Xibalba translates as Place of Fear and was believed to be a true world beneath the earth that could be entered through a cave (located in Guatemala). The inhabitants of Xibalba are the souls of the deceased and a separate race of beings who worshipped death. (Try riding a bike in Costa Rica and you will find you should do so too).
It was ruled by twelve gods known as the Lords of Xibalba. The first among the Lords of Xibalba were One Death and Seven Death. The remaining ten Lords were demons ruling human suffering: sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, and ultimately death. The other residents of Xibalba fell under the dominion of one of these Lords and were going about the face of the Earth carrying out their listed duties.
There were a few interesting places in Xibalba: the council place of the Lords, the six houses that served as the first tests of Xibalba, and the Xibalban ball court. The whole place was pretty nasty and those who came in were tested, trapped and in general screwed with thoroughly. Even the Road to Xibalba was filled with nasty obstacles: first a river filled with scorpions, a river filled with blood, and then a river filled with pus. At some point travelers would get to the Xibalban council place.
The Lords of Xibalba would meet their visitors there, screw with their heads and send them on their merry ways to be tested in one of six deadly houses: The Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside, Rattling House or Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold and rattling hail, Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars, Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats, Razor House, filled with blades and razors, and Hot House, filled with fires and heat. If you failed the tests, you were dead. Xibalba was also home of a famous ballcourt were a game was played with a deadly, bladed ball.
(If you have ever been to our clubhouse you will find some remarkable similarities between the clubhouse and the tale; we have plenty of scorpions and other vermin around, it is testing just to be there and we can truly say that our clubhouse is just as nasty, if not nastier, than the tale).
The end of the Xibalba came when two smart human twins came into Xibalba and fooled the Lords of Xibabalba and that was that……. Every good thing must come to an end apparently.
In Maya mythology Xibalba (pronounced Shi-BAHL-bah) is the name of the underworld, ruled by the Mayan deities of death. The name roughly translates to "Place of Fear" or "Place of Phantoms". The entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Coban, Guatemala. To some of the Quiché descendants of the Maya people still living in the vicinity, the area is still associated with death. In the heavens, the Road to Xibalba was represented by the dark rift visible in the Milky Way.
Xibalba was described in the Popol Vuh to be a city or a realm that existed below the surface of the Earth. It is unclear if the inhabitants of Xibalba, referred to simply as Xibalbans, are the souls of the deceased or a separate race of people worshipping death, but they are often depicted as being human-like in form. The place Xibalba was often associated with death and it was ruled by 12 gods or powerful rulers known as the Lords of Xibalba. The first among the Lords of Xibalba were One Death and Seven Death. The remaining 10 Lords are often referred to as demons and are given commission and domain over various forms of human suffering: to cause sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, and ultimately death. The remaining residents of Xibalba are thought to have fallen under the dominion of one of these Lords, going about the face of the Earth to carry out their listed duties.
Xibalba was a large place and a number of individual structures or locations within Xibalba are described or mentioned in the Popol Vuh. Chief among these was the council place of the Lords, the five or six houses that served as the first tests of Xibalba, and the Xibalban ball court. Also mentioned are the homes of the Lords, gardens, and other structures indicating that Xibalba was at least a great city.
Xibalba seemed to be rife with tests, trials and traps for anyone who came into the city. Even the Road to Xibalba was filled with obstacles: first a river filled with scorpions, a river filled with blood, and then a river filled with pus. Beyond these was a crossroads where travellers had to choose from between four roads that spoke in an attempt to confuse and beguile. Upon passing these obstacles one would come upon the Xibalban council place, where it was expected visitors would greet the seated Lords. Realistic mannequins were seated near the Lords to confuse and humiliate people who greeted them, and the confused would then be invited to sit upon a bench, which was actually a hot cooking surface. The Lords of Xibalba would entertain themselves by humiliating people in this fashion before sending them into one of Xibalba's deadly tests.
The city was home to at least six deadly houses filled with trials for visitors. The first was Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside. The second was Rattling House or Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold and rattling hail. The third was Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars. The fourth was Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats, and the fifth was Razor House, filled with blades and razors that moved about of their own accord. In another part of the Popol Vuh, a sixth test, Hot House, filled with fires and heat, is identified. The purpose of these tests was to either kill or humiliate people placed into them if they could not outwit the test.
The Nine Lords of Xibalba
Part II Chapter 1 of the Popol Vuh
All of them held a council. Those called Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé were the supreme judges. All the lords had been assigned their duties. Each one was given his own authority by Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé.
They were, then, Xiquiripat and Cuchumaquic lords of these names. They were the two who caused the shedding of blood of the men.
Others were called Ahalpuh and Ahalganá, also lords. And their work was to make men swell and make pus gush forth from their legs and stain their faces yellow, what is called Chuganal. Such was the work of Ahalpuh and Ahalganá.
Others were Lord Chamiabac and Lord Chamiaholom, constables of Xibalba whose staffs were of bone. Their work was to make men waste away until they were nothing but skin and bone and they died, and they carried them With their stomach and bones stretched out. This was the work of Chamiabac and Chamiaholom, as they were called.
