Mythology of the ancient Mayans. Mayan myths. Preservation of the Mayan religion and the sources of its research

Alush was the name of a clay man who guarded an Indian field with crops, scared away thieves and also made fun of passers-by. One day a peasant decided to build an alush to protect his crops. Having mixed wet clay with honey, the Indian sculpted a small man. From the remains they made a sling and a dog. Then the peasant thirteen times made an offering to the gods in the form of a drink called saka. This is how life was breathed into the alush.

One Thursday, two Mayan Indians went into the forest. By noon they had no more drinking water, and there was still more than enough work. Since they were far from the village, they decided to look for water in a nearby cave.

The further they moved deeper into the cave, the darker it became around. So they walked in the dark, risking getting lost in the cave labyrinth. Suddenly one of them tripped over something hard and, bending down, felt for some incomprehensible object.

One day, as always, working in the field near the village of Usila, the Indian heard the sound of three blows on a tree. He did not attach much importance to this and, having finished his agricultural work, went to where he usually hunted. But this time the hunt was unsuccessful. Moreover, he was so tired that, leaning against the trunk, he unexpectedly dozed off. When he woke up, he saw a huge fox in front of him. All attempts to catch up with her, much less grab her, were in vain.

A long time ago, the following story happened to a man who was in the service of an evil and treacherous master. Once the owner sent his servant to search for Father Sun - that’s how the Sun God was affectionately called in those parts. He did not want to carry out this assignment, since he was leaving his beautiful wife and small children at home alone. But what to do: such was the will of his owner...

It so happened that mysterious stories happened in one village. As soon as someone was about to get married, his bride would disappear on the wedding day. And everything was very simple. It was with the onset of night that the terrible and powerful Sisimika the villain came down from the neighboring mountain and dragged away another girl to his cave, deep into the mountain, where no one dared to get through.

Many years ago there lived a huge eagle that devoured people and did not allow them to live on earth. One day a man decided to fight the animal and put an end to this oppression.

To do this, he went out into the open, armed with a knife, protecting his chest with a rope wrapped around it.

Long before the arrival of the Spaniards, the great Mayan cacique (leader) Tutul Shiu had a long, very long rope. If he intended to visit another village, then he only had to give the order, and the rope itself would quickly stretch through the air to the desired location. The result was a road along which one could move quickly. This wonderful rope was called Clouds of the Shiu clan, and everyone revered it very much.

In ancient times there were messengers who carried messages.

Once two such messengers were walking through the forest when it was already getting dark. In search of accommodation for the night, they came to an unfinished house. Climbing into the attic, they found enough straw there and buried themselves in it to sleep.

And at midnight, evil spirits - Shiba - came into the house.

Mayan (Maia, ????). Daughter of Atlas and Pleione, the eldest and most beautiful of the Pleiades. She gave birth to Hermes from Zeus.
(Source: “A Brief Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities.” M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition by A. S. Suvorin, 1894.)
MAYAN (Maya), in Greek mythology, the nymph of the mountains, the eldest of seven pleiades - daughters Atlanta and Pleione. In the grotto of the Arcadian mountain Cyllena M. met with Zeus, from whom she gave birth to Hermes (Apollod. Ill 10, 1-2; Hes. Theog. 938 next). Her name (“mother”, “nurse”) indicates her inherent functions of feeding and education; she raised the son of Zeus and the nymph Callisto Arcade (Apollod. Ill 8, 2). Together with the Pleiades sisters, it was transformed into the constellation of the same name. The Romans identified M. with the Italian goddess Maya (Maye-sta), the patroness of the fertile land. Sacrifices were offered to her on May 1 (Macrob. Sat. I 12); from her name - the name of the month of May in the Roman calendar. In the Hellenistic-Roman era, she was considered the wife of Vulcan and the mother of Mercury, and was identified with the Roman Bona dea. Fauna.

