The function of elite Maya architecture should not always be interpreted literally, for it may also reflect metaphorical and semantic extensions best studied through iconography, hieroglyphic texts, ethnohistory, and ethnography. This holistic approach is employed to help resolve puzzling features of the Cross Group sanctuaries at Palenque, Mexico. The Cross Group likely served as the setting for symbolic sweatbaths, probably involving effigies of supernaturals under the care of Kan Balam, the Palenque ruler who commissioned these structures. This and other arguments situate such information within an understanding of metaphor in Maya architecture.