Maya religious behavior are formed on the notion that virtually everything in the world contains g'uh, or sacredness. Chiliad'uh and k'uhul, similar terms which are used to explicate the spirituality of all inanimate and animate things, describe the most divine life force of existence. Maya belief establishes the cosmos and sanctity of human being beings, the earth, and all things sacred. This divine sanctity can be translated into Maya creation myths also.
The Maya Cosmos Myth
Before explaining the Maya cosmos myths, information technology is important to understand the difference between the two sources that the Maya cosmos stories have been found in. These sources include the Popol Vuh and the Books of Chilam Balam. The Popol Vuh is associated with the highland Maya of what is today Guatemala. It contains text almost man creation, prophecies, and traditional myths and histories. TheBooks of Chilam Balam are normally associated with the lowland Maya of the Yucatán area of Mexico. At that place are several books of ChilamBalam which are named for the area in which they were written. The most famous and influential books include the books of Chumayel, Tizimin, Mani, Kaua, Ixil, Tusik, and Codex Pérez. The books are written by a Jaguar priest, a literal translation for Chilam Balam. These books appointment to colonial Spanish times, circa 1500s CE, and in that location is a clear influence of Castilian colonialism on the creation stories of the Chilam Balam.
For the Maya the creation of the earth is said to have been a human activity of Huracán, the wind and heaven god. The sky and earth connected, which left no space for any beings or vegetation to grow. In lodge to brand space, a Ceiba tree was planted. The tree grew roots in all the levels of the underworld and its branches grew into the upper globe. The tree trunk grew to leave space on earth for animals, plants, and humans. According to Maya conventionalities, animals and plants were extant before humans. The gods were not satisfied with only the animals considering they could not speak to honor them. From there, humans were made in order to honor the gods.
The Many Epochs of the Maya
According to Maya texts, thus far, at that place have been three creations. Two of these creations accept ended or, in other words, the creatures have been destroyed. There are many variations of the three creations. Some have been influenced past Christianity, however, the basic events of the creations are detailed in the post-obit explanation from the Popol Vuh of the highland Maya.
Built from Mud
The first creation saw the people who were made of mud. The mud people were not the most productive equally many were not able to retrieve in the chapters that mod-twenty-four hour period humans do and, according to Maya sacred texts, these men "spoke only had no mind." They could not move because they were fabricated of mud and they besides were not technically mortal. The gods were not happy with their first cosmos, so they destroyed the mud people with water.
Congenital from Wood
For the 2d creation, the deities made men from wood and women from reeds. These people could function as humans do, but had no souls and did not award the gods. They were also immortal. When they died, they merely remained dead for 3 days and would rising from the dead. The destruction of the tree men and reed women was caused by an inundation of boiling hot h2o. The few who may accept survived this apocalypse are thought to have become the monkeys that exist today.
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Built from Maize
The tertiary creation saw the birth of modern-twenty-four hour period humans. These humans are made of white and yellowish maize dough and the claret of the gods. The first humans were four men and four women. These men and women were deemed too wise by the gods. The Maya deities believed these intelligent humans were a threat to their authority and almost destroyed them likewise. Notwithstanding, Eye of Sky (likewise known as Huracán, simply in the creation story he is the Heart of Heaven, Heart of World, or Middle of Sky) clouded their minds and optics and so that they would go less wise.
The virtually important concept to understand about Maya religious conventionalities is that time and the creation of humans are thought to be cyclical.
The different Maya groups believe in a diversity of creation myths. The most important concept to empathize about Maya religious belief is that time and the creation of humans are thought to be cyclical. This means that some Maya believe that contemporary humans volition be destroyed and some other cosmos is imminent. However, this does not necessarily equate to the popularized notions that the Maya believed in an "end of the world" event. Belief in the end of humanity isn't the finish of the world, it is the terminate of an era and, perchance, the kickoff of a new epoch of the gods.
The gods destroyed the dissimilar versions of "humans" because they either could non or would not worship their creators. This is a crucial consideration for the gods. They could not afford to have creations which were unworthy and incapable of providing sustenance to the gods.
