Lucifer

: This article is about Lucifer the star or fallen angel; for other meanings, see Lucifer (disambiguation).

"Lucifer" In Mayan Mythology

In the Popul Vuh, the Mayan book of creation, there is a figure that is uncanny in its similarity to the figure of Lucifer:

Related Topics:
Popul Vuh - Mayan

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:After this catastrophe, ere yet the earth was quite recovered from the wrath of the gods, there existed a man "full of pride," whose name was Vukub-Cakix. The name signifies "Seven-times-the-colour-of-fire," or "Very brilliant," and was justified by the fact that its owner's eyes were of silver, his teeth of emerald, and other parts of his anatomy of precious metals. In his own opinion Vukub-Cakix's existence rendered unnecessary that of the sun and the moon, and this egoism so disgusted the gods that they resolved upon his overthrow. - Part 1, Chapter 4

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The surviving text of Popul Vuh was written by a Christianized native of Guatemala in the 17th century, and was copied in the original Quiché by a monk of the Order of Predicadores, a certain Fra Francisco Ximenes, who also added a Spanish translation and scholia. Consequently there are two overlays of Christianization in this Mayan epic, as its English translater Lewis Spence noted in 1908 http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/pvuheng.htm.

Related Topics:
Quiché - Scholia - Christianization

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Vukub-Cakix, or Seven Macaw, thought himself the brightest thing of all and that the humans should look to him instead of the gods. Seven Macaw was then ambushed during a meal and shot out of his tree by two boys, named Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who were sent by the gods. In the attack, Hunahpu had his arm ripped off by Seven Macaw while Seven Macaw escaped with a shattered jaw and broken teeth. In order to get Hunahpu's arm back, they enlisted the help of their grandparents who were healer figures. They found Seven Macaw and told him they'd fix his teeth and wounds in return for the arm. Seven Macaw agreed. They replaced his teeth with white corn and got the arm back. Though it didn't stop there; they removed Seven Macaw's jeweled eyes which killed him quickly afterward. The Popul Vuh goes on to tell of Seven Macaw's two sons, Zipacna and Earthquake, being destroyed because of their pride or desire to "magnify" themsevles.

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It's also worth pointing out that Seven Macaw's jeweled eyes were given only to doctors. Doctors are commonly seen as people of reason, logic and intelligence and their reception of the emeralds could easily be paralleled with the Gnostic archetype of Lucifer being the brilliant and dynamic element of rebellious human intelligence. William Blake expanded upon this idea in The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell.

Related Topics:
Gnostic - William Blake - The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell

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