Yum Kaax
Yucatec Maya · deity · Yucatec Maya traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Yum Kaax, the 'Lord of the Forest,' is the Yucatec maize deity, depicted as a youthful god of ideal beauty whose elongated head takes the form of a ripening ear of maize and whose headdress sprouts foliage. He corresponds to God E of the codices, called Nal or Ah Mun, the personified young corn plant whose vulnerability to drought, wind, and the death gods dramatizes the fragility of the harvest. In ethnographic Yucatec religion his name is understood as lord of the woodland and its wild game as well as the maize milpa carved from the bush, and he is propitiated by farmers when clearing and planting the forest.
Domains
- maize
- agriculture
- forest
Powers
- make the maize sprout and ripen
Epithets
- Ah Mun — the tender green one / the sproutJ. Eric S. Thompson, Maya History and Religion (1970) (secondary)
Sources
- Yum Kaax is the Yucatec young maize god, a handsome youth whose head merges with the maize plant, corresponding to codical God E.: Karl Taube, The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan (1992), pp. 41-50 (secondary); Codex Dresdensis (primary)
- In modern Yucatec usage Yum Kaax, 'Lord of the Forest,' is invoked as guardian of the wild bush, game animals, and the milpa cut from the forest.: J. Eric S. Thompson, Maya History and Religion (1970) (secondary)