MAYAN RELIGION :
The Mayan religon was a polytheismic religon, which means the belief in multipule gods. The main gods they worshiped were the gods and goddesses of nature such as Sun, Rain, and Maize (corn) . This was because the Mayans thought that gods and goddesses were the reasons plantaion were doing good or bad. Gods like Chac, god of rain, would bring rain to crops, which was important to the Mayans. But if the Mayans didn't get good crops or rain they would performed sacrafices to the gods. And these sacrafices were more than just animal sacrafices, they would sometimes sacrafice humans too. But the Mayans wouldnt sacrafice their own people, but instead would kidnap natives from war and sacrafice them. They would also cut themselves because they believed the blood nourished the Gods. Human sacrafice and bloodletting were regular Mayan practices. They also performed ceremonies where preists would dress as jaguars and ferice animals to scare demons back to the underworld, where they belonged. The priests wanted to look equally scary and powerful as the demons, which is why they wore the costumes. The priests decided nearly everything in the Mayas daily life. The priests decided when to plant, when to marry, and who to sacrifice. They were some of the most important people in Mayan civiliziation. Mayans believed the universe was split in three layers, the Heavens, Earth, and the Underworld.
The Mayan religon was a polytheismic religon, which means the belief in multipule gods. The main gods they worshiped were the gods and goddesses of nature such as Sun, Rain, and Maize (corn) . This was because the Mayans thought that gods and goddesses were the reasons plantaion were doing good or bad. Gods like Chac, god of rain, would bring rain to crops, which was important to the Mayans. But if the Mayans didn't get good crops or rain they would performed sacrafices to the gods. And these sacrafices were more than just animal sacrafices, they would sometimes sacrafice humans too. But the Mayans wouldnt sacrafice their own people, but instead would kidnap natives from war and sacrafice them. They would also cut themselves because they believed the blood nourished the Gods. Human sacrafice and bloodletting were regular Mayan practices. They also performed ceremonies where preists would dress as jaguars and ferice animals to scare demons back to the underworld, where they belonged. The priests wanted to look equally scary and powerful as the demons, which is why they wore the costumes. The priests decided nearly everything in the Mayas daily life. The priests decided when to plant, when to marry, and who to sacrifice. They were some of the most important people in Mayan civiliziation. Mayans believed the universe was split in three layers, the Heavens, Earth, and the Underworld.
MAYAN ART
Mayan artists primaraly focused on religous themes. Artists' would depict on Mayan daily life and religous ritaruls in highly detailed sculptures and murals. Sculptures would embellish temples, monuments, and other Mayan buildings of supernatural creatures, past rulers, and mythological animals. Most sculptures were sculpted from limestone, terricotta, jade, stone, and bone. However, they also worked with softer materials such as clay, wood, and sandstone. The Mayans also pained murals, which cover the interior walls of temples and palaces. These murals have shown historians th life of the Mayans and the activites they did. The murals would show human sacrafice, warfare, daily life, and the religous riturals the Mayans performed. Ceramics were alot more than just art to the Mayans, but also an important tool. They were used as drinking vessels as well as cooking pots and whistles. They came in a varity of shapes such as vases, jars, and bowl sizes. They were primaraly decorated with animal dieties, nobles, priests, and scenes of warfare. The Mayan artists did their art in fine detail and unique decorative styles. Although lots of the Mayan art is in ruins, many of these masterpieces are perserved in museums all around the world. |
MAYAN FOLKTALE: Maya mythology is part of mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya tales in which focuses on the forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. Other parts of Maya oral tradition (such as animal tales and many moralising stories) do not properly belong to the domain of mythology, but rather to legend and folk tale.
Mayan folktales awlays contained a lesson in them primarily focused on children for life lessons. The protaginist would usually be a warrior or a mighty animal who would tie in a life lesson at the end of the tale.
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