Major Maya Gods & Goddesses
Typically, Maya gods are fluid and have various personalities. This sometimes makes it hard to distinguish one god from some other. However, it may be simpler to keep in mind that although the Maya deities are numerous, the well-nigh consequential gods sometimes morph with the less notable gods and share characteristics of both deities. The incorporation of connectivity in Maya culture, non surprisingly, applies to Maya deities besides. Some deities even accept alien personality traits.
The multiplicity of the deities' personalities are furthered by their advent. Many gods are an amalgamation of a human and item animal. They are likewise associated with different cardinal directions and an individual god's importance tin vary depending on historical context. This fluidity is precisely why scholars refer to some Maya deities with the messages of the Latin alphabet.
Yum Caax
SJu (CC By-SA)
Itzam Ná & Ix Chebel Yax
Itzam Ná is the god attributed to creation. Not much is known virtually him and the same can be said of his counterpart, 9 Chebel Yax. Itzam Ná is oft depicted equally a squinty-eyed, long-nosed old man or sometimes fifty-fifty an iguana. Ix Chebel Yax was the wife of Itzam Ná and is too depicted as an iguana. Both she and Itzam Ná are considered to be high in the hierarchy of gods. The spelling of their names can vary, as can the spellings of many Maya names can.
Huracán
Huracán, some other significant Maya god, is often referred to equally the Eye of Heaven, Heart of Sky, or Eye of Earth. While there is not much direct evidence almost Huracán beingness the supreme creator god, the Popol Vuh does imply in one of its prayers that Huracán is a "giver of life." The same prayer too refers to Huracán as the Centre of Sky and Earth, which also suggests his importance as a creator. Due to the fluidity of Maya gods, it's non vital to make an absolutely articulate distinction between the creator gods. Having said that, however, Huracán is typically associated with the Quiché Maya of Guatemala. The Quiché believe that Huracán formed the earth and created it for humans. He, likewise, formed people by making them out of maize dough and is lord of burn, storms, and wind.
Chiliad'inich Ajaw
K'inich Ajaw (pronounced Ah-how), sometimes known as God G or Kinich Ahau, is the "Sunday-faced Lord." K'inich Ajaw is typically portrayed every bit rise or being born in the E and crumbling as the sun sets. This fierce sunday deity would then turn into a jaguar and go a war advisor in the underworld. The sun deities are both worshipped and feared considering, while they offer the life-giving properties of the dominicus, they tin sometimes provide too much lord's day and cause a drought.
Hun H'unahpu
The maize god, Hun H'unahpu, is perhaps the almost important of the celestial beings as well. Also referred to as God East, Hun H'unahpu is considered to be the creator of modern humans by the lowland Yucatec Maya. This is because his maize and blood are what fabricated humanity possible. He is a symbol of life and fertility and is portrayed every bit a young, long-haired man.
Chak
Chak, the seeming analogue of K'inich Ajaw, is the rain god or God B. Chak is both part man and part reptile and he is usually shown with a lightning bolt, a ophidian, or an axe. This fearsome god sometimes is shown painted in bluish and with serpent-like whiskers protruding from his face up. The Maya believe that Chak lived in caves where he would make lightning, thunder, and clouds. Chak, too, was both feared and worshipped. He brought the needed rains for the people, but also produced floods, threatening lightning, and behaved much similar a wild tempest. He also demanded claret sacrifices in payment for the rains that he provided.
K'awil
God K, or K'awil, is the keeper of the scepter. He is predominantly the protector of the royal line and is known for existence linked to lightning equally well. He is normally pictured with a piercing of a smoking torch or a grisly axe blade. In add-on to his frightful piercings, he also has a snake as one foot and an upturned snout for the other. K'awil is credited with discovering cocoa and maize afterward striking a mount with i of his lightning bolts.
Kisim
Kisim, or God A, is known every bit the "flatulent i." Don't let the humorous name fool yous, though. This deity is a terrifying god of decease and decay. Kisim has been portrayed as a veritable decomposing skeleton or zombie. Sometimes, Kisim was accompanied by an owl. In Maya belief, owls are messengers of the underworld.
