B'alam Family
Balam, Jaguar in the Mayan language, is an animal that was highly respected and venerated by the Maya people. The Maya believed that the jaguar had the ability to cross between worlds - between the living world (which was associated with the day) and the spirit world (which was associated with the night). And as the jaguar is quite at home with the night, they were considered part of the underworld. Because of this, usually any Maya gods with jaguar attributes or garments are therefore associated with the underworld. But not all associations were dark though, these large felines were also associated with vegetation and fertility and this connection is represented by what is known as the Waterlily Jaguar - a jaguar depicted with water lilies sprouting from its head.

The pelts of the jaguars were both desirable and highly prized, but restricted only to those privileged enough to be included in the Maya ruling class, barring an exception mentioned further down. In some cases, not only did the Maya kings wear the jaguar pelts, but they also included jaguar as part of their ruling name as a symbol of their might and authority. A prime example would be Shield Jaguar (Itzamnaaj B’alam – see the ShieldJaguar family page for more information), another one of the Maya family names here in the Americas. The use of balam within a name wasn’t soley restricted to the men either, several royal ladies also used it such as Ix Mu B’alam from Yaxchilan. As with the Aztecs, the jaguar was also connected to the warriors and hunters of the Maya, those who excelled in these areas were allowed to adorn themselves with pelts, teeth or claws and were considered to possess feline souls.