Yaxche – Yaxche: The Tree of Life
https://www.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Yaxche
https://historicalmx.org/items/show/141
Yaxche is a Flower Treant and the “Spirit of the Land”. He is also the Athames, Amulets, and Rings Recipe Vendor in Azteca. Wizards must break the Shadow and cure his sickness and Blight in the quest Wilting Flowers, before he will sell any of his recipes.
The Yaxche, as the Maya referred to it, was the representation of what is known in vast ancient civilizations as the tree of life. In the Maya civilization the Yaxche is represented by the Ceiba pentandra, known as the Kapok tree in English, that is native to the southern Mexico region. The Yaxche was a symbol that permeated into the Maya mythology, architecture, and societal ambience.
In Maya mythology the Yaxche hold a high importance because of its significance in the creation story of the Maya people. According to the Popol Vuh, an ancient Maya scripture, the gods planted four Ceiba trees in each corner of the world, in the east a red Ceiba; in the west a black Ceiba; in the south a yellow Ceiba; and in the north a white Ceiba, so that they could hold up the heavens. The fifth Yaxche was planted in the center of the four trees so that its roots could reach Xibalba, the underworld, and its branches reached the heavens. The fifth tree was viewed as the sacred connector of the three realms; the Underworld, the Middle world, and the heavens. The World Tree, as it was called, was thought to provide a channel for the souls of humans to travel into the underworld or the heavens and was seen as sacred because it was the only way the gods had of traveling into the Middle world.
The current list of all the (known) Azteca references are located here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references, I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages.
Yaxche image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.
Goddess Tree and Kapok tree images are borrowed from Historical Mexico.org
Vulcan Stev's Database 