Ah Puch

Ah Puch depicted in the Dresden Codex

In Maya mythology, Ah Puch (Alternatively Ahpuch or Hun ahau where the first /a/ is sometimes omitted if the words are pronounced continuously) was the God of death and King of Metnal, the underworld. He was depicted as a skeleton or corpse adorned with bells, sometimes the head of an owl; even today, some Mexicans and Central Americans believe that an owl's screeches signify imminent death, as the following saying, in local Spanish, indicates:

Cuando el tecolote canta... el indio muere   (When the great owl sings, the Indian dies)

[edit] See also

• Mictlantecuhtli

<tr><td></td><td> This article relating to a myth or legend from Mesoamerica is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.</td ></tr ></table ></div >