View source for Huracan

{{Short description|Maya deity of wind, storm and fire}}
{{About|the Maya god|the automobile|Lamborghini Huracán|other uses|Huracan (disambiguation)}}
{{Maya civilization}}

'''Huracán'''<ref>Also '''Hurakan''', '''Hunraken''', '''Harakan''' "Jurakan" and "Huracán"</ref> ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ʊ|r|ə|k|ə|n|,_|ˈ|h|ʊ|r|ə|k|ɑː|n}}; {{langx|es|Huracán}}; {{langx|myn|Hunraqan}}, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "'''Heart of Sky'''",<ref>Christenson 2003, 2007, p.59.n.56.</ref> is a [[Kʼicheʼ people|Kʼicheʼ]] [[Maya mythology|Maya]] god of [[wind]], [[storm]], [[fire]] and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity.<ref>Read & González 2000, p.200. Miller & Taube 1993, 2003, p.134.</ref>  He also caused the [[Deluge (mythology)|Great Flood]] after the second generation of humans angered the gods.  He supposedly lived in the windy mists above the floodwaters and repeatedly invoked "earth" until land came up from the seas.

His name, understood as 'One-Leg', suggests [[god K]] of Postclassic and Classic Maya iconography, a deity of lightning with one human leg,<ref>Freidel et al. 1993, pp.199-200.</ref> and one leg shaped like a serpent. God K is commonly referred to as Bolon Tzacab or [[Kʼawiil]] and was a god associated with power, creation, and lightning.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fitzsimmons |first=James L. |date=2024-10-03 |title=Centuries ago, the Maya storm god Huracán taught that when we damage nature, we damage ourselves |url=https://theconversation.com/centuries-ago-the-maya-storm-god-huracan-taught-that-when-we-damage-nature-we-damage-ourselves-238180 |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref> The name may ultimately derive from ''huracan'', a [[Carib language|Carib]] word,<ref>Read & González 2000, p.200.</ref> and the source of the words ''[[hurricane]]'' and ''orcan'' ([[European windstorm]]).

Related deities are [[Tohil]] in [[Kʼicheʼ people|Kʼiche]] mythology, Bolon Tzacab in [[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec]] mythology, [[Cocijo]] in [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]] mythology, and [[Tezcatlipoca]] in Aztec mythology.

==See also==
*[[Juracán]]
*[[Chaac]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite web |author=Christenson, Allen J. |title=Popul Vuh: Sacred Book of the Quiché Maya People in |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/publications/Christenson/PopolVuh.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.mesoweb.com/publications/Christenson/PopolVuh.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |orig-year=2003 |year=2007 |format=[[PDF]] online publication |work=Mesoweb articles |publisher=Mesoweb: An Exploration of Mesoamerican Cultures |access-date=2010-01-23}}
* {{cite book |author=Freidel, David A. |author2=Linda Schele |author2-link=Linda Schele |author3=Joy Parker |year=1993 |title=Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path|publisher=[[William Morrow & Co.]] |location=New York |isbn=0-688-10081-3 |oclc=27430287}}
* {{cite book |author=Miller, Mary |author-link=Mary Miller (art historian) |author2=Karl Taube |author2-link=Karl Taube |orig-year=1993 |year=2003 |title=An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |isbn=0-500-27928-4 |oclc=28801551 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780500279281 }}
* {{cite book |author=Read, Kay Almere |author2=Jason González |year=2000 |title=Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology |location=Oxford |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=1-85109-340-0 |oclc=43879188}}

{{Refend}}

{{K'iche' mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huracan}}
[[Category:Maya gods]]
[[Category:Characters from the Popol Vuh]]
[[Category:Creator gods]]
[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]
[[Category:Fire gods]]
[[Category:Wind deities]]
[[Category:earth deities]]