These considerations lead to the assumption that the Popol Vuh is a mythological collection of very considerable antiquity, as the fusion of religious beliefs is a comparatively slow process. It is, of course, in the absence of other data, impossible to fix the date of its origin, even approximately. We possess only the one version of this interesting work, so that we are compelled to confine ourselves to the consideration of that alone, and are without the assistance which philology would lend us by a comparison of two versions of different dates.
We discover a pair of dual beings concerned in the Kiche creation. These are Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the Father-Mother deities, and are obviously Kiche equivalents to the Mexican Ometecutli-Omeciuatl, whom we have already noticed (pp. 103-4). The former is the male fructifier, whilst the name of the latter signifies "Female Vigour." These deities were probably regarded as hermaphroditic, as numerous North American Indian gods appear to be, and may be analogous to the "Father Sky" and "Mother Earth" of so many mythologies.
We also find Gucumatz concerned in the Kiche scheme of creation. He was a Maya-Kiche form of the Mexican Quetzalcoatl, or perhaps the converse was the case. The name signifies, like its Nahua equivalent, "Serpent with Green Feathers."
Hurakan, the wind-god, "He who hurls below," whose name perhaps signifies "The One-legged," is probably the same as the Nahua Tezcatlipoca. It has been suggested that the word "hurricane" has been evolved from the name of this god, but the derivation seems rather too fortuitous to be real. Hurakan had the assistance of three sub-gods, Cakulha-Hurakan (Lightning), Chipi-Cakulha (Lightning-flash), and Raxa-Cakulha (Track of the Lightning).
Hun-Apu and Xbalanque, the hero-gods, appear to have the attributes of demi-gods in general. The name Hun-Apu means "Master" or "Magician," and Xbalanque "Little Tiger." We find many such figures in American myth, which is rich in hero-gods.
Vukub-Cakix and his progeny are, of course, earth-giants like the Titans of Greek mythology or the Jötuns of Scandinavian story. The removal of the emerald teeth of Vukub-Cakix and their replacement by grains of maize would seem to be a mythical interpretation or allegory of the removal of the virgin turf of the earth and its replacement by maize-seed. Therefore it is possible that Vukub-Cakix is an earth-god, and not a prehistoric sun-and-moon god, as stated by Dr. Seler. [12]