The Maya Civilization

The Maya civilisation was one of the most superior indigenous societies of Mesoamerica (a term used to describe Mexico and Central America before the 16th century Spanish conquest). It is believed that the Mayan peoples began to settle in the Yucatan area of what is now known as Mexico between 2600 BC and 1800 BC. Their religion was based on a pantheon of nature gods, including those of the Sun, the Moon, rain, and corn. A priestly class were responsible for an elaborate rotation of rituals and ceremonies.

Their beliefs are formed on the idea that virtually everything in the world contains sacredness and life was seen as a recurrent cycle.

The Mayan religion was Polytheist, meaning they worshiped over 165 Gods which all had a good

The two main topics of their texts were astronomy and religious views.

Some examples of their sacred stories and text include:

Dresden Codex
Madrid Codex
Paris Codex
Books of Chilam Balam
Popol Vuh
The Ritual of the Bacabs

gods/goddesses and deities :

Mayan deities were individuals derived from nature which the civilisation depended upon most. The ancient Mayans had incarnations of sun, rain, moon, lightening, medicine, death and so on. Some examples of their most important God/Goddesses were:

Huracan - God of wind, storm, fire
Ixchel – Goddess of Medicine and Midwifery
Buluc Chabtan – God of War
Kinich Au – God of the Sun
Chicchan – God of Rain
Itzamna – God of Harvest

people/social structure :

Of course, at the top, was the king as he had the highest authority.

Next, were the nobles and the priests who were the only members of the society that were educated, except for the king. They carried out decisions and ran the city as well as organising and maintaining relationships with the

Mayan writing consists of symbols called glyphs which are hieroglyphics of an animal or sacred symbol.

The following short list describes a few important Mayan symbols:

Caban :
This is used to represent the keeper of Earth which represents movement, transition and synchronisation.

Jaguar :
The Jaguar is the god of the underworld in the Mayan mythology and is used as the symbol of darkness and the night sun. It is seen as a representation of leadership, control and confidence.

Eagle :
The Mayan symbol of Eagle stands for protection, authority, control, and is considered the symbol of unity or cooperation. It is also related with skill and determination because of its ability to fulfil its needs in the most efficient way.

I believe it is important to be educated on not just ancient/indigenous religions, but on all religions as they played a significant part in history and have shaped the who we are and the world we live in today. Even if the particular religion isn 't practiced or used in present time, it is still worth being educated on due to its role in