Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a
Kʼicheʼ Maya god of
wind,
storm,
fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused the
Great Flood after the second generation of humans angered the gods. He supposedly lived in the windy mists above the floodwaters and repeatedly invoked "earth" until land came up from the seas.
His name, understood as 'One-Leg', suggests
god K of Postclassic and Classic Maya iconography, a deity of lightning with one human leg, and one leg shaped like a serpent. God K is commonly referred to as Bolon Tzacab and
Kʼawiil or Kauil. The name may ultimately derive from ''huracan'', a
Carib word,
[Read & González 2000, p.200.] and the source of the words ''
hurricane'' and ''orcan'' (
European windstorm
European windstorms are powerful extratropical cyclones which form as cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure. They can occur throughout the year, but are most frequent between October and March, with peak intensit ...
).
Related deities are
Tohil in
Kʼiche mythology, Bolon Tzacab in
Yucatec mythology,
Cocijo in
Zapotec mythology, and
Tezcatlipoca in Aztec mythology.
See also
*
Juracán
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huracan
Maya gods
Characters from the Popol Vuh
Creator gods
Sky and weather gods
Fire gods
Wind deities
earth deities