The Starry Deer Crocodile

Image Credit: NPS/Chris Wonderly.

Seen in the Classic Period as well as the Postclassic Period, the Starry Deer Crocodile (or Starry Deer Alligator) is one of the wealth of "composite" beings that the ancient Maya included in their art and writings. Identified by Spinden in 1913 and given its current name by David Stuart, there are now various theories out there on it, including that it was a symbol or an aspect of another being, the Cosmic Monster.

Appearance                                                                    

The Starry Deer Crocodile has deer hooves for feet, eyes that have crossed bands (a sign for Venus) in them, a deer's ear, and eye-lids that have lines on them -- there are also times the Maya added an antler coming out of its forehead. It has water scrolls on its joints and has a shell under its ear. As for its body and head, they're like a crocodile or caiman's. You might see it drawn with a head on each end, though the ancient Maya didn't do that much.

A notable feature about the being's middle section is that one way the Maya liked to draw it was as a “sky-band” – in both ways, they put symbols connected to the sky on it.

The ancient Maya also liked to put one of several things on the Starry Deer Crocodile’s back. One of these things was the Principal Bird Deity (or PBD), which they would put on top of the Starry Deer Crocodile’s tail or make it part of the Starry Deer Crocodile’s back.

The other of these things was a symbol called the “Quadripartite Badge”. The Maya put it on the top of other end of the Starry Deer Crocodile. (This takes us back to the times the ancient Maya drew it with two heads. The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous's description of this symbol includes a skull as part of it. A description in a dissertation by Penny Janice Steinbach says the skull was something put under the Quadripartite Badge.)

Relation to the Sky

It may be that this being is an aspect of the being that archaeologists call the Cosmic Serpent or the Celestial Crocodile -- or was a different version of that other being. 

Within the view of the Starry Deer Crocodile being an aspect, it might be that it was the Milky Way at night, the Milky Way with clouds, or the Underworld's sky at night. You might also see it suggested that it was a symbol of the Underworld's night sky, and this also made it a symbol of the earth...this is because the Underworld's sky would be our ground, in the ancient Maya view. (One caveat though: it must be said, I've had difficulty separating when an author was talking about the Starry Deer Crocodile as an aspect and talking about it as a symbol.)

This being might also be part of a theory about a possible creation myth. In this myth, the Starry Deer Crocodile was not only connected with destruction (via flood) but also with creation. This possible myth might not have just been a myth among the Maya either – it could have, with some differences, been a myth throughout Mesoamerica. 

This being was also a symbol. It is understood that when it was drawn with sky-related symbols for its body, the Starry Deer Crocodile was a way the ancient Maya drew the sky.

Calendar Functions
The Starry Deer Crocodile had two calendar functions, one in the Tzolk'in or sacred calendar and one in the Haab or solar calendar. With the Tzolk'in, the Maya used its head as another way of writing "Lamat", the eighth day of the Tzolk'in. With the Haab', it was the patron of Yaxk'in, the tenth month of the Haab.

Function for Royalty
Rulers seemed to like to use images of the Starry Deer Crocodile in connection to taking the throne. To them, the image of the Starry Deer Crocodile was a symbol of power and of taking the throne.

Consideration: Zoomorph P at Quirigua

Some examples of where you can find the Starry Deer Crocodile -- either in writing or drawn -- include Stela 9 at Lamanai, Temple 22 at Copan, a codex-syle plate called the "Cosmic Plate", and Stela 1 at Yaxchilan.

One side of zoomorph P at Quirigua -- the photo was 
taken by Alfred Maudslay. From the NYPL Digital Commons.

You can also spot this being at Quirigua. As for where exactly, I've come across a bit of snag. Several works I've come across don't say that a carving at the site -- zoomorph P (the Great Turtle or Monument 16) -- has the Starry Deer Crocodile on it. In fact, The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous says another zoomorph at the site -- zoomorph O -- is the only thing you can find the Starry Deer Crocodile on there. However, Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya says zoomorph P does show the being.

