Xmucane
An elderly creator goddess of the Popol Vuh, who prepares the yellow and white maize from which the first people are made.
The People Made of Maize
The Popol Vuh of the K’iche’ Maya, from the copy made by Francisco Ximénez, as printed by Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg (Paris, 1861) · a creation story; written down in Latin letters probably in the 1500s; the surviving copy made about 1700–1715
Quehecut x-e quicot vi rumal ri u riqitahic utzilah huyub, nohinak chi guz, tzatz chi gana hal, zaki hal, tzatz naipuch chi pek, chi caco; mavi ahilan tulul, cavex, ginom, tapal, ahache, cab; nohinak quilah echa chupan ri tinamit pan Paxil, pan Cayala, u bi. Qo-vi echa u vachinel ronohel, chuti echa, nima echa; chuti ticon, nima ticon, x-qut u beel cuma chicop. Ta x-queex cut ri gana hal, zaki hal, beleheb cu uqaal x-u ban Xmucane, echa x-oquic, r’ucha, r’openal x-vinakir, u gabchial u ganaal vinak x-uxic. Ta x-qui ban ri Alom, Qaholom, Tepeuh, Gucumatz que uchaxic.
The creators rejoiced at finding such a good mountain, full of sweet things. It was thick with yellow and white maize, thick also with pataxte and cacao. There were more sapotes, anonas, jocotes, nances, and ahache than anyone could count, and honey too. The town of Paxil and Cayala, as it is called, was full of delicious food. There was food of every kind, small foods and great foods, small plants and great plants, and the animals had shown the way. Then the yellow and white maize was ground, and Xmucane made nine drinks from it. This food went in and became strength and fat. It became the muscle and vigor of humans. This is what the Bearer and Begetter, Tepeuh and Gucumatz, as they are called, did.
X-e uchaxic rumal u Qux Cah, Hurakan, Chipi-Cakulha, Raxa-Cakulha, Tepeu, Gucumatz, Alom, Qaholom, Xpiyacoc, Xmucane, Tzakol, Bitol, que u chaxic ta x-qui ban cut u qoheic chic qui tzak qui bit. Xa cu x-u abax u bak qui vach rumal ri u Qux cah, x-moyic queheri x-uxlabix u vach lemo: x-moyomobic u bak qui vach; xa nakah chic x-e mucun vi, xere chi calah ri e qo-vi.
So spoke Heart of Sky, Hurakan, Chipi-Cakulha, Raxa-Cakulha, Tepeu and Gucumatz, the Bearer and Begetter, Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the Maker and Modeler, as they are called, when they remade the nature of the people they had made. Then Heart of Sky blew mist into their eyes. Their eyes clouded over, like the face of a mirror when someone breathes on it. Their eyes grew dim. Now they could see only what was near. Only what was close around them was clear.