Tohil (, also spelled Tojil) is the Maya god of fire. He is a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

of the Kʼicheʼ

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

in the Late Postclassic period of

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

. At the time of the

Spanish Conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

, Tohil was the patron god of the Kʼicheʼ. He was included in the Tolteca pantheon that was influenced in the highlands Maya culture in the Postclassic Period. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity and he was also both a war god, sun god and the god of rain. Tohil was also associated with mountains and he was a god of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

and sustenance. In the Kʼicheʼ epic Popul Vuh, after the first people were created, they gathered at the

mythical Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

Tollan or Tula, the Place of the Seven Caves, to receive their

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and their

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

. The Kʼicheʼ, and others, there received Tohil. Tohil demanded blood sacrifice from the Kʼicheʼ and so they offered their own blood and also that of sacrificed captives taken in battle. In the Popul Vuh this consumption of blood by Tohil is likened to the

suckling Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO ...

of an infant by its mother. Tohil was originally part of the Tolteca pantheon and was introduced in Postclassic Maya culture. He has been compared to the same god Qʼuqʼumatz, and shared attributes of the feathered serpent with that deity, but they later diverged and each deity came to have a separate priesthood. Sculptures of a human face emerging between the jaws of a serpent were common from the end of the Classic Period through to the Late Postclassic and may represent Qʼuqʼumatz in the act of carrying Hunahpu, the youthful avatar of the sun god Tohil, across the sky. The god's association with

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

meant that Tohil was one of the first deities that the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

clergy tried to eradicate after the conquest of Guatemala. Indeed, it's known that the Kaqchikel tribe was against the human sacrifice demanded by Tohil to bring them fire. For this reason they stole the fire from the deity — Kaqchikel means “fire thieves.” This is the principal cause of enmity between the K'iche and Kaqchikel peoples.

Attributes

There is disagreement over the meaning of the name of the deity. It has been interpreted as meaning "

obsidian Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...

", as deriving from the word ''toh'' ("rain") and as meaning "tribute" or "payment". Tohil was one of a trinity of gods worshipped by the Kʼicheʼ elite, together with

Awilix Awilix () (also spelled Ahuilix, Auilix and Avilix) was a goddess (or possibly a god) of the Mesoamerican chronology, Postclassic Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ Maya civilization, Maya, who had a large Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj, kingdom in the ...

and

Jacawitz Jacawitz () (also spelt Jakawitz, Jakawits, Qʼaqʼawits and Hacavitz) was a mountain god of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya of highland Guatemala. He was the patron of the Ajaw Kʼicheʼ lineage and was a companion of the sun god Tohil. It i ...

. The concept of a triad of deities was ancient in

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 ...

, dating as far back as the Late Preclassic. The triad of Kʼicheʼ gods were sometimes referred to collectively as Tohil. Tohil has been equated with the Classic Period God K. The deity also possesses attributes that suggest a link with

Mixcoatl Mixcoatl (, from mixtli "cloud" and cōātl "serpent"), or Camaxtle or Camaxtli, was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. He was the patron deity of the Otomi peopl ...

, a hunting god of the

Aztecs The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the ...

. Tohil was the patron deity of the Kaweq lineage of the Kʼicheʼ. He was associated with a sacred deerskin bundle that was said to embody him, and one of his titles was ''Qajawal Kej'' ("Our Lord Deer"). The deity was associated with thunder, lightning and the sunrise.

Worship

The Kaweq lineage of the Kʼicheʼ built a temple to Tohil at their first capital Jacawitz, identified as the archaeological site of Chitinamit. Jacawitz was overlooked by a shrine to the god placed on a neighbouring peak, this shrine was known as Pa Tohil. Later the Kʼicheʼ built their main temple to Tohil at

Qʼumarkaj Qʼumarkaj ( Kʼicheʼ: ) (sometimes rendered as Gumarkaaj, Gumarcaj, Cumarcaj or Kumarcaaj) is an archaeological site in the southwest of the El Quiché department of Guatemala.Kelly 1996, p.200. Qʼumarkaj is also known as Utatlán, the Nahuat ...

