Awilix- Maya GodDeity"Patroness of the Nijaib"
Also known as: Avilix
Description
Goddess of the dark moon, the lunar orb in its descent through Xibalba, where jaguars prowl as the night sun's shape. Awilix traveled from Tulan Zuyva with the Nijaib ancestors, speaking to them in the darkness before the first dawn turned her to stone.
Mythology & Lore
Moon and Jaguar
Each month the moon disappears. The Maya knew where it went: down into Xibalba, the realm of death, where it traveled as the jaguars travel, through darkness. Awilix governed that passage. She was the moon at its darkest, the hours when the night sky holds no silver and the forest belongs to predators. The jaguar's spotted coat mirrored the starry sky above it, and its eyes burned gold in the dark. Hunters setting out before dawn, when prey moves along forest edges, moved through Awilix's hour.
From Tulan to Stone
When the founding ancestors of the K'iche' departed the mythical city of Tulan Zuyva, each noble lineage carried a patron deity. Balam-Acab bore Awilix for the Nijaib, the second of the three great houses. The Popol Vuh describes a long migration through darkness; the sun had not yet risen, and the gods walked alongside the people, speaking to them directly.
Then the sun rose over Chi Pixab. The ancestors wept with joy. But the light petrified the gods. Tohil, Awilix, and Jacawitz, who had spoken and guided and demanded blood offerings throughout the migration, turned to stone. From that moment the Nijaib could only reach Awilix through copal smoke and blood drawn before a stone image of the goddess who had once answered back.
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