SOUTH AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY




Chaac

Chaac is an important deity in the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. In Maya mythology, Chaac was the god associated with rain and thunder, and was also significant in rites and observances associated with fertility and agriculture. Like some other Maya gods, Chaac was sometimes thought of as one god, and other times as 4 separate gods based in the four cardinal directions: "Chac Xib Chaac", Red Chaac of the East; "Sac Xib Chaac", White North Chaac; "Ek Xib Chaac" Black West Chaac", and "Kan Xib Chaac", Yellow South Chaac. In art, he was sometimes symbolized as an old man with some reptilian or amphibian features, with fangs and a long nose, sometimes tears coming from his eyes which symbolized rain and carrying an axe which caused thunder.

Work Cited: "Chaac." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 15 Dec. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/chaac


Evaki

Evaki is the Goddess of night. Evaki places the sun in a pot every night and moves the sun back to its starting point in the east every day. Evaki stole sleep from the eyes of the lizards and shared it with all the other living creatures. In the morning she pulls the lid off the pot to let the sun out. At the end of the day, the sun returns to the pot and she closes the lid, so that the sun cannot be seen anymore this is night.

Work Cited: Article "Evaki" created on 25 July 1999; last modified on 25 July 1999 (Revision 1). 111 words.http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/evaki.html© MCMXCV - MMVI Encyclopedia Mythica™. All rights reserved.