The people
COSMOLOGY AND RELIGION
Paamul Caribbean Paradise, Riviera Maya Q. Roo México All of this left to the whim of the Gods. In order to understand the Cosmos of the Maya you need to believe in the 'other' world. The unseen world of the Gods. They live in the physical but also see life connected to the other.
The ancient Maya believed the earth to be flat and four-cornered. Each corner supported by gods or by trees or pillars. At the center is the green ceiba, or silk-cotton tree. Above the earth are the heavens which were thought to contain 13 layers, and each layer, of course, had its own god.
Cabañas Copal, Tulum, Riviera Maya, Mexico Below the earth was the underworld, a cold terrible place which was believed to be the destination of most Maya after death. The Sun, the Moon, and Venus were also thought to pass through the underworld after they disappeared every evening and required help from the Maya priests to return the next day.
The Maya had hundreds of gods, (400 at night alone) and nearly 200 had names. These Gods ruled the Maya civilization communicating through the priests and ruling class. They controlled nearly every facet of Maya life. Some of the Gods took different appearances at different times. For example, the Gods representing astronomical objects had a different underworld face, which appeared when the god sunk below the horizon into the underworld. | Maya Pantheon
| Communication with the Gods |
Bloodletting |
Maya Pantheon: First Mother and First Father - The Creator Couple described in the Popol Vuh. All other gods who came into being were the offspring of this couple. The First Mother, is the Moon. The First Father was responsible for overseeing the new creation of the cosmos and is known as the Maize God or the Plumed Serpent. Hunahpu and Xbalanque - The Hero Twins overcame death. The face of Hunahpu serves as a glyph for the day name ahau, meaning king.
The Patrons of Writing - The two older brothers of the Hero Twins. They were jealous of the twins and the Hero Twins changed them into monkeys and they became the patron gods of scribes. Itzam-Yeh - The Celestial Bird was also known as the Serpent Bird. Itzam-Yeh is associated with the four corners of the world. Itzamná - Lord of the Heavens is the single supreme deity and the inventor of writing, patron of the arts and sciences.
He was the first shaman and diviner and could open the portals to the spirit world. Kings and shamans contacted Itzamná to plead with him to open the way so sacred nourishment would flow into the world to sustain humanity. K'awil - He is associated with royal power, which originates with the gods.
Flamingos Cabins, El Cuyo, Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, Yucatan Peninsula
He often appears on the scepters held by rulers during ritual ceremonies. The Jaguar Sun God - God the Sun who lives in the highest levels of heaven. During the day he moves the sun across the sky and uses the name Kinich Ahau. As the sun enters the underworld, he becomes the fearsome Jaguar God. Ix Chel - Wife to the high god Itzamná, she oversees weaving, medicine, and childbirth. Like the First Mother, she is a moon goddess. Chac - The Rain God. He is a dragon-like monster with a crocodilian head and deer ears. He exists on the perimeter of the cosmos and marks the way between the natural and supernatural worlds.
He brings the rains and can create thunderbolts by hurling down his stone ax. Chac was a very important God to the Maya since rain was a part of everyday life in the physical. The Lords of Death - They are depicted as skeleton people or ugly bloated beings wearing ornaments such as disembodied eyes taken from the dead. The Witz Monster - The symbol of the living mountain. Images of this creature were placed on temples to transform them into sacred, living mountains. Communication with the Gods -The interaction between the living and the Gods was the responsibility of priests and royalty. Priests controlled learning and ritual, and were in charge of planning all facets of Maya life. This, of course, was done to keep harmony with and aid the Gods in their work running the worlds.
They were responsible for calculating time, festivals, ceremonies, fateful days and seasons, divination, events, cures for diseases, writing and genealogies. Maya rituals were scheduled far in advance using astronomical and astrological science. The position of the stars and planets dictated how life would be conducted and all of this, of course, in accordance with the 260-day Sacred Round. Sexual abstinence and fasting was observed before and during major events and rituals.
Bloodletting - Self mutilation or bloodletting was performed by the elite class of the Maya during the most important ceremonies such as, the end of a bundle of time, the dedication of monuments or upon crowning a new King. It was also used to anoint religious articles. In fact, the Maya were obsessed with blood and it was a major part of ceremonies and rituals.
