Chaac
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Chaac (also rendered as Chaak or Chac) is an important deity in the pantheon of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. In Maya mythology, Chaac was the god associated with rain and thunder, and was also significant in rites and observances associated with fertility and agriculture.
Like some other Maya gods, Chaac was sometimes thought of as one god, and other times as 4 separate gods based in the four cardinal directions: "Chac Xib Chaac", Red Chaac of the East; "Sac Xib Chaac", White North Chaac; "Ek Xib Chaac" Black West Chaac", and "Kan Xib Chaac", Yellow South Chaac.
In art, he was sometimes depicted as an old man with some reptilian or amphibian features, with fangs and a long nose, sometimes tears coming from his eyes (symbolizing rain) and carrying an axe (which caused thunder). He was associated with the frog.
Other Maya terms used to refer to Chaac include Ah Tzenul, ("he who gives food away to other people"), Hopop Caan ("he who lights the sky")
Names for the Rain God in other Mesoamerican cultures include Cocijo (Zapotec) and Tlaloc (Aztec).
While most of the ancient Mesoamerican gods are long forgotten by the descendants of the original inhabitants today, prayers to the Chaacs, most generally as a routine and not in times of drought, are documented in Yucatán as continuing into the 21st century among nominal Christian Maya farmers. Anthropologists have documented other prayers still in use which are identical to pre-Columbian prayers to Chaac except that the name Chaac has been replaced by that of Saint Thomas.
The deity Chaac is not related to or represented by the Toltec / post-Classic Maya statuary figurines or altars commonly known as "Chac Mool". These figures, which feature a reclining human form with head angled to the side and holding a form of plate or bowl above its midriff are instead believed to have been associated with sacrificial offering rituals. The name "chac mool" is an invention coined by the 19th century antiquarian Augustus Le Plongeon, where "chac" reputedly corresponds to the Yukatek word chak, meaning "red" or "great".
