Ixtab the Hanged
Ixtab the Hanged,
Ixtab the Hanged
Up in the heavens with
Kukulcán the Fanged
The Ceiba dances with rotten appendages
The Maya hanging there
They gave their lives for Paradise
In Ixtab’s loving care
Suicide, the ultimate sacrifice!
By noose, she does prefer
The gods of the ground can’t get them now
They’re safe while with her
In her festering benevolence
She watches one’s last breath
The noose is like a deadly serpent
Choking them to death
Ixtab is not a macabre mistress
As some see as common truth
She’s actually a medium
To a land of eternal youth
Ixtab (eesh-tahb) is the Mayan goddess of sacrificial suicide. She is also known as The Lady of the Noose. According to the Maya, a ceiba tree represents the three planes of existence. The only way to travel between planes is through death. This applies to the gods, too. Some gods change form when traveling between the planes. The trunk of the tree represents our world. The roots of the tree represent Xibalba, the Mayan underworld. Ah Puch is the primary god of Xibalba. All dead (except for the ones taken by Ixtab) are sent there. Like most underworlds, it is a place of suffering. The branches of the tree represent the heavens. Itzamná is the primary god of the heavens. Ixtab hangs from one of its branches. She takes those that have sacrificed themselves to her or that died an otherwise noble death (e.g. war victims, women who died during childbirth, etc.). Mayan culture is the only known culture to promote suicide.
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