Bloodletting was performed by cutting or piercing a part of the body such as the earlobes, tongue, or penis with ceremonial tools such as obsidian blades or even stingray spines. The blood drawn in this manner would spill into a bowl or basket that was filled with wads of bark paper.
The blood stained paper was then burned. It was the smoke, created from the blood of Kings and their families, that sent the human energy skyward. If the offer of this energy was accepted by the gods the King would receive divine power in return. Bloodletting was also carried out appease the gods in times of trouble or as a way to communicate with ancestors. In general terms bloodletting was used to communicate directly with the Gods. Depiction's of bloodletting can be seen in the Madrid Codex, lintels at Yaxchilan and Bonampak, stela from El Naranjo and is also described in some written documents.
The practice of human sacrifice probably did not originate with the Maya and it is more closely tied to the warlike influence of the Toltecs. Before the Toltec era animal sacrifice was common. Turkeys, dogs, squirrels, quail and iguana were considered suitable offerings to Maya gods. While human sacrifice was originally reserved for kings and royalty, it was later perpetrated on prisoners, slaves, and children. Orphans and illegitimate children could be purchased for the occasion.
All the ritual and ceremony, bloodletting, sacrifice both human and animal were used to establish a means of communication with the spirit world. Kings and even priests were believed to have supernatural powers and these rituals were used as a means of demonstrating the ruling classes power and closeness to the gods.
Another facet of Maya life was the ball game. This game, similar to soccer, pitted two teams against each other in a stone court. The floor of the court is thought to represent the earth's platform, which separates the human world from the Underworld. The game was highly competitive, and there was betting among the spectators and royal guests. Some of these games had serious implications.
There are those who believe that the losers were sacrificed and others who believe that was the fate of the winners. Whichever way it went there were sacrifices performed at the conclusion of these ball games. It was the gods who determined the winners of the ball game, just as they decided who would be victorious at war. In addition to its role in the ball courts, human sacrifice was used in burial rituals. Often, a number of attendants were sacrificed and placed alongside their ruler in the burial vault. But, that custom was not limited to the Maya. The same was practiced in ancient Egypt and probably elsewhere.
The Maya believed that when people died, they entered the underworld through a cave or a cenote. When nobles died they became one with the gods, and that they dwelt in the night skyor 'Sky World? with them.
Death from natural causes was not desired by the Maya, particularly because the dead did not automatically go to paradise. The Maya worshipped their ancestors, and in so doing, they worshipped the gods. From early times on, the dead were painted red and buried under their houses, in which the family then continued to live.
The result of assisting the Gods in their work was thought to avoid the possibility of the destruction of the world every night. But, this also applied to the long cycle of creation and destruction which lasted about 5,200 modern years. The current cycle is believed by the Maya to have begun around 3100 B.C. of our calendar, and is expected to end in either 2011 or 2012 A.D. MAYAN, THE LANGUAGE
This is probably due to the vast separation in the districts settled by the Maya and the collapse of the trade networks of the ancient empire. Communication as it once was has not existed for the better part of 800 years. The result in terms of language was the development of new dialects in isolation and this is easily seen in the evolution of the Maya.
The vast differences in the Mayan language prevents different Maya groups today from understanding one another. One example, is the Maya from today's Yucatan. While all of the Maya in the Yucatan speak a language called Yucateca Mayan there are very distinct differences from village to village.
These Maya are isolated. Many spend their entire lives in one place and only speak to their neighbors. So the development of dialects within the Yucateca Mayan has occurred. This is not to say that they cannot communicate, only that differences do exist. These linguistic differences also add complications to the effort of translating hieroglyphic writings. In a effort to reconstruct the family tree of the Mayan language a considerable amount of confusion and difference of opinion has emerged. While there are varied interpretations it is generally felt that four or five language groups existed in the Middle Preclassic period (900-300 B.C.). The 31 Mayan languages we know today have emerged from those. Kinbé Hotel, Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
ART - The Maya of the Classic period developed a sophisticated artistic tradition, producing painted ceramics, clay figurines, screen-fold fig tree bark books of drawings and hieroglyphic writing. In fact, Maya art is the most highly refined in technique and design of any pre-Columbian civilization. They also excelled in carvings of Jade, wood, bone, and shell.
