§ Ancient Mayan believed that their rulers were descendants of the gods and their blood or the blood from royal captives was the ultimate sacrifice.
§ The god Kukucan forbade human sacrifice; some were made but not often.
§ Bloodletting is an important ritual in Mayan culture.
§ Bloodletting is a sacrifice to the gods and calls the vision serpent.
§ When bloodletting happened their ancestors would come out of the serpent's mouth and speak to them.
§ Snakes are commonly associated with visions.
§ Reasons a Mayan person might want to let blood: warfare, a new ruler, birth of an heir or other important dates.
§ The oldest son is how the new king is chosen.
§ After the birth of an heir, he king would let blood as an offering to his ancestors.
§ A human sacrifice was offered when a new king was put on the thrown.
§ The Maya believed that the universe was divided into many layers.
§ The Mayan people believed that the crust of the earth was a thin layer between the real world and the spirit world.
§ They saw bones as seeds and in that way they believed that everything dies and goes into the earth and from the earth comes new life
§ The Mayan shamans told them that there was a spirit world behind their reality.
§ Birth was coming out of the spirit world and death was returning to the spirit world.
§ They believed that there was an unending cycle that affected everything
§ The crops would grow and die if the spirit world let them.
§ The god Kukucan forbade human sacrifice; some were made but not often.
§ Bloodletting is an important ritual in Mayan culture.
§ Bloodletting is a sacrifice to the gods and calls the vision serpent.
§ When bloodletting happened their ancestors would come out of the serpent's mouth and speak to them.
§ Snakes are commonly associated with visions.
§ Reasons a Mayan person might want to let blood: warfare, a new ruler, birth of an heir or other important dates.
§ The oldest son is how the new king is chosen.
§ After the birth of an heir, he king would let blood as an offering to his ancestors.
§ A human sacrifice was offered when a new king was put on the thrown.
§ The Maya believed that the universe was divided into many layers.
§ The Mayan people believed that the crust of the earth was a thin layer between the real world and the spirit world.
§ They saw bones as seeds and in that way they believed that everything dies and goes into the earth and from the earth comes new life
§ The Mayan shamans told them that there was a spirit world behind their reality.
§ Birth was coming out of the spirit world and death was returning to the spirit world.
§ They believed that there was an unending cycle that affected everything
§ The crops would grow and die if the spirit world let them.