, their new capital. They made him offerings on the day ''Toh'', one of the days of their 20-day

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

cycle. The Kʼicheʼ performed the Great Dance of Tohil in honour of the deity in the month of ''Tzʼikin Qʼij'', prior to the

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

harvest (which takes place in November). This dance took place at

and involved a gathering of all the principal lineages subject to the

Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj The Kʼicheʼ kingdom of Qʼumarkaj was a state in the highlands of modern-day Guatemala which was founded by the Kʼicheʼ (Quiché) Maya in the thirteenth century, and which expanded through the fifteenth century until it was conquered by Span ...

, and as is described in the Kʼicheʼ chronicle ''

Título de Totonicapán The ''Título de Totonicapán'' (Spanish for "Title of Totonicapán"), sometimes referred to as the ''Título de los Señores de Totonicapán'' ("Title of the Lords of Totonicapán") is the name given to a Kʼicheʼ language document written around ...

'', they were expected to bring tribute, slaves and sacrifices. The

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

of Tohil were known as ''Aj Tohil'' and were selected from the ruling Kaweq lineage of Qʼumarkaj. During their ceremonies to Tohil, the Kʼicheʼ would offer

quetzal Quetzals () are strikingly colored birds in the trogon family. They are found in forests, especially in humid highlands, with the five species from the genus ''Pharomachrus'' being exclusively Neotropical, while a single species, the eared quet ...

feathers to the god. Writing at the end of the 17th century, Francisco Ximénez described the tradition that upon the temple human sacrifices were tied before the representation of Tohil, where the priest would open the victim's chest and cut out his heart. After sacrifice, the victim's body was probably hurled down the front stairway of the temple where his head would be severed to be placed on a skull rack that was located in front of the temple. Equivalents to Tohil were worshipped by other groups closely related to the Kʼicheʼ. These included Belehe Toh of the Kaqchikels and Hun Toh of the

Rabinal Rabinal is a small town, with a population of 15,157 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & to ...

, this last name meaning "One Rain", a calendrical date. The Kaqchikel and the Rabinal did not merely think their own patrons were ''equivalent'' to Tohil, they claimed that they were the same deity under a different name. The Kʼicheʼ themselves claimed in the Popul Vuh that their patron Tohil was the same as Quetzalcoatl of the

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

Temple of Tohil

The Temple of Tohil at Qʼumarkaj was the tallest structure in the city. The rubble core of the building still stands but the stone facing has been looted. The temple was originally a pyramid with stairways on all four sides, the summit shrine faced towards the rising sun in the east. This form of radial pyramid temple was built by the Maya since the Late Preclassic with examples at many archaeological sites such as

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 ...

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most important sites of the Maya civilization, which was not excavated until the ...

and

Chichen Itza Chichén Itzá , , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people, Itza people" (often spelled ''Chichen Itza'' in English and traditional Yucatec Maya) was a large Pre-Columbian era, ...

, among others. According to

John Lloyd Stephens John Lloyd Stephens (November 28, 1805October 13, 1852) was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. He was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America (Americas), Middle America and in the planning of th ...

, who visited the site in the 1830s, the temple base measured square and it stood high. At that time the radial stairways were more-or-less intact. The temple was originally covered in painted

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

, with the decoration including the painted image of a

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 ...

Modern worship

Deerskins, the symbol of Tohil, are to this day venerated in many highland Maya communities and are used in dances. In the modern village of

Santiago Atitlán Santiago Atitlán (, from Nahuatl ''atitlan'', "at the water", in Tz'utujil language, Tz'utujil ''Tz'ikin Jaay'', "birdhouse") is a Municipalities of Guatemala, municipality in the Sololá Department, Sololá department of Guatemala. Geography Th ...

in the

Guatemalan highlands The Guatemalan Highlands is an upland region in southern Guatemala which lies between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north. Geographic description The Highlands lie between 6360 ft and 13780 ft and are ...

, a traditional Maya priesthood performs rites to a powerful deity addressed as "''King Martin, Lord of the Three Levels, Lord of Rain, Lord of Maize, and Lord of all the Mountains''". This priest blesses deerskins prior them being worn, with head and antlers attached, during the Dance of Martin on November 11 prior to the maize harvest. King Martin is probably a blend of Tohil and his deerskin bundle with the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

St Martin of Tours Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hungary), he converted ...

, whose feast falls on the same day. In

Rabinal Rabinal is a small town, with a population of 15,157 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & to ...

, Tohil was merged with St Paul while still retaining many of his characteristics.Van Akkeren 1999, p.288.

Notes

References