A Basic Introduction to Maya Mythology
Similar to my previous article on Aztec mythology, this article is intended as an introduction into some basic ideas of Maya religion and mythology. I’ve appended a list of the sources I used at the end, should you be interested in finding out more.
Unlike their Aztec neighbours, the Mayas were hardly newcomers to Mesoamerica. Maya presence in Guatemala and the Yucatan peninsula dates back to at least 1000 BC, and the last Maya kingdoms conquered by the Spanish were Tayasal and Zacpeten in 1697. Today, there are about six million Mayas in Central America--some of whom still live according to ancient traditions.
Man, creation and the debt of blood
Like the Aztecs, the Maya believed that they were not the first race to occupy the world, but rather the result of successive creations—first came the animals, but as they were incapable of praying, they were condemned to become food for men. Then came two races of men—men of mud, which were incapable of standing without dissolving; and manikins of wood, which walked and spoke, but which had no heart. Thus, as they had neither emotions nor sense of devotion, they were incapable of honouring their makers, or indeed of showing kindness to anyone or anything. So the entire creation turned against them—their grinding stones pounded their flesh into pulp; their dogs tore them to pieces; and even the trees of the forest cast them down.
The current race of men is made out of maize, of water and blood. It’s worth noting here communalities with the Aztecs: although the Aztec men are made out of the bones of the dead and not of plants, we find again the motif of gods giving their blood for the benefit of mankind—a debt that must be repaid in the present by constant blood sacrifices.
Maya sacrifices and worship
Like the Aztecs, the Mayas practised human sacrifice, both that of captured prisoners, and the more personal one which consisted of ritual blood-letting. Again, it’s important not to misunderstand those as being blood-thirsty or cruel. Just as the gods had given their blood to create man, so did man owe the gods prayers and offerings of their own blood.
The most widely represented sacrifice is the ritual blood-letting, which took place at frequent intervals during the lives of Maya lords—particularly that of the king, who was considered to have a more direct relationship with the gods, just as the Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt had with his father the Sun. Various feasts during the year were the occasion for human beings to shed their blood--and thus attain a higher state of being that allowed them to commune with the gods and the deified ancestors. Obsidian lancets, carved bone awls, and stingray spines were used to sever the penis, cheeks, ears and tongue. The blood was then caught on three knotted strips of paper or cloth and offered to the gods.
Other forms of worship frequently represented on stelae and frescoes include dancing, in which performers impersonate deities and re-enact important religions events such as the birth of the world: the gods Stingray Paddler, Jaguar Paddler, Black House Red and Itzamná created and named three stone thrones, thus making a tangible centre for the cosmos and allowing the sky to be lifted from the primordial sea. In the ritual re-enactment in which participants take on the roles of gods, we find here similarities with the ipixtla, the god-impersonators used by the Aztecs.
Finally, the ball-game--played throughout Mesoamerica--was an important way of worshipping. The game was played on an I-shaped court with two vertical loops on each side. The players were not allowed to use their hands, and the ball had to be bounced off parts of their bodies such as shoulders and hips. Points were marked when the opposing team failed to return the ball; and the feat of throwing the ball through one of the loops immediately ended the game. Ball-games often ended with the sacrifice of the losing side (though some sources mention that the winning side was the one sacrificed). But the most important was not that they were a sport, but rather a re-enactment of the ball-game the Hero-Twins had played and won against the Lords of Death in order to free their father from the underworld: thus, the ball-game was inextricably tied with life, death and rebirth.
Maya gods: a brief overview
Maya gods are numerous, and one of the reasons for that is that gods could have many aspects (young and old, fleshed and fleshless, and one aspect associated with each cardinal direction). Many gods also had a consort or counterpart of the other sex (reflecting the Mesoamerican principle of duality, something also found in the antithetic gods of Aztec religion).
The supreme deity was Itzamná ("Lizard House"), the inventor of writing, patron of learning and of the sciences. He is traditionally represented as an aged man with a toothless lower jaw and sunken cheeks. Like the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, he is represented with a mirror of obsidian which was an important magical object.
Just as Itzamná is the head of the pantheon, so did Maya scribes, painters and sculptors occupy the highest ranks in Maya society. Writing and learning were sacred matters, just as hieroglyphs were in Ancient Egypt, and the most highly-ranked court official was ah k’uhun ("he of the holy books"), the royal librarian, who oversaw all ritual activities in the kingdom and whose importance was very probably equivalent to that of a Grand Vizier in an Arabian Court.
