Htotik
Tzotzil–Tzeltal · deity · Tzotzil–Tzeltal traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
In the religion of the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya of highland Chiapas the sun is addressed as Htotik or Kajvaltik, 'Our Father,' and is identified with Jesus Christ. Chamula narrative recounts how the infant sun, hunted by demons and by the hudíoetik who sought to kill him, was slain and rose burning into the sky, imposing order on the chaotic world of the earlier creations, fixing the daily round, and driving the monsters to the edges of the earth. His diurnal circuit measures time and defines the moral cosmos, the cardinal directions and the layered heavens being reckoned from his path. His mother, the moon, follows him across the sky.
Parentage
- maternal: Jme'tik
Domains
- solar light
- time order
- christ divinity
Powers
- give light and the day
- impose order on chaos
- rise from death into the sky
Epithets
- Htotik — Our FatherGossen, Gary H. 1974. Chamulas in the World of the Sun. Harvard University Press. (secondary)
- Kajvaltik — Our LordVogt, Evon Z. 1969. Zinacantán. Harvard University Press. (secondary)
Relations
- child: Jme'tikThe moon is the mother of the sun.Vogt, Evon Z. 1969. Zinacantán. Harvard University Press. (secondary)
- enemy: PukujThe demons hunted the infant sun before his ascent.Gossen, Gary H. 1974. Chamulas in the World of the Sun. Harvard University Press. (secondary)
Sources
- The sun is addressed as Our Father and identified with Christ, ordering the cosmos by his ascent.: Gossen, Gary H. 1974. Chamulas in the World of the Sun. Harvard University Press. (secondary); Vogt, Evon Z. 1969. Zinacantán. Harvard University Press. (secondary)