December 21, 2012

December 21, 2012, was the date the 13th baktun, (a very long period of time), ended, according to the Mayan calendar. The feline deities did not let that mark the end of the world. And cats played a big role in Mayan mythology, providing an interesting parallel with the ancient Egyptian civilization. We read of a puma deity, Cit Chac Coh, for instance in Mayan literature. The parallel of feline deities though, observed by other scholars, is not our focus today. We are rather going to mention some jaguar deities the Mayans portrayed.

Matthew Restall is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Anthropology at Penn State University and the author of many books, including 2012 and the End of the World: The Western Roots of the Maya Apocalypse. He says this about doomsday chatter:

The Maya perceived time as a complex set of infinite cycles, not a clock ticking toward doomsday. One of these cycles, known by scholars as the Maya Long Count, consisted of more than five thousand years. In our calendrical system it began in August 3114 BCE and is due to end on December 21, 2012 -- or, in Maya numerology, 13.0.0.0.0. But there is nothing to suggest that the Maya thought this date would be the world’s last. They were interested in -- perhaps a little concerned by -- the roundness of the number, as we were with Y2K. But, in the words of Maya epigrapher Sven Gronemeyer, 13.0.0.0.0 “marks a transition to a new era, not the end.”

We paraphrase an unreliable online encyclopedia:

The 'Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire' is recognizable by a fixture around the eyes which loops over the nose, and his jaguar ears, and jaguar fangs. He personifies the number seven.
This deity is alternatively called 'Jaguar God of the Underworld'. In this capacity he is the 'Night Sun', the personification of the daily sun, when it  journeys through the underworld at night. The 'Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire' has the same large eyes and filed incisor as the day's god. This fiery jaguar deity of the night and the earth is also identified with a star, perhaps a constellation.

Complicating the above surmises by scholars, is the fact this jaguar deity is shown sometimes captured, and about to be burnt with torches. The god's other sphere of influence is war; support for this is the presence of his face on war shields.

The wife of the 'Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire', may be Ix Chel,. another of the many jaguar deities. She is a goddess of midwifery, curing, and war. She has jaguar ears and claws and other features similar to her husband. Thus the scholars.

There are many other jaguar deities. One suspects  one reason the world didn't end on December 21, 2012, when the 13th baktun ended, is that the Mayan world had already ended. The baktun in question began around 1618, in the midst of massive destruction of Mayan literature and buildings and much of the population. Of course, then, in 1618, the jaguar gods weren't symbols. Now though, the press director for the government's National Institute of Anthropology and History, and the tourism secretary for Yucatan, prohibit the use of the old temples for ceremonies and cite the danger of fires if the remnants of the Mayan population and their incense burners were allowed into the temple complexes.  It is never a good sign when your god becomes a symbol.  Symbols can be filed away, under a  proper category. That is when a world ends.