(Old Indian maya), in Vedic mythology, the ability to transform, characteristic of numinal (from Latin numen, “deity”) characters; illusion, deception. In relation to the gods, M. denotes positive magical power, a change in appearance, a wonderful metamorphosis. If M. belongs to the opponents of the gods - demons, enemies, M. acts as deception, cunning, witchcraft change in appearance, substitution. The ambivalence of the meanings of this word largely determines a similar demarcation in the dictionary Virgo And asu r. In the post-Vedic period, M. often appears personified as a divine woman of heavenly origin, sometimes identified with Durgoy: Maya [or Maya-devT, Maya-vatI, Maha-maya], wife of the demon Sambara, who raised Krishna's son Pradyomna (incarnation of the god of love Kama), and then became his wife. In this incarnation, M. is identified with Kama's wife Rati.
In Vaishnavism, as in a number of directions of ancient Indian speculation, M. denotes the illusory nature of being, the universe embodied in Vishnu; reality, understood as the dream of the deity, and the world as the divine play (lila). M. is one of the key concepts of the ancient Indian model of the world, which was also included in European philosophy.

Lit.: Zimmer H.. Maya, der indische Mythos, Stuttg. - V., 1952; Gonda J., Four studies in the language of the Veda, s-Gravenhage, 1959.
B. N. Toporov.

(Old Indian Maya), in Hindu mythology an architect asura, one of daityev. M. is the son of Viprachiti and Diti. Abandoned by his wife (apsara Hema). M. lives with his daughter Mandodari (he also has a son, Vajrakama) in the golden palace he built. Having met in the forest Ravana, he gives him his daughter as a wife; she will give birth to a powerful son, Meghananda (“loud one”), who later received the name Ind-rajit (Ram. VII). Another plot: M. asks Brahma for permission to build the fortified city of Tripura for the asuras; happy life in it; M.'s ominous dream; discord in Tripura, its decline; the gods, despite all M.'s efforts to save Tripura, take possession of the fortress and destroy it. This story in different options set forth in the Matsya Purana, Mahabharata (VIII), Harivansha, etc. The Mahabharata says that M. lives in Devagiri and erects buildings for daityas and for people in a nearby city; in particular, he is building a palace for Pandavas.
V. T.

(Source: “Myths of the Peoples of the World.”)
Maya (Mayesta) is the eldest of the Pleiades, daughters of the titan Atlas and the oceanids Pleione. Sister of Alcyone, Keleno, Merope, Sterope, Taygeta and Electra. Nymph of Mount Kyllena. She lived with her sisters in Arcadia, where Zeus met and fell in love with her. From him she gave birth to a son, Hermes. To free her from Hera's persecution, Zeus took Maia to heaven along with the other six sisters, turning them into a constellation. In Dr. Rime was identified with the earth goddess Maiesta; her holidays fell on May 1 (hence the name of the month).
// John KEATS: Ode to Maya
(Source: Myths Ancient Greece. Dictionary-reference book." EdwART, 2009.)
Synonyms:

asteroid, goddess, visibility, star, illusion, name, T-shirt, people, nationality, nymph, galaxy, progenitor, fabric, language

Preservation of the Mayan religion and the sources of its research

Despite the collapse of the classical Maya civilization at the beginning of the 10th century, during which the construction of monumental structures, bas-reliefs, steles with records of events ceased in almost the entire territory that was controlled by this people, and the population declined sharply and most urban centers were abandoned, the Mayan people survived and continued to maintain their faith and traditions. The survival of these traditions can be seen in the architectural remains of the cities in the northern Yucatan Peninsula, which still flourished during the Postclassic period under the influence of the cultures of the Gulf Coast and Valley of Mexico. The southern lowland and highland Mayan populations of modern Guatemala virtually ceased monumental construction during this period, but adherence to traditional beliefs among local Mayans is confirmed by descriptions by Spanish explorers and reports from the 16th and 17th centuries.

During and after the Spanish conquest of Yucatan, Mayan history and traditions continued to be passed down from generation to generation, although with some features of European traditions and religions, particularly Catholicism. Many Mayans have been persecuted for their faith for centuries since the arrival of Europeans. While there is no doubt that their society and traditions have gone through significant changes, many Mayans today maintain their identity and remember their complex history, traditions and heritage. This is typical even for residents of those areas where the adoption of Christianity was widespread.

In our time, only four more or less survived full of books Maya, written in the pre-Columbian years and dedicated to religious themes. Most Mayan codices (manuscripts) were destroyed by the Spanish Inquisition and secular authorities during the conquest of Mesoamerica and Christianization, so our knowledge of the culture of the classical period is often incomplete and fragmented. In addition, there are many inscriptions carved on architectural monuments, the remains of religious buildings and frescoes, for example, in the well-known temple in the territory of Bonampak, containing information about Mayan beliefs. After the Spanish conquest, some of the texts were rewritten or written down according to legend in Latin. The most famous of these sources are the collections of religious texts Popol Vuh (written in Quiche) and Chilam Balam.

