Maya Religion

The traditional Maya religion is practiced by peoples of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and five states of Mexico. Like other contemporary Mesoamerican religions, it is the result of centuries of symbiosis with Roman Catholicism. Its pre-Hispanic antecedent had already existed for more than two and a half millennia prior to arrival of Spanish missionaries. What is known of pre-Hispanic Maya religion stems from many sources, the primary ones being of Maya origin. Three original Maya hieroglyphic books have survived in addition to pottery depicting scenes with descriptive texts, mural paintings, and inscriptions in stone. For the Maya, Huracán, the wind and sky god, created the earth. Sky and earth were connected, which left no room for living beings or vegetation to grow. To make space a Ceiba tree was planted. Its roots penetrated to every level of the underworld, and its branches extended into the upper world. The trunk of the tree expanded to make space enough on earth for animals, plants, and humans. Animals and plants existed before humans, but the gods were not satisfied because animals and plants could not speak to honor them. Humans, possessing the power of speech, were created to give honor to the gods. Maya believe that there have been three creations. The first creation included people who were made of mud and were immortal, but they were limited. According to Maya sacred texts, these men “spoke but had no mind." The gods destroyed the mud people with water. For the second creation, the deities made men from wood and women from reeds. These people could function just as well as modern humans, but had no souls and did not honor the gods. They were also immortal. If they died, they only remained dead for three days, then arise from death. The gods destroyed the tree men and reed women by inundating them with boiling hot water. The third creation featured modern humans made of white and yellow maize dough and the blood of the gods. The first people were four men and four women, but they were considered to be too wise by the gods. Regarding them as a threat to their authority, the gods almost destroyed them as well. However, Heart of Heaven (also known as Huracán) saved humanity from extinction by clouding their minds and eyes of humans to make them less wise. Time and the recreation of humans are thought by the Maya to be cyclical. Some Maya believe that contemporary humans will be destroyed and yet another creation will occur. Belief in the end of humanity is not belief in end of the world. It only marks the end of an era and, perhaps, the beginning of a new epoch. Although the pantheon of Maya deities is extensive, the most consequential gods often morph with less notable gods which results in an entity which shares characteristics of both deities. Division and recombination of the deities' personalities is furthered complicated by their appearance. Many gods are the amalgamation of a human and a specific animal. The Maya participated in various religious rituals. Not all of these were related to human sacrifice, although sacrifice was a common practice in religious ceremonies. The most common sacrifice ritual was bloodletting, which was only practiced by royalty. The gods demanded blood because the gods spilled their own blood to grant life to humanity. One frightful instance of sacrifice noted by a conquistador described how typically royal women would use a thorned rope to pierce their tongue and draw blood to scatter over Maya icons. Men would do the same, except on their penis rather than their tongue. Bloodletting served to commemorate and sanctify important events such as births, coronations, and anniversaries. Human sacrifice was reserved for the most significant Maya events.