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Ancient maya beliefs
Aspects of maya civilization
Aspects of maya civilization
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Ancient Maya pyramids, now encompassed by the forest or explored by tourists, have long been viewed as mysterious places of sacrifice and bloodletting rituals. Though the religious significance of Maya pyramids has long been recognized, the casual traveler may pass right by other, less-imposing but no less important, places of religious meaning to the Maya. The small, community churches constructed during colonial times were central to religious activity in the cah. The milpa field, where corn was grown with the kol and kash cycles of slash and burn agriculture, was also a focal point of religious ceremonies performed by the humble Maya farmer. The Classical pyramid, the community church, and the milpa field were all places of religious significance for the Maya. Despite the differences in form, these were all places where the Maya could commune with or venerate higher powers, with or without the aid of an intermediary. The degree of individual involvement varied, but the basic ceremonial components of offering food or sacrifice to and communicating with deities remained the same. For the ancient Maya, the world was alive and full of sacred spaces such as caves and mountains, and “The architecture of ritual space replicated the features of sacred geography – the forest, the mountain, and the cave” (Schele and Freidel 72). Classical Maya kings invested a great deal of resources into pyramid construction, and the form of these buildings was carefully calculated. The shape of the pyramid emulated that of a mountain. The external layout, a series of landings and plazas of increasing size, enforced the social hierarchy by controlling the number of people in attendance and their proximity to the sacred spaces (Schele and Frei... ... middle of paper ... ... gods. The Classical pyramid, colonial church, and milpa field were all places where the Maya practiced their religion. Though this religion changed with the collapse of the Classical kings and the arrival of the Spanish with Catholicism, the places and methods of worship remained surprisingly similar. The colonial church replaced the Classical pyramid as the place of communal worship. Despite the imposition of monotheism, the Maya continued to venerate the saints as they had the idols in precolonial times, and the Maya continued to make offerings to the saints, though the offerings no longer included human blood. The milpa remained a place of individual communion where the reciprocal nature of humans’ relationship with corn was celebrated. These religious places demonstrate amazing continuities of Maya culture over the period of almost two thousand years.
Miller, Mary Ellen, and Karl A. Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: an Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993.
When Spaniards first set foot on Mesoamerican shores in the early sixteenth century, they encountered not the godless mass of natives they believed they found, but a people whose rich spiritual traditions shaped and sustained them for thousands of years. These diverse spiritual practices legitimized nearly every aspect of Mesoamerican daily life, from science and architecture to art and politics (Carmack 295), in many of the same ways Catholicism did in Spain. The collision of these cultures in the Great Encounter and the resulting Spanish colonial state mixed not solely two different peoples—Indian and Spanish—but thousands of variants: elites and slaves, peasant farmers and traders, priests and traders, organized and local spiritual customs, all with different degrees of diversity in their respective religious practices. This diversity set the stage for the syncretic religious traditions that emerged in Mayan society and remain a vital part of that culture today.
The consistent interaction between Mesoamerican civilizations within the region created a cultural diffusion that allowed Mesoamericans to share a great degree of their cultural practices and knowledge with each other. Church and State are one of the same. They considered the gods to be the everyday rulers of their daily lives and depended on their priests and rulers to ensure that the gods were appeased and didn't destroy the earth or extinguish the essential life sustaining Sun. The Maya religion required a highly complicated method of worship that demanded bloodletting and sacrificial rituals that were often fulfilled by the kings and queens. These efforts were necessary because it was believed to "feed" the gods.
By studying the cave under the Pyramid of the Sun, Heyden demonstrates how the construction of the cave may have been built and how that cave became the start of Mesoamerica civilization (Heyden. 1975; p. 131). Throughout the reading, “An Interpretation of the Cave Underneath the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico”, the author uses mostly anecdotal and as well as empirical evidence to suggest that the cave was a cult center before the Pyramid of the Sun was built. One line of evidence that the cave was a cult center is the construction of the cave. The construction of the cave is described as having long tunnel entrances followed by a series of chambers. Chambers were positioned as described in the reading “the cloverleaf” which consisted of four chambers and different sections of the chambers were closed off. The series of walls suggested that there may have been decorations or paintings put up on those
These three civilizations were focused on their religions, causing some similarities. They all built cities as religious centers. Both the Mayas and the Aztecs worshipped their gods through human sacrifice. The Olmecs were so dedicated to their gods that they transported 50 ton boulders from the mountains to the shore. For the Mayas, even their games were related to their religion. The Aztec society was constantly at war for the sole purpose of making sacrifices to their many gods. Religion dominated the cultures of these Mesoamerican empires.
The Maya, Aztec and the Inca, all tribes are similar. At at the same time,the tribes are so so different. The Maya’s religion: The Maya’s religion was very similar to the Aztecs and the Inca’s. They do human sacrifice and they all worship many gods, this was called Polytheism. But they have their own unique ones. For starters the king’s blood was considered to be sacred. Also the priests will cut themselves to start their ceremonies, and sacrificing warriors was sacred. And the Maya had a huge well that priests threw people into if they were about to be sacrificed, and if they survived they would be treated sacred. The Maya;s also farmed a lot. They had three different ways of farming.
