Communicate Co.

The concept of Maya Religion The fundamental principle of the Maya religion is duality, opposites that at the same time are complement. Its gods are conceived with duality in mind: the god and the goddess, day and night, etc. It was thought that the world was divided into two levels: the heavens and the Underworld, which were, in turn divided into various tiers, forming a normal pyramid, and an inverted one. The sun, for example, passes through the heavens during the day and the Underworld at the night, thus going through the levels. In the centre you will find the axis of the world, a sacred place where the forces of the heavens and the Underworld converge, a convenient place to build a temple (pyramid). It is important to make clear that for practical purposes, we are using the word “pyramid” to refer to a building made up of various tiered platforms crowned by a temple. We need to remember that the Maya conceived the pyramids as “the homes of their gods” Maya religion evolved, assimilating characteristics that were required by the society at that moment. The number of Maya gods varied and up until now researchers have not been able to agree on the exact number of gods in the Maya pantheon, however, we can identify the following: Gods  Hunabkú. god, creator  Itzam Ná, Lord of the heavens, night and day, and son of Hunabkú.  Ix Chebel Ya´ax, the wife of Itzam Ná  Kinich Ahaw, sun god, son of Itzam Ná.  Ix Chel, goddess of the moon, floods, pregnancy, weaving and wife of Kinich Ahaw.  Chaak, rain god, divided into the four cardinal points, north (white), south (yellow), east (red) and west (black).  Waxak Yol K´awil or Nal, god of corn or of agriculture (also known as Kax).  Ah Puch, Kisin, Kimil or Hun Ahaw, gods associated with death.  Ixtab, goddess of suicide.  Ek Chuah, the black scorpion of war, patron of cacao and the merchants.  Ik, god of the wind  Xaman Ek, the North Star (believed to be the pole star). Another god presides over human sacrifices and violent deaths. The most important and well-known gods are Kukulkán in the post-Classic period, Chaak, Itzam Ná, Ah Muken Kab (the descending god), 13 gods of the heavens (Oxlahun Ti k´u) and nine from the Underworld (Bolon Ti K´u). Religious hierarchy  Halach Wiinik: the priest and ruler of Kuchkabal (province).  Ah K´in May or Ahau Kan Mai: the high priest.  Ah Kin: the priest.  Ah nacom: the sacrificers.  Chilan: the prophet.  Cháako´ob: the assistants or helpers.