![]() Since Mayans had to rely heavily on rainwater for drinking water, for crops and for various other purposes, rains were critically important to their survival. This brings out the true importance of Chaac in agriculture because maize was the most important crop for the Mayans. In Mayan mythology, Chaac is one of the deities who helped open up a mountain and found the secret, hidden maize. He was considered the patron deity of agriculture. Mayans believed that Chaac was directly concerned with agriculture. So when a Mayan king dressed up as him, it was to depict the furious rage of the King in waging the war. This was done to emphasize on the furious aspect of Chaac. This may be the reason why Mayan kings often dressed up as the rain deity when embarking on wars. For this latter trait, he was considered related to warfare as well. Chaac and warfareĪlthough the key role ascribed to Chaac by the Mayans is that of a rainmaker, he is also associated with thunderstorms. The rain deities in these four cardinal directions were named along the format, “The rain deity of the west”.ĭuring the Classic Mayan period, many Mayan rulers assumed the titles of these deities, so that the King of Chichen Itza was called “the rain deity of the east”. In more recent Mayan beliefs, the four different Chaacs are positioned hierarchically so that they have varying importance and significance. They believed that a different Chaac ruled over each of the four directions and each wore the color that were traditionally ascribed to each direction by the Mayans. This is manifest in the fact that Mayans associated Chaac with the four cardinal directions. They considered Chaac to be one and yet many. Mayan concept of Chaac was multi-layered. It is the same axe which, the Mayans believed, was used by him to strike the clouds and bring them rain.Īlong with the axe, Chaac is also seen as carrying a shield in many Mayan depictions from the Classic period. The Axe is the weapon which Chaac carries in many of his depictions. His head is also depicted as non-human, set with an unusually long nose and fangs. In many Mayan sources, Chaac is depicted as having a human body which is covered with reptilian scales. It was believed that a person who had been brought out of the cenote had oracular powers. In some cases, they were left to drown whereas in other cases, they were brought out of the cenote after being thrown in. Typically, these rituals involved young men and women being thrown into the cenotes or lowered into them. Similar rituals were performed by Mayans as late as the 16th century. To this end, Yucatec Mayans performed a sort of ceremonial banquet for Chaac in which four boys would dance and perform to please the god. Rainwater was critically important to help Mayans gather enough fresh water for drinking as well as to have enough water for their crops. The primary purpose of these rituals was to plead with the god to bring them more rains. Mayans performed a number of rituals to please Chaac. According to a Mayan myth, the rain deity Chaac was one of the key figures responsible for helping open the mountain in which maize was hidden. Many Mayan deities are associated with it and this includes Chaac. This is understandable because maize was essentially the lifeline crop for the Mayans. Maize was the staple diet of the Mayans and it figures prominently in many Mayan religious symbols. ![]() In many Mayan sources, Chaac is depicted as having a human body which is covered with reptilian scales Chaac and Maize According to this version of myth, Chaac cries to repent for his sins and it is this that causes the rains. Later Chaac committed adultery with his brother’s wife and was punished for it. Together, the two brothers defeated their adoptive parents. One curious myth in the Mayan sources narrates that Chaac was the brother of the Sun. ![]() Chaac MythologyĪs the key deity in the Mayan pantheon of rain deities, Chaac was associated with a number of rain myths. The Aztecequivalent of Chaac was Tlaloc who, like Chaac, was tasked with providing rain to the Aztecs and was associated with water. Since Mayans heavily relied on agriculture Mayan mythology and required rain to successfully harvest sufficient amount of food from crops, they considered Chaac a very important deity and attempted to please him through different rituals. And when he struck the clouds with it, it caused rain and thunder. Chaac was the name of the Mayan deity who was responsible for bringing rain down on Earth.Īccording to Mayan mythology, Chaac was armed with an axe which he used to strike the clouds.
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