Ancient Mayan Religion

The ancient Mayan religion was founded in c.250 BCE, by the Maya, a group of native Mesoamerican people. Before many of the Mayans were converted to monotheistic western religious traditions such as Catholicism and Christianity, Mayan religion occupied a number of indigenous kingdoms across Central and South America. Mayan religion was characterised by its complex beliefs and discoveries in astronomy and astrology, its various nature gods, goddesses and deities as well as its sacrificial rituals and ceremonies. With a number of scientific discoveries the Mayan culture remains as one of the greatest historical insights into ancient civilisation.

Ancient Mayan spirituality followed a number of principal beliefs that involved mythical creatures,

Conceived by the gods a number of times, humans were first made out of clay however the gods were not satisfied, and so remade a person for the second time out of wood but again were not pleased, until finally they created a being made out of corn, which they were satisfied with. After the Spanish Colonial conquest, during the sixteenth century, many of the Mayan peoples were forced to convert to Catholicism and thus began blending a number of Mayan spiritual beliefs with the Catholic teachings, this hybrid of Catholicism and Mayan religion is often practised today. Although it is not authentic to the traditional ancient Mayan faith, many still practise this slightly diluted version of the religion in order to comply with modern western society, Mayan rituals now exclude sacrificial human ceremonies and bloodletting, and some ‘Day-keepers’ now include Jesus, Mary and a number of other Catholic saints in their prayers. The establishment of Catholicism and Christianity, brought to the Mayans after Spanish colonisation, had a huge influence over the future of Maya religious

The Mayans had an extensive understanding of mathematics and astronomy, that helped to develop a number of systems closely related to their religious rituals. From their research the Mayans were able to accurately calculate a solar year, predict when a solar eclipse was to occur and developed positional notation, academic advances such as these are still significant even today. Over the centuries a number of archaeological and historical discoveries were made and priceless artifacts from ancient Mayan society were discovered, including religious texts, paintings, pottery, carvings and various other treasures. Unfortunately however most Mayan artifacts were eradicated after the Spanish conquest yet Maya still remains to be one of the greatest historical insights into ancient American