Religious beliefs in deities and God have been around for hundreds of thousands of years – pretty much since man was created and began searching for a higher being. The Mayans were no different, and it was deeply important to them to keep their gods happy by offering them the blood of the living.
Although human sacrifice was regarded as a virtue, the Mayans had a strong preference towards disposing of those who were not part of their civilization. So, an enemy king was considered their most revered of prizes. Sacrifices were done in various ways, including decapitation, being speared by arrows, and the infamous Mayan heart removal, which was popularized in cinema. Body painting was an important part of the preparation process for the soon to be victims in the human sacrifice ritual. The Mayans believed they were doing others a favor by sacrificing them. Here’s why…
Mayans Also Really Liked Their Ball Games
In our modern society, ball games like soccer, football, and baseball have become a staple activity in society. These games were found and estimated by examining various ball courts that were in use during the reign of the Mayans. One very popular ball game was named Pok-a-Tok, where players tried to bounce a ball through a hoop without using their hands or legs.
The Mayans often held tournaments, which were both entertaining and interesting, but also carried deep spiritual and religious meanings. Punishments for losing were very severe and included being sacrificed as a tribute to the gods. It wasn't until Christianity came along that human sacrifices became regarded as taboo. The Mayans were only recently discovered to also be adept farmers. Here's how and what they grew in their overgrown tropical forests.
They Were Excellent Farmers And Into Skincare
For many years, archaeologists and historians were sure that the Mayans couldn't or wouldn't farm in their tropical forest environment. This was a harsh and dangerous environment to cultivate, with overgrown vegetation, a high degree of humidity, and a lot of animals and insects that you'd definitely want to avoid. However, it was recently found that the Mayans were actually very good farmers, and managed to modify about 150 square feet of their tropical wetland terrain and cultivate almost 500 square miles of farmland.
They have been known to grow quite an interesting array of delicious pineapples, chili peppers, cacao, squash, papayas, avocados, maize, and beans. Some of their uses were outside of the kitchen and were medicinal. Using plants and vegetables for their healing and antiseptic properties. Some plants were used for religious ceremonial usages, such as incense and oil making, and even what you might call “skin products”.
You're Welcome!
Stories of the underworld and paradises appear in almost every major civilization that has been known to man, from the Greeks who believed that Hades ruled the Underworld which was guarded by his trusty three-headed dog, Cerberus, up to the modern Christians who literally believe in heaven and hell. The Mayans believed that people who die are transported into the underworld, called Xibalba, which consisted of levels, similar to the nine circles of hell described in Christianity, only much worse.
The Mayans believed that their underworld consisted of thirty-two levels, with the first nine required to get back to earth, and the next twenty-three to reach paradise. In their culture, this journey was a very hostile one with evil forces actively trying to prevent you from getting there in various painful ways. Several groups of people were exempt from this process. These included anyone who was sacrificed, women and children who died during birth, those that committed suicide, and anyone who dies while fighting on the field of battle. Mayans didn't have just one God, instead, they worshipped over 165 different ones. And they were apparently much more like us than you might think. Read on to find out how...
Their Gods Were a Lot More Human Than You Might Think
Before the monotheistic religions, it was common practice to worship many gods, each representing various emotions and acts such as love, anger, lust, war and more. The gods that Mayans believed in would act much like humans, they would eat, drink, do their business, fight, debate and more.
One very cool thing about the Mayan gods was that they were completely mutable, meaning that they could change almost anything about themselves including their gender, age, appearance and more. These gods were powerful rulers of every aspect of reality from controlling the weather to human emotions and even future events unfolding. This caused the Mayan scholars to have a tough time trying to name and define all of them.