The Ancient Mayans

The Ancient Mayans lived in the Yucatán around 2600 B.C.E. Today, this area is known as southern Mexico; Guatemala, northern Belize and western Honduras. The Mayans, primarily focused on the Sun as they relied on it for many reasons. However, they also focused on the Moon, the stars and the planets. Everything in the celestial hemisphere was monitored and recorded by the Mayans; they were considered to be astute astronomers. They believed that they could understand the force and the activities of the Gods with their signs influenced in the sky. They also believed the Moon was a Moon Goddess. I will be discussing how the Mayans use Moon observations to develop their calendars, to understand and watch the Gods and how the Moon even influenced

It was displayed just after the long count and tzolk 'in in a sequence of four to eight glyphs"(Lunar Cycles and the Lords of the Night, nd). Using lunar day counts of 29 or 30 days, the Maya grouped Moon cycles into sets of six lunations. The meaning of a lunation is the time between two, successive new Moons. Also, this brings up the Lords of the Night, Which is a 9 day cycle that was within or at least linked to the lunar series. Not much is known regarding the significance or origin of this 9 day cycle, but it is acknowledged as the smallest cycle the Maya recorded. In each of the over 250 known inscriptions containing a lunar series, a few standard points of information are provided. These are: how many days have gone by during the present lunation, which of the cycles of six lunations was the current Moon in, and what was the name of the present Moon, and how many total days this lunation has 29 or 30. Alone, "the glyphs representing these points of information were labeled by Morley as glyphs A, B, X, C, D, E, F and G. Glyphs Y and Z were added as reading methods became more refined"(Lunar Cycles and the Lords of the Night, nd). A single text display is seldom, all of the glyphs,

She is one of the most important ancient Maya deities, connected to fertility, and procreation. "Her name has been translated to “Lady Rainbow”, or as “She of the Pale Face”, alluding to the moon 's surface" (The legendary Maya goddess of fertility, Ix Chel, n.d). Ix Chel appears in both old and young variations, to whom Maya religion specialists attribute respectively the names of Goddess O and Goddess I. As an aged woman, Ix Chel is illustrated with as a serpent headdress, a skirt adorned with crossed bones, and jaguar claws instead of hands. It has been projected that the two variants correspond to different aspects of the Moon: the old Ix Chel is linked with the full Moon, and its waning aspect. However, the young Ix Chel is connected with the crescent Moon. This analysis is partially supported by some classic period depictions of the young goddess sitting on a crescent Moon, holding a rabbit. "According to ancient Maya mythology, Ix Chel was the wife of the god Itzamna, and they were the progenitors of all the other gods" (The legendary Maya goddess of fertility, Ix Chel, nd). Although the Ancient Mayans depended on the Sun to function, the Moon played a role in their society. The Moon was used as a lunar series or lunar calendar to predict when the next full Moon or blood Moon was going to be. Also, the myths that they believed in pertaining to the Moon Goddess was