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Description
"On the date 4 Kawak, 12th day of Sip (29 March 755), Yax Chiit (?) Naah Kaan was conjured by Ix Wak Tuun ("Lady Head of the Earth"), noble lady of Ik' (nowadays the archaeological site of Motul de San José. The town's ancient name, Ik', means "wind") and wife of Yaxuun Balam IV, (Bird Jaguar, the Fourth) lord of Pa'Chan ("Cleft Sky", nowadays the archaeological site of Yaxchilán, back in the 8th century, one of the most important towns in the region)".

Yax Chiit Naah Kaan was a WAY (a.k.a Wahy, a Maya concept which is related to the Nahua concept of Nahual. A personification or spirit animal, a form used by a shapeshifter as messenger in
dreams) of the sky god K'awiil. K'awiil, also known as Bolon Dzacab (literally "Nine Times Born" or "Nine Generations", Nine here meaning "countless") was one of the main gods invoked by most polities of the classical Maya era (between 250 - 900 CE), often depicted as an one legged deity with a snake in the place of his other leg. In the post-Classic era, in the region of the K'iché Maya (nowadays Guatemala) this god would be known as Hun Raq'An ("One Legged" - the etymological origin of the name hurricane, referring to the weather event which was also associated with that god).

In the sculpted stone "Lintel 15" of Yaxchilán (8th century artwork from which this illustration draws inspiration), the text refers to the figure coming from the "vision serpent" as the Way of K'awiil, despite possessing the face of Yaxuun Balam IV, ruler of Pa'Chan / Yaxchilán, and that Ix Wak Tuun summoned the serpent in a day which equates to 29 March 755. The sculpted lintel also depicts the vision serpent rising from a bowl containing the tools used for the bloodletting ritual, including a stingray spine, rope and bloodstained paper.

In the Classic Era sculpted lintels, it's common to find important political figures performing bloodletting rituals, alongside the burning of ceremonial papers. In such rituals, the spirits of ancestors were also called upon to give guidance. The ancestors were themselves considered divine, in a way that the forces of nature and deities were inseparable from them.

The performance of a bloodletting ritual with a stingray spine by important figures is also depicted in some of the oldest known preserved Maya painted murals, such as those of the San Bartolo site, in Petén, Guatemala, dating to the pre-Classic era (ca. 300 b.c). And in the post-classic (900 CE up to the colonial era), Maya texts such as the Popol Vuh / Popol Wuj presents important characters such as Ixkik ("Blood Maiden", the princess of Xibalba "Place of Fear", the underworld; and mother to Hunahpu & Xbalanque, the Hero Twins, protagonists of the second portion of the tale) performing a ritual to call upon the Chajal echa', a group of protective goddesses associated with specific days of the calendar and foods (such as in Ixkakaw "the lady of Cacao"), interpreted as ancestors, who ultimately help her to multiply maize in a quest to gain the favor of Xmucane, the mother of Hun Hunahpu, father of the Hero Twins.

The original Lintel 15 of Pa'Chan / Yaxchilán is currently in the British Museum.

Mixed media illustration (ink drawing on paper + digital painting) minted on the Tezos Blockchain

Description
"On the date 4 Kawak, 12th day of Sip (29 March 755), Yax Chiit (?) Naah Kaan was conjured by Ix Wak Tuun ("Lady Head of the Earth"), noble lady of Ik' (nowadays the archaeological site of Motul de San José. The town's ancient name, Ik', means "wind") and wife of Yaxuun Balam IV, (Bird Jaguar, the Fourth) lord of Pa'Chan ("Cleft Sky", nowadays the archaeological site of Yaxchilán, back in the 8th century, one of the most important towns in the region)".

Yax Chiit Naah Kaan was a WAY (a.k.a Wahy, a Maya concept which is related to the Nahua concept of Nahual. A personification or spirit animal, a form used by a shapeshifter as messenger in
dreams) of the sky god K'awiil. K'awiil, also known as Bolon Dzacab (literally "Nine Times Born" or "Nine Generations", Nine here meaning "countless") was one of the main gods invoked by most polities of the classical Maya era (between 250 - 900 CE), often depicted as an one legged deity with a snake in the place of his other leg. In the post-Classic era, in the region of the K'iché Maya (nowadays Guatemala) this god would be known as Hun Raq'An ("One Legged" - the etymological origin of the name hurricane, referring to the weather event which was also associated with that god).

In the sculpted stone "Lintel 15" of Yaxchilán (8th century artwork from which this illustration draws inspiration), the text refers to the figure coming from the "vision serpent" as the Way of K'awiil, despite possessing the face of Yaxuun Balam IV, ruler of Pa'Chan / Yaxchilán, and that Ix Wak Tuun summoned the serpent in a day which equates to 29 March 755. The sculpted lintel also depicts the vision serpent rising from a bowl containing the tools used for the bloodletting ritual, including a stingray spine, rope and bloodstained paper.

In the Classic Era sculpted lintels, it's common to find important political figures performing bloodletting rituals, alongside the burning of ceremonial papers. In such rituals, the spirits of ancestors were also called upon to give guidance. The ancestors were themselves considered divine, in a way that the forces of nature and deities were inseparable from them.

The performance of a bloodletting ritual with a stingray spine by important figures is also depicted in some of the oldest known preserved Maya painted murals, such as those of the San Bartolo site, in Petén, Guatemala, dating to the pre-Classic era (ca. 300 b.c). And in the post-classic (900 CE up to the colonial era), Maya texts such as the Popol Vuh / Popol Wuj presents important characters such as Ixkik ("Blood Maiden", the princess of Xibalba "Place of Fear", the underworld; and mother to Hunahpu & Xbalanque, the Hero Twins, protagonists of the second portion of the tale) performing a ritual to call upon the Chajal echa', a group of protective goddesses associated with specific days of the calendar and foods (such as in Ixkakaw "the lady of Cacao"), interpreted as ancestors, who ultimately help her to multiply maize in a quest to gain the favor of Xmucane, the mother of Hun Hunahpu, father of the Hero Twins.

The original Lintel 15 of Pa'Chan / Yaxchilán is currently in the British Museum.

Mixed media illustration (ink drawing on paper + digital painting) minted on the Tezos Blockchain