References

PLOS One: "Jaguar and Puma Captivity and Trade Among the Maya: Stable Isotope Data from Copan, Honduras"; Nawa Sugiyama , William L. Fash, Christine A. M. France; September 12, 2018

Google Books: "Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya"; Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos; 2017

Mesoweb: "The PARI Journal" Volume 15, No. 3; "In the Realm of the Witz': Animate Rivers and Rulership among the Classic Maya";Jeremy D. Coltman; Winter 2015

Google Books: "Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica"; Anne S. Dowd, Susan Milbrath; 2015

The University of Texas at Austin: Texas Scholar Works: University of Texas Libraries: "Sacrificing the Jaguar Baby : understanding a classic Maya myth on codex-style pottery"; Penny Steinbach; May 2015 (Click on the PDF icon for it to download.)

Google Books: "Maya Imagery, Architectuer, and Activity: Space and Spatial Analysis in Art History"; Maline D. Werness-Rude, Kaylee R. Spencer (editors); 2015

Google Books: "The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous"; Asa Simon Mittman, Peter J. Dendle; 2013

Google Books: "Re-Creating Primordial Time: Foundation Rituals and Mythology in the Postclassic Maya Codices"; Gabrielle Vail, Christine Hernandez; 2013

Maya Exploration Center: "Astronomy in the Tortuguero Inscriptions"; John Major Jenkins; 2010

Google Books: "Palenque: Recent Investigations at the Classic Maya Center"; Damien B. Marken (editor); 2007

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya" sixth edition; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

Mesoweb: "A Cosmological Throne at Palenque"; David Stuart; 2003

Google Books: "Mesoamerica's Ancient Cities" revised edition; William M. Ferguson, Richard E.W. Adams; 2001

The Free Dictionary: Striation

Image Credit:
Flickr: Arches National Park: "Milky Way from Garden of Eden Viewpoint"; Chris Wonderly; 10 September 2015

NYPL Digital Commons: The Great Turtle. Quiriguá, Guatemala

Caves

Caves were special places to the ancient Maya. The Maya connected caves with a number of things, including the underworld, mountains, water, and corn -- which the Maya thought the creator gods had taken from a mountain to make people. Caves were also also places for burial and for holding rituals. Some of the more famous caves that the ancient Maya used are Naj Tunich and Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Crystal Sepulcher.)

The Mayan Name for Cave

It's thought that the ancient Mayan name for cave is either ch'en or ch'een, though people studying ancient Mayan writing are still making sure – and you may also find ch'é'en. (To keep things simple, this post will just use ch'een.) This word doesn't just mean cave though. It means a lot of other things too -- well, rock shelter, cenote, canyon, hole, and spring, for example.

The word also seems to somehow be connected to the idea of location or community. One view on this can be seen in Tikal: Paleoecology of an Ancient Maya City. This view says ch'een’s meanings include "city center" and “water cave.”

Added Features

The ancient Maya often changed the caves they used. One thing they would do is paint images of animals as well as people in the caves. Another thing they would do is carve things like heads, skulls, footprints and geometric shapes into the cave. They would also build things in them like tombs, stairways, platforms, and shrines.

Functions

In the ancient Maya view of the way the world worked, caves had a lot of different functions. I've separated the functions I've come across below.

Source of Water, Rain, Corn, and Clouds

The Maya thought that water, clouds and rain, came from caves. (The idea of clouds from caves isn’t so strange as it may seem -- the Maya area has tropical locations, and it is in tropical locations that clouds can form and come out of caves.) You may also find the view that there was a belief among the ancient Maya that lightning came from caves too.

Place of Sacrifice/Burial

One use the ancient Maya had for caves was as a place to put the dead. And it wasn’t just people who had died naturally. The Maya would also bury people they had killed as sacrifices in caves -- in fact, they would also go to really hard to get to sections of caves to sacrifice people. (The Maya also killed animals in caves as sacrifices.) It may even be the ancient Maya had caves for burying the bodies of their sacrifices as well as caves for burying people who had died but hadn't been sacrifices.

Source of Formations

The Maya used cave formations in rituals and not just in caves. There was a practice where a tall stalactite or stalagmite would be taken from where it formed and set up somewhere else. The stalagmite or stalactite could be set up inside the cave it formed in, just in a different spot – or was taken outside to be set up somewhere else.

