Pages that link to Popol Wuj

As Christenson (2007: page 59, footnote 56) explains, there is a complex etymological and conceptual link between Jun Raqan (juraqan/hurricane) and the creator diety, Uk'u'x Kaj (Heart of Sky); they are sometimes referred to as one in the same. According to Christenson, Uk'u'x Kaj "appears to be the principal god in the Popol Vuh account. He is the only deity to appear in every phase of the creation, as well as throughout the mythologic and historical portions of the text. K'ux refers to the heart as the source of the 'vital spirit' of a thing, or that which gives it life.

Junto con su par, Tz'aqol, B'itol es una de las deidades creadores del Popol Wuj. El lingüista k'iche' Sam Colop (2008: 201n1) observa que el nombre divino, aquí escrito en forma de quiasmo, significa "Literalmente el 'constructor' y 'creador'. Tz'qa y bit son raíces verbales 'construir' y 'crear'. Tz'aq quiere decur 'construcción' y bit 'creación'. El sufijo -ol, en ambos sustantivos, es marcador agentivo."

Colop (2008: nota 2, página 201) señala que el nombre K'ajolom "viene de k'ajol, 'niño' o 'hijo de varón'", y que en esta manera el dios K'ajolom forma la necesaria parte complimentaria a la diosa Alom, cuyo nombre "viene de ali, 'niña'". Sigue el destacado traductor: "La partícula -om es un agentivo que hace referencia a su calidad de mujer que 'concibe' y al varón que 'engendra', respectivamente. Éstos son adjetivos que hacen referencia a la pareja creadora en una lectura antropomórfica".

Junajpu Utiw is mentioned as a poetic pair of Junajpu Wuch' in the beginning of the Popol Wuj. Christenson (2007: 61, note 15) translates Junajpu Wuch' and Junajpu Utiw as "Hunahpu Possum and Hunahpu Coyote," who "are also likely titles for the gods Xpiyacoc and Xmucane." Christenson (ibid: note 16) also adds, "Utiw is the coyote (Canis latrans), an animal also associated with the night."

The term tepew is used throughout the Popol Wuj, often in conjunction with specific deities or office holders. Traced back to its Nahuatl etymologies, it is generally translated as "sovereignty" in English (e.g., Christenson 2003: line 7846), though in his prose translation Mayanist scholar Allen J.

La deidad Xipyakok es el abuelo (mamon), término derivado de mam, 'abuelo', el cual según apunta el lingüista Sam Colop (2008: 22n7) "es el consorte mitológico de Iyom, 'commadrona.'" Son los sabios (ajq'ijab​) que guardan memoria del calendario y utilizan tz'ite' "como medio de adivinación" (Colop 2008: 34n30). Ni Colop ni el traductor Adrián Recinos proporciona mayores interpretaciones morfosintácticas o lingüísticas del nombre del abuelo primigenio.

Sobre la compleja identidad de esta figura divina, el notable lingüísta k'iche' Sam Colop (2008: 26-27n21) observa que "El manuscrito dice Uk'u'x Kaj, literalmente 'Corazón del Cielo': huracán que Ximénez traduce como 'un pie' debido a que la palabra se compone de jun, 'uno' y raqan, 'su -- pie'. Sin embargo, el significado de raqan es más amplio, en el diccionario de Coto se utiliza para designar cosas grandes, largas o altas. De hecho, en Coto, la paalbra para decir 'gigante' está asociado a hu rapah r'aqan.

Raxa Kaqulja is one of the manifestations of the god Heart of Sky [Uk'u'x Kaj]. Christenson (2007: 71, note 64) notes that "Räxa (green, new, fresh, sudden)...is a sudden flash or bolt of lightning" and that it "may also refer to the lightning's ability to renew or regenerate." Tedlock (1996: 224, note 65) adds that "'Sudden' translates raxa, 'green, raw, fresh, sudden.'" The names of Raxa Kaqulja and Ch'ipi Kaqulja "refer not only to the shafts of lightning fulgurites, grassy stones formed by lightning in sandy soil."

Translators of some of the major editions of the Popol Wuj (e.g., Christenson 2007: 17, lines 145-146; Recinos 2012: 23) express the phrase "serpiente emplumada" (feathered serpent) as the proper name of the divine figure Q'ukumatz (or Gucumatz, in Recinos's orthography), more commonly known as the Mesoamerican god, Quetzalcoatl. But K'iche' translator and scholar Sam Colop (2011, 2008) offers a different interpretation, which we represent below in the original Spanish.

K'otk'owach, Kamalotz', Kotzb'alam, and Tukum B'alam, are the four agents of destruction who, at the request of Tz'aqol, B'itol annilate the women and men made of wood. This second generation of humans learned some of the lessons from the people of mud, but has not fully understood their responsibilities to respect their creators -- or the other beings created by them.

K'otk'owach, Kamalotz', Kotzb'alam, and Tukum B'alam, are the four agents of destruction who, at the request of Tz'aqol, B'itol annilate the women and men made of wood. This second generation of humans learned some of the lessons from the people of mud, but has not fully understood their responsibilities to respect their creators -- or the other beings created by them.

Kab'raqan is the powerful second son of Seven Macaw (Wuqub’ Kak’ix). Alongside this power, he causes the earth to tremble and he is known for his pride, which is occasionally self-proclaimed: “el terzero q’ seensoberbezío…dezía yosoy el q’destruigo los zerros / Rox chicut nimarizai…in yohol huiub” [the third of the prideful sons…said, ‘I am the one who destroys mountains’] (10v).Upon noticing this excessive pride, three deities, Juracan, Youngest Thunderbolt, and Sudden Thunderbolt, speak to the hero twins, asking them to defeat Kab'raqan.

Ixb'aqiyalo ​ es la esposa de Jun Junajpu y la madre de Jun B'atz' y Jun Chuwen. El lingüista k'iche' Sam Colop (2008: 61fn72) observa que el nombre Ixb'aqiyalo  "se compone de los siguientes términos: Ix -- marcador femenino, baq, hueso, ya o ja', agua' y lo término dubitativo. Tedlock (1996: 250) traduce este término como 'Mujer Garza.'"