Chac
Also called Chaac, Chaak, God B.
The Maya rain and lightning god, one of the longest continuously worshipped deities of Mesoamerica, at once a single god and four of them.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Mayan mythology
- Region
- Mesoamerica (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Rain-Holders
- Symbols
- Clam/ Oyster
Near this figure
and 5 more
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Clam/ Oyster bears image-domain The clam denotes the closed shell of the sea's first life, receptive and shy, prised open for the world's treasure and the pearl within.
why
In Classic art he is recognisable by catfish-like whiskers, a snout that is short and lizard-like, and scaled skin, along with a conspicuous tied hank of hair and a spiny-oyster ear ornament; the Postclassic codices render him markedly more human.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Behaviour
- Controls wind rain and thunder
why
Chac was benevolent and counted a friend of humanity, and for the Maya farmer he mattered more than Itzamna, the aged creator — because through Chac came the rain, and so the food, and so life itself.
Offensive powers
- Weather manipulation
why
By extension he governs wind, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the sources equate him straightforwardly with the Aztec Tlaloc, which places him in the same functional slot across two major traditions.