The Mystery of God L

It was asked "who is God L?" There was no answer expected since the Maya culture has been isolated from the rest of Mexico by the anthropologists. Nor should there be an answer because even though we have many pictures to illustrate this strange god form, we have little information as to its purpose.

The only way to find the identification of this god is to backtrack through the early definitions of this personage. Sylvanus G. Morley identified a hook nosed god with a snaggle front tooth, as Kulkulcan, the god of Civilization and Learning. It was said that he came into the Yucatan from the West and was the counterpart of the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, the Mexican God of Light. It is possible that he was a real person, and it is possible that he was upon his death, given attributes of this god form.

The Dresden Codex (48) shows this same snaggle-toothed god as a black war god who emerges out of the mouth of a calendar serpent. On his head is an animal head with ears of a jaguar (or the night sky). But still he is a warrior god carrying the shield of Palenque. Here he is God L as a warrior, with a great bird on top of his head. On his leg cuff, he wears a flower form instead of the God L hook. This should be an indication of his involvement with Xolotl as a meteorite.

Mary Miller and Karl Taube took still another God L from the Dresden Codex, (72c). He is imitating the Paddler Gods of Tikal, in a boat marked with the two circles on a curved line which appears on the Onyx bowl star observer. The bird sits on the front edge of this "boat." In a smaller glyph illustration just behind the head of God L (72c) is another bowl with a new constellation on top. It has the appearance of a dog, one called Xolotl.

Another illustration in the Dresden 14c, God L is dressed in a net, again has the bird atop his head. The presence of the bird indicates that God L may be a constellation. Since he is said to be a god of merchants also, it is reasonable to assume that he is the protector of the North Star and is an aid to directions during night travel.

Using a bird constellation star event as a basis for the combination of Aztec and Maya myths, Xolotl is the part of the comet that fell to earth as a meteorite. He was the twin of Quetzalcoatl, the comet of destruction which continued on its way.

He is symbolized as a ball of feathers (fire ball) which impregnated his mother Coatlicue.

When Xolotl emerged at his birth as a full-grown warrior, his avatar and name then became Huitzilopochtli who battled his brothers and sisters the stars to protect his mother/sister, the Moon Goddess, who in this instance could not have been the Moon in the sky, but the Moon which rose into the heavens. The southern rim of the volcanic chain which enclosed the great lake system of Texcoco like a great bowl was the "reflector" of the Moon and part of the birth process from Coatlicue. It is for this reason the conch shell became symbol of the great mother moon goddess, hence associated with birth. "They placed on the moon's head as marine shell to denote a man emerging from womb" of great mother. Vatican A (Thompson 1950:133)

The Moon Disk of the Aztecs indicates that the Moon goddess was torn to pieces.

The actual event was that a volcano emerged in full fury of an eruption (in full armor), probably as Quetzalcoatl, the comet returned on a closer run dropping more meteorites (The four hundred stars/sisters and brothers of the great sky/earth battle). During the disaster, Amecameca was covered with the lava flow and a great rupture occurred between Popocatepetl and Ixtaccíhuatl which extended from the Puerto Rican Trench to Baja California.

God L, in this instance, could be part of the constellations which travels the great sky river called the Milky Way. As a constellation, the main element which identifies him would be the snaggle tooth in front of his head. A serpent has this tooth when it is born. It is called the egg tooth and is an aid in breaking the shell during its birth. The only constellation that wears a bird on its head and is a serpent form is Draco. Cygnus, with the recognized exploding star X-1, would be seen on the edge of a small bowl used for star observation, and in perfect agreement with the Dresden (72c) illustration. God L, then I suggest, is the constellation Draco.

Since Draco does not circle the heavens, only coils around the North Star, one can also assume that God L as Draco is he who sent the dog Xolotl to earth as the stone egg who was to be born as Huitzilopochtli As a god of merchants and warriors, he is the protector of the North Star in the heavenly spheres.