Supernatural Doorway

The Maya thought that caves were connected with the Underworld. There are different views on how exactly the Maya thought the two were connected. One view says they thought caves were doorways that connected the human world to the underworld.  (There's also a view that the ancient Maya thought caves were parts of the underworld, not just doorways to it.) They thought that gods from the underworld sent things out through caves. (There's also a different view that caves were ways to talk to creator grandparent gods – and that these gods were believed to control the sea. Yet another view says that the ancient Maya thought that more than one rain god lived in caves.) The Maya would give the gods of the underworld offerings in these caves. 

Possible Use: Period Ending Rituals

One specific ways the ancient Maya may have used caves as places to have ritual celebrations – archaeologists have found evidence that these ritual celebrations were celebrating other rituals for “period ending.” (Period ending rituals were rituals for when a certain period of time had become complete, like a b'akt'un – a period of 144,000 days.)

Consideration: Diphrastic Kennings

The ancient Maya had special phrases that you may see called diphrastic kennings. These were pairs of words that sounded close to each other – but meant two different things -- that when put together were a way of saying an idea.

For example, one diphrastic kenning that had ch’een in it was chan ch’een. This translates as “sky cave” but means "world" or "universe." That is, all of reality. (There’s a view that says it’s possible that when the ancient Maya wrote ch’een, they were just using a short form of the diphrastic phrases that had ch’een in it.)

References:

Mesoweb: "The PARI Journal" Volume 17 Issue 4: "A Carved Speleothem Monument at Yaxchilan, Mexico"; Christophe Helmke; 2017

YouTube: "How caves showed me the connection between darkness and imagination | Holley Moyes | TEDxVienna"; TEDx Talks; November 22, 2016

Google Books: "Tikal: Paleoecology of an Ancient Maya City"; David L. Lentz, Nicholas P. Dunning, Vernon L. Scarborough (editors); 2015

Google Books: "Maya Pilgrimage to Ritual Landscapes: Insights from Archaeology, History, and Ethnography"; Joel. W. Palka; 2014

Google Books: "Sacred Darkness: A Global Perspective on the Ritual Use of Caves"; Holley Moyes (editor); 2012

Western Oregon University: "From Out of the Earth: Water, Maize and Caves in Ancient Maya Myth and Religion"; Clara Scillian Kennedy; June 13, 2011

University of Central Florida: STARS: "New Perspectives On The Quatrefoil In Classic Maya Iconography The Center And The Portal"; Rachel K. Egan; 2011

Google Books: "Exploring Maya Ritual Caves: Dark Secrets from the Maya Underworld"; Stanislav Chládek; 2011

"Google Books: "Maya Sacred Geography and the Creator Deities"; Karen Bassie-Sweet; 2008

Google Books: "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time"; Prudence M. Rice; 2007

Mesoweb: "Maya Creator Gods"; Karen Bassie; 2002

UC Merced: Holley Moyes: Belize Cave Project

The Milky Way

A composite of an image from the CIA World Factbook
and an image by Lian Law from the Joshua Tree National Park's Flickr.

The Milky Way Galaxy or the Milky Way for short, is our galaxy -- a "barred spiral" galaxy to be specific. When the night sky is dark enough, you see part of the Milky Way as a band of light, which people also call the Milky Way. To the ancient Maya, what was this band of light? So far it looks like it was a variety of things, from a supernatural road, symbol of the World Tree, and a crocodile-deer creature, to an aspect of the god Itzamná. Let's learn more.

The Starry Deer Crocodile
One of the "composite" beings that the ancient Maya would carve and draw was a being that you may see called the Starry Deer Crocodile. Among its notable features, this being was a crocodile except for its feet, which were deer hooves, and its ear, which was a deer ear. (Another one of its notable features was that its eyes had Venus/star signs.)

This being has connections to different things, including the Milky Way. There are a few ideas out there on the Starry Deer Crocodile -- one is that it was an aspect of another being called (among other names) the Cosmic Monster and was the Milky Way at night. 

Connection to the World Tree

There was a belief among the ancient Maya that the "World Tree" -- the tree that was the center of everything -- was a ceiba. (It went through all three levels of reality. It grew out of the underworld, Xibalbá, and up into the upperworld.) But in the ancient Maya's minds, they connected the World Tree with the Milky Way and used it as a symbol of the tree. 