Mythology

World Education

Mayan Pantheon of Gods

Religious rites

Unlike the Aztecs, the Mayan priests were not celibate. Sons succeeded their fathers in the position of priest, although sometimes the second sons of rulers became priests. The priest's title, Ah-Kin ("he is from the sun"), speaks of a connection with the calendar and astronomy, and their duties included not only rituals, but also education. They also carried out calculations of the calendar, astronomical events, were in charge of sacred places, ceremonies and holidays, provided prophecies, treated the sick, taught students writing and compiled genealogies of famous people.

As mentioned, the Mayans believed in the cyclical nature of time (see Mayan calendar). Rituals and ceremonies were closely related to various stellar and earthly cycles, which they observed and recorded in the form of unique calendars. The Mayan priests interpreted these cycles and made predictions of the future or past based on the relationships of different calendars. If the priests' interpretations predicted bad times, sacrifices were made to appease the gods. Victims could be small animals, "bloodlettings" by high officials, and, although infrequently, human victims.

In making a human sacrifice, the priest was assisted by four old men, the so-called chakas, named after the rain god (a response to the sacred role of the god Chaka of the classical period), who held the arms and legs of the victim while the chest was opened by another man called Nakum (like the god of war). Another participant in the ceremony was Chilam, a kind of shaman who received a message from the gods when falling into a trance, and his prophecies were interpreted by the priests.

Each Mayan ritual was dictated by a calendar, the most important cycle of which was 260 days. Dates and symbols were loaded with symbolic meanings. For example, numbers 4, 9, 13 and color directions were often found. Before and during the rituals there was a strict fast, with the prohibition of many foods and sexual activity, and also, those taking part in the rituals performed self-mutilation of their bodies, piercing the ears, cheeks, lips, tongue and penis with a needle, and the flowing blood was used to lubricate the idols . On the eve of the Spanish conquest, such idols were burned with incense and rubber, and ritually fed. Slaves and illegitimate children or orphans purchased for this occasion were sacrificed. However, before the Toltec era, human sacrifices were rare, and animals were used instead: turkeys, dogs, squirrels, quail and iguanas.

The largest ceremony of the Postclassic Maya was the solemn celebration of the New Year. This ceremony took place in every Mayan society on the next five unnamed and unlucky days at the end of last year, and involved the construction of a special road (probably similar to the "sidewalks" of the classical period) to an idol placed in one of four directions, just outside the city limits; a new direction was chosen annually, with a cycle of four years and in a counterclockwise direction. Over the course of the year, various incidents occurred and various prophecies were fulfilled, good and bad, but the bad ones could be neutralized with the help of special rituals, for example, the well-known ceremony of walking on fire, where the priests ran barefoot across a layer of hot, still red, coal.

In addition, agricultural rites and ceremonies were held throughout the year for important economic groups such as hunters, beekeepers, fishermen and artisans. Probably, these actions depended on the dates of the 260-day cycle, as we can judge from the Madrid Code, which is mainly devoted to such issues. The purpose of these activities was to increase hunting catch, production of honey and wax, etc. They often took the form of “analogous magic”, such as pouring water on a fire to cause rain.

Contrary to the popular belief that Classic Maya societies were organized as theocracies, that is, states led by priests, there is no evidence of the very existence of priests during the Classic period! It seems that priests appeared during the early Postclassic period under the influence of the Toltecs. However, artists, writers and sculptors played a significant role in the society of the classical period, occupying the next rank after the rulers of states. The chief scribe, who corresponded to the vizier at the courts of the Old World, was the so-called Ah-Kutun ("he is from the sacred books"), that is, the state librarian.

Representatives of the elite of the classical period were obsessed with blood, both their own and the blood of their enemies. The blood shed by rulers and representatives of their families had important ritual significance. Blood was spilled across important dates calendar, more often, from the language of women and the penis of men. The needle used for this was a sharp bone and was highly valued and had ritual significance. The images on the steles, which were previously thought to depict water flowing from the bowed hands of rulers, are now known to depict flowing blood. This blood, as in Europe, symbolized royal origin.

