The

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Maya religion The traditional Maya or Mayan religion of the extant Maya peoples of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and the Tabasco, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán states of Mexico is part of the wider frame of Mesoamerican religion. As ...

knew various

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

gods, in addition to jaguar demi-gods, (ancestral) protectors, and transformers. The main jaguar deities are discussed below. Their associated narratives (part of

Maya mythology Maya mythology or Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. The legends of the era have to be ...

) are still largely to be reconstructed. Lacandon and Tzotzil-

Tzeltal Tzeltal may refer to: * Tzeltal people, an ethnic group of Mexico * Tzeltal language, the Mayan language they speak {{Disambiguation ...

oral tradition are particularly rich in jaguar lore. The Maya people saw the jaguar's attributes as a strong and powerful creature, as well as its easily recognizable coat, and incorporated it into their mythology. Many gods were portrayed as jaguars, or at least had characteristics not unlike jaguars, due to their powerful nature.

The Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire and War ('Night Sun')

The Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire is recognizable by a ' cruller' around the eyes (making a loop over the nose), jaguar ears, and fangs. He personifies the number seven, which is associated with the day ''Akʼbʼal'' ('Night'). Usually called 'Jaguar God of the Underworld', he has been assumed to be the 'Night Sun' - the shape supposedly taken by the sun ( Kinich Ahau) during his nightly journey through the underworld - by reason of having the large eyes and filed incisors that also occur with the sun deity, and of sometimes evincing a ''k 'in'' infix. The deity's hypothetical aspect of a nocturnal sun (that is, a subterranean fire) should perhaps be connected to his proven association with terrestrial fire. He is often represented on incense burners and connected to fire rituals, while his 'cruller' may represent a cord used in making fire with a stick (Taube). Moreover, vases in codical style show him, captured, about to be burnt with torches. The nocturnal sun hypothesis is complicated by this very incident, and even more so by the fact that the fiery jaguar deity is identified with a star (or perhaps a constellation or planet).Finamore and Houston 2010: 281 The god's other sphere of influence is war, witness for example the stereotypical presence of his face on war banner.

God L

God L is one of the oldest Mayan deities, and associated with trade, riches, and black sorcery, and belongs to the jaguar deities: he has jaguar ears, a jaguar mantle and lives in a jaguar palace. Some take him to be the main ruler over the Underworld. In that sense, he would have to be considered the true "Jaguar God of the Underworld".

The Jaguar Goddess of Midwifery and War

The aged goddess of midwifery, curing, and war Ix Chel, belongs to the jaguar deities. She has jaguar ears and claws and can show the looped cruller element and the large eye of the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire (Birth Vase), suggesting that she might be a spouse to this deity.

The Jaguar Patron of the War Month of Pax

The patron deity of the month of Pax has jaguar paws above his ears, a removed lower jaw, and vomits blood. In 16th-century Yucatán, rituals held in the month of Pax centered on the war leader and the puma deity, Cit Chac Coh. Personified as a tree, the Pax deity witnesses the shooting of the

Principal Bird Deity Itzamná () is, in Maya mythology, an upper god and creator deity thought to reside in the sky. Itzamná is one of the most important gods in the Classic and Postclassic Maya pantheon. Although little is known about him, scattered references ar ...

and equally of a Vulture King by Hun-Ahpu. The tree personification serves as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

for uninhabited wooded areas and their menace (Taube). Particularly scenes on pottery show the Pax deity to be intimately associated with war and human sacrifice.

The Aged Jaguar Paddler

One of two aged deities associated with the base date of the Long Count and steering the canoe with the Tonsured Maize God has a jaguar headdress and is connected to Night, like the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire. (The other Paddler God is an aged form of the sun deity apparently connected to Daylight.)

The Jaguar Twin Hero

The Jaguar Twin Hero, companion to Hun-Ahpu (or Hun-Ajaw) and thus corresponding to Xbalanque in the much later Popol Vuh Twin myth, has patches of jaguar skin stuck to his arms and body, in addition to jaguar pimples around his mouth. Fittingly, in the Popol Vuh, Xbalanque is the more violent Twin.

Jaguar Protectors and Jaguar Transformers

Less clearly classifiable as deities are jaguar protectors (perhaps ancestors) and jaguar transformers. The Water Lily Jaguar (so called because of the

water lily Water lily or water lilies may refer to: Plants * Members of the family Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate climate, temperate ...

on its head) is both a giant jaguar protector, looming large above the king (e.g.,

Tikal Tikal (; ''Tik'al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...

wooden

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

3, temple I), and a transformer often shown amidst flames.

Jaguar Baby

A specific and as yet unexplained transformation into a jaguar involves a male child with jaguar ears and a jaguar tail (the so-called Jaguar Baby) shown in a transformational somersault. This Jaguar Baby can assume the features of the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire.

Notes

References

*Finamore, David, and Stephen Houston (eds.), ''The Fiery Pool''. New Haven: Peabody Essex Museum in association with Yale U.P., 2010. *Mary Miller and Karl Taube, ''The Gods of Ancient Mexico and the Maya''. Thames and Hudson. *David Stuart, 'The Fire Enters His House': Architecture and Ritual in Classic Maya Texts', in Houston, ''Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture'' (1998): 373-425. *Karl Taube, ''The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan''. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1992. {{Maya Feline deities Maya deities