POPOL VUH (Lectures 38-39)

Summary of Popol Vuh 1 Cosmogony; creation of animals and first two (mud, wood) humans 2 Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque defeat Vucub Caquix, Zapacna, Cabracan 3 Descent into Xibalba od Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, father and uncle of Hero Twins; their defeat. Birth of Hero Twins. CVhildhood of Twins. Descent of Twins into Xibalba; their victory. 4 Creation of maize people. 5 Early migrations of Quiché Maya.

First Generation Hun Hunahpu (1 Hunter) & Vucub Hunahpu (7 Hunter) •Twins Hun Hunahpu (1 Hunter) and Vucub Hunahpu (7 Hunter) born. •Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu descend into Xibalba to play ball. •Hun and Vucub fail in Xibalba: *take wrong road *do not know names of Lords of Xibalba *sit on a hot bench *cannot keep cigars lit •Lords sacrifice Hun and Vucub •Head of Hun Hunahpu put in calabash tree. •Head impregnates Xquic (Little Blood). •Lords attempt to sacrifice Xquic. •Owls substitute red sap for heart of Xquic. •Xquic ascends to Upperworld with twins in her womb.

Second Generation Hunahpu (Hunter) & Xbalanque (Jaguar Deer) •Xquic has twins: Hunahpu (Hunter) and Xbalanque (Jaguar Deer). •Twins journey to Xibalba to play ball. •On the way, Twins defeat Vucub Caquix (7 Macaw), who pretends to be the sun, and his two monster offspring. •Twins succeed in Xibalba: *take correct road *learn names of Lords of Xibalba *do not sit on hot bench *use fireflies to keep cigars lit •Xibalbans play ball using skull with knife tongue •Twins overcome trials in Xibalba: House of Knives, Cold House, Jaguar House, Fire House

Second Generation Hunahpu (Hunter) & Xbalanque (Jaguar Deer) •Hunahpu decapitated in Bat House; head replaced by gourd. •Xibalbans use head of Hunahpu in ball game. •Twins substitute gourd for head, and win game. •Twins sacrifice themselves in fire. •Twins reappear as catfish, then entertainers. •Twins perform resurrection shows in Xibalba. •Twins trick Lords of Xibalba into participating; they are sacrificed. •Twins rescue Hun Hunahpu, who becomes God of Maize. •Twins rise from Xibalba to become Sun and Moon.

head of Hunahpu  skull  gourd  ball  Sun ASTRONOMY (nature) AGRICULTURE SPORT (culture) HUMAN LIFE GENERATION 1 (fathers) GENERATION 2 (sons) LIFE day sun gourd ball head Hun Hunahpu Hunahpu XIBALBA night sun seed skull/gourd skull Vucub Hunahpu Ixbalanque