Xibalba
Encyclopedia
Xibalba roughly translated as "place of fear", is the name of the underworld
in Maya mythology
, ruled by the Maya death gods
and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz
, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Cobán
, Guatemala
. According to some of the K'iche' Maya presently living in the vicinity, the area is still associated with death. Cave systems in nearby Belize
have also been referred to as the entrance to Xibalba.
Another physical incarnation of the road to Xibalba as viewed by the K'iche' is the dark rift which is visible in the Milky Way
.
as a court below the surface of the Earth
associated with death and with twelve gods or powerful rulers known as the Lords of Xibalba. The first among the Maya Death Gods
ruling Xibalba were Hun-Came (One Death) and Vucub-Came (Seven Death), though Hun-Came is the more senior of the two. The remaining ten Lords are often referred to as demons and are given commission and domain over various forms of human suffering: to cause sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, and ultimately death. These Lords all work in pairs and are Xiquiripat (Flying Scab) and Cuchumaquic (Gathered Blood), who sicken people's blood; Ahalpuh (Pus Demon) and Ahalgana (Jaundice Demon), who cause people's bodies to swell up; Chamiabac (Bone Staff) and Chamiaholom (Skull Staff), who turn dead bodies into skeletons; Ahalmez (Sweepings Demon) and Ahaltocob (Stabbing Demon), who hide in the unswept areas of people houses and stabbed them to death; and Xic (Wing) and Patan (Packstrap), who caused people to die coughing up blood while out walking on a road. The remaining residents of Xibalba are thought to have fallen under the dominion of one of these Lords, going about the face of the Earth to carry out their listed duties.
. Also mentioned are the homes of the Lords, gardens, and other structures indicating that Xibalba was at least a great city.
Xibalba seemed to be rife with tests, trials, and traps for anyone who came into the city. Even the road to Xibalba was filled with obstacles: first a river filled with scorpion
s, a river filled with blood, and then a river filled with pus. Beyond these was a crossroads where travellers had to choose from between four roads that spoke in an attempt to confuse and beguile. Upon passing these obstacles, one would come upon the Xibalba council place, where it was expected visitors would greet the seated Lords. Realistic mannequin
s were seated near the Lords to confuse and humiliate people who greeted them, and the confused would then be invited to sit upon a bench, which was actually a hot cooking surface. The Lords of Xibalba would entertain themselves by humiliating people in this fashion before sending them into one of Xibalba's deadly tests.
The city was home to at least six deadly houses filled with trials for visitors. The first was Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside. The second was Rattling House or Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold and rattling hail. The third was Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars. The fourth was Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats, and the fifth was Razor House, filled with blades and razors that moved about of their own accord. In another part of the Popol Vuh, a sixth test, Hot House, filled with fires and heat, is identified. The purpose of these tests was to either kill or humiliate people placed into them if they could not outwit the test.
outwitted the Xibalbans and brought about their downfall.
According to the Popol Vuh, the Xibalbans at one point enjoyed the worship of the people on the surface of the Earth, who offered human sacrifice to the gods of death. Over the span of time covered in the Popol Vuh, the Xibalbans are tricked into accepting counterfeit sacrifices, and then finally humiliated into accepting lesser offerings from above. Anthropologist Dennis Tedlock
has speculated that this version of history may be a Quichean slander on earlier Mayan forms of worship.
The role of Xibalba and the Xibalbans after their great defeat at the hands of the hero twins is unclear, although it seems to have continued its existence as a dark place of the underworld long after.
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
in Maya mythology
Maya mythology
Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Mayan tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles...
, ruled by the Maya death gods
Maya Death Gods
The Maya death gods, known under various names, belong to only two basic types, respectively represented by the 16th-century Yucatec deities Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau mentioned by Spanish Bishop Landa. Hunhau is the lord of the Underworld...
and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz
Verapaz
Verapaz is a municipality in the San Vincente department of El Salvador. Verapaz means 'true peace' . It has been the site of two recent natural disasters. An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale on the 13 February 2001 and the 2009 Salvador floods and mudslides in November 2009.-References:...
, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Cobán
Cobán
The city of Cobán is the capital of the department of Alta Verapaz in central Guatemala. It also serves as the administrative center for the surrounding Cobán municipality. It is located 219 km from Guatemala City....
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. According to some of the K'iche' Maya presently living in the vicinity, the area is still associated with death. Cave systems in nearby Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
have also been referred to as the entrance to Xibalba.
Another physical incarnation of the road to Xibalba as viewed by the K'iche' is the dark rift which is visible in the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
.
Inhabitants
Xibalba is described in the Popol VuhPopol Vuh
Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...
as a court below the surface of the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
associated with death and with twelve gods or powerful rulers known as the Lords of Xibalba. The first among the Maya Death Gods
Maya Death Gods
The Maya death gods, known under various names, belong to only two basic types, respectively represented by the 16th-century Yucatec deities Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau mentioned by Spanish Bishop Landa. Hunhau is the lord of the Underworld...
ruling Xibalba were Hun-Came (One Death) and Vucub-Came (Seven Death), though Hun-Came is the more senior of the two. The remaining ten Lords are often referred to as demons and are given commission and domain over various forms of human suffering: to cause sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, and ultimately death. These Lords all work in pairs and are Xiquiripat (Flying Scab) and Cuchumaquic (Gathered Blood), who sicken people's blood; Ahalpuh (Pus Demon) and Ahalgana (Jaundice Demon), who cause people's bodies to swell up; Chamiabac (Bone Staff) and Chamiaholom (Skull Staff), who turn dead bodies into skeletons; Ahalmez (Sweepings Demon) and Ahaltocob (Stabbing Demon), who hide in the unswept areas of people houses and stabbed them to death; and Xic (Wing) and Patan (Packstrap), who caused people to die coughing up blood while out walking on a road. The remaining residents of Xibalba are thought to have fallen under the dominion of one of these Lords, going about the face of the Earth to carry out their listed duties.
Structure
Xibalba was a large place and a number of individual structures or locations within Xibalba are described or mentioned in the Popol Vuh. Chief among these was the council place of the Lords, the five or six houses that served as the first tests of Xibalba, and the Xibalban ballcourtMesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,000 B.C. by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America...
. Also mentioned are the homes of the Lords, gardens, and other structures indicating that Xibalba was at least a great city.
Xibalba seemed to be rife with tests, trials, and traps for anyone who came into the city. Even the road to Xibalba was filled with obstacles: first a river filled with scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
s, a river filled with blood, and then a river filled with pus. Beyond these was a crossroads where travellers had to choose from between four roads that spoke in an attempt to confuse and beguile. Upon passing these obstacles, one would come upon the Xibalba council place, where it was expected visitors would greet the seated Lords. Realistic mannequin
Mannequin
A mannequin is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, and others especially to display or fit clothing...
s were seated near the Lords to confuse and humiliate people who greeted them, and the confused would then be invited to sit upon a bench, which was actually a hot cooking surface. The Lords of Xibalba would entertain themselves by humiliating people in this fashion before sending them into one of Xibalba's deadly tests.
The city was home to at least six deadly houses filled with trials for visitors. The first was Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside. The second was Rattling House or Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold and rattling hail. The third was Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars. The fourth was Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats, and the fifth was Razor House, filled with blades and razors that moved about of their own accord. In another part of the Popol Vuh, a sixth test, Hot House, filled with fires and heat, is identified. The purpose of these tests was to either kill or humiliate people placed into them if they could not outwit the test.
Downfall of Xibalba
Xibalba was home of a famous ballcourt in which the heroes of the Popol Vuh succumbed to the trickery of the Xibalbans in the form of a deadly, bladed ball, as well as the site in which the Maya Hero TwinsMaya Hero Twins
The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Quiché document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in Quiché, the Twins have also been identified in the art of the...
outwitted the Xibalbans and brought about their downfall.
