Re-genre

Intent and Reflection for Re-genre

In our informative essay earlier this semester, I chose to explore Mayan culture, religious beliefs, and history. Although I find this anthropological information fascinating, it occurred to me during the writing that it may be difficult for people to visualize such an ancient and abstract culture. It is because of this that I have chosen my Mayan essay for a re-genre.

It is important to note that the Maya were a very artistic society. Much of what we know about their rituals is from the elaborate hieroglyphics found amongst elaborate architecture. I could describe much of this artwork in my essay but it would be very ineffective in truly allowing people to see how majestic it is.

Originally, I decided upon a comic book approach to help people visualize the work of the maya. However, as I continued working on the chosen medium, the information became very vague. I realized that I really only wanted to recreate the maya work myself. I decided to change my medium to a blog because although recreating Mayan glyphs and frescos in the form of sketches would be gratifying for me, the focused wouldn’t be on the Maya work and beliefs.

I have given a brief description of the what the Popol Vuh contains, some of the deities, and the importance of the ritual ball game. While this does not appeal to a younger audience, it is written with brief description. It is more like an overview of the Maya myths with artistic examples that are both original to Maya culture, as well as interpreted by others. This appeals to an audience that is computer literate. The language used could be understood by someone as young as a sophomore in high school.

I also like the blog as a medium because it will connect with a more personal audience. The majority of the people that will read a blog that I post are close friends, family, and some classmates. This is a good way for me to show others my interests and the work I have put in to learn about them.

Exploration of Maya Religion

Exploration of Myths, Rituals, and Deities

In most religions, the beliefs of the sect are often contextualized by the rituals performed in the everyday life of the group. In Mayan culture, this was dominated by ceremony, art, and sacrifice. These rituals were in reverence of everyday themes like the passage of time, the struggle between night and day, fertility, and vitality. Their origin and beliefs were outlined in many primitive books but very few of those remain today. One book that does is the “Popol Vuh.” This book was sacred to the Maya and included in depth description, via hieroglyphics and illustrations, about the different eras for the creation of the world (Rubenstein). These pictures were meant to represent physical as well as psychological reality (Meilach).

The first era of Maya creation myth was the known as the “Original Creation Event” in which the Gods Tepeu and Gucumatz create the mountains and seas of the world with their speech (Rubinstein). However great this creation was, the animals and plants that populated the land could not worship the Gods and were considered inadequate.

The Man of Mud was the entrance of man into Maya belief. During the era, it was written that the Man of Mud was symbolic of a fragile man that is easily broken - likened unto the brittle cracking of dry mud (Rubinstein). Again this creation was inadequate.

The Man of Wood followed in created and while these beings were described as strong and uneasily broken, they were soulless creatures that also did not worship the Gods. They turned their backs to their creators and were punished for going astray by decapitation - described as the “emergence into a new state of consciousness” by Julieta Rubenstein.

It is likely that these creation myths were represented visually by art and architecture as well as the clothing worn by nobles and priests. Rituals also took place to symbolize the creation of the world by the creative Gods. However, the most notable ritual was the playing of the ancient mesoamerican ball game. It was in this ritual that all the aspects of maya religion were symbolized and worshipped.

In the myth, two sons participate in a match against two of seven underworld lords. The ball with which they play is called Xibalba, the Maya word for underworld (Rubinstein). The sons are defeated and sacrificed by decapitation but the head of one son, Hunahpu, is thrust upward to impregnate Icquix. Icquix, a Mayan Goddess, gives birth to two twins who live on to match the lords a second time and are able to defeat them. After doing so they search for the remains of their father and uncle, also known as the search for corn or maize, from which it was believed that mankind was created (Rubinstein).

“The Popol Vuh, the Maya origin story, captures the game's religious and sacred function by pitting the ball playing skills of the Hero Twins against those of evil lords of the underworld, using complex imagery of human sacrifice, fertility, and regeneration” (Hosler, Burkett, and Tarkanian). The myth of the ball game was recreated time and time again by the ritual playing of the game. We can infer that it was symbolic of life and death and the transformation between the two. The sacrifice itself was a literal symbol of death but also a symbol of vitality. When the sons were decapitated, it was the head of the dead father that was able to bring to life the twins by the impregnation of Icquix.

The battle between the Hero Twins and the Lords of Darkness also symbolized the “constant struggle between night and day” (Meilach). This characterizes similar ideas of death, regeneration, and vitality. It also pertains to the Mayan’s great preoccupation with time. This fight between day and night was physically represented by the Mayan calendars. These scales of time determined when rituals were held and why. Human sacrifice was not only used to symbolize the events in their myths, but also to feed the Gods who controlled the passage of time. One God ruled over all the Lords of the Mayan Underworld and was literally known as “Zero,” a Death God that would stop the passage of time. The Maya sought to find a human that could take the place of Zero or “outwit” zero and therefore put an end to death (Kaplan).

Aside from specific religious significance, the Mayan ball games were a source of entertainment for community. It was also the venue by which people gambled and traded slaves, money, and valuables (Hosler, Burkett, and Tarkanian).

Original Maya illustration of the passage to Xibalba.

http://t-incognita.blogspot.com/2008/08/mythical-mayan-underground-found-or-so.html

Original Maya fresco of their underworld, Xibalba.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/astrologicalmusings/2009/03/venus-retrograde-financial-mar.html

Illustrations of the Maya Death God, Yum Cimil.

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayangods.html

Recreated hieroglyphics of the ritual Maya ball game known as '"pitz."

http://www.zazzle.com/mayan_ball_game_post_card_postcard-239770929190853881

The "Hero Twins," Hunahpu and Ixblanque.

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayangods.html

Hosler, Dorothy, Sandra L. Burkett, and Michael J. Tarkanian "Prehistoric Polymers: Rubber Processing in Ancient Mesoamerica." Science 284.5422 (1999): 1988. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Dec. 2009.

Kaplan, Robert. "Mayan Mathematics." American Scholar 68.3 (Summer99 1999): 27. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 22 Sep. 2009 .

Meilach, Dona Z. "Maya art crosses many disciplines." Arts & Activities 120.5 (Jan. 1997): 41. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 22 Sep. 2009 direct=true&db=aph&AN=9704170080&site=ehost-live>

Rubinstein, Julieta Besquin. "Pre-Hispanic perspectives on the modern Mexican psyche; contemporary subjects and ancient objects. A Mayan text of evolution: the stages of creation in the Popol Vuh or sacred book of the Mayans." Journal of Analytical Psychology 45.2 (Apr. 2000): 331. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 21 Sep. 2009