Others were called Lord Ahalmez and Lord Ahaltocob; their work was to bring disaster upon men, as they were going home, or in front of it, and they would be found wounded, stretched out, face up, on the ground, dead. This was the work of Ahalmez and Ahaltocob, as they were called.
Immediately after them were other lords named Xic and Patán whose work it was to cause men to die on the road, which is called sudden death, making blood to rush to their mouths until they died vomiting blood. The work of each one of these lords was to seize upon them, squeeze their throats and chests, so that the men died on the road, making the blood rush to their throats when they were walking. This was the work of Xic and Patán.
Hun Came and Vucub Came (One Death and Seven Death) are the principle death gods of the Mayan underworld, Xibalba.
According to the Popol Vuh, one day, the twins, Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, were playing ball with Hun Hunahpu's sons, Hun Batz and Hun Chouen. The ball court is on earth, but also led to the underworld. Hun Came and Vucub Came, the death gods, became enraged with the noise the ball game was causing and summoned all the gods and demons of Xibalba together to come up with a plan to kill Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu. They finally decide to send four messenger owls up to earth to invite them down to Xibalba to play a ball game with the death gods. The two agreed and began their journey into Xibalba, which involved passing obstacles such as fierce rapids, thorny spikes and a river of blood, all of which they overcame successfully.
Finally, they reached a crossroads with four paths, each a different color. They chose the black path, which led them to wooden dummies dressed as the death gods. As they greeted what they thought were the death gods, all the inhabitants of Xibalba laughed at them sure of their victory. The death gods then invited the twins to sit on a bench, which was actually a hot slab of stone that ended up burning them. Finally, the death gods gave them cigars and torches and told the twins to keep the torches lit throughout the night. They again failed the task, and the death gods sacrificed the twins and placed the head of Hun Hunapu in a barren tree, which instantly began to grow calabash gourds.
News of this tree spread throughout Xibalba, and the underworld maiden, Xquic, became curious and went to see it for herself. The head of Hun Hunahpu spit into her hand as she reached for a piece of fruit and impregnated her. When the father of Xquic discovers her pregnancy, he demanded to know who the father was. She adamantly denied ever having known man, but he didn't believe her and condemned her to be killed. Messenger owls then took her away, but she convinced them to let her live, substituting a thick mass of resin, the blood of trees, for her own heart. The death gods became entranced by the burning resin and didn't notice Xquic had left.
Xquic then traveled to Hun Hunahpu's mother, Xmucane's house and declared herself his wife. Xmucane, however, was convinced her sons were dead and decided to test her. She sent Xquic to gather a netful of maize from a field that contained only a single maize plant. When Xquic returned, she had filled her net, thus proving she was the wife of Hun Hunahpu. She then gave birth to the hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who would eventually defeat the death gods.
Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found in Mexico
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld.
Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels, researchers discovered the stone ruins of eleven sacred temples and what could be the remains of human sacrifices at the site in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Archeologists say Mayans believed the underground complex of water-filled caves leading into dry chambers -- including an underground road stretching some 330 feet -- was the path to a mythical underworld, known as Xibalba.
According to an ancient Mayan scripture, the Popol Vuh, the route was filled with obstacles, including rivers filled with scorpions, blood and pus and houses shrouded in darkness or swarming with shrieking bats, Guillermo de Anda, one of the lead investigators at the site, said on Thursday.
The souls of the dead followed a mythical dog who could see at night, de Anda said.
Excavations over the past five months in the Yucatan caves revealed stone carvings and pottery left for the dead.
"They believed that this place was the entrance to Xibalba. That is why we have found the offerings there," de Anda said.
The Mayans built soaring pyramids and elaborate palaces in Central America and southern Mexico before mysteriously abandoning their cities around 900 A.D.
They described the torturous journey to Xibalba in the Popul Vuh sacred text, originally written in hieroglyphic script on long scrolls and later transcribed by Spanish conquerors.
"It is very likely this area was protected as a sacred depository for the dead or for the passage of their souls," said de Anda, whose team has found ceramic offerings along with bones in some temples.
Different Mayan groups who inhabited southern Mexico and northern Guatemala and Belize had their own entrances to the underworld which archeologists have discovered at other sites, almost always in cave systems buried deep in the jungle.
In the Yucatan site they have found one 1,900-year-old ceramic vase, but most of the artifacts date back to between 700 and 850 A.D.
"These sacred tunnels and caves were natural temples and annexes to temples on the surface," said de Anda.
Maya stone temples found in underground caves
“Archaeologists say the Maya believed the complex of water-filled caves leading into dry chambers was an underground road to a mythical underworld.”
Mexican archaeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones.
Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels, researchers found the stone ruins of 11 sacred temples at the site on the Yucatan peninsula.
Archaeologists say the Maya believed the underground complex of water-filled caves leading into dry chambers, including an underground road stretching about 330 feet, was the path to a mythical underworld known as Xibalba.