His wife, Ix Chel ("Lady Rainbow"), was goddess of weaving, medicine and childbirth; she also represented the Old Moon Goddess. For the Mayas, the rainbow was a fearful occurrence associated with the underworld, and this is reflected in the way they represent Ix Chel: with a fanged mouth, clawed hands and a skirt decorated with crossed bones. Like the Aztec goddess Coatlicue, Ix Chel could be both a harbinger of disaster or a favourable goddess.
Chak is the Maya equivalent of the Aztec Tlaloc, God of Rain. Depicted with many reptilian traits (a snout, scales and catfish-like whiskers), Chak wields the thunder and lightning. Chak had four cardinal aspects, each one associated with a colour and a direction.
Sun, moon and Maya cosmology
Like the Aztecs, the Maya considered the world was the centre of a series of horizontal and vertical divisions: the Upperworld was the space in which the Sun and the constellations moved, and the Underworld--Xilbaba, literally “Place of Fear"--was where the great majority of souls went (the exceptions being those men and women who had died a violent death and were thus deified).
Like the Aztecs, the Mayas closely monitored the skies and the positions of the stars, which had both a calendrical and a religious significance--to make predictions entered into calendrical almanacs, such as favourable dates for coronations or warnings of warfare.
The Aztecs believed that the moon was inferior to the sun; on the contrary, the Quiché Maya believed the Sun and the Moon to be of equal importance, as manifestations of the Hero-Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque, elevated into the Upperworld after defeating the Lords of Death and bringing the god of maize out of the Underworld. The stars were also deified humans--four hundred boys killed by an arrogant deity and resurrected by the Hero-Twins (it’s interesting here to note that one Aztec myth identifies the stars as the four hundred slain brothers of their tribe-god Huitzilpochtli).
The other celestial body of importance was Venus: unlike the Aztecs, the Mayas believed Venus to be an augury of disasters and major upheavals.
The Maya cycle of time
Like the Aztecs, the Maya had a 260-day religious calendar, the tzolk’in, comprising a set of 20 days paired with thirteen numbers, and a 365-day agricultural calendar, the haab’, which closely followed the solar year, composed of 18 months of 20 days.
The Maya considered time to be cyclical—just as a given month would come back in the next year, so a given year would come back in the next cycle. Two different ways of dating were used in Maya kingdoms.
The Long Count takes a starting date (August 11, 3114 BC) as an origin for the calendar. Subsequent dates are counted from this date onwards, as in most calendar systems. This is the dating system used on the older Maya stelae. Units of time include the k’in (the day), the winal (20 days), the tun (360 days), the k’atun (twenty years), the bak’tun (400 years). The date 20th December 2012, widely publicised as being the end of the world according to the Maya, is in fact the ending of the 13th bak’tun.
The Short Count, which came into fashion during the Late Classic Period (7th-9th centuries AD), mentions a day, and the name of a k’atun. Because of the particular way of dating, each date in this count would repeat every 256 years--and so would the particular events associated with that date. Thus, a Maya account of history such as the Books of Chilam Balam is also a prediction of the future.
Bibliographical note
We do not have many Maya texts, since most of the Maya remains we do have are the ruins of cities buried in the jungle, containing a coded language that scientists still labour to decipher—though a number of important breakthroughs have been made, allowing us glimpses into Maya society. What we do have is the Popol Vuh; a manuscript written in Latin after the conquest and which details the descent of the Quiche Maya, starting from the dawn of creation. We also have the Books of Chilam Balam, a series of prophecies recited by Maya priests in the villages--written during or shortly after the Conquest. I append here some books that contain translations of excerpt from those fundamental texts.
Bibliography
In the Language of Kings: An Anthology of Mesoamerican Literature, Pre-Columbian to the Present
The Maya (Sixth Edition), by Michael B. Coe, Thames & Hudson, 1999
The Flayed God: The Mythology of Mesoamerica
Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World
Photo credits to Kango Traveler and Shaun Che.
ALIETTE DE BODARD’s short fiction credits include Aztec mysteries ("Obsidian Shards”, published in Writers of the Future XXIII) and other stories inspired by Mesoamerican culture. Her short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Realms of Fantasy, Interzone and Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. Visit her website or her blog for more information.
2 comments so far.
Thanks, Chris!
1. Christopher M. Cevasco on 21st November 2008 at 7:19 pm
Another great overview (along with your previous Aztec one). Thanks for putting it together!
Chris