Supernatural Road

It's possible that the ancient Maya thought that the Milky Way was a path on which people who had died traveled. This same theory thinks that the ancient Maya may have even had a travel-related term for death: och bih, which means "entering the road." However, it's still not clear.

There's a theory that the south and north sky-eagles represent the sky at night -- maybe the Milky Way too or some kind of path at night. A tomb that might be evidence that this theory is right is Tomb 12 at the site of Rio Azul. The tomb has four walls, and on every wall there is one of the four direction glyphs (north, west, south, and east.) The "south" sky-eagle has a star sign (ek') as part of it. The "north" sky-eagle has the sign for moon as part of it. The two of them might be referencing a path in the sky at night.

On a related note, the Popol Vuh, a religious text of the Quiché (also spelled K'iche',) one of the various groups of Maya today, says that a dark part of the Milky Way is the road to the underworld, Xibalbá. 

As an Aspect of Itzamná (God D)
To the ancient Maya, Itzamná (God D) was a god of different things, including foretelling the future and scribes, and was also a creator god. One of his aspects of the Milky Way.

References:
Google Books: "Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time"; Alexus McLeod; 2018

Google Books: "Astronomy in the Ancient World: Early and Modern Views on Celestial Events"; Alexus McLeod, Butler Burton (series editor); 2016

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015

Google Books: "Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica"; Anne S. Dowd, Susan Milbrath (editor); 2015

Google Books: "Astrology in Time and Place: Cross-Cultural Questions in the History of Astrology"; Nicholas Campion, Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum (editors); 2015

The University of Texas at Austin: Texas Scholar Works: University of Texas Libraries: "Sacrificing the Jaguar Baby : understanding a classic Maya myth on codex-style pottery"; Penny Steinbach; May 2015 (Click on the PDF icon for it to download.)

Google Books: "The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous"; Asa Simon Mittman, Peter J. Dendle (editors); 2013

Google Books: "Re-Creating Primordial Time; Foundation Rituals and Mythology in the Postclassic Maya Codices"; Gabrielle Vail, Christine Hernandez"; 2013

The Free Dictionary: Bicephalic

The Free Dictionary: Milky Way

NASA: Imagine The Universe!: The Milky Way Galaxy

Image Credits:
CIA World Factbook: Mexico (image 12)

Flickr: Joshua Tree National Park: Night Sky InstaMeet 5.23.15; Lian Law

The Jaguar God of the Underworld

This is a rollout of a vessel that comes from Guatemala and dates to the 500s AD to the 600s AD. It shows the Jaguar God
of the Underworld. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Like the Waterlily Jaguar, the Jaguar God of the Underworld was a supernatural jaguar being that the ancient Maya believed existed. This god seems to be connected to the underworld (Xibalbá) and may have been an aspect of the sun god. Other names you might see used for him include the Jaguar Night Sun, the Jaguar War God, and JGU. 

Features

Other than having jaguar features, the Jaguar God of the Underworld has some other characteristics of worthy of note. For one thing, his eyes were square. (This isn't unusual, because there are other ancient Maya gods also had square eyes.) The pupils of his eyes were spirals. (Archaeologists have found that underworld beings had spiral eyes.) Between his eyes, a twisted cord or rope goes up -- archaeologists call this a "cruller."

Then there was his teeth -- or more accurately, tooth -- as the ancient Maya drew him only with one. There were, however, two ways that they drew his tooth. One of the two ways they drew it was a fang. The second way was to draw it like a capital "T." (This "T" shape is an ik' symbol.) Both of these teeth were in the middle of his top gum, where a person's front teeth would normally go.

Finally, the ancient Maya drew this god with k'in signs. These are symbols of the sun.

Purpose

The Jaguar God of the Underworld may have been the sun at night (when it was going through the underworld) and been connected to the Moon. As such, he may have been an aspect of the sun.

There's another idea though. The Jaguar God of the Underworld may have been a fire god. The cruller may represent a rope used for a fire-making tool called a fire drill. And there are images of certain elites doing rituals connected to fire -- dressed as the Jaguar God of the Underworld.