Notes

Links

Mayan mythology. Encyclopedia of mythology with illustrations
Talakh V.M. Introduction to Mayan hieroglyphic writing (in Ukrainian). . www.kuprienko.info (March 19, 2011). - Mayan language textbook. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.

Mayan civilization
Background	Veracruz \| Izapa \| Olmec \| Teotihuacan \| Epiolmecs
Cities, regions, states	Mayan cities (list)\| Baakul \| Mutul \| Kanul
Rulers

At different periods of Mayan history, certain gods may have had different significance for their worshipers.

The Mayans believed that the universe consisted of 13 heavens and 9 underworlds. In the center of the earth there was a tree that passed through all the celestial spheres. On each of the four sides of the earth there was another tree, symbolizing the cardinal points - a red tree corresponded to the east, a yellow tree to the south, a black tree to the west, and a white tree to the north. Each side of the world had several gods (wind, rain and heaven holders) who had a corresponding color. One of the important gods of the Maya of the classical period was the god of corn, represented in the guise of a young man with a high headdress.

By the time the Spaniards arrived, Another important deity was Itzamna, represented as an old man with a hooked nose and a goatee. As a rule, images of Mayan deities included a variety of symbolism, indicating the complexity of the thinking of the customers and performers of sculptures, reliefs or drawings. So, the sun god had large crooked fangs, his mouth was outlined by a strip of circles. The eyes and mouth of the other deity are depicted as coiled snakes, etc. Among the female deities, especially significant, judging by the codes, was the “red goddess,” the wife of the rain god; she was painted with a snake on her head and with the paws of some kind of predator instead of legs. Itzamna's wife was the moon goddess Ish-Chel; it was believed to help with childbirth, weaving and medicine. Some Mayan gods were represented in the form of animals or birds: jaguar, eagle.

During the Toltec period of Mayan history, the veneration of deities of Central Mexican origin spread among them. One of the most respected gods this kind there was Kukulkan, in whose image elements of the god Quetzalcoatl of the Nahua peoples are clear.

Currently, most scientists accept and recognize the following Mayan mythological deities: the god of rain and lightning - Chaak (Chaak or Chac); the god of death and ruler of the world of the dead - Ah Puch; god of death - Kimi (Cimi); lord of the sky - Itzamna; god of trade - Ek Chuah; goddess of sacrifices and ritual suicides - Ish-Tab (IxTab); goddess of the rainbow and moonlight- Ish-Chel (IxChel); the riding god, the feathered serpent of Quetzal - Kukulkan (Gukumatz); god of corn and forests - Jum Kaash; god of fire and thunder - Huracan; demon of the underworld - Zipacna and others.

An example of Mayan mythology of the pre-Hispanic period is provided by the epic of one of the peoples of Guatemala, the Quiche, “Popol Vuh”, preserved from colonial times. It contains stories of the creation of the world and people, the origin of the twin heroes, their struggle with the underground rulers, etc. The veneration of deities among the Mayans was expressed in complex rituals, part of which were sacrifices (including human ones) and playing ball. Chichen Itza had a ball court, the largest in all of Mexico. It was closed on two sides by walls, and on two more sides by temples. The game of ball was not just a sporting competition. Many archaeological discoveries indicate that it was clearly associated with human sacrifice. On the walls enclosing the site, beheaded people are depicted in relief. There are 3 platforms around the site: the Venus (Quetzalcoatl) platform with the tomb of Chac-Mool, the Eagle and Jaguar platform with the Jaguar Temple, and the Skulls platform. Huge statues of Chak-Mool depict him reclining, with a sacrificial dish on his stomach. On the platform of the Skulls there were stakes on which the severed heads of the victims were strung.

Mayan writing.

It has long been believed that the Mayans were the inventors of writing and the calendar system. However, after similar but older signs were found in places farther away from the Mayan region, it became apparent that the Mayans had inherited some elements from earlier cultures. Mayan writing was of the hieroglyphic type. Mayan hieroglyphs were preserved in 4 manuscripts (the so-called Mayan codes, three in Dresden, Madrid, Paris, the fourth codex was partially preserved); they give either images of figures, or are connected in groups of 4 or 6 hieroglyphs above the figured images. Calendar signs and numbers accompany the entire text. Schellgas (in “Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie”, 1886) and Seler (in “Verhandlungen der Berliner Anthropologischen Gesellschaft” and in “Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie”, 1887) did a lot to analyze hieroglyphs.