Ix Chel
God O, or Ix Chel, is the goddess of rainbows. While rainbows may symbolize goodwill in western culture, Ix Chel should non be confused as a god of goodwill. The Maya actually believe that rainbows are the "flatulence of demons," and bring bad luck and disease. Ix Chel also represents these things because of her association with rainbows. In her typical grade, Nine Chel is a fanged, clawed, and dilapidated crone. All the same, in conjunction with the duplicity of Maya beings, Ix Chel also has a more benevolent grade. She occasionally represents fertility and childbirth and, in these contexts, she is pictured as youthful and cute.
Pakal the Great & Xibalba
Marcellina Rodriguez (Copyright)
The Hero Twins
Finally, the fable of the Hero Twins entails the adventures of two brothers, Xbalanque and Hunahpu, through the underworld. The legend, chronicled in the Popol Vuh, begins with the conception of the blood brother-gods. The Twins' father was the god Hun H'unahpu. Hun H'unahpu and his brother were lured to the underworld to exist sacrificed through decapitation. However, because Hun H'unahpu was immortal, his decapitated head survived and turned into a fruit on a tree. Hun H'unahpu'south fruit caput spit into the paw of the goddess Xquic, who ultimately gave birth to Xbalanque and Hunahpu, the Hero Twins.
The twins faced many challenges, but the most epic story is of their journey through Xibalba (pronounced Shee-bahl-bah), the Maya underworld.
The twins were summoned to the underworld after playing a raucous and loud ballgame above the heads of the lords of Xibalba. The lords challenged the twins many times, but through wit and cunning, the twins were able to all-time the lords of Xibalba. Xbalanque and Hunahpu grew tired of the endless challenges and devised a way to escape the underworld. They disguised themselves as travelers and entertained the underworld gods with tricks and games. The lords were so impressed with their trick of bringing a person back to life after they were sacrificed that they asked the twins to sacrifice them and bring them back to life. Nevertheless, instead of bringing the gods back to life, the twins left them dead and made the underworld a place for the wretched. The Hero Twins and the lords of Xibalba now reside in the night sky as stars. Kings were idea to follow the trials of the Hero Twins after their expiry and make their journeying to the heavens or upper world.
There are many more celestial beings, simply the aforementioned are those which occur most ofttimes. They tin can come in many forms and their multiplicity is a pillar of the connective ethics of Maya organized religion.
Heaven, Hell, & The Cardinal Directions
Contrary to contemporary western ideas of sky and hell, the Maya believed in different levels of these realms. At that place are three main areas to distinguish from one another, however. The Maya sympathise supernatural levels not as heaven and hell, merely as the upper world, center world, and underworld.
The upper world consists of thirteen levels, the middle world is i level, and the underworld is nine levels. The Ceiba tree is believed to grow through all of the realms, from the highest level of the upper globe to the lowest level of the underworld. The Ceiba tree is vital to agreement the importance of the cardinal directions in the Maya globe.
Maya Urn with Jaguar Effigy & Skulls
Walters Art Museum (CC BY-SA)
Maya deities, in item, are linked to the cardinal directions. While we are familiar with the iv cardinal directions, the Maya understood that there were five elements to the cardinal directions, the 4 directions and the heart. Arguably, the almost meaningful cardinal management to the Maya is the eastward. The east is where the sun rises and information technology is associated with nativity considering of the Maya belief that the sun is born daily from the eastward.
These principles were too part of Maya daily life. Homes were designed to reflect the cardinal directions and the Ceiba tree. The Maya even built hearths at the center of their homes in order to represent the Ceiba-tree heart of the cardinal directions.
Maya Rituals
The Maya participated in various religious rituals. Non all of these were related to human sacrifice, although cede was a mutual practice in religious ceremonies. Contrary to popular belief, ritual sacrifice was not restricted to the gruesome death of a poor captive. While this did happen in the Maya world on a few occasions, it was a relatively rare occurrence. By far the most common sacrifice ritual was bloodletting.
By far the about common Maya sacrifice ritual was bloodletting.
