Monday, May 4, 2009

What is the name of the Mayan corn god?

An Update on the Experiment



Well , it seems either you get this or you don't. Either you're a " kernel head ", or you're not. I'm not exactly sure how many plots I've given away. I passed out several here to people who I know . Maybe 6.

Another 21 via the internet . Including the postage, I'm out about $40 bucks. And I still have about 1/8 of a pound in seeds. I always was taken by the message in a bottle.

This is way better.


One of those local plots told me they are growing some in peat pots to take to Penn. to plant near a friend's grave. Not bad for an old man's wild hair. I added a Google map, I think everyone is where they're supposed to be ........ At first, I put Sturgeon's plot in the Atlantic Ocean.
Ocean Blue Corn ?

There's a cluster map below Google, it's a fun thing as well.

A:
Yum Kaax


A DEFENSELESS GOD

As is to be expected, there was a god of corn among the ancient Maya. In general, anthropologists concur that this god was Yum K'aax, who was depicted as a young man with long, silky tresses —symbolizing the long filaments or 'hair' on the cobs— and a beautiful face with classic Maya profile, who wore a headdress made of a corn stalk surrounded by leaves. In their hieroglyphic writing system, the head of the god was depicted by the number "8", over which he is the lord, and the sign which indicates his name, Kan, is also the eighth day, or corn day, just as our Monday is the day dedicated to the goddess of the moon or Friday to the German goddess Frig.


However, there are certain doubts or contrary opinions about Yum K'aax being the original corn god since records from the colonial period indicate other names by which he was known —Kauil, Ah Uaxac Yol Kauil, and Itzam Na Kauil. Uil means sustenance and Kaa is the root word which means "excess" or "abundance." However, it may be that the god of corn was characterized as a passive and defenseless creature, victim of all kinds of attacks by birds, insects or rodents, one whose survival depended on the help of the god of rain in the form of timely rainfall. But man was also Corn's ally, with his rituals and offerings to attract rain, weeding out the plants that robbed Corn of space and nutrients, scaring off predators and, above all, giving life to the god by planting him. In gratitude for all man's care, Corn fed him.




Mayan Gods and Mythology

Yum Kaax: the Maize god, god of cacao, god of wild plants and animals important to the hunters. He is equally a protector of the fields against the incursions of wild nature and invoked by traditional farmers.

4 comments:

COLORADO BOB said...

That would be the the Mayan Corn God.


Yum Kaax

COLORADO BOB said...

Looks like he's holding a peat pot doesn't it ?

COLORADO BOB said...

Yum Kaax was the god of corn and one of the most important Gods to the Mayan farmers. He was thought of as the father of the Hero Twins.

Carol said...

I do feel a spiritual connection with the Mayans.

CT