Mesoamerican creation myths

Mesoamerican creation myths are the collection of creation myths attributed to, or documented for, the various cultures and civilizations of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and Mesoamerican literature.

Creation

The Maya gods included Kukulkán (also known by the Kʼicheʼ name Gukumatz and the Aztec name Quetzalcoatl) and Tepeu. The two were referred to as the Creators, the Forefathers or the Makers. According to the story, the two gods decided to preserve their legacy by creating an Earth-bound species looking like them. The first attempt was man made from mud, but Tepeu and Kukulkán found that the mud crumbled. The two gods summoned the other gods, and together they decided to make man from wood. However, since these men had no soul and soon lost loyalty to the creators, the gods destroyed them by rain. Finally, man was constructed from maize, the Mayans staple and sacred food. The deity Itzamna is credited as being the creator of the calendar along with creating writing.[1]

The Aztec people had several versions of creation myths. One version of the myth includes four suns, each representing one of the four elements. In another version of the myth, the creator couple give birth to four sons, Red Tezcatlipoca, Black Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, and Huitzilopotchli. In both versions, the suns, or sons, are attributed with the creation of the Earth and common destructions that would have been experience by the Aztec people such as great floods and volcanic eruptions. Yet another version has Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca turn into snakes and destroy a great monster, ripping it in two where one half is cast down to become the Earth and one half is cast up to create the heavens. [2]

Other creation myths that are commonly known to natives of the Mesoamerican region include The Emergence of the Ancestors (Aztec), The Man of the Crops (Jicaque), Why the Earth Eats the Dead (Bribri), and Opossum Steals Fire (Mazatec).[1]

The Ball Game

One activity that was popular widely among Mesoamerican cultures is the ball game, similar to football, or soccer in the United States. Some societies played the game using their hips instead of feet, called Ullamalitzli. Evidence of the ball game has been found in nearly every Mesoamerican society, including the Olmec, Tlaloc, Aztec and more. The sacred origins of the ball game can be found in the Popol Vuh, which illustrates how two brothers defeated the gods of the underworld in a ball game and became celestials who became the creators. [3] The ball game may also relate to the movement of the sun through the heavens. Thus it is believed that the ball game remained an important part of Mesoamerican culture as a way to honor the gods who brought about the creation of the Earth and the people. [4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Bierhorst, John (1990). The Mythology of Mexico and Central America. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. pp. 67–77. ISBN 0688067212.
  2. ^ Taube, Karl A. (1993). Aztec and Maya myths. The Legendary past (1st University of Texas Press ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-0-292-78130-6.
  3. ^ Christenson, Allen (March 1, 2007). Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of Maya (1 ed.). University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 164–176. ISBN 9780806138398.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ Uriarte, María (Spring 2006). "The Teotihuacan Ballgame and the Beginning of Time". Ancient Mesoamerica. 17 (1): 17–38.


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