Vision Serpent - Maya Religious Rites

Maya Religious Rites

There was a Vision Serpent named Och-Kan, lord of Kalak'mul.

One of the most common rituals associated with the Vision serpent involved invoking ancestral spirits. Especially during coronation rites, the kings would contact the spirits for guidance and blessings. It is the Vision Serpent who provides the medium for contacting these deities.

It is believed that Lord Pakal's sarcophagus lid, which was located at Palenque, is probably “the single most comprehensive image which relates the Vision Serpent to Maya religion.” It depicts the death of Pakal and his descent into the Underworld. “The bicepalous serpent bar is placed horizontally on the World Tree and is the conduit for this transition. In the same way that the Vision Serpent represents a conduit between the physical world and the spirit realm of the ancestors, this bicephalous serpent bar represents a conduit between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.”