Carvings on doorjambs and stelae recorded the history of the time. Fresco painting was also practiced to a very fine degree by the Maya. Examples have been found at many locations but murals at Bonampak, Palenque and Tikal are considered among the finest produced by the Maya. The art of the Maya was also used for purely political purposes. Many of the great pieces of Maya art were commissioned by Maya kings to memorialize themselves and publicize their power. This would also ensure their place in history. Turns out they were right.
The ruins of Maya cities clearly demonstrate a mixture of architecture and art in the design and construction of temples, buildings and pyramids. Sculpture, as used in architecture, reached a dignity unequaled in the history of the Americas. Art, sculpture and architecture went hand in hand to the Maya. The artists of the Classic period were sponsored by the ruling class and were not only well educated, they were devoted entirely to the production of art.
Maya ceramic and figurine artists used a mixture of finely ground pigments of pounded stone and minerals and water with images of rituals, myths, geometric designs, and hieroglyphs. The main colors were brown, white, yellow, black, red and white. Ceramics were used as tableware, currency and as offerings to the dead. Clay pots were also made for cooking and storing food and water.
The ancient Maya took great pride in their artwork, carving intricate masks dedicated to the dead, often made of or inlaid with jade. They adorned almost everything with paint and carvings, including pottery and temple steps. Additionally, they accumulated rare art pieces from afar by trading one form for another using the trade network that extended throughout Mesoamerica.
Art was definitely the domain of the elite and most of the surviving artifacts and inscriptions deal with Maya nobility and the celebrations of birth, heir designation, accession, warfare, ballgames and death. Depiction's of Maya life and art varied from city to city in the world of the ancient Maya, however, it is felt that the major differences were caused by outside influence.
Murals and carvings from major sites with little outside influence show ritual, ceremony and life of the elite in an almost prescribed fashion, including the position of the nobles in the drawings. It is interesting to note that the Maya-Toltec art of Chichen Itza is dominated by representations of war, warriors, and sacrifice. Maya investigators use the art of the ancient Maya as tools to pinpoint the movement of groups from one place to another, to track the cultural patterns of the Maya, establish dates and determine the importance of ruins. This is possible because different regions created different forms and styles of art at different times. THE FALL OF THE MAYA
The legacy of the most mysterious civilization to inhabit the Americas does not lie solely in the stone architecture of their cities. In fact, abandoned temples and cities are nothing new to the Maya. Throughout the history of the Maya cities fell and were later rebuilt. Very few of the citys exhibit continous occupation.
The difference between then and now is that the cities are being rebuilt by archeologists, and not a new group of Maya. So the real question is not where did they go. It's, why didn't they come back? Or why did they stop building and rebuilding?
Maya history is full of examples of regions rising in status and later falling into near abandonment. Huge city-states rose in prominence then fell into decline, only to be replaced by others. The study of Maya history tells us that sometime around 900 A.D. a major disruption occurred in world of the Maya.
Experts have speculated many reasons for the disruption, but a major revolt by the masses seems to be the favorite. Whatever it was, cities were abandoned and there appears to have been a sudden loss in technical expertise and artistic excellence. Then from 975 to 1200 A.D. the introduction of cultural elements foreign to Maya civilization such as the Toltec culture had a devastating effect on the Maya. In this period the cult of Quetzalcoatl is introduced, which, upon reaching the Yucatan Peninsula, is known by the Mayan name of Kukulcán.
The first Toltec features appear in the Maya architecture of Uxmal and Kabah. Later, places like Izamal, Mayapan, Tiho, Champoton and Tayasal, all flourish with a combination culture of Maya and Toltec. Chichén Itzá also achieves architectural splendor during this period.
During the late Postclassic (1200 to 1540 A.D.) Alliances were formed between Maya families and families of Nahua or Mexica. This divided the Maya and ended in a bloody conflict. In fact, the entire period from 900 A.D. to 1540 A.D. was a slow spiraling period of decline and bloodshed which finally led to the end of the civilization.
It is thought that the growing cities probably grew faster than the agricultural capabilities of the farmers. This due in part to an influx of people arriving from outside the region. The combination of more people and less room for agriculture and less farmers (due to war) may have led to serious food shortages and even starvation. These factors combined with the cost of administration of cities who were at war with their neighbors may have been to much for the civilization to withstand.
