Ix Chel
Ix Chac Chel, the Weaver of Life, Xmucane, the Lady of the Rainbow, the Spider’s Web that Catches the Morning Dew, LG Greater power of birth, medicine, weaving, feminism (She/Her)
Pantheon: Maya
Symbol: A spider or a dew drop
Realm:Â Ysgard / Ysgard / Wak Chan Witz and Mechanus / The Garden of Practicality
Known Proxies: None known
Cutter, sit for a moment and let me spin you the chant about Ix Chel—a goddess from the Maya pantheon who’s got more layers than an onion, and believe me, I’ve peeled a few in my time. She’s one of those powers who straddles the fine line between nurturing and fierce, like a midwife cradling both life and death in her hands. She’s a sort of grandmotherly figure—if your granny’s hair was a nest of writhing snakes, and she had jaguar claws which could tear through both flesh and fate. The Maya call her the Weaver of Life, and her spinning wheel ain’t just for making scarves—it’s life itself she’s stitching together.
Now, Ix Chel, or Lady of the Rainbow as some cutters colourfully name her, holds sway over birth, medicine, and weaving, among other things. Fertility’s her game, and she’s the one you’d pray to if you’re looking for healthy spawn, or to heal the wounds of battle. She appears in two forms—the young, vibrant maiden and the crone-like elder. They say her eyes can see all that women endure, both struggles and the triumphs, and she offers them the tools they need to carve their own path, whether it’s a healer’s poultice or the strength to bring new life into the world.
She’s got her roots planted firmly in Ysgard, and her realm, Wak Chan Witz, is perched among the sacred earthbergs there, where she and her proxies weave the fates of mortals with spider-silk threads. The clockwork universe ties her to Mechanus too, where the gears of life tick along in an orderly fashion. Her domain within that orderly plane is known as the Garden of Practicality—a place where the practical meets the arcane, where medicine and magic intermingle like a herbal tea and sugar. The symbol of the spider speaks to her nature as a weaver of destinies, while the symbol of the dew drop represents the essence of fresh life. On the flipside of the cog with her realm is the realm of Itzamna, her husband.
Now, despite her maternal leanings, don’t mistake Ix Chel for a passive power. She’s had a few spats in her time, most notably with Ishtar—Ix Chel sees her as a puppet of the patriarchy, promoting masculine power at the expense of women’s rights. Aye, that’s the kind of fight Ix Chel loves to get her claws into. In terms of allies, she’s a good mate of Isis—the two have a lot in common, both being powers that defend the rights of women and wield the power of life itself. It’s said that when they meet, they trade wisdom on the threads of fate that belong to the children recently born to followers of their respective pantheons.
Ix Chel also gets along with Hera from the Greek pantheon, bonding over the whole marriage-and-fertility gig, although it’s known she is not a fan of Zeus. Freyja of the Norse pantheon has got a soft spot for Ix Chel, since both share an affinity for magic and the mysteries of life and death.
She’s not one for grandeur and spectacle like some other powers—she’s more about practical magic, the sort that keeps cutters alive and brings new life into the world. Her quiet strength is woven through the very fabric of reality, in every dew drop, every newborn’s cry, and every thread spun by weavers in her name. Ix Chel is a power to respect, not just for her healing hands, but for her defiant spirit too.
Source: Alexander Crim, whose Planescape Maya Powers are described in this great resource, Alex Roberts and Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: The Maya pantheon is not a part of official Planescape canon.
