The Mayan Religion

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

The Ancient Mayan Civilization was built upon a rigid social structure based on their religious beliefs. They used a caste social structure in which divisions were based on wealth, inherited rank, privilege, profession, or occupation. Their beliefs were based on the fact that nature elements had the power to either help or harm. The Ancient Mayans used their social structure and beliefs to shape their daily lives. The Mayans were a very religious. They believed in many gods and all events centered around their religious beliefs. In their belief system, the gods would bring the rain, heal the sick, bring plentiful harvests and make sure the health and safety of the people if they were honored. If the gods were angry, they believed that the gods would send disasters to their people like droughts throughout their region. In order to keep the gods happy, they believed that a daily sacrifice of blood was necessary. They would open a wound on their body and let the blood drip on paper. Kings would also offer their blood to please the gods. The paper would be burned in an offering to the gods. The Mayans worshipped their ancestors as if they were gods. It was believed that the priests could see the spirits in the smoke. When a king or nobleman died, the Mayan people believed that he became one with the gods and would go to live in the sky with them. The dead were buried with food, tools, clothing, and whatever would be needed for their journey. Tombs were built to bury their

The Maya were a people from Middle America, which includes modern Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Northern Belize (Editors). The Maya civilization was considered to be “one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica,” (Maya). “The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making, and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork,” (Maya). They also gave mankind the modern calendar (Jarus, Maya). The Mayans were a very advanced people, but one of the most important things in the Mayan culture was their religion/god worshipping rituals.

The priestly class lived in the cities, while the general population lived away in small farming villages. The priests would carry out daily religious duties, particularly sacrifices, and the peasants would gather periodically for religious ceremonies and festivals. They built the ceremonial centers in a specific design for religious practices. They constructed tall pyramid temples, warren-like single story palaces, and a ball court that was surrounded by a broad central plaza. The architectural features of the Mayan pyramids include towering roofs, corbel vaults, and elaborate embellishment with stucco reliefs (Palfrey 2). It is amazing to imagine the detail that the Mayans were able to create in their architecture with only primitive tools. For the Mayans, science and religion were linked. Time was extremely important and their agriculture and religious ceremonies required a system that could record time.

The gods were modeled after animals for sacrificial purposes and religious ceremonies. The ancient Maya had many beliefs. They had possessed an in depth understanding of astronomy, engineering, and mathematics. The Maya believed that the Sun, Moon, and other planets, had been journeys of the gods.

The Maya were also a farming society like the Aztecs. They too, worshiped many gods, whom they felt were responsible for their survival. Gods of rain, wind, and sun were among the ones most worshiped. Mayan leaders went to war to try and capture the ruler of another city. If they did they would sacrifice the prisoner, again much like the Aztecs (Mexico).

The differences of the Mayan religious and the American religious is that for the only way for the sun to rise they have to sacrifice blood.The Mayans believe in more than one god so they are called polytheism.They also built huge monument to honor their kings and their gods.The physical labor was a honor to their gods.The most important god they have to honor is the sun god by farming corn because if they did not the sun would not rise and plants would die,the fruits would not be non nutritional,and animals would die.

Since the dawn of humanity, human beings have been contemplating the meaning of life, searching for answers to make sense of their existence. Even ancient people tried to answer the same taunting questions about their purpose on earth and the questions about the world, which people nowadays search for. Thus, in seeking the answers, ancient people created religions, usually based on their understanding of cosmology. Cosmology is a general understanding of the nature of the universe and it usually served as a base to every ancient religion. Primal people lived and depended on nature and its gifts, thus their cosmology revolved around the harmony with nature. They tried to conserve the

The Mayan way of life revolved their religion. They had a polytheistic religion praising many gods. Each god had a certain thing that they would rule over or take care of. Chac was the god of rain, Kinich Ahau was the sun god, and Yum Cimil was the god of the underworld. There were many gods and goddess for almost every reason one could think of, there is even a goddess of suicide. They would perform human sacrifices, bleeding rituals, and dances to praise and to

Religious  beleifs                            The Incas , Aztecs, and mayans were both similar and diffrent in their own unique ways and in diffrent beleifs and practises of everday life. Th e first main topic we are going to be discussing is the topic of religion in every culture and the ways their beleifs of gods change. Then we will disucuse further information about these groups and how they lived , functioned and ruled their lives.                To start it off the Incan religion which involved human sacrifice which during the time period a culture were relatively common, they had also attributed sacredness to a rock formation. The incan religion also required ancestor worship which is a ritual practice that was started on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence, and also that the dead ancestors take an interest in the problems of the world, and have the power and the ability to influence the fortune of the living.At its start, Incan religious beliefs  connected with nature. The incan people also beleived that the Inca rulers were descendants of the sun god, Inti.                                            Next up is the Mayan religion which was characterized by the worship of nature gods which include but are not limited to the gods of sun, rain and corn . The Mayans beleived  importance of astronomy and astrology which they also incorporated in their religions since their temples were usually taller than most buildings in the villages

Religion and trade were two of the most important aspects of Mayan civilization. Religion affected the government as the ruler was seen as a divine being, giving him immense power and influence over the people. Also, religion had a cultural impact as people believed they were created to appreciate the gods and to honor them. In fact, they were so devoted they would conduct human sacrifices to please the gods. The religion itself was passed down from generation to generation through an oral tradition. Due to the increase of cultural interaction through trade, the Mayan religion incorporated other ideas over time.

Most of their gods represented a form in nature, for example the Sun God (Kinih Ahous). They worshiped these gods everyday and religion was at the center of everything they did. They believed their ancestors lived in a small piece of heaven, and kept a watchful eye on their relatives on earth. The Maya also believed in an underworld, which to them was a horrible place filled with demons. If the Mayans did not worship the right way, these demons would be released onto earth and attack them, or so they believed. No Mayan woman would ever look in a mirror, for it was believed that the demons from the underworld could reach through the mirror and yank you into the underworld. Men, however, would look into mirrors as an act of

The Mayan Civilization at its height was one of the greatest civilization to ever reign on the planet. Their advances in astronomy and mathematics well in advance has helped present civilizations to prosper. But one of the great questions is what happened to the Mayans? Why did they collapse? What caused them to collapse? It is a question that had gone unanswered for decades until some of the worlds great historians and scientist finally concluded to three reasons why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The Mayans Collapse was fast and occurred due to Deforestation and Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Internal and Exterior Rivalry.

Maya’s expressed their beliefs through art and architecture,they felt as if it would make them closer to their God.Humans were sacrificed to appease the rain gods.Humans were sacrificed in different ways including getting pushed in a sinkhole,and getting their heart cut out while they were wide awake they would use the human blood as an incense,because they thought the smoke would carry their request to God.Cenote Sagrado haves many beliefs including there were two dimensions,which is the otherworld,which includes the gods,and the other dimension is the human world.The two dimensions existed among three realms the heavens or upper world which is home of the celestial gods,the earth or middle world which is home of the Maya,and the underworld

Almost every aspect of Maya life was centered on religion. These ancient Mesoamerican peoples worshipped many gods and goddesses; this was part of their daily lives, despite class differences in their sophisticated society. Religion served as a basis for the government and social life. Priests and shamans played an important role in their government, conducted religious ceremonies, and made sacrifices to the gods. The Maya believed in the supernatural, and used this belief to explain life and their universe. Every object, whether it is part of nature or man made, was considered sacred and worshipped.