According to the Popol Vuh, the Xibalbans at one point enjoyed the worship of the people on the surface of the Earth, who offered human sacrifice to the gods of death. Over the span of time covered in the Popol Vuh, the Xibalbans are tricked into accepting counterfeit sacrifices, and then finally humiliated into accepting lesser offerings from above. Anthropologist Dennis Tedlock
Dennis Tedlock
Dennis Tedlock is the McNulty Professor of English and Research Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received his Ph.D. in 1968 from Tulane University...
has speculated that this version of history may be a Quichean slander on earlier Mayan forms of worship.
The role of Xibalba and the Xibalbans after their great defeat at the hands of the hero twins is unclear, although it seems to have continued its existence as a dark place of the underworld long after.
Modern cultural references
- Xibalba Sulcus, one of the geological features on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, is named after Xibalba.
- The place is featured in the films The FountainThe FountainThe Fountain is a 2006 American romantic drama film, which blends elements of fantasy, history, religion, and science fiction. It was directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starred Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz...
as Orion nebulaOrion NebulaThe Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light...
and The Road to El DoradoThe Road to El DoradoThe Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animated adventure comedy film by DreamWorks. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, the music team from Disney's The Lion King....
as an eternal whirlpoolWhirlpoolA whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
. - The place is featured in the video games Tomb Raider Underworld, Atlantis IIAtlantis IIAtlantis II is a fantasy adventure computer game developed by Cryo Interactive and published by Dreamcatcher Interactive, and released in 1999. It's a sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Tales. However, unlike its precursor, not much of the game is based around Atlantis...
, Persona 2: Tsumi - The place is featured in Jon Rosenberg's Goats (webcomic)Goats (webcomic)Goats is a popular webcomic written and illustrated by Jonathan Rosenberg. The webcomic started April 1, 1997. On April 3, 2006, after nine years drawing the strip, Rosenberg became a full-time cartoonist making his living drawing Goats...
. - The place is prominent in Steve AltenSteve AltenSteven Robert "Steve" Alten is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his Meg series, a set of novels around the fictitious survival of the megalodon, a giant prehistoric shark...
's science fiction novel Domain. - A mini-series, "The Princes of Xibalba", are four songs by the band EstradasphereEstradasphereEstradasphere was an experimental band that originated in Santa Cruz, California during the late 1990s. The band, which in its last incarnation was based in Seattle, consisted of 6 multi-instrumentalists from a variety of musical backgrounds trained in disciplines ranging from classical music and...
, on the album It's UnderstoodIt's UnderstoodIt's Understood is Estradasphere's first studio album. It was released on Mimicry Records on June 26, 2000.Notably, the first track on the album, "Hunger Strike", sets the tone of Estradasphere by covering a wide range of musical genres...
. - The Guatemala-Mayan author Luis de Lión wrote the novel El tiempo principia en Xibalbá (Time Began in Xibalba, publ. 1985).
- In the book Necromancer by Michael Scott, it is a large cave known as the Crossroads of the Shadowrealms
- The club owned by Dee SniderDee SniderDaniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...
's character in the movie StrangelandStrangelandStrangeland is an American horror film released in 1998. The movie was directed by John Pieplow and written by Dee Snider. The film focuses on the body modification underground culture's rituals.-Plot:...
is called Xibalba. According to the movie, Xibalba means "Door to Hell". - Beat poet Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
described a visit to the place in his 1954 poem 'Sieste in Xbalba'. - In the book Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher ColumbusPastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher ColumbusPastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus is the first science fiction novel in the Pastwatch series by Orson Scott Card. The book's focus is the life and activities of explorer, Christopher Columbus...
by Orson Scott CardOrson Scott CardOrson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
, after traveling back through time to 15th century Central America, the character Hunahpu plays the part of a messenger of "The Lords of Xibalba" to his Indian ancestors, as part of a plan to change their beliefs and create a less-aggressive alternative future.