Editing Hopi mythology (section)

==Major deities==
[[File:Hopi Tawa Mural.jpeg|thumb|Tawa, the sun spirit and creator in Hopi mythology.]]

Most Hopi [[creation myths|creation stories]] center around Tawa, the sun spirit. Tawa is the creator, and it was he who formed the "First World" out of Tokpella, or endless space, as well as its original inhabitants.<ref>Harold Courlander. ''The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians as Preserved in their Legends and Traditions'', 17 University of New Mexico Press, 1987</ref>  It is still traditional for Hopi mothers to seek a blessing from the sun for their newborn children.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Me and Mine: The Life Story of Helen Sekaquaptewa |last=Sekaquaptewa |first=Helen |publisher=[[University of Arizona Press]] |year=1969 |edition=1st |location=Tucson |pages=7|language=en |url=https://archive.org/details/meminelifestoryo00seka/page/7/mode/1up |last2=Udall |first2=Louise |lccn=68-54714 |ol=24767180M |others=Illustrated by Phillip Sekaquaptewa|access-date=2023-09-06 |ol-access=free}}</ref> Other accounts have it that Tawa, or Taiowa, first created Sotuknang, whom he called his nephew, and sent him to create the nine universes according to his plan. Sotuknang also created [[Spider Grandmother|Spider Woman]], who served as a messenger for the creator and was an [[intercession|intercessor]] between the deity and the people. In some versions of the Hopi creation myth, she creates all life, under the direction of Sotuknang.<ref>Recorded in the 1950s by Oswald White Bear Fredericks and his wife Naomi from the storytelling of older Hopi at the village of Oraibi, reproduced in [http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSFourCreations.html ''Creation Stories from around the World''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220030601/http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSFourCreations.html |date=2019-12-20 }} (2000) 4th ed.</ref> Yet other stories tell that life was created by Hard Being Woman of the West and Hard Being Woman of the East, while the sun merely observed the process.<ref>H.R. Voth. ''The Traditions of the Hopi'', 1 (Chicago, 1905)</ref><ref>Harold Courlander explains that this version of the story is an attempt to amalgamate two conflicting Hopi traditions dealing with two female deities, Spider Grandmother and Huruing Wuhti (Hard Being Woman).  Spider Grandmother has a central role or myth where the Hopi arrive in the Fourth World via the [[sipapu]], whereas Hard Being Woman is related to Hopi legends that they arrived in the Fourth World by boat. ''The Fourth World of the Hopi'', 205.</ref>

Masauwu (Maasaw, Mausauu), Skeleton Man, was the Spirit of Death, Earth God, door keeper to the Fifth World, and the Keeper of Fire. He was also the Master of the Upper World, or the Fourth World, and was there when the good people escaped the wickedness of the Third World for the promise of the Fourth.<ref>Harold Courlander. The Fourth World of the Hopis, 22.</ref>   Masauwu is described as wearing a hideous mask, but again showing the diversity of myths among the Hopi,  Masauwu was alternately described as a handsome, bejewelled man beneath his mask or as a bloody, fearsome creature.  He is also assigned certain benevolent attributes.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Pueblo Gods and Myths |last=Tyler |first=Hamilton A. |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |year=1964 |isbn=0806111127 |edition=1st |location=Norman |pages=5-7 |language=en |url=https://archive.org/details/pueblogodsmyths0000unse/page/5/mode/1up |ol=18370109M |access-date=2023-09-06 |ol-access=free}}</ref> 

Other important deities include the twin war gods, the [[kachinas]], and the trickster, [[Coyote (mythology)|Coyote]].

[[Maize]] is vital to Hopi subsistence and religion.  "For traditional Hopis, [[Maize|corn]] is the central bond. Its essence, physically, spiritually, and symbolically, pervades their existence. For the people of the mesas corn is sustenance, ceremonial object, prayer offering, symbol, and sentient being unto itself. Corn is the Mother in the truest sense that people take in the corn and the corn becomes their flesh, as mother milk becomes the flesh of the child."<ref>Dennis Wall and Virgil Masayesva, "People of the Corn: Teachings in Hopi Traditional Agriculture, Spirituality, and Sustainability", ''American Indian Quarterly'', Summer/Fall 2004, pp. 435–453.</ref>