CHAC,
THE GOD OF RAIN (GOD B)
Chac, the God of Rain, is represented
in the codices with a long nose and two curling fangs which project downward from
his mouth. His headdress is usually a knotted band (Plate 29b), and his
name glyph has an eye which, in the Codex Tro-Cortesianus, is T-shaped
T. This element, it has been suggested, represents tears streaming from the
eye, and may symbolize pouring rain and hence fertility. This sign is also the
glyph for the day Ik, of which the rain god was probably the patron deity.
Chac was a universal deity of first
importance. If we judged only by the number of his representations in the
codices, he would have to be regarded as even more important than Itzamna.
Pictures of Chac occur 218 times in the three codices; Itzamna occurs only 103
times and is not found at all in the Codex Peresianus.
Chac was regarded not only as a single
god but also as the four gods of the cardinal points, each having its
associated color: Chac Xib Chac, the Red man—Chac of the East; Sac Xib Chac,
the White Man—Chac o the North; Ek Xib Chac, the Black Man—Chac of the West;
and Kan Xib Chac, the Yellow Man—Chac of the South. This concept is analogous
to our belief concerning the Holy Trinity, or three Gods in one.
In the months of Chen or Yax a great
festival was held in honor of the Chacs, which was called ocna, meaning “enter
the house.” The four gods known as the Bacabs, who were closely associated with
the Chacs, were consulted to determine a propitious day for the ceremony, which
was devoted to renovation of the Temple of the Chacs. During this ceremony,
held once a year, the idols and incense burners were renewed, and, if
necessary, the temple itself was rebuilt. A tablet commemorating the event was
set into the temple wall.
Just as Itzamna was associated with
the sun god, so Chac seems to have been associated with the wind god; this wind
god may be only a special manifestation of the rain god, and may have had no
separate existence.
The rain god was a benevolent deity
like Itzamna, associated with creation and life. For the ordinary Maya farmer
whose paramount interest was his cornfield, Chac was the all-important deity,
and his friendly intervention was sought more frequently than that of all the other
gods combined. The mask panels with long curling noses found throughout the Maya
area, but especially in Puuc architecture, are probably representations of the
head of this god (Plate 60, a and b). (Sylvanus G. Morley, The
Ancient Maya [3d ed.; Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1956], 196-97)
The ancient Maya conceived of some of their
deities not only as single entities but as composite or multiple in
character. Chac, as we have seen, was considered a single god and at the same
time as four gods. Similarly the Oxlahuntiku, or Thirteen Gods of the Upper
World, although regarded collectively as a single deity, were considered to be
thirteen separate gods; the Bolontiku, or Nine Gods of the Lower World, were
also regarded in this dual capacity. (Ibid., 203)
Here
are scans of plates 29 and 60:
