Xpiacoc
Co-creator deity paired with Xmucane; the divinatory grandfather of the Popol Vuh. Consulted by the makers Tepeu and Gucumatz at the third and fourth creation-attempts, his divinatory function is foundational rather than craftsman-creator (he does not shape the world; he reads it). Father of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, grandfather of the Hero Twins. The day-keeper (ajq'ij) tradition still operative in highland Guatemala (Momostenango, Chichicastenango, Sololá) explicitly invokes Xpiacoc-Xmucane at session opening; this is one of the longest continuously-attested cult lineages in any New World tradition. The Tedlock (1982) ethnography of Momostenango establishes the unbroken transmission. Aspect-compounding with Hun-Ahpu-Vuch ("One-Hunahpu Possum") day-keeper title in some Postclassic sources, strengthening the calendrical-divinatory profile.
Children
Powers
- Casts seeds for divination
Epithets
- Rati't, Ramam qʼij Grandmother and Grandfather of day/light — the diviner-elders' titlePopol Vuh (D. Tedlock trans. 1985; A. J. Christenson trans. 2007), divination of Xpiyacoc and Xmucane (primary)
Relations
- spouse: XmucanePopol Vuh, Parts I-II passim (primary)
- father of: Hun HunahpuPopol Vuh, Part II opening (primary)
- father of: Vucub HunahpuPopol Vuh, Part II opening (primary)
- ally: TepeuWith Xmucane, summoned by Tepeu and Gucumatz to cast lots of corn and tz'ite before the wood-people creation.Popol Vuh, trans. D. Tedlock (1996), Part 1 (primary)
Sources
- existence: Popol Vuh (Ximénez ms., Newberry Library Ayer 1515) (primary); Anonymous K'iche' alphabetic ms. c. 1554-1558 (lost; Ximénez transcribed) (primary)
- parentage-of-twin-fathers: Popol Vuh, Part II opening (primary)
- continuous-cult-attestation: Tedlock, Time and the Highland Maya (1982) (secondary); Bunzel, Chichicastenango (1952) (secondary)