This supernatural being was connected to several other things, one of which was war. (On a related note, one place you can see an image of the Jaguar Sun of the Underworld is the "Tablet of the Sun" at Palenque. On the tablet, his image is on a shield.) Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya says that the Maya in the Classic Period believed this god was a patron god of war. And that wasn't the only thing he was patron of -- he was also the number 7's patron god.

Connected Beings

Another supernatural jaguar being that the ancient Maya believed in was the Jaguar Baby (Unen Bahlam or Unen B'alam.) This being was an aspect of the Jaguar God of the Underworld, a form of him as a baby.

This is an stone carving of a "GI type deity."
It was made from limestone or marble around
100 BC to 100 AD and comes from Mexico.
From the Yale University Art Gallery.

Another god that the Maya at Palenque believed in, which archaeologists call GI, may also bee connected to the Jaguar God of the Underworld. GI could be the sun when it is rising -- and therefore be the Jaguar God of the Underworld turning into the sun god again. 

As Part of Glyph C

In monument inscriptions, the ancient Maya would take the time to write down calendar-related information. This included glyph C, which was part of a series of glyphs that talked about the moon. Part of glyph C could be one of three different images, depending on where the moon was at in its cycle. One of these, it seems, was the Jaguar God of the Underworld.

References:

Google Books: "Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya"; Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos; 2017 

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015

  

Google Books: "Archaeoastronomy and the Maya"; Gerardo Aldana Y Villalobos, Edwin L. Barnhart (editors); 2014

Google Books: "Maya Sacred Geography and theCreator Deities"; Karen Bassie-Sweet; 2008

Google Books: "Maya Calendar Origins:Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time"; Prudence M. Rice;2007

Google Books: "The Memory of Bones:Body, Being, and Experience Among the Classic Maya"; Stephen Houston, David Stuart, Karl Taube; 2006

Image Credits:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Vessel, Seated Deities

Yale University Art Gallery: Jaguar head of a GI type deity, probably an inset from a waist or chest assumblage

The Baby Jaguar

This vessel came from Guatemala and was made between the 600s AD and 700s AD. It's style is the codex style. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The ancient Maya believed in different kinds of supernatural jaguar beings, such as the Water Lily Jaguar and the Jaguar God of the Underworld. Yet another was a being known as the Baby Jaguar or Unen Bahlam. (You might also see Bahlam spelled as B'alam.) The Baby Jaguar looks like it may have been connected to sacrifice, the sun, and rain.

Appearance
This particular jaguar was drawn three ways, from all jaguar and half-jaguar to human. (There's a theory about why they drew it three ways, which suggests that there were three beings the Maya were drawing.) There's a cord that goes out from somewhere around his eyes, which archaeologists call a "cruller." 

Also, this being was drawn with a tooth in the middle of the upper part of his mouth, where you normally have your front teeth. This tooth was either a a fang or a tooth that you may see called an "ik' tooth" -- a tooth shaped like the ik' symbol. (This symbol looks like the capital letter "T.")

History

There is a kind of pottery called "codex style" pottery. "Codex style" means that the painters drew images the same way that images are drawn in the codices. The ancient Maya only made codex style pottery around the beginning of the 700s AD, though they made a lot of it. A scene they liked to draw on this kind of pottery is one that has the Baby Jaguar being sacrificed in it. (There were actually two Baby Jaguar scenes they painted, but they preferred the sacrifice scene.)

And the ancient Maya didn't just use images. They also wrote about the Baby Jaguar. Tikal especially seemed to like writing about it, in the Early Classic.

The Baby Jaguar may have been part of a myth that was connected to the belief in divine rulers. This is because archaeologists haven't found any records about a Baby Jaguar myth from the records that date to the time of contact with the conquistadors. (Belief in divine rulers had become less and less common before the conquistadors arrival -- so it's possible myths connected to the rulers began to disappear.)

The Scene(s)

The basic idea of the scene has two gods, the Baby Jaguar, a witz (a living mountain,) and water moving around on the ground. As for the gods, they are described somewhat differently, depending on the source. One god is either a rain god, the rain god, Chaak, or a version of Chaak called First Rain Chaak. The second god is either a death god or the death god -- and one source (a 2015 dissertation by Penny Janice Steinbach) calls this being a death spirit. The basic scene has all these beings be outside, and the time is between sunset and sunrise. 

