The names _u Qux cho, Qux palo_, mean “the Heart of the Lake, the Heart of the Sea.” To them may be added _u Qux_ _cah_, “the Heart of the Sky,” and _u Qux uleu_, “the Heart of the Earth,” found elsewhere in the _Popol Vuh_, and applied to divinity. The literal sense of the word heart was, however, not that which was intended; in those dialects this word had a much richer metaphorical meaning than in our tongue; in them it stood for all the psychical powers, the memory, will and reasoning faculties, the life, the spirit, the soul.[140]
It would be more correct, therefore, to render these names the “spirit” or “soul” of the lake, etc., than the “heart.” They represent broadly the doctrine of “animism” as held by these people, and generally by man in his early stages of religious development. They indicate also a dimly understood sense of the unity of spirit or energy in the different manifestations of organic and inorganic existence.
This was not peculiar to the tribes under consideration. The heart was very generally looked upon, not only as the seat of life, but as the source of the feelings, intellect and passions, the very soul itself.[141] Hence, in sacrificing victims it was torn out and offered to the god as representing the immaterial part of the individual, that which survived the death of the body.
The two names _Ah-raxa-lak_ and _Ah-raxa-sel_ literally mean, “He of the green dish,” “He of the green cup.” Thus Ximenez gives them, and adds that forms of speech with _rax_ signify things of beauty, fit for kings and lords, as are brightly colored cups and dishes.
_Rax_ is the name of the colors blue and green, which it is said by many writers cannot be distinguished apart by these Indians; or at least that they have no word to express the difference. _Rax_, by extension, means new, strong, rough, violent, etc.[142] Coming immediately after the names “Soul of the Lake,” “Soul of the Sea,” it is possible that the “blue plate” is the azure surface of the tropical sea.
In the second paragraph I have quoted, the narrator introduces us to “the ancestress (_iyom_), the ancestor (_mamom_), by name Xpiyacoc, Xmucane.” These were prominent figures in Quiche mythology; they were the embodiments of the paternal and maternal powers of organic life; they were invoked elsewhere in the _Popol Vuh_ to favor the germination of seeds, and the creation of mankind; they are addressed as “ancestress of the sun, ancestress of the light.” The old man, Xpiyacoc, is spoken of as the master of divination by the _tzite_, or sacred beans; the old woman, Xmucane, as she who could forecast days and seasons (_ahgih_); they were the parents of those mighty ones “whose name was Ahpu,” masters of magic.[143] From this ancient couple, Ximenez tells us the native magicians and medicine men of his day claimed to draw their inspiration, and they were especially consulted touching the birth of infants, in which they were still called upon to assist in spite of the efforts of the padres. It is clear throughout that they represented mainly the peculiar functions of the two sexes.