The latter proved that groups of hieroglyphs are composed of one hieroglyph relating to the action depicted in the picture below them, another - hieroglyphically meaning the corresponding god, and 2 more, communicating the attributes of the god.

The hieroglyphs themselves are not compounds of elements representing a known sound or sound combination, but almost exclusively ideograms. Paul Schellgas systematized the images of Mayan deities in three codes: Dresden, Madrid and Paris. Shellgas's list of deities consists of fifteen Mayan gods. He identified most of the hieroglyphs directly related to these deities and denoting their names and epithets.

As a rule, the texts ran parallel to the graphic depiction of the plot. With the help of writing, the Mayans were able to record long texts of various contents. Thanks to the efforts of several generations of researchers, it became possible to read ancient texts. A significant contribution was made by our compatriot, Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov, whose first publications on this topic appeared in the early 1950s. In 1963 he published the monograph “The Writing of the Maya Indians.” It reproduced in facsimile the texts of the surviving Mayan manuscripts (codes), compiled, perhaps, even before the Spanish Conquest, in the 12-15 centuries. and named after the cities in which they are now stored - Dresden, Madrid and Paris. The book also outlined the principles of decipherment, a catalog of hieroglyphs, a dictionary of the language of the Yucatan Maya of the early colonial period, and a grammar of the Mayan language. In 1975, in the book “Hieroglyphic Mayan Manuscripts,” Knorozov proposed reading the manuscripts and their translations into Russian. The texts of the codes turned out to be a kind of manual for priests with a list of rituals, sacrifices and predictions related to different types Mayan economies and to all social strata of the population, except slaves. Brief Descriptions The activities of the gods served as instructions on what to do for the corresponding groups of inhabitants. In turn, the priests, guided by the descriptions of the actions of the deities, could set the time for rituals, sacrifices, and the implementation of certain works; they could also predict the future.

Mayan calendar

To calculate time, the Mayans used a complex calendar system that included several cycles. One of them represented a combination of numbers from 1 to 13 (“week”) and 20 “months”, which had their own names. A solar calendar with a year of 365 days was also in use. It consisted of 18 months of 20 days and five “extra” or “unlucky” days. In addition, the Mayans used the so-called long count, which, in addition to a 20-day month and an 18-month year, took into account a 20-year period (katun); a period of 20 katuns (baktun) and so on. There were other dating methods. All of these methods changed over time, making it much more difficult to correlate the dates recorded by the Mayans with European chronology.

Like representatives of other pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas, the Mayans were a deeply spiritual people. For thousands of years, their thoughts and actions were inspired by cosmological ideas about time and space, human education, and belief in the religious significance of agricultural cycles. Their worldview was a very complex polytheistic religious system. This religious system developed back in archaic times, long before the heyday of the Mayan civilization in the classical period (II-IX centuries). Over the millennia, this complex system was expanded, varying somewhat across regions and time periods, but maintaining the core inherited beliefs, traditions, and practices. The Mayans shared many traditions and rituals with other cultures of Mesoamerica, which is a diverse mosaic of somewhat similar but unique traditions. The Mayan religious system is still alive today; millions live according to its rituals [ ] representatives of modern Maya, who, although they have characteristics inherent in each people, inherited most of the traditions from the once great classical culture.

In our time, only four more or less complete Mayan books, written in the pre-Columbian years and devoted to religious topics, have survived. Most Mayan codices (manuscripts) were destroyed by the Spanish Inquisition and secular authorities during the conquest of Mesoamerica and Christianization, so our knowledge of the culture of the classical period is often incomplete and fragmented. In addition, there are many inscriptions carved on architectural monuments, the remains of religious buildings and frescoes, for example, in the well-known temple in the territory of Bonampak, containing information about Mayan beliefs. After the Spanish conquest, some of the texts were rewritten or written down according to legend in Latin. The best known of these sources are the collections of religious texts Popol Vuh (written in K'iche') and Chilam Balam.

Representatives of the elite of the classical period were obsessed with blood, both their own and the blood of their enemies. The blood shed by rulers and representatives of their families had important ritual significance. Blood was shed on the most important dates of the calendar, more often from the tongue of women and the penis of men. The needle used for this was a sharp bone and was highly valued and had ritual significance. The images on the steles, which were previously thought to depict water flowing from the bowed hands of rulers, are now known to depict flowing blood. This blood, as in Europe, symbolized royal origin.