The Mayans had a complex system of beliefs that guided them in their personal relations. At the time of conquest, Bishop Diego de Landa, who burned twenty seven Maya codices as "the work of the devil," nevertheless observed that the Maya were very generous and hospitable (Keen 20). So if the indigenous people were supposed to be heretics, why were they so hospitable? The strangeness of their writings compared to other cultures has often eclipsed the Mayan morals that can be seen in these beliefs.

The most notable of Mayan literature is the Popol Vuh. The Popol Vuh had been written down by the Mayans and passed on by oral tradition for centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. When the Europeans came, they began to burn all the Mayan writings and smother their beliefs. A few Mayan priests disguised themselves and hid the Popol Vuh for many years. A Christian priest gained the confidence of these Mayan priests and recorded the Popol Vuh. The Christian priest wrote a facing translation with Spanish and Quiché. This record eventually ended up in a library and was forgotten (Christenson 11).

In the 18th century scholars happened upon the record. It was rather worn and so a copy was made. The original copy was eventually lost and so that copy is the earliest record of the Popol Vuh available. The Popol Vuh contains moral lessons that will be explored on this site.

The Popol Vuh describes the creation of man and the Mayans' relations with the gods. The Popol Vuh also contains accounts of the Mayans performing human sacrifices. How can morals be explored in a book containing human sacrifices? While for most morals systems this would be wrong, this site explores the Mayan Morals. For the Mayans, human sacrifice was a way to give thanks to the gods (Recinos 130).

Secondary sources are plentiful on the Popol Vuh. There are a number of translations into English of the Popol Vuh with interpretations by scholars. These sources help in understanding difficult figures such as the Former and the Great White Pig (Léon-Portilla 101).

Though often passed over for its moral lessons, the Popol Vuh contains a moral system that was well known by the Mayan populace.

Click Here for II. Introduction and Summary

NOTES

Keen, Benjamin. History of Latin America. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Popol Vuh: The Mythic Sections-Tales from the First Beginnings from the Ancient K'iche'-Maya. Translated and Edited by Allen J. Christenson. USA: FARMS, 2000.

Recinos, Adrián. Popol Vuh: the Sacred Book of the Ancient Maya. Trans. Sylvanus G. Morley.

Léon-Portilla, Miguel. Native Mesoamerican Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1980.

Mayan temple picture taken from Collection of Pictures of Mayan Sites

Drawing of Mayan gods taken from Florida International University