Turtle Island

I wanted to share a bit more about the excellent exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum. In particular, I wanted to relate the title and concept of the exhibit to our blogs here at The Mayanist.

Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, is organized into four  sections: “Water and Cosmos”; “Creatures of the Fiery Pool”; “Navigating the Cosmos”; and “Birth to Rebirth.” The Fiery Pool itself refers to a Mayan view of the world. Our earth, as the Mayans knew is, was imagined as a great turtle floating in the ocean. The shell or back of the turtle is what the Mayans thought was their land, their world. And the sun, rising in the east, setting in the west, was the Fiery Pool. We now know that for the Maya, water was a critical primordial element in all aspects of their lives. (The figurine pictured above is of the Jaguar God of the Underworld, riding upon a crocodile.)



For the Maya the turtle was associated with water, thunder and with the earth. The surface of the world was depicted as the back of a turtle. The Maya deity (Pauahtun) who supported the world on his shoulders is sometimes depicted wearing a turtle shell on his head and the Maize God is sometimes shown emerging from a turtle shell.


And so the Maya believed they rode upon "Turtle Island". This exhibit  really touches on new territory, for while some Mayan cities were on the coastline, a vast majority were built inland, and giant cenotes were created to hold water for the cities. For a generally inland people, the discovery that they were obsessed with the sea is a surprising new fact.

When you take in the exhibit, which will travel on to Fort Worth and St. Louis, you will get to see a 10 foot tall cast from Belize, with three masks that represent Water Lily Serpent. Also a block of glyphs that seem to recount the travels of a Mayan King, who made a pilgrimage to the sea.

Above, Lidded bowl with the Iguana- Jaguar, from about 500AD

          Lidded Vessel of a World Turtle          


The wonderful exhibit runs till July 18th, and it is a rare chance to see pieces never displayed in the U.S. before.

THE FIERY POOL, THE MAYA AND THE MYTHIC SEA

PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM

27 MARCH-18 JULY 2010

WWW.PEM.ORG

J.T. Turner, Mayanist
                                                                
                                                                  

Popul Vuh

An original page from the Popol Vuh Translation, about 1701

As we discuss the Maya, and the Doomsday Date of 12/21/2012, it makes sense to touch on an important book, the Popul Vuh.

Much of what we know about the Mayan creation theory/myth come to us from this book. When the Spanish invaded the Mayan Kingdoms, many of the Mayan books were burned as a part of the process to convert them to Catholicism.The books were considered pagan in nature, and so tragically destroyed. One book that was destroyed was called the Popul Vuh. It gave the mythistory (yes, that is a word) of the Quiche Kingdom in the Guatemalan Highlands. It is known that most other Kingdoms shared this book's beliefs. But didn't I say it was destroyed? Yes, it was, but a Quiche convert to Catholicism recreated it in Spanish, and it was transcribed and translated by a Dominican, Francis Ximenez.  .

A literal translation of Popul Vuh is "book of the mat", as the original was made of tree bark. But the general translation is accepted as "Book of the Community or Council". It has the stories of the creation of the world, and of man. Also the story of the "Hero-Twins" Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who play a major role in the creation myth. They were ballplayers, as were their Father,  Hun Hunahpu, and Uncle, Vucub Hunahpu, before them.


The Twins shooting a Bird Deity

Summoned to Xibalba, the Underworld, for playing ball too loudly, (oh shades of my own youth!), by the Lords of the Underworld, the father and uncle were defeated by one of the Lords' tests and sacrificed and Hun Hunahpu's skull was suspended in a trophy tree. When the daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba, approached this tree, the skull spat into her hand and thereby made her pregnant with the Hero Twins. The Twins grew up to avenge their father, and after many trials, finally defeated the lords of the Underworld in a ballgame. The Popol Vuh features other episodes involving the Twins as well (see below), including the liquidation of a pretentious bird demon, Vucub-Caquix, and of his two demonical sons. The Twins also removed their half-brothers from the scene, turning them into Howler Monkeys who were the patrons of artists and scribes. The Twins' final transformation into sun and moon establishes a metaphor for rule over earth and sky.


OK, so who cares? Well as we consider Mayan myths, the Hero Twins come into play again and again, and show how important Ball playing was in Mayan society. And when we discuss the Doomsday Date, the Ball Court plays an important role.

I should also mention that the Popol Vuh gives genealogies of the gods and the eventual rulers of Quiche. Of course many other kingdoms may have had variations in the legends, but based on various stone carvings, we know they were all similar to what we read in the Popul Vuh.

Next Up, The Mayan Cosmos.

J.T. Turner
Mayanist