Tohil
Tohil is the Maya god of fire and a deity of the Kʼicheʼ Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. He was the patron god of the Kʼicheʼ at the time of the Spanish Conquest and was included in the Tolteca pantheon. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity, and he was also a war god, sun god, and the god of rain, associated with mountains, war, sacrifice, and sustenance.
↻ synthesized from 7 sources
When
- First attested
- 1500 BCE
- Attested period
- -1500 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica until Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
Relationships
- syncretized with
- Qʼuqʼumatz, Cocijo, Huracan, U Kʼux Kaj, God K, Bolon Tzacab, Tezcatlipōca, K'awiil, Belehe Toh, Hun Toh, Quetzalcoatl, King Martin
- co occurs with
- Ixbalanque, Kʼukʼulkan, K'awiil, Tepeyollotl, Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, Gagavitz, Huitzilopochtli, Ometecuhtli, Omecihuatl, Itzamna, Tepeu
- allied with
- Awilix, Jacawitz, Qʼuqʼumatz
- manifests as
- Feathered Serpent
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“Deerskins, the symbol of Tohil, are to this day venerated in many highland Maya communities and are used in dances. In Rabinal, Tohil was merged with St Paul while still retaining many of his characteristics.”
#17535 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“In Qʼumarkaj the temple of Awilix faced the temple of Tohil across a small plaza. It was on the east side of the plaza with a stairway giving access from the west. Investigations at the temple have revealed that eagle imagery was predominant. The high priest of Awilix was chosen from the Nijaʼibʼ lineage and was called the Ajaw Awilix.”
#18574 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“It is called Quetzalcōātl among the Aztecs; Kukulkan among the Yucatec Maya; and Qʼuqʼumatz and Tohil among the Kʼicheʼ Maya. The double symbolism used by the Feathered Serpent is considered allegorical to the dual nature of the deity: being feathered represents its divine nature or ability to fly to reach the skies, while being a serpent represents its human nature or ability to creep on the ground among other animals of the Earth, a dualism very common in Mesoamerican deities.”
#32962 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Similarities exist between Tezcatlipoca and the patron deity of the K'iche' Maya, Tohil, as described in the Popol Vuh. The name Tohil refers to obsidian and he was associated with sacrifice.”
#33027 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“The temple was located directly between the temples to the important Kʼicheʼ deities Tohil and Awilix, slightly north of the central axis of the temple of Tohil”
#33084 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5