Vucub Caquix

In the Quichean document, the Popol Vuh, Vucub-Caquix ("Seven-Macaw") is a bird demon pretending to be the sun and moon of the twilight world in between the former creation and the present one. He is husband to Chimalmat, and father to the two earthquake demons, Cabracan and Zipacna. The false sun-moon, Vucub Caquix, was shot out of his tree with a blowgun by Hun-Ahpu, one of the Maya Hero Twins, and deprived of his teeth, his riches, and his power. Together, the Twins were to become the true sun and moon of the present creation. The episode (only loosely connected to the main tale of the Twins) is akin to certain scenes in Mayan art dating back to the 8th century and before.

The Classic Twins Shooting Vucub-Caquix Theory

The 16th-century Popol Vuh episode has been used for interpreting certain Classic Mayan scenes painted on pottery, which show Hun-Ahpu (or Hun-Ahau) aiming his blowgun at a steeply descending bird. The episode involved may already be present on a late-Preclassic stela from Izapa, where two small figures assumed to be the Twin Heroes flank a large descending bird. The bird is of the type called 'Principal Bird Deity', an avian transformation of Itzamna. The solar affiliation of (Kinich Ahau) Itzamna is part of the argument for identifying the Popol Vuh and the Classic episodes, since the upper god's solar aspect seems to reflect the claim to solar status voiced by Vucub-Caquix.

Problems with the Vucub-Caquix Theory

Although the identification of the Classic Mayan episode with the shooting of Vucub-Caquix has gained wide acceptance, serious doubts remain. For one, the bird involved is the avian transformation of the creator god, Itzamna, and the concept of a generally venerated creator god seems to be at odds with the demonic nature of Vucub-Caquix. Secondly, the shooting of the Principal Bird Deity includes elements foreign to the Quichean tale. The bird is clearly not a macaw, and instead of being perched in a tree, it can even assume the (deceptive?) shape of a heron-like bird seated on the waters. Thirdly, and more basically, there is no reason why the Twins, being bird-hunters, should not have been involved in more than one bird-shooting episode. As a matter of fact, at least one pottery scene has Hun-Ahpu shooting a vulture. Therefore, rather than referring to the Vucub-Caquix tale, the shooting of the Principal Bird Deity may well represent a now lost bird-shooting episode of Twin mythology. It seems clear that if the Vucub-Caquix theory is to stand the test, important questions are still to be answered.

Literature

* |authorlink=Michael D. Coe |year=1989 |chapter=The Hero Twins: Myth and Image |title=The Maya Vase Book: A Corpus of Rollout Photographs of Maya Vases, volume 1 |editor=Barbara Kerr and Justin Kerr (eds.) |others=Justin Kerr (illus.)|publisher=Kerr Associates |location=New York |pages=pp.161-184 |isbn=0-962-42080-8
*Nicholas Hellmuth, "Monsters and Men in Maya Art".
*Karl Taube, "Aztec and Maya Myths".