“The Creation Story of the Maya” is a Mayan religious text on how the earth and people as we know it came into existence. To give a brief summary of the story there was six Deities covered in green and blue feather that decided to create life on this earth. The names of these Deities where Shaper, Tepew, Quetzal Serpent, Xpiyacóc, Hurakan, and Xmucané. To separate the sky from the earth the deities decided to plant a large ceiba tree that made room for life on the planet. The deities soon created plants, animals, and then tried to create humans. The first proto humans they created were made up of mud, but they had no souls, so the Deities decided to wipe them out with a great flood. The second group of proto humans the Deities created were made of wood but the wood people failed to worship and were destroyed. What remained of the wood people ended up turning into monkeys.
While the sky and earth existed, there was no sun or moon. While a bird named Seven Macaw claimed to be the sun and moon which was false. Two twins named Hunajpu and Xbalanque shot down Seven Macaw with a dart officially disproving Seven Macaw. However, this was not the twin’s main quest. The twins’ real quests was to get there father back from Lords of Xibalbá, of the Underworld who had slayed their father. To get there father back the twins challenge Xibalba to a ball game. The twins won the ball game that allowed their father to come back as the Maize God. The heroic twins climb to the earth surface and then to the sky. Becoming the sun and moon, with the other deities finally making humans this time using white and yellow corn.
The real author of this source is unknown but if it doesn’t come from the Deities or the others depicted in this story then it probably comes from Mayan people thousands of years ago. The message being how the earth, plants, animals, and humans came into existences in this world. The most interesting phenomenon in this religious text is the ceiba tree that is very similar to the tree of life in the book of Genesis in the Bible, Torah and mention of the tree are in the Quran as well. Along with other non-Abrahamic religions. Nevertheless, the tree of life in Christianity is seen as the source of eternal life in the Garden of Eden. The ceiba tree plays a somewhat different role. Separating the sky from the earth and allowing life to be created on Earth.
Another similarity with the Abrahamic religions is the great flood that wiped out the first proto people aka the mud people because they had no souls. There is also a great flood that happens in the book of Genesis but the people were wiped out because they were decadent in God’s view and a man named Noah and his family were spared from the flood by the Lord for being seen as righteous by the Lord. There is some similarity on why the first people were wiped out and it’s because both were not seen as good by God in the case of Abrahamic religions and the 6 Deities in the case of the Mayan religion. One other similarity is there is also a hell in all these religions and we can assume there also a Mayan version of heaven just like how we know there is one in the Abrahamic religions. After all everything has its opposites.
The main difference between the Mayan version of the creation of the earth and the Abrahamic story is the sun. The sun in the Abrahamic religions was the first thing created by God in fact it is one of the first things said in the book of Genesis is “let there be light.” While in the Mayan religion the Sun was one of last things created. Another major difference is that there is only one God that created the earth, life, and he only created one set of humans according to the Christian and rest of the Abrahamic religions. In the Mayan religion however, there is 6 Deities that created earth, who created 3 different types of humans. Then there two twins that became the Sun and Moon with their father becoming a God.
I am no theologian or religious scholar but the similarities between all these religions when comes to the origins of man and earth are striking. Especially since the Mayans had no knowledge of the old world where the Abrahamic religions came from and vis versa. This makes me believe that all religions have some fundamental truths that they all believe in despite all their differences.
Sources
The Creation Story of The Maya https://maya.nmai.si.edu/sites/default/files/transcripts/the_creation_story_of_the_maya.pdf
Genesis 1:3
Authenticity 
Reblogged this on Calculus of Decay .
LikeLike