Other factors in the collapse of the civilization may have been simply the expense of maintaining kings and nobles, and of building higher and more elaborate temples. The dilution of the race with outsiders who brought a different view of religion and ritual also may have seriously undermined the priest and ruler class to the point that they were not supported to the same degree as in the Classic Era of the civilization. The civilization had always been guided by a religion that was the foundation of their culture.
Changes by outsiders could have been catastrophic to the faith of the commoner. Also, the practice of taking commoners for human sacrifice may have been too much for the populace. Remember that sacrifice started with animals and bloodletting by the nobles and with the passage of time moved to kings and nobles then on to the common people.
Whatever the reasons the cities were not in classic form upon the arrival of the Spanish. In fact when the Spanish arrived, they found a poor, divided land that was but a pale reflection of its former splendor. The Spanish tried to systematically destroy Maya civilization. They burned the codices, which were ancient bark paper books. That is one of the great crimes of world cultural history and has hampered efforts to truly understand the amazing culture of the Maya.
Spain and its European creditors derived tremendous wealth from their Indian work force, which worked on enormous agricultural estates and huge mining operations. Colonial society was broken into a tight caste system reminiscent of European feudalism. THE MAYA TODAY
Many do not speak Spanish and hold rigidly to the Maya way of life, while others are slowly losing tradition and language. The indigenous thatched roof houses, called "casa de paja" are pretty much the same. The old crops (corn, beans, chile, tomatoes and squash) are still being grown using slash and burn cultivation. The form of village social organization seems to have survived intact in villages removed from the larger cities.
Offerings are still being made to the same deities in religious ceremonies that can be both very traditional as well as a fusion of Catholic theology. The Maya accepted the Catholic religion very easily because of the similarities between Maya mythology and the Christian belief systems.
The virgin birth of a savior is not the least bit questionable to the Maya. The similarities made the fusion easy in that both had priests, both burned incense during rituals, both worshipped images and both conducted elaborate pilgrimages based on a ritual calendar. Thus Maya mythology merged with Christianity, and merge is the correct word. They believe in both old and new. In agricultural rites, deities of the forest are still invoked, and it is still believed that evil winds loose in the world cause disease and sickness. The Maya grow certain plants near their houses to keep away evil spirits and "bad air".
The ancient Maya calendar has also survived. Shaman-priests or "day-keepers", keep the 260-day Sacred Round count to determine holy days and to set the dates of rituals.
The Maya, as a people, face challenges created by the modern world of their neighbors. Living among the pueblos and the cities near the Maya are the descendants of the Spanish. While some percentage has mixed with the Maya, most have not. This creates a class system where the Maya are the lesser class.
They are typically uneducated and work with their hands. The vast majority do not own cars, and walk, ride bicycles or take taxis to town to sell their wares. As the world changes the Maya seem to be losing ground to the onslaughts of the modern world. They are not part of the political machine that guides their future and never have been.
La ziranda Hotel, Playa del Carmen Q. Roo, Mexico
Some even doubt the ability of Maya culture to survive much longer. This doubt is unfounded in some areas, however. To the south and east of Valladolid a stronghold of Maya exists. There are towns in which Mayan is spoken nearly 100% of the time. The school systems of Mexico have had to adapt and only bilingual Mayan-Spanish teachers are permitted. The ancient belief systems are very strong.
During the Spanish - Mexican settling period when Mexico was trying to embrace the over 300 indigenous Indian tribes found here, names were allowed to be changed. Many, if not most of the Indians in what is now Mexico were allowed to take Spanish last names.
The Maya refused. That is why names such as Canul, Pech, Ek, May, Chuc, Cohuó, Kauil, Cen, Poot, Tuz, Dzul, Canché, Cupul, Tah, Kuyoc, Uc, and Caamal among hundreds of others have survived and are found today in villages of the Maya. Many of today's Maya hold fast to their roots and even after centuries they have not lost their language, traditional dress or religious ceremonies.
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Maya medicine is
age old, and western medical science is studying many of its techniques, especially the
herbal remedies. The herbal medicine of today is still administered by a shaman after
spiritual incantation has been performed. The Maya still believe that the physical body is
affected by the spirit world first and by the effects of this world second.