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is precisely as it sounds, the spilling of blood every bit a practice of sacrifice. In the case of the Maya, bloodletting was constrained to the regal line. The gods demanded blood because of the initial creation where the gods spilled their claret in order to give life to humanity. Also, but not as often, bloodletting was performed in gild to communicate with ancestors.
The practice of bloodletting marked significant dates in the Maya world. Royals participating in the practice would spend, sometimes, days performing purification rituals in order to prepare for bloodletting. Both men and women of royal lineages were expected to perform these rituals. Maya kings and queens would participate in varying forms of bloodletting, even making sacred tools to perform the ritual. Blood was usually taken from different parts of the body with specialized tools designed to produce more than claret and perhaps more than pain equally well. The tools were typically made of stingray spines and adorned with dissimilar glyphs to show their religious significance. One frightful example of sacrifice noted by Rubalcaba described how women, typically royal women, would use a thorned rope to pierce their natural language and describe blood to scatter over Maya icons. Men, on the other hand, would do the aforementioned, except on the penis rather than the tongue.
The practice of bloodletting would oftentimes serve to commemorate and sanctify of import events such as births, ascents to the throne, and anniversaries. On the other mitt, human sacrifice was reserved for the greatest Maya events.
Human Sacrifice
While wars were usually fought for reasons other than religion, when wars did occur, religion would get involved. Oftentimes, shamans or priests would help program war strategies. A war priest was chosen a nacom. The Maya would often combine aspects of warfare and religion. Typically, this was in the form of taking prisoners for sacrifice.
Sacrifices were important in keeping the gods satisfied and were also vital in ensuring a armed services victory. When a king or queen would arise to the throne and a political prisoner had been captured, they would commemorate the life-altering event with a man sacrifice. Typically, these prisoners would be royals or elites of an enemy state. The nearly loftier-up royals were saved for the sole purpose of recreating events from the Popol Vuh.
These sacrifices were performed in many ways, but there were three methods that were almost common. The offset method was through decapitation. The next method was the popularized method of removing the heart from the living person. The concluding, most popular, method was to throw a living person into a cenote, or natural well, as an offering to the gods.
Presentation of Captives to a Maya Ruler
FA2010 (CC By-SA)
Other Offerings & Rituals
While the about prevalent ritual associated to the ancient Maya is the practice of sacrifice, they as well performed other kinds of rituals. Not all Maya offerings were then bloody and gruesome. While they may not seem quite logical to westerners, the alternative offerings do provide interesting ways to communicate with and satisfy the deities.
One rather startling and overlooked means of communication with the gods involved lowering children into cenotes. Children were placed in the wells in order for them to speak to the god or gods. Afterward a few hours of being in the well, the children would be retrieved and then that the message from the deities could be heard. Of course, the Maya also participated in offering to the gods precious items such as jade, gold, masks, shells, carved human bone, and ceremonial or sacred tools.
Marriage was another religious ritual and a cause for celebration. Maya marriages were typically arranged marriages within the same social class. Age at the time of marriage varied, but experts speculate that the wedlock age was related to population growth and decline. When the Maya population declined, youths would marry at a younger age. Couples would be matched at a very young age, sometimes even when they were infants.
Marriages were performed by priests at the bridal home. Priests would burn incense to bring a fortuitous marriage and then a banquet or other blazon of commemoration would ensue. If the marriage was non deemed successful by either husband or wife, the couple could "divorce." There is no known ritual for divorce, but information technology is intriguing that divorce was, more or less, an acceptable action.
Dance is some other overlooked ritual. Trip the light fantastic toe rituals were performed to communicate with the gods. The dances would feature lavish costumes which depicted the visages of divinities. Ofttimes the Maya would clothing or include ornaments such every bit staffs, spears, rattles, scepters, and even live snakes as dance aids. The Maya believed that by dressing and interim as a god, they would be overtaken by the god'southward spirit and therefore would be able to communicate with him or her.
The ancient Maya maintained a complex religion. The multifaceted gods and rituals accept even persisted in today's Maya culture, however syncretized they take become. Their ideologies of creation, sacrifice, sacredness, and multiplicity are central to understanding the Maya religion.
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