In the Central America, most notably the Yucatan Peninsula, are the Maya, a group of people whose polytheistic religion and advanced civilization once flourished (Houston, 43). The Maya reached their peak during the Classic Period from around CE 250 to the ninth century CE when the civilization fell and dispersed (Sharer, 1). Although much has been lost, the gods and goddesses and the religious practices of the Classic Maya give insight into their lives and reveal what was important to this society. The major Mayan gods and goddesses all have common characteristics and, according to “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198). One of these characteristics is that Mayan gods and goddesses have “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198).
In 1959, Rafael Carrera made Guatemala’s national religion- Catholic, Carrera challenged the nation's politics, he was motivated by his religious concerns and forcibly controlled the power structure inherited from colonial times (Sullivan Gonzalez 17).Carrera protested in favor of the church and state to remain equal within the government system. However, the church lost power in 1879, it was deprived of property, and prohibited from discussing political issues (Cruz 351). The church had privileges that most citizens of Guatemala did not have. The church was allowed to make local laws and to enforce the Catholic religion on the residents of their towns. In another study “Mayan and Catholic Spiritual Traditions” published in 2006 by Wendy Tyndale Guatemalan Mayans in San Marcos “are Catholic but with their vision of the universe, interwoven with their Christian beliefs (315)”. The Maya would resist the power of the Catholic church and combine its Mayan beliefs with the Catholic beliefs. This attempt would save the Mayan traditional beliefs. In other words, Guatemalan Mayans had to adapt their way of life in order to preserve their Mayan Beliefs. Catholicism was changing life in Guatemala, Mayan religion was being culturalized by Christianity. Due to the Catholic religion, Guatemala would soon change its laws based on the Catholic religion. Catholicism was not only combined with other cultures but it was also combined with Guatemalan holidays, like its independence
The Mayans lived in Southern Mexico and Central America in their capital, Tikal, which is in present day Guatemala. The Mayans were known for their engineering, one structure they were famous for is their pyramid temple in Tikal (Document 1). This pyramid was the tallest structure in the Americas up until the 20th century and is still standing today. The government must have been strong and well organized in order to carry out such a large task. The Mayan religion had multiple gods and this pyramid was most likely devoted to one or used as a place for sacrifices. Another accomplishment of the Mayans was the creation of their calendar. An extra document that would be useful is one that explains how the calendar was created. The Mayans must have studied astronomy and math to a great length. Similar to the Ancient Egyptians, they wrote with symbols and pictures known as glyphs that were used in the calendar. These glyphs were gods, such as Zotz (Document 2). The use of glyphs is an acknowledgement of a writing system, which is another accomplishment.
The Dark Ages were a time of great loss in regards to the lack of any grand achievement being made in Europe. After the fall of Rome, it was as if European society paused, and resumed during the Renaissance. This was not true for the Mayans, however. While the Europeans were squandering trying to subsist through the fall of the Roman Empire, the Mayans were building great pyramids, making substantial discoveries in astronomy and mathematics, their culture was rich. The Maya stood out for its sophisticated culture and society, which is eventually overshadowed by Europe’s monumental resurgence during the Renaissance period. It’s salient that the Maya never had a time period in which their culture was lost, despite the mysterious abandonment of
Mesoamerica was characterized as people’s need for agriculture, especially maize. The Mayans, Aztecs, and others would not have thrived without corn because it was involved in their daily life and diet. Aside from the food aspect, corn played a role from religion to mythology. The Mayans thought of corn as a gift from god and believed their job was to care for the crop. This crop during the Mesoamerica time period
Human sacrifice is a key part of the history of the Maya region, and can be seen as a defining trait within many historical moments. These rituals, conducted in order to bring order and understanding to the world, are key to properly comprehending Maya culture
In order to really comprehend the religions and societies of Mesoamerica, you must first understand what world making, world centering, and world renewal all mean. Each of the main civilizations of Mesoamerica, the Olmec, Mayan, and Aztec’s all contributed their own versions of world making, centering, and renewal. World making, is defined as a culture’s view of the make up of their universe, and how it was created. Many religions and societies have their own versions of this (Carrasco, 19). For example, in today’s society, the major belief is in the big bang theory. It states, the universe as we know started with a very small atom and then had a “big bang” and then over the next 13.8 billion years became to the universe that we know today.
Laura Chatham Professor Hannah Jackson 24 November 2015 HIS1163 Fall 2015 A few of the indigenous tribes of present day Central and South America were really unique and made great advancements in fields such as: agriculture, architecture, and astronomy. Many things were learned and can be learned from these early civilizations. There are some common themes found throughout some of the major civilizations such as the use of agriculture and the defeat by the Spanish. Although we have learned much of these civilizations, some things have been left to speculation, but there is no denying the fact that if these civilizations never existed, the world would not be the same today.
Maya civilization was based mainly on agriculture and religion. Maya every day life revolved around an innumerable number of earth Gods. The most important God was chief, ruler of all Gods. The Mayans prayed to these God’s particularly about their crops. For example, they prayed to the Rain God to nourish their crops. They practiced their religion during ceremonies conducted by priests. They also practiced confession and even fasted before important ceremonies (Gann and Thompson 1931 118-138). The Mayans also b...