Popol Wuj

Ximénez (13r) defines the name as "el q’hazía vasura" (he who makes trash). However, this translation flattens the spiritual significance of sweeping. Within K'iche' cosmovisión, the act of sweeping (mes) with a broom (mesb'al), is considered a way to keep demons from the underworld from entering the house. See Christenson (2007: note 239, p. 104), citing Tedlock (1996: note 92, p. 253).

Xik and Patan are two of the deities who cause travelers to perish on their journeys: sudden death (rax kamik/muerte súbida), as the Popol Wuj calls the condition. According to Mayanist scholar Allen J. Christenson (2007: 237n671), "Aj patan (he/she of the pack strap) is a servant, or more specifically a bearer. Patan is both the pack strap worn by men around the forehead to carry loads, as well as metaphorically any task or errand. In a larger sense, the term may be used to describe someone who is subsidiary such as a vassal or tribute payer." 

This character, whose K'iche' name, Juraqan Tukur is translated by scholar Alan J. Christenson (2007: 107) as "One Leg Owl," is one of the four messengers of Xibalba. Each messenger takes the form of a different kind of owl: Ch'ab'i Tukur (Arrow Owl), Juraqan Tukur (One Leg Owl), Kaqix Tukur (Macaw Owl), and Jolom Tukur (Skull Owl).

The lords of Xib'alb'a are a group of deities. Within the group, each deity is paired with another lord, both having a specific combined way of killing or torturing humans. In turn, the pairs are ruled by two main deities: Wuqub’ Kame and Jun Kame. Anthropologists Dennis Tedlock (1996: 136) and Allen J. Christenson (2007: 162-63) maintain the parallelism of the naming of the lords of Xib'alb'a in a critical scene in which a mosquito, named X'an, bites all the lords on the Black Road.

Ixtoj is one of the goddesses invoked by Ixkik' [Lady Blood] in order to return a netful of maize to Ixmukane [the Grandmother]. Christenson relates her name to the day Toj on the K'iche' calendar round (2007: 138, note 311). For more information, see the entry on "Goddesses of the Milpa."

Ixkakaw is one of the goddess invoked by Ixkik' [Lady Blood] in order to return a netful of maize to Ixmukane [the Grandmother]. Christenson relates the name to Mesoamerican cacao, a highly valued currency in this region (2007: 138, note 313). For more information, see the entry on "Chajal echa' Goddesses of the Milpa)."

Wak es el nombre del pájaro que come la serpiente que trae en su barriga el sapo que comió anteriormente; éste, a su vez, lleva en su boca el piojo que comunica a los dos muchachos el mensaje que los Rajawal Xib'alb'a (Señores de Xib'alb'a) quieren que juegen la pelota en siete días.

En el inframundo de Xib'alb'a la deidad K'ik Re, cuyo nombre se traduce como "dientes sangrantes" y su par, Kik' Rixk'aq, "garras sangrantes", reemplazan a las deidades Ajal Mes y Ajal toq'ob, tal como documenta el lingüista k'iche' Sam Colop (2008: 101n153). Cabe notar, conforme observa el sabio guatemalteco Adrián Recinos (1953: 149n176, citado por Colop), "Es verdad que entre uno y otro episodios media una generación y esos cambios son naturales ...

Two bird deities, Pujuyu' and Xpurpuweq, guard the floral garden of Jun Kame' and Wuqub' Kame'. Their names are also onomatopeic representations of the sounds that the birds make. Mayanist Allen J. Christenson (2007: 157n383) cites Dennis Tedlock (1996: 274n123), who interprets the names and sounds "as the call of the whippoorwill." He adds, "Interestingly enough, the Quiché version of the call is phonetically very similar to the English name for the bird as well as to its song."

Xulu and Pak'am are seers or visonaries (ilol) summoned by the Hero Twins in Xib'alb'a. According to Mayanist scholar Allen J. Christenson (2007: 166n408), "The Colonial period Varea dictionary lists Xulu (Descended) as '[spirit] familiars appearing alongside rivers.' Basseta lists ah xulu as 'a diviner,' consistent with the statement in the Popol Vuh that he is a visionary seer.

Chomi Ja’ is the second woman of the first four women created by the gods, along with Kaqla Palo Ja', Tz'ununi Ja', and Kak'ixa Ja. She is the wife of B'alam Aq'ab'. Anthropologists Allen J. Christenson (2007: 202n498) and Dennis Tedlock (1996: 290n148) translate her name as “Shrimp House.” Christenson explains that his interpretation "is based on chom, 'shrimp, large thing, thick thing' (Basseta). If the reading of 'shrimp' here is correct, it would parallel the 'sea turtle' name of the previous wife based on the account in the Título Totonicapán (Carmack and Mondloch 1983, 175).

The distinguished K’iche’ linguist Sam Colop (2008: 135n205) indicates that K’enech ajaw “comes from the Yucatec k’inish, whose patronymic expression can be translated as ‘eyes or face of the sun’, such that K’inich ahaw ‘lord-face-of-sun’, is effectively “an aspect of Itzamna, Mayan god of creation’ (Barrera Vasquez 1980: 403). According to Tedlock, the term K’enech ajaw could refer to the Itza and Mopan.”

Carmack (1981: page 50) says this diety "was possibly related to the merchant deity of the Gulf Coast peoples. The Popol Vuh informs us that bees and wasps were the symbol of this god, just as they represented the merchant deity of the coastal peoples." Allen J.

Señala el sabio k'iche' Sam Colop (2008: 139n217) que la deidad Wok, cuya figura se invoca después de la aparición del camino verde en el momento en que el pueblo k'iche' empieza a formarse con la siembra del amanecer, es, con la deidad Junajpu, una díada "nueva entre el panteón k'iche'. Wok, como dice Recinos (1953: 182), 'era el mensajero de Huracán que llegaba a presenciar el juego de pelota de Hun-Hunahpú y Vucub-Hunahpú.' Y los nombres de los dos sacrificados en Xibalba y luego establecidos como deidades a ser invocadas por sus hijos en el capítulo anterior, ya aparec