GODS & DEITIES


Even in the ancient period, gods and deities differed throughout the Maya regions. Further, a huge pantheon of sanctified creations emerged over time and this renders it nearly impossible to produce a list of deities equivalent to the more recognizable mythology of Greece and Rome, for example. Complicating matters even more, however, is the fact numerous deities were represented in different ways with different names and were endowed with multiple attributes - even to the point of being dualistic (meaning they could be good or evil, young or old, male or female, heavenly or otherworldly, etc.).

Some of the more widely recognized deities were:

Itzamna - a creator and patron of knowledge

Kukulcan - bird-snake god, patron of priests, inventor of agriculture, writing and the calendar

Ek Chuak - patron of merchants and cacad producers and war god

Ah Kin or Kinich Ahau - sun god

Chaac - god of rain

Ik - god of wind

Lx chel - goddess of the moon and childbirth

Ah Puch - god of death


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