Na, Hunab Ku's son, and lord the skies, presides over the divine society. He is the god of medicine, earth and fire, as well as the inventor of writing and books. He sends rain down to Earth, making the ground ready for planting. Like many of the Maya gods, Itzam NA is four gods in one. Each of his four manifestations has its own color and orientation, closely resembling the cardinal points: red in the East, white in the West, black in the North and yellow in the South. The ancient Maya evoked him through prayers and ceremonies to request two fundamental favors: rain for good harvests and the prevention of public calamities.

    Sharing the skies with Itzam NA is an array of lesser gods—though of great importance to the Maya—who rule over different aspects of Nature. Kinich Ahau, the Sun God, heads this group and is represented simultaneously as a good-looking youth and as a bent old man with a huge prominent nose. This duality mirrors his behavior towards humankind. The lovely youth acts benevolently, on his daily trip through the thirteen levels of the Sky, and malignantly when traveling through the various regions of the underworld. In his role as the Sun God, he watches over health, music, poetry and writing.

    His companion is Ixchel, goddess of the Moon, fertility, medicine, weaving, rainbows, songs and childbirth. Ixchel also watches over bodies of water, such as lakes, lagoons, natural wells (cenotes), underground rivers and the ocean, thus receiving such names as "Lady of the Sea" or "She Who Dwells in the Middle of the Sinkhole." The marriage between Kinich Ahau and Ixchel is usually a peaceful and happy one; however, whenever they disagree, the whole cosmos resounds with their strife and cosmic changes, such as eclipses, result.

    Noh Ek (Great Star) and Xaman Ek (Star of the North) are two sky deities influencing daily life, though in a lesser way. Noh Ek, the god of planet Venus, is responsible for good hunting while Xaman Ek, god of the Polestar, is a benevolent deity on whom ancient navigators relied on when sailing at night.

    Also dwelling in Caan is Chaac, the Rain God, also associated with the creation of life. He also has a quadruple identity; as Kunku Chaac, the Red God of the West, he causes lightning and rain, the latter being indispensable for a good harvest.

    His vital role in the primarily agricultural Maya society is perhaps why he is the most enduring deity in present Maya religious practices. Today, indigenous Maya communities perform ceremonial offerings and dedications to Chaac, in hopes of a good rainfall and the prevention of drought.

    Finally, there is Kukulcan, the feathered serpent, a dual god representing both the Earth's wish to ascend to the sky, and the sky descending to Earth. Chaos becomes order through Kukulcan, as he represents the merging of opposites.