The Maya Civilization

There are many creation myths around the world. Creation Myths may share similarities which are known as motifs. Some myths share motifs and the culture the myths were created may be separated by oceans. How would the early civilizations have creation myths that share so many motifs. In my opinion, three of the most common or important creation myth motifs are humans take care of the earth and worship their god(s), the the gods destroy earth, and Chaos is the beginning of time.

In this paragraph I’m going to talk about how the Inca, Mayan, and Aztec are similar. The Inca, Mayans, and Aztec all believed in many gods. They all have a moon god and a sun god but they have different names.

Religion can be defined as beliefs and sentimental values of a particular community in a society. These beliefs trace their origins from the ancient texts present in that community. These texts generally contains about the deities and gods in the historic era. These texts portray the mythological deities and gods with supernatural powers and how the earth was created by the almighty using these powers. Almost each and every religious texts talk about their god and how their god created this world and human beings.

It is said that the Mayans were influenced, or derived, from the earliest settlers of central America, the Olmecs. The Mayan people were spread throughout Central America in places such as present day Mexico and all the way to Honduras but centered mainly in Guatemala. (History.com, “Locating the Maya”) The Mayan people accomplished many things and became a big influence to later civilizations.

Many cultures have different beliefs and different stories of how the world was created but the Aztec creation story is an interesting story to read. According to the myth the Aztecs have a story in which deals with the elements and how they came to be. The Aztec Creation Myth contains the following archetypes: the ritual, The unhealable wound, the battle between good and evil, and the task. The Aztec myth starts with a dual god named Ometecuhtli/ Omecihuatl creating themselves then he/she has kids (Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, and Xipe Totec) who represent the four directions.

Many of its elements originated in religious ideas, but the struggle between Horus and Set may have been partly inspired by a regional conflict in Egypt 's history Osiris rules Egypt, having inherited the kingship from his ancestors in a lineage stretching back to the creator of the world, His queen is Isis who, along with Osiris and his murderer Set, is one of the children of the earth god geb and the sky goddess Little information about the reign of Osiris appears in Egyptian sources; the focus is on his death and the events that follow Osiris is connected with life-giving power, righteous kingship, and wise rule the ideal natural order whose maintenance was a fundamental goal in ancient Egyptian culture. Set is closely associated with violence and

The term polytheism, derived from the Greek “polytheia,” is defined by both Merrian-Webster and dictionary.com as the doctrine of, or belief in, more than one god or in many gods. The term first appeared in print around 1613, along with several other words related to religion including caste, cult, fetish, guru, imam, Sabbatarian and yogi. Urban Dictionary expands upon the more proper definitions by adding the worship of goddesses to their definition, as well as categorizing the definitions into “soft” and “hard” forms. “Soft polytheism” is defined as belief in many gods and goddesses, but also includes a belief that they are all aspects of a singular, supreme God or Goddess. Followers of the religion known as Wicca, a sort of modern day

I’m not sure if the Christians just didn’t read the fine print on that one, but it’s still good on this side. Paganism is about the unity of all living things on earth, about the natural cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. I can see where the two walk hand in hand . . . in unity, of

Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

In addition to Metamorphoses, he wrote another poem called Fasti. It explicated the reasoning behind the festivals and ceremonies of certain gods and goddesses

Wicca is a pagan nature-based, fertility-oriented religion, and although it has many roots to the “old ways” and ancient practices, Wicca as it currently stands is a fairly new religion, technically started by Gerald Gardner in the 1940s. Gardner reconstructed and reinvented ancient beliefs and practices to fit a modern age. Wiccans observe the turn of the seasons and the cycle of the moon. Wiccans embrace the existence of two main deities: the Goddess and the God. The moon and its changing phases are often considered the embodiment of the Goddess, while the sun is said to symbolize the God.

Maya society was no different than any other society around world during this time period. Their society was broken into a class structure, which followed how other civilizations were. You had the ruling class, the nobility (“almehenob”), the priesthood (“ahkinob”) and often scribes would be at this level as well, the common folk (“ah chembal uinieol”), and of course, the slaves (“pencatob”). The most powerful of the ruling elite was known as the “halach uinic” or “true man,” which makes a fifth class in some cases. The halach uinic (Chief or King) was a hereditary position that was typically passed from father to eldest son.

Everything was perfectly planned out. As the calendar says, they have to sacrifice one of their own to please the Gods. The Mayan people would get together as a whole to practice their religious ceremony at the temple. The Mayan and Aztec civilizations are two ancient civilizations that were located near Central and South America. The Mayan civilization was more remarkable than the Aztecs because of their advanced knowledge.

Located in the rainforests of Mesoamerica, the Mayan Empire was a highly successful empire with the first settlements dating back to as early as 1800 B.C. This empire, like many, experienced a rise, a successful age of wealth, and a decline. However, unlike most other civilizations, the decline of the Mayans is a highly speculated topic, with many circulating theories. The Mayan Empire was a rich agricultural, religious, and scientific civilization. The rise of the Mayan civilization can be dated back to around 1800 B.C., where small towns started to gather, and agriculture of plants like beans, squash, and cassava were booming.

The Americas Ancient America consists of three main civilizations. The Mayan Empire, The Incan Empire, and The Aztec Empire. “The Maya Civilization lived in Central America, including south Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras between 2500 BCE and 1500 CE. The Inca were a tribe around the 12th century who formed a city-state. The Aztecs were a people who came into the Valley of Mexico in the 12th century and quickly rose to become the dominant power in Mesoamerica.”