Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ancient Maya Beliefs
The date of creation that appears in inscriptions throughout the Maya world is 13.0.0.0.0, 4
Ahaw, 8 Kumk'u, or August 13, 3114 BC on our calendar. On that day the creator gods set
three stones in the dark waters that covered the primordial world. These formed a cosmic
hearth at the center of the universe. They then struck divine fire by means of lightning,
charging the world with life.
This account of creation is echoed in the first chapters of the Popol Vuh, a book com-
piled by members of the Maya nobility soon after the Spanish conquest.
This is the account of when all is still silent and placid. All is silent and calm. Hushed and
empty is the womb of the sky. These then are the first words, the first speech. There is not
yet one person, one animal, bird, fish, crab, tree, rock, hollow, canyon, meadow, or forest…
All alone are the Framer and the Shaper, Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent, They Who Have
Borne Children and They Who Have Begotten Sons… There is also Heart of Sky [a light-
ning god], which is said to be the name of the god…
Then they called forth the mountains from the water. Straightaway the great mountains
came to be. It was merely their spirit essence, their miraculous power, that brought about
the conception of the mountains.
Maya priests used a variety of drugs during divination rituals - ranging from fermented maize and wild to-
bacco to hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The Creation of Humankind
The gods made three attempts at creating people before getting it right. First they made
deer and other animals, but not being able to speak properly to honor the gods, the animals
were condemned to be eaten.
Next was a person made from mud. At first, the mud person spoke, 'but without know-
ledge and understanding,' and he soon dissolved back into the mud.
The gods' third attempt was people carved from wood. These too were imperfect and
also destroyed. The Popol Vuh says that the survivors of these wooden people are the mon-
keys that inhabit the forests. The gods finally got it right when they discovered maize, and
made mankind:
 
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