Each of the Nine Gods of the underworld has his or her own specialty (there are four female deities and five males). The Bolontiku communicate with their votaries through what we would call channeling and prophetic dreams, which to the Maya were as much a part of everyday life as the telephone and television are to us. A dream prompted by the Bolontiku can be distinguished from a normal dream by the invariable presence of one personage who says nothing but who stands in the background of whatever scene is unfolding. Upon awakening the dreamer realizes that this mute personage was actually inducing and directing the entire experience, and is in fact one of the Nine revealing a message of importance.