Mateo Viejo performing a balche ceremony
photo by G. Blom

The Lacandon gods

The Lacandones worship a complex pantheon of deities of the sky, forest, and the underworld, many of whom are directly related to the gods of the Prehispanic Maya. As in Classic Maya cosmology, the Lacandones believe the cosmos is multi-layered. This is not the place to offer an exhaustive description of all the minor gods of the Lacandones. What follows describes the major deities and a few interesting minor ones. Most of the Lacandon deities have prehispanic correlation's. Those related gods will be named in parentheses.

The Major Deities

K'akoch
[Xpiyacoc (Popul Vuh); Hunab Ku (Yucatecan Maya)]
He is the supreme creator deity in Lacandon belief, the father of the gods. Although he is the creator of the earth and sun, he remains aloof, not caring about human affairs.

He did, however, create the bak nikte' (Plumeria rubra), a flower from which the Lacandon gods were born. Just as the gods created from the bak nitke watch over the Lacandon and depend on human offerings, K'akoch watches over the gods and they in turn make offerings to him - a two tiered pattern of mutual dependency.

Sukunkyum
He was the first god to be born from the bak nikte' flower, older brother of Hachäkyum, his name literally means " Older Brother of Our Lord". Sukunkyum is the chief lord of the underworld and the judge of souls. He is also the guardian of the sun. As the sun travels through the sky, it expends its energy. becoming weaker until at sunset it descends into the underworld and dies. At night, Sukunkyum cares for the sun, feeding and carrying it through the underworld on his back from west to east. In this fashion the sun is resurrected, strong and rested, and at sunrise once again begins its journey across the sky. During the day, Sukunkyum cares for the moon in a similar fashion.

Äkyantho'
Also born before Hachäkyum, he is the god of foreigners and commerce. The Lacandones say that he looks like a light-skinned foreigner wearing a hat and carrying a pistol just as do foreigners. Äkyantho' is also responsible for the existence of foreign objects such as medicine (the Lacandones traditionally treat sickness with incantations and prayers), hard liquor, cattle, horses, and disease.

Hachäkyum
[Itzamna (Yucatecan Maya)]
"Our True Lord" is the principal Lacandon deity. He is the creator of the jungle, animals, and, with his wife's assistance, men and women. Although K'akoch created the original earth, Hachäkyum made it fit for life. He is responsible for the creation of the under world for his brother Sukunkyum.

Female deities and divine families
The Lacandones also worship female gods and believe that the god's family structure is like their own. Most goddesses are said to mirror the actions of their spouses and they are named after their husbands with the prefix U Na'il. Family feuds and godly politics are reminiscent of Greek mythology. U Na'il Hachäkyum or Xka'lr'ox (She of the Breadnut Leaves) and her husband are the co-creator of human beings. They have three sons. The elder brothers K'aak' Bäkal äk Yum Chäk Xib (Red Man K'aak' Meat of Our Lord) and Paal äk yum Chäk Xib (Red Man Son of Our Lord) have been banished because they sought to usurp there fathers power. They are forced to live in the forest without the honor given to other gods. Their younger brother, T'uup is master of the sun in Lacandon mythology.

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Realms of the gods in the Lacandon universe:

U Ka'ani Chembel K'uh (The Minor Gods Sky)

The minor gods live in the remotest layer of the universe. It is cold and dark there because there is no sun.

U Ka'ani K'akoch (K'akoch's Layer of Sky)

K'akoch, creator of the gods, lives in the next layer of the sky. This layer has a sun.

(the universe that pertains to humans)

U Ka'ani K'uh (The Celestial God's Sky)

The celestial gods live in this layer, which includes the sky, stars, and sun that humans see.

Lu'um K'uh

This is the earth's surface, inhabited by humans, and the terrestrial deities.

Yalam Lu'um (The Underworld)

The underworld is the home of Sukunkyum and Kisin. After death, souls travel through the underworld to be judged by Sukunkyum and punished for their sins by Kisin.

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Assistants to Hachäkyum

Mensäbäk
[Yum Chac (Prehispanic Mayan)] One of the most important Lacandon deities is Mensäbäk, the god of rain. His name means "Maker of Powder", referring to the mythic process by which he creates rain. Mensäbäk makes a black powder that he gives to his assistants, the Hahanak'uh "Water House Gods" The Hahanak'uh, in turn, spread this powder through the clouds with macaw feather wands, making dark rain filled storm clouds. Like the four aspects of the prehispanic Yum Cac, the Lacandon Hahanak'uh are associated with the directions: Bulha'kilutalk'in, East (literally, "Flood waters from where the sun is seen to come"); Ch'ik'ink'uh, West ("God that eats the sun"); Xämän, North; Tseltsel Xämän, Northeast; Nohol, South; Tseltsel Nohol, Southeast.

The Hahanak'uh are responsible for thunder and lightning. The god Kisin is said to insult the Hahanak'uh by raising his tunic (xikul) and exposing his buttocks to them. In anger the Hahanak'uh throw stone ax heads at Kisin; upon striking the ground, they cause thunder and lightning. Lacandon hunters occasionally find these ax heads in the jungle, citing them as proof that this story is true.

Kisin
He is the god of death and earthquakes. Sukunkyum looks into the eyes of souls after death and judges their actions during their lives. If a person lied, was a thief, or committed murder or incest, their soul is given to Kisin, who punishes the spirit by alternate burning or freezing.

Ak K'ak'
"Fire", originally a god of war in Prehispanic Maya belief, survives in Lacandon religion as the god who afflicts people with a variety of diseases, in particular, small pox and measles, which are called k'ak' in the Lacandon language. This equation of disease with a god who was once the deity of war may stem from the realization that the incidence of several epidemic diseases correlated with the arrival of Spanish soldiers. Prehispanic representations of this god show him carrying a torch and a spear. The Lacandones label him as a carrier of disease because of the fever and red skin eruptions that are associated with afflictions such as smallpox and which they equate to being on fire.

Hesuklistos
Jesus Christ?! Although not Christians, the Lacandones of Naja accept the divinity of Christ. The Lacandon resistance to Christian missionaries stems from their lack of interest in an individual whom they perceive as a minor god. Hachäkyum holds the place of paramount importance in Lacandon belief. The Lacandon accept Jesus Christ as a god of foreigners, and consequently believe him to be the son of Äkyantho', who is the god of foreign people and objects.

[adapted from Life, Ritual and Religion Among the Lacandon Maya by R. Jon McGee]