Goddess I

Goddess I is the Schellhas-Zimmermann-Taube letter designation for one of the most important Maya deities: a youthful woman to whom considerable parts of the post-Classic codices are dedicated, and who equally figures in Classic Period scenes. Based on her representation in codical almanacs, she is considered to represent vital functions of the fertile woman, and to preside over eroticism, human procreation, and marriage. Her aged form is associated with weaving. Goddess I could, perhaps, be seen as a terrestrial counterpart to the Maya moon goddess. In important respects, she corresponds to Xochiquetzal among the Aztecs, a deity with no apparent connection to the moon.

The hieroglyphical name of the goddess consists of a female head characterized by a hair-like curl (prefixed or infixed). The curl is not unimportant, since it is usually assumed to be the sign of the earth (kab'[an]) or the moon (Landa's u-sign), with the goddess being identified accordingly. However, the curl might, perhaps, better be viewed as the post-Classic rendition of the infix and hair curl characteristic of Classic glyphs for 'woman' (ixik). The head of goddess I is often preceded by the glyph for 'white' (sak). The figure of goddess I shows a restricted set of variable attributes, amongst which is also the coiled snake headband of goddess O. As a mantic designation, 'White Woman' contrasts with 'Red Woman', a name referring to the aged patroness of midwifery, Ixchel (the goddess O). In the codices, the main female functions have been distributed over the White Woman - the Red Woman.

Goddess I is the subject of almanacs which take up several pages in the Post-Classic codices of Dresden (16-23) and Madrid (91-95). There, she is chiefly represented in the following ways:

The bird species have been argued to refer to the names of specific diseases mentioned in early-colonial medical treatises (especially the Ritual of the Bacabs). Goddess I thereby appears to function as a general mother of disease.

The deity (e.g., the rain god, the death god) or the symbol (e.g., 'abundance') contains a general prognostication.

The deity so held may contain a prediction relative to the child's development.

The combinations with a deity or an animal (vulture, armadillo, deer, dog) seem to refer to the prospects of marriage, in the Madrid codex symbolized by the reed mat on which the couples have been placed. The deity or the animal may be indicative of certain qualities of the male partner in marriage, with the female partner representing the constant element. In some cases - involving a young deity as well as the old, lecherous God N - the coupling has unmistakably erotic overtones.

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