I recently discovered that the origin of our word “hurricane” actually comes from the name of a Mayan storm god, “Hurakan.” This seems pretty unusual, since I’m really not able to name probably a single other Mayan god, let alone one which has penetrated our language like that.

Delusions of Grandeur, with their excellent demonology section, is where I initially learned about Hurakan, who is also spelled Hurrican, Huracan, & Harakan. They have a description of Hurakan’s role in the creation epics of the Mayas.

There’s really not too much info available about Hurakan online, although Pantheon.org has a brief entry:

Hurakan is the ancient Mayan god of wind and storm. He visits the anger of the gods upon humanity by bringing about the Flood. He is a creator god who according to legend dwelt in the mists hanging over the primeval flood, in the form of the wind, ceaselessly repeating the word “earth” until the solid world rose from the seas. When the gods became angry with the first human beings, Hurukan unleashed the deluge which destroyed them. From his name the word ‘hurricane’ is derived. Hurakan means “one-legged”.

The quasi-irritating Godchecker site also has a listing for him, although it’s even shorter and less informative. One thing that stands out is they say they don’t get why they call him “One-Legged.” If I may venture a guess, perhaps they are implying that the actual hurricane itself is his leg, coming down from heaven.

A few other hurricane-related links:

1. Very brief entry on Hurakan
2. Tropical cyclones and Hurricanes on Wikipedia
3. A NOVA documentary on DVD about hurricanes
4. Bob Dylan’s song, “Hurricane” (Not really about hurricanes though, of course)
5. The post which inspired this one, over at Myth & Culture: Atmospheric Pressure