In mythological times, the deities underwent birth, stages of growth, rites of passage, transformations, death and re-birth. They created cornfields, planted and harvested corn, performed divinations, conducted business, fought wars, formed alliances and intermarried. From all of these actions and interactions a hierarchy was formed in which members had overlapping duties and responsibilities. The behavior of the deities was a model for appropriate human conduct and provided justifications and rationalization for elite activities, social hierarchy and political structure. Maya elites are frequently illustrated wearing the costumes of certain deities, including face masks in the likeness of the god. When humans donned the costume of a deity, they assumed the traits of the deity or were temporarily transformed into the deity. (Houston and Stuart (1996). They also  had "Way' ob" singular "Way", (Alter Egos in animal forms as well as their gods had).

 
One central aspect to Maya religion is the idea of the duality of the soul. The Maya saw one part of their soul as indestructible, invisible, and eternal. The Maya referred to this soul as "ch’ul," "k’ul," or "ch’ulel." The second soul, and the one this paper is concerned with is the "Way', defined as "supernatural guardian" or "protector: "This is a supernatural companion, which usually takes the guise of a wild animal and shares ch’ulel with a person from birth. The fates of the baby and the animal spirit are intertwined, so that what befalls the one affects the other for good or ill" (Freidel et al. 1993: 182).



The First Humans made of maize were: (K'iche' names)
B'alam Quitzé : Meaning "jaguar with the sweet smile," was the first of the men created from maize after the Great Flood sent by Hurakán. To destroy the men made of wood. The gods created Choim'há "beautiful water",  specifically for him to marry. They had two sons Qo'caib and Qo'cavib. 
B'alam Akab: Meaning "night jaguar," he was the second of the men created from maize. He married Ka'há-Palumá, ("falling water") They had two sons Qo'acul  and Qo'acutec.
Iqui' B'alam: Meaning "moon jaguar," he was the third of the men created. The gods created Cak'ix'há "water of parrots," specifically to be his wife. They did not had sons.
Mahucatah: Meaning "distinguished name," he was the fourth of the men created. The woman Tzununi'há  "house of the water," was created for him.  They had one son, who was called Qo'ahau. Popol Vuh.

This History is described very similar in the "Annals of Kak'chi'kels", and other Post Classic Guatemalan texts such as the "Totonicapán Memorial" and the "Xpantzay Memorial"

   "So, then, they bade [their sons] farewell. The four were together and they began to sing, feeling sad in their hearts; and their hearts wept when they sang the camucú, as the song is called which they sang when they bade farewell to their sons. "Oh, our sons! we are going, we are going away; sane advice and wise counsel we leave you. And you, also, who came from our distant country, oh our wives! they said to their women, and they bade farewell to each one. "We are going back to our town, there already in his place is Our Lord of the stags, C'Ahau'al Queh, to be seen there in the sky. We are going to begin our return, we have completed our mission [here], our days are ended. Think, then, of us, do not erase us [from your memory], nor forget us. You shall see your homes and your mountains again; settle, there, and so let it be! Go on your way and you shall see again the place from which we came." Popol Vuh, Part IV, Chapter 5.

"As for B'alam-Quitzé, B'alam-Acab, Mahucutah, and Iqui'-B'alam, it was not known where they were. But when they saw the tribes that passed on the roads, instantly they began to shout on the mountain-tops, howling like a coyote, screaming like a mountain cat, and imitating the roaring of the puma and the jaguar. And the tribes seeing these things, as they walked, said: "Their screams are like those of the coyote, of the mountain cat, of the puma, and of the jaguar. They want to appear to the tribes as though they are not men, and they only do this to deceive us, we the people. Their hearts wish something. Surely, they do not frighten us with what they do. They mean something with the roaring of the puma, with the noise of the jaguar which they break into when they see one or two men walking; what they want is to make an end of us."..... "Then they punctured their ears and their arms before the divinities; they caught their blood and put it in a vase near the stones.  They were not really stones, but each one appeared in the likeness of a youth. They were happy with the blood of the priests and sacrifices' when they arrived with this example of their work. "Follow their tracks [those of the animals which they sacrificed], there is your salvation!. " Popol Vuh, Part IV, Chapter 1. An excellent study of the Post Classic Highlands Maya, and Classic Maya Texts is in this Mesoweb Report (PDF file) .
 
The Classic Maya, were consumed astronomers, and  had a standardized set of creator gods, the evidence for which is embedded in their calendar system. The Maya believed that each of the intervals within such units of time as the day, the night, the solar year, the K’atun, the lunar cycle and the greater Venus cycle was ruled by a different deity or set of deities. Their Calendar system was not merely a method for tracking the various celestial cycles, but a complex system used to ascertain which of the many deities were ruling a particular moment. As Thompson (1950) and Kelley (1976) have demonstrated, the gods of the time periods were standardized across the Classic Maya realm and venerated. These calendar-related deities were worshipped for more than just their roles in divination; they also played a key part in creating, ordering and renewing the world and all the beings within it.

