- Camazotz
- (CAM-ah-zots)Variations: Cama-Zotz, H'ik'al, Sotz, Zotz, Zotzilaha ChimalmanCamazotz, a greatly feared blood drinker, wasthe vampiric bat god of the ancient Mayan people of Central America, the Quiche Maya of Guatemala around 100 B. C., and the Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico. His name translates in a number of befitting nomenclatures, such as "black man," "death bat," "neckcutter," "the sudden bloodletter" and "Snatch Bat." In art he is depicted as a large man-bat creature sporting a knife in one hand and a human sacrifice in the other.In chapter three of the Popol Vuh, the Mayan'ssacred book, it was Camazotz who slew the first race of man; in chapter ten it was he who beheaded the hero Hunahpú. Ultimately, Camazotz was defeated in the battle between the gods and man.Each year, the planting of the corn is timedwith Camazotz's descent into Xilbalba, the Mayan equivalent of hell. He is feared by the Zotzil people of Chiapas, Mexico, to this day.Source: Allardice, Myths, Gods and Fantasy, 50; Nicholson, Mexican and Central American Mythology, 37; Spence, Myths of Mexico and Peru, 172, 226, 344 45; Stefoff, Vampires, Zombies, and Shape-Shifters, 17
Encyclopedia of vampire mythology . 2014.