Welcome to our blog, this is a small introduction to know a little more about the culture and traditions of the Mayans. In this web -blog you can explore different aspects of their traditions, their language and mainly their gods, which were object of veneration, and all the rituals and ceremonies realized by the Mayans were offered to them. Some of those rituals and gods are known worldwide, such as Chac, the god of the rain, but our purpose is not only to provide some names and dates using organized information, but to provide valuable information and a site in which people can learn more about this fascinating culture and be wondered by their imagination which is still present in many areas within the states of Yucatan Peninsula. In order to do this we have organized branches that will guide you throughout this site. These branches are divided into categories to make it more easily for you to understand the content of our web-blog. Finally we hope you like it and we hope that this blog will be useful for all users.

The Mayan calendar was very advanced, and consisted of a solar year of 365 days. It was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, followed by a five-day period that was highly unlucky. There was also a 260-day sacred year (tzolkin), divided into days named by the combination of 13 numbers and 20 names.
For longer periods, the Maya identified an elaborated system of periods and cycles of various lengths. In ascending order, these were: kin (day); uinal (20 days); tun (18 uinals/360 days); katun (20 tuns/7,200 days); baktunbaktun (20 katuns/144,000 days), and so on, with the highest cycle being the alautun (23,040,000,000 days).

(This information was taken from http://www.liveindia.com/mayacalendar/Calendar.html
to gain more details about the calendar click on the link above.)

The oldest myths date from the 16th century and are found in historical sources from the Guatemalan Highlands. The most important of these documents is the Popol Vuh or 'Book of the Council', which contains Quichean creation stories and the adventures of The Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

The legend of The Hero Twins geve birth to the Mayan culture. They are the reason why all started. The Mayan legends contain narrations loaded with endless imagination and creativity. The Mayas explain in their narrations how the world and the gods took part in the creation of things, even the world itself, but they not only give an explanation, they give such explanation that the people who are either listening or reading their legens get captured by the magnificense of their literature.

If you want to know the legend of The Hero Twins click Here
(This information was taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_mythology for more information click on the link above.)


The following video is a cartoon about the journey of The hero twins into the underworld.



The jaguar

The jaguar was the most feared and respected beast in the Mesoamerican world. The jaguar gods of the Maya were associated with the night, the caves and the underworld, like the jaguar itself, and were sometimes associated with shamanic transformations. The skin of the jaguar was used in many costumes, to denote high rank, power, authority and an association with the gods, especially in times of war. In the beautiful murals of the Maya, it is usually the rulers who wore those fashionable exotic jaguar outfits!

In Mayan art on wall and cave murals, and on vases, the jaguar is sometimes shown in its naturally occurring color phases of black (The Jaguar God of the Underworld) or light (The Jaguar God of the Upper World). Both jaguar gods were regarded as necessary beings, without as much value judgment or labeling as to their aspects of good or evil. Both were associated with the Creator as his helpers in forming the world, and they helped promote the changes necessary for continuation of the world.

The Mayan people had many jaguar deities, and associated the jaguar with power, probably because the jaguar occupies the top level of the food chain, as humans do. Often, the rulers of the Maya are depicted seated on a jaguar throne. Together, the Maya and the jaguar shared dominion over the tropical rain forest.
(This data was taken from http://www.angelfire.com/folk/sunflowerfarm/ajaguar.html to gain more information click on the web browse above.)

The mayas used to praise natural gods, Most and each one of them had a good and a bad side. Like such cultures there were different levels of importance among the mayan gods. The supreme one of them all was the god, Kukulcan the Creator, who is known as the feathered serpent, it appears in many temples in the mayan buildings. Kukulcan had been adopted by the Toltecs and the Aztecs and they renamed it as "Quetzalcoatl".

Another important god is the god "Bolom Tzacab" who appears in the mayan art, oftenlty the image appears in the form of a sceptre which is carried out by the mayan rulers, it is thought to have functioned as a royal decent god.

Mayas thought that the only way of comunicating with the gods was throughout the human sacrifice, they thought that the human blood nourished the gods. It was also seen as a ritual for fertility, and demostrated piety and it propitiate the gods.

The Ceremony was held at the top of a pyramid and was directed by a priest that made an incition on the low part of the rib-cage to rip open the flesh and releasing a bath of blood. You can later investigate more about it. Other Mayan religious rituals included dancing, competition, ball games, dramatic performances, and prayer to the gods.

The list of mayan gods is quite large so we have created a short list of those whom we consider that are the most popular ones of the Mayan religion. Such as: Itzamná, Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl), Chak, etc. The list include all the relevant information needed to understand the function of the gods and also contains a brief description of their images according to the leyend.
(If you wish to gain more data or want to go through all the list of the Mayan gods click Here)

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