Vase of the 7 Gods (Naranjo, Guatemala)
A council of gods aiding in the setting of the jaguar throne. Here the main actor is God L, while the
Jaguar Paddler, who is named in the Quiriguá Stela C, (see Cosmology for description of it's text), sits at the head of the upper row of god, this vase along with the eleven gods mention the war associated god Bolon Yookte' K'uh .The text narrates that “on 4 Ahaw 8 Kumk’u it was set in order, Black-is-its- Center,” (Chan Ahaw Waxak Kumk’u tzakhi Ek’-u-Tan). The name of the location, Ek’-u- Tan, refers to the state of the pre-creation universe as black because the sky had not yet been lifted away from the Primordial Sea or Xibalbá.

The 4 sides of The 11 gods Vase  (Naranjo, Guatemala) Museo Nacional de Arqueología.

Deities could be manifested in a variety of forms that reflected their spheres of control and responsibilities. These manifestations could take the form of plants, animals, natural formations and phenomena such as wind, lightning, thunder and fire. The Maya divided animals into four major categories based on means of locomotion: Crawlers (lizards, turtles, snakes, etc.), Walkers (mammals), Flyers (insects, birds and bats) and Swimmers (crocodiles, fish) (N. Hopkins 1997), and their gods can adopt each one of this forms.

The notion that a Maya deity could have multiple aspects or manifestations is a well-established act. For example, many of the major gods had four different aspects, one for each direction. On Kerr 530, (Right, Click to enlarge) two sets of such gods are illustrated. In this scene, four Chaac deities and four God N deities are shown interacting. Each of these four deities embodied the central concept associated with the god but each aspect had a slightly different responsibility or trait associated with his particular direction. Ethno-historical evidence suggests that the four directional aspects of a god were viewed as siblings who were ranked into a hierarchy just as siblings were in Maya society (Tozzer 1941:135).

The most complete description of the beginning of human life is given in the Pop Wuj or Popol Vuh of the Postclassic K'iché Maya, but the Murals recently discovered in the Pre Classic (250 BC) site of San Bartolo  in Guatemala, confirm that the Popol Vuh, is the true and Original Maya creation Myth. This narrative relates the deeds of three generations of deities. The creator grandparents of the sea and the lightning bolt gods of the sky were the first generation of gods. The second generation consisted of the creator grandparents’ sons Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpú. Hun Hunahpú had two wives and two sets of sons. Hunahpú (Great Wizard) and Xbalanqué (Little Magician), were his youngest sons, engendered  by the goddess Xquic, the Blood Woman. The legend says that  Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpú, were skilful ballplayers. When they played the noise disturbed the gods from Xibalbá, that defeated the twins and sacrifice them, and buried its bodies under the ball court,  Hun Hunahpú's, head was hanged in a tree that produced pumpkins shaped like humans,  the Blood Woman,  Xquic decided to go to the tree to meet him, Hun Hunahpú spited  her hand, impregnating her with Hunahpú e Xbalanqué. Most of these deities have Classic Period parallels (Coe 1973, 1977, 1989; Taube 1985, 1992, D. Tedlock 1985, Bassie-Sweet 1996, 1999). Although it primarily focuses on the deeds of Hunahpú and Xbalanqué and the establishment of the celestial cycles, the Popol Vuh briefly describes or alludes to many core myths.

Itz'am Yeh, (Vucub Caquix) in the tree and Hunahpú shoots at him with his blowgun

The Maya had a large pantheon of gods (more than 165) that often had different aspects (the combination of young and old characteristics or human and animal forms) and fulfilled different functions. The Kings were the incarnation of the Maize God as depicted in the San Bartolo Murals and the Popol Vuh. By comparing Classic Period imagery and contemporary beliefs with the Popol Vuh story line, these basic myths and their associated deities can be fleshed out and expanded.  The Popol Vuh god called Feathered Serpent was identified with sheet lightning and was parallel to the Waterlily Bird Serpent found in Maya art, and Vak’ (the laughing falcon of the Popol Vuh) was parallel to the Principal Bird Deity of the Classic Period, who was the bird manifestation of the creator grandfather.

Evidence that different manifestations of a god could interact with each other is found in the pottery scene on Kerr 7226. This image shows God D and God N sitting side by side and gesturing to one another. David Stuart has demonstrated that God D and God N are manifestations of the same god (see below).

