Today, I tried reading the sacred book of the Maya, the Popol Vuh. Needless to say, I found out it is not light reading. :)The book relates the Maya's tales of creation, conflicts both on Heaven and on Earth, and genealogy of the ancient people. What I found interesting so far is that the tale of creation is remarkably similar to the beginning of Genesis in the Christian bible. Both relate a vast void and darkness in the beginning, followed by how Jehovah (or the Heart of Heaven) decided to create the universe. They relate the creation of the universe and the world in stages -- first, light and darkness in the sky; then the Earth and the Sea; then the mountains; then all that covers the earth and finally, all the beings that live in the oceans and on the land.
Where the Bible and the Popol Vuh differ is in the creation of humankind. In the Popol Vuh, the Heart of Heaven (that's God's name), the Creator and the Maker first created men from mud. That didn't work, so the men of mud were destroyed. Then, they tried wood but the beings of wood did not have hearts or souls and were unable to thank their creators. So a big flood was sent down to Earth to destroy them, and their only descendants are what we now know as the monkeys on the trees. Lastly, and after many cool tales of things that happened in heaven and on earth (including the fall of an evil God), four men were created from maize. These corn-flesh men could speak, feel and see. They thanked their creators for giving them life, and for allowing them to see near, far and beyond. Some of the gods were worried that men were too knowing, too God-like, so they covered their eyes with dust so they could only see near but not far.
Some other stories that seem to overlap the Bible include:
- The time when the gods confused people by making them speak different languages (Tower of Babylon)
- The people of the East (Noah, Abraham), their 13 tribes (Isaac), and the kingdoms they had to deal with (Ur, Egypt)
- Deluge/Great Flood (Noah's Ark)
- And they even overlap other cultures, such as ancient Egypt, the ancient people of the Arctic, the ancient people of Chile/Peru, Mongolians, Africans, and Sumerians, among others.
The tales in the book can be hard to follow, especially when one encounters poor translations. In my opinion, the Spanish version is easier to read than the English version. This is probably because the original translation into Western languages was done from Quiche to Spanish.
I will keep reading this book until I can make complete sense of it. So far, I can definitely recommend it as a must-read.