The Four Progenitors- Maya GroupCollective"Progenitors of the K'iche'"

Creation from Maize

After animals that could only squawk, mud beings that dissolved, and wooden people that lacked souls, the creator gods achieved their purpose with maize. Xmucane ground white and yellow corn into dough. The shaping deities fashioned four men from it: Balam-Quitze, Balam-Acab, Mahucutah, and Iqui-Balam. These four could see everything in the cosmos at once, every star and every grain of sand, until the gods breathed mist over their eyes so they would not rival their creators.

The Journey from Tulan Zuyva

The four departed the mythical citadel of Tulan Zuyva, the Place of Seven Caves, each carrying a patron deity bundled on his back. Balam-Quitze bore Tohil, the fire-giver. The migration crossed great waters and passed through a primordial darkness before the first dawn. During this cold, lightless time, Tohil provided fire to the shivering people, but at a price: future blood sacrifice. The covenant was set.

Other peoples traveled alongside them, but the K'iche' ancestors endured the journey under their patron gods' protection. They settled on mountains in the Guatemalan highlands.

The First Dawn

On the mountain Chi Pixab, the four watched Venus rise as the morning star. Then the sun. They burned copal incense and wept with joy. But the sunrise transformed their patron gods: Tohil, Awilix, Jacawitz all turned from speaking beings into stone. The gods could no longer be addressed directly. Priests would speak for them now.

The Noble Houses

Each progenitor founded a great noble house of the K'iche' kingdom, with Balam-Quitze establishing the Cavec. Before departing the world, the four left behind the Pisom Q'aq'al, a sacred bundle containing the spiritual essence of the patron gods. Their descendants ruled the Guatemalan highlands for centuries.