The ability of the deity manifestations to interact with each other is an important point that is relevant for understanding the sea gods that are named in the "Annals of Kak'chi'kels" as well as in the Popol Vuh. This narrative begins by giving a long list of paired male and female god names:

Framer and Shaper
She Who Has Borne Children and He Who Has Engendered Sons
Hunahpú Possum and Hunahpú Coyote
Great White Peccary and Pizote
Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent
Heart of the Lake and Heart of the Sea
Creator of the Blue-Green Plate and Creator of the Blue-Green Bowl
Midwife and Patriarch
Xpiyacoc and Xmucané
Embracer and Shelterer
Twice Midwife and Twice Patriarch
 Later in the text, the pairs Hunahpú Possum/Hunahpú Coyote, White Great Peccary/Pizote, and Creator of the Blue-Green Plate/Creator of the Blue-Green Bowl are specifically said to be names for the creator grandparents called Xpiyacoc and Xmucané.

Maya Pantheon

'Xpiyacoc and 'Xmucané, the creator grandparents. In Maya culture, grandparents were valued and consulted for their knowledge, wisdom and experience. Although physically weaker, they were considered spiritually stronger than younger members of the society.

    (Left) Representation with the Yax'ché (Ceiba Tree), and the 4 Bacab in the corners holding the earth, each of the 13 Caan (heaven) levels had its Oxlahuntikú or gods, with Itzam Ye, or Hunab’Kú (father of the twins and the Maize god) at the top. The Earth (Cab) represented as a caiman, with is Tzultacah or gods (we don’t know the number), and Xibalbá or underworld with nine levels and its gods or "Bolon Ti Kún" , That included the B'alam (Jaguar gods) Lords of the underworld - associated with caves, night, hunting (shamans often are depicted transforming into jaguars "Way". Itzam Yeh (Vucub Caquix),  Cama Zotz, the one that  kill the Hero twin Hunahpú in the Bat House, being Ah Puch, the God of the Death in the lower level. East (lak'in) is the direction of sunrise, associated with red (chak), the color of dawn. West (chik'in) is the direction of sunset; its color is black (ek'). North (xaman) is white (sak). The color of the south (nohol) is yellow (k'an). Green (yax) is the color of the center, of the green ceiba tree (yax´che´), representing the great World Tree itself, raised in the centre of the cosmos. This Tree was the conduit of communication between the supernatural world and the human world: The souls of the dead fell into Xibalbá along its path; the daily journeys of the sun, moon, planets, and stars followed its trunk. Och Chan, The Vision Serpent symbolizing communion with the world of the ancestors and the gods emerged into our world along it. The king was the axis and pivot made flesh. He was the Tree of Life. The king sustained his people, but he also required much from them in the way of service.

Major Maya gods included Hun Hunahpú father of Itzam Ná, ("Iguana House"), The principal deity in the Classic, Creator God, a reptilian deity, In the daytime he is also the Sun God:  Kinich Ahau. His feathery serpent mode was Kukulkán, Also known as Ah Xoc Kin, and associated with poetry and music, and his wife, Ix’Chel, the Moon, Medicine and rainbow goddess, represented by a woman seated in a crescent moon holding a Rabbit,  they were parents of the four Bacabs. or guardians of the cardinal points, (See Cosmology), Hobnil - bacab of the east, is assigned the color red and the Kan years. Can Tzicnal - bacab of the north is assigned the color white, and the Muluc years, Zac Cimi - bacab of the west, is assigned the color black and the Ix years. Hozanek - bacab of the south, is assigned the color yellow and the Cauac years, Hunahpu' and Xbalanque', the hero twins, Chaak, a rain deity, Bolon Tza’cab, K'awil or God K a ruling-lineage deity, fire & lightning Hun Ka'ax, Hunab’Kú or Ah Mun maize god, always represented Young. Maize’s cycle of planting, growth, harvesting, and replanting is the cycle of life itself (birth, death, rebirth). Ah Mak'ik: a god of Agriculture who locks up the wind god ('Ik) when it threatens to destroy the crops. Kisin: (Kabracán in the Popol Vuh), Earthquake god, youngest son of Itzam Yeh, along with Zipacná (Maker of mountains), the oldest, also tricked by the hero Twins.  Hum Cimil, a death deity, Ah Chicum 'Ek, a North Star deity, 'Ek Chuah, a merchant deity, Bulac Chabtan, a war and human sacrifice deity, Hun Batz and Hun Chuen (monkey gods) Patrons of scribes.  Ah Puch death god, Och Chan or God K  He is the power behind conjuring, transformation and transcendence in Maya ritual practice; he is the bearded dragon of Xibalbá; he is the essence of the sacred dance that empowers the Maize God to dance out of Xibalbá; he is the essence of human royal power that allows mankind access to the cosmos from the heavens down to earth and into Xibalbá itself. He is also the power of the Rain God’s lightning ax that splits the earth making the resurrection of the Maize God possible, and many others. There were thirteen deities in the Upper World and nine deities in the Lower World. The deification of deceased rulers, and their veneration in funerary shrines, was an elaborated expression of ancestor worship, a theme that probably permeated ancient Maya religion, they had a Patron god for each month of the Haab' year, (See Calendar)