![]() The 260-day tzolk’in calendar and its 365-day counterpart, haab, dictated when various ceremonies took place, as well as yearly agricultural events. The specific ceremonies and rituals the Maya observed likely varied, but they were often regulated by the Maya calendar, which was based on astronomical observations and split into two years of different lengths. But people could still plead and bargain with these gods. As with the ancient Greeks, many of the gods’ exploits were said to have occurred far in the past, and these stories often served to help explain aspects of our world today. In keeping with the their conception of the intertwined spiritual and material worlds, the Maya conceived of their gods as real, physical beings. Some scholars have suggested these lesser beings may have been associated with specific places or dynasties, and they disappeared from the Maya consciousness when, for example, a new ruler was crowned. ![]() The twins were said to have killed the monster bird Vucub Caquix, who ruled over the world preceding ours.Īlong with the major gods, Maya religious beliefs also involved numerous minor deities. It’s not clear whether the twins were gods themselves, or perhaps simply beings with powers beyond that of mortals. There is also the story of the hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, known largely from the Popol Vuh, a text of Maya beliefs and myths written after the Spanish conquered the Maya. Versions of these gods appear throughout Maya culture, though they are sometimes represented slightly differently, and may have fit into Maya theology in different ways at different times. The maize god, who may have been called Hun Hunahpu, also featured prominently in Maya theology, often with a shaved scalp and leaves of corn growing from his head. (Credit: University of Virginia Art Museum/Wikimedia Commons) Here, the Maya maize god is shown as a scribe. In other words, to them, the gods were simply another part of their world. “For them, religion was not a matter apart from everyday life, but rather one that explained it, undergirded it, enveloped it and provided an idiom for appropriate behavior,” Houston writes. Planting corn and building houses were rituals. This often meant that things we might view as simple representations of concepts were far more real. The physical and spiritual realms were intimately interwoven with each other, writes archaeologist and Maya scholar Stephen Houston. To appreciate the theology, you must consider how Maya people generally viewed the world. But there are broad similarities, including a number of major gods and religious observances and beliefs. Glyphs showing gods, for example, vary from place to place and time to time. As such, religious beliefs and deities seem to have differed somewhat. The civilization consisted of a number of disparate city-states, rather than a single, unified empire. Collectively, these sources reveal shifts and variations in Maya belief.Įven during the Maya Classic period, the heyday of this civilization during the first millennium A.D., Maya theology likely varied from place to place. ![]() This includes information from Maya glyphs, artwork, surviving Maya texts like the Dresden Codex, later works like the Popol Vuh and Maya people who still observe traditional religious ceremonies. We know about Maya religion today from a number of sources. And today, hundreds of years after the Spanish came to the New World, Maya people in Central America and Mexico practice a religion that draws from these traditional beliefs as well as Christianity. Based on differences in deities carved into stone or adorning temples, it seems likely that different Maya city-states held slightly different beliefs. ![]() It’s important to remember, too, that Maya religion was not always the same across different time periods or regions. Numerous deities populated the Maya pantheon, including gods for physical elements like rain and demigod-like heroes who fought for the good of humanity. As with the ancient Greeks, their many gods were seen as beings who once walked among their people, and who created (or brought about the creation of) humans. This Maya culture also saw the physical world as intimately interwoven with the spiritual one. ![]()
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