Hunab Ku Symbol – History And Meaning
The Hunab Ku (the Galactic Butterfly) is an ancient symbol that is associated with the Mayans but is also considered to have Aztec origins. Some also believe it has ties with Christianity. This Mayan symbol represents the merging of opposites and the One Being or the Supreme God.
If you want to learn more about the Hunab Ku symbol, read on to find out the meaning, history, and significance of this Mayan symbol.
Hunab Ku Symbol – History And Meaning
In the eyes of the Yucatec Maya people, there was only one single great god and that was Hunab Ku. They believed this supreme god had no distinct shape or form and they considered him to be the source of all energy.
Hunab Ku is a term that means ‘the One God.’ It is used in both colonial and doctrinal texts in reference to the Christian God. Hunab Ku is a Mayan translation of the Christian belief in one God, used in converting the Mayan people who were previously polytheistic. Thus, Hunab Ku is suggested as proof of the monotheism of the ancient Mayan people.
Hunab Ku History
Found in the 16th-century Diccionario de Motul is the earliest known publicly available reference to the term ‘Hunab Ku.’ This translates to ‘Sole God’ or ‘Only God.’
The term Hunab Ku is also associated with the expression “In Lak’ech,” which means “You are my other I.” The deity Hunab Ku is referred to as the only living and true god. Among the Yucatec Maya people, however, Hunab Ku was known as the greatest of all deities.
Some claim that Hunab Ku is a pre-Hispanic deity, but this interpretation is not widely accepted by most of today’s Mayanist scholars.
The god Hunab Ku is also associated with Itzamna, the Mayan creator god and ruler of heaven, day and night.
The Hunab Ku Symbol
This Mayan deity is said to be formless or incorporeal so he could not be represented. But representations of Hunab Ku do exist by means of the symbol that looks like a circular motif resembling the yin-yang symbol of Asia.
It is depicted as a black-and-white spiral galaxy as well, which is why this Mayan symbol is also referred to as the Galactic Butterfly.
The Hunab Ku is also said to be connected to symbols and concepts of Freemasonry, the idea of a Great Architect of the Universe in particular, and the Masonic compass and square. It is interpreted as the cycles of nature and human lives.
Hunab Ku Symbol Meaning
The earliest known reference to ‘Hunab Ku’ translates the term to a number of meanings: ‘Sole God,’ ‘One God’ and ‘Only God,’ among others. The Hunab Ku is an ancient Mayan symbol that represents order, balance, wholeness, and unity in the universe.
The Hunab Ku symbolizes the opposites merging harmoniously—black and white, good and evil, male and female, life and death, internal and external, dark and light, up and down, yin and yang, conscious and unconscious, and others. The Hunab Ku is believed to serve as a bridge that connects these opposites.
This symbol also represents the Supreme God (the One Being or the Only God), as Hunab is translated as ‘one state of being’ and Ku means ‘God.’
