Xibalba
Xibalbá [ ʃiɓalˈɓa ] means “place of fear” in the Mayan languages . In the mythology of the Maya Xibalba was the nine-stage underworld , the lowest level of the tripartite cosmos and not the same as hell, the afterlife of various Christian and other religious communities and cultures. According to the Mayan belief, the ancestors stayed in Xibalba until they were allowed to leave this place after having passed tests, struggles and suffering. Suicides, victims and women who died in childbirth rose directly to the gods .
The gods of Xibalba
In the Mayan beliefs, Xibalba was ruled by various gods of the underworld, also called lords. In addition, there were numerous animals and hybrid creatures that stayed there.
The two supreme lords of Xibalba were:
- Hun Came ("One Death")
- Vucub Came ("Seven Deaths ")
They were followed by the ten other gods, they were:
- Xiquiripat (" To give wings to a laid noose")
- Cuchumaquic (" Crushing the Vulture")
- Ahalpuh (" source of pus")
- Ahalcana (" producer of jaundice")
- Chamiabac ("bone stick ")
- Chamiaholom ("skull stick ")
- Quicxic ("blood feather")
- Patan ("originator of charges or taxes")
- Quicre ("blood is his tooth")
- Quicrixcac ("blood is his claw")
Myths
In the “Book of the Council” of the Quiché , the Popol Vuh , the story of the young heroic brothers Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué is told, who descended into the underworld of Xibalba. There they were challenged to a ball game by the gods of the underworld . You could defeat the gods in this game and so rose as the gods "sun" and "moon" in the sky.
For the Maya, caves generally represented the entrance to Xibalba. Remains of offerings have been found in many caves on the Yucatán Peninsula. Even today, ceremonies in honor of the ancestors and gods of Xibalba are held in some caves. In the 16th century, Verapaz , a cave near Cobán in Guatemala , was held as the entrance to Xibalbá.
In some Mayan folk tales, the Orion Nebula is the physical location of Xibalba.
The Maya calendar had only 360 days. The remaining five days were called "unlucky days". In these five days the gates to the underworld were to open.
Others
In his 2006 film The Fountain , director Darren Aronofsky takes up the Mayan myth of Xibalba to tell a story about death and rebirth .