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What are the cultural and mythological depictions of Jaguars?

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The living and the earth are associated with the day, and the spirit world and the ancestors are associated with the night. As the jaguar is quite at home in the nighttime, the jaguar is believed to part of the underworld; thus, "Maya gods with jaguar attributes or garments are underworld gods" (Benson 1998:64). read more

As for the mythology and legends, the jaguar was seen as a god in Peru, Mexico, and Guatemala, in pre-Columbian America. The Mayans, Aztecs, and Inca all worshiped the jaguar in some form. In the pantheon, the jaguar god was second only to the snake god in religious importance. read more

The Olmec Gods are very important from an anthropological or cultural point of view and understanding them is critical to understanding Olmec civilization. The Olmec civilization, in turn, was the first major Mesoamerican culture and all of the later ones, such as the Aztec and Maya, borrowed heavily from these forebears. read more

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The Gods of the Olmec
www.thoughtco.com

The Jaguar in Mexico
www.mexicolore.co.uk