It looks like the death god or spirit has thrown the Baby Jaguar to the mountain. As for the rain god, who the ancient Maya liked to draw wearing eyeballs around his neck in the scene, there are two possibilities. One is that he is going to open a door to the underworld (Xibalbá) so the Baby Jaguar will end up there. The other is that he's going to remove the Baby Jaguar's head. 

There are also vessels that show a lord being shown the Baby Jaguar. Vessels that have this scene are not common.

Meaning

More than one theory is out there on what the Baby Jaguar sacrifice scene means. One theory says it's about an offering in order to conjure up another god, who is old. Another says the scene shows a sacrifice to make rain happen.

There's also a theory that's based off of part of a vessel that came from the site of Calakmul. The theory says the images are showing a ritual that a royal child next in line to be ruler had to do in order to be able to do conjuring magic.

Consideration: The Jaguar God of the Underworld

The Baby Jaguar looks like its connected to the Jaguar God of the Underworld. The Jaguar God of the Underworld was a god that may have been connected to different things, including the sun when it goes through Xibalbá. The Baby Jaguar may have been a form of the Jaguar God of the Underworld.

References:

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Mind"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015 

The University of Texas at Austin: Texas Scholar Works: University of Texas Libraries: "Sacrificing the Jaguar Baby : understanding a classic Maya myth on codex-style pottery"; Penny Janice Steinbach; 2015 (Link on page will download a PDF.)

Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey; 2015

Google Books: "The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume Two: The Codical Texts"; Martha J. Macri, Gabrielle Vail; 2009

Mesoweb: "The PARI Journal" volume 10, No. 1; Summer 2009

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Vessel, Mythological Scene

Image Credits:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Vessel, Mythological Scene

Kisin (God A)

Author's note: I have recently found that some Schellhas classification charts list God A as a different alphabet letter. However, several resources connected to places of higher learning state that God A's alphabetical designation is A.

God A, -- called Kisin (also spelled Cizin) in the Madrid Codex -- is an ancient Maya god of death, associated with putrefaction as well as gas produced by human beings (flatulence). He is associated with the owl, as the ancient Maya connected the owl with caves (Xibalbá -- the underworld -- was understood to be underground), night and killing prey. 

Name Meaning
Kisin translates as "Stinking One" or "Flatulent One" (the modern Yucatec Maya word for fart is "kis".) This isn't just a modern name for God A, it is also the understood to be an ancient name.

In the ancient Maya writing system, Kisin's name was written two ways: one way depicts a dead body whose eyes are closed, and the second way depicts Kisin's head but with a short nose and bone jaws and a sacrificial knife.

Appearance
Ancient Maya artists sometimes depicted Kisin as a skeleton in motion -- understood to be dancing --, sometimes with large spots who is holding something that resembles a lit cigarette. Other times Kisin was drawn as a bloated figure whose chest has sores and whose skin in general has dark jagged spots.

Another part of Kisin's appearance is his "costume". Kisin was drawn wearing as a neck collar. This collar was made of what the book Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World describes as "extruded eyes" and gives the name of "death eyes" -- possibly eyes and their nerve cords. Alternately, instead of a collar, Kisin would be depicted as having hair or cuffs on his wrists and ankles made of the death eyes.

Functions
Kisin ruled Xibalbá, controlled earthquakes, and was also the patron of the day Kimi (a day whose name means death.) In the codices he can be seen in scenes connected with human sacrifice, next to one of the Maya war gods. At times in the codices he is shown killing trees that Chac (God B) had planted.

Consideration
Kisin may not have just been one god, but one aspect of a god. In this theory, this multiple-aspect god had other guises as well as names, including Ah Puch, Yum Kimil and Xibalbá.


References:
 Missouri State University: MAYA GODS AND GODDESSES

"Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica"; Walter R. T. Witschey, Clifford T. Brown; 2011

"A Mythological Reference"; G. Rodney Avant; 2005

Encyclopedia of religion: Volume 1"; Lindsay Jones; 2005

Encyclopedia Britannica: Cizin

"Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World"; Lynn V. Foster; 2005