IX CHEL (E'SHELL) IS THE VERY BEAUTIFUL ANCIENT MOON GODDESS WORSHIPPED BY THE MAYA. SHE IS THE MOTHER OF ALL OF THE MAYAN DEITIES AND RULES OVER THE CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH. AS THE "KEEPER OF SOULS", SHE IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING FROM A YOUNG BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN INTO THE WISENED OLD CRONE WHO SHARES THE WISDOM OF THE AGES WITH HER PEOPLE.
THE OLD MAYAN LEGEND TELLS US THAT IX CHEL HAD ONCE TAKEN THE SUN AS HER LOVER, BUT HER GRANDFATHER, IN A MURDEROUS RAGE KILLED HER BY HURLING LIGHTNING BOLTS AT HER. AND THEN, IT IS SAID THAT FOR 13 DAYS, THE DRAGONFLIES SANG OF HER IN MOURNING, AND THEIR MAGIC EVENTUALLY BROUGHT HER BACK TO LIFE. IMMEDIATELY, SHE RETURNED TO THE SUN, BUT THEIR LIASON WAS VERY BRIEF FOR THE SUN SOON ACCUSED HER OF UNFAITHFULNESS WITH HIS BROTHER, THE MORNING STAR. SHE WAS THEN EVICTED FROM THE HEAVENS, BUT NOT FOR LONG. THE SUN FOUND HE COULD NOT BE WITHOUT THE BEAUTIFUL GODDESS AND BEGGED HER TO RETURN. SHE DID, BUT SOON THEREAFTER, HE ONCE AGAIN GREW JEALOUS, AND LEGEND SAYS THAT HE 'TOOK AWAY HER BRILLIANCE' AFTER THEY QUARRELED, LEAVING HER WITH ONLY A SILVER LIGHT. IX CHEL WAS DRAINED AND SADDENED BY HIS ACTIONS, SO SHE LEFT....THIS TIME TO WANDER THE NIGHT AND FOREVER THEREAFTER TO MAKE HER SELF INVISIBLE WHENEVER THE SUN APPEARED. IN THIS WAY, SHE WAS FREE TO COME AND GO AS SHE PLEASED...ALLOWING NO ONE TO OWN HER.
DURING THE TIME THE TWO WERE TOGETHER, IX CHEL HAD BORN THE SUN GOD FOUR SONS. THEY ARE THE JAGUAR GODS WHO ARE ABLE TO CREEP THROUGH THE NIGHT, SIGHT UNSEEN. THEY WERE NAMED FOR THE "FOUR DIRECTIONS", AND IT IS SAID THAT EACH ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HOLDING UP HIS CORNER OF THE EARTH.
AS THE ANCIENT FERTILITY GODDESS, IX CHEL WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SENDING THE RAINS WHICH NOURISHED THE CROPS, AND WHILE SHE WAS FULFILLING THAT FUNCTION, SHE WAS CALLED "LADY RAINBOW". IX STANDS FOR GODDESS AND CHEL FOR RAINBOW. MAYAN WOMEN WERE EXPECTED, AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIME, TO COMPLETE A PILGRIMAGE TO HER SACRED ISLAND TO OFFER HER GIFTS AND TO RECEIVE HER BLESSINGS. FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, THESE WOMEN MADE THE TWELVE MILE TRIP BY BOAT, AND MANY OF THE MAYAN SHRINES DEDICATED TO HER ARE STILL STANDING TODAY.
IX CHEL IS THE GODDESS WHO REFUSED TO BECOME A VICTIM OF OPPRESSION. THIS WAS A WOMAN WHO, WHEN FACED WITH ADVERSITY, TOOK CONTROL OF HER OWN LIFE AND TURNED IT AROUND. WE CAN LEARN A LOT FROM HER.SHE TEACHES US THAT WOMEN DO NOT HAVE TO BE A VICTIM, THAT WE HAVE THE POWER OF CHOICE, AND WE SHOULD NEVER LET ANYONE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US.
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