Ancient Secrets: Religious Practices Of The Mayan
Many of the Mayan Religious practices are attributed to ancient secrets culturally that has been reconstructed through archaeological finds through the years. The religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Mayan People were based on reoccurring cycles of creation and destruction. In the ancient secrets of Mayan practices, it was believed that consequences were felt if one ignores his duties to the deities.
Most of the ancient secrets included religious practices that were premised on a 52-year cycle in which there was a possibility of world destruction. Even today there are calendar priests that uphold the ancient secret 260 day round count for divination and shamanic practices. Of all the ancient cultures that used calendars in their religious practices the Mayan calendar is by far the most complicated. There were two simultaneous calendar systems: one was the 260-day Sacred Round Calendar called tzolin and the 365-day Vague Calendar called haab. The haab is similar to our calendar system, as we know it. The tzolin was used to determine those ancient secret practices related to gods and humans alike. Tzolin was used to name individuals, do divination, decide on auspicious days for things like battle, marriage etc. Every single day in the Tzolin had particular omens and ancient secrets practices associated with each day.
Each sacred activity was precluded with sexual abstinence. All of the ancient secrets that were practiced by the Mayan culture had symbolic meaning to them. Bloodletting was a routine event that corresponded with the calendar cycles. Self-mutilation was encouraged in ancient Mayan religious practice. The ruling class who was intertwined with the priests were blood enthusiasts. It was not unusual for a king to cut his penis tip with an obsidian knife or stingray tip allowing the blood to run over a piece paper held over a bowl. The king’s wife would participate also by pulling a rope attached with thorns through her tongue. She would also bleed onto the paper. The paper was then burned; the rising smoke was the communication to the other world. For the ancient Mayan people the practice of blood sacrifice was a must in order to maintain the balance between gods and humans. It ensured the survival of both. Among Mayan ancient secrets it was believed that the blood sacrifice sent human energy upward and divine power was sent in return back to human beings. Human sacrifice was carried out upon occasion as well. Slaves, prisoners and orphaned and illegitimate children were the primary targets for human sacrifice. Four Priests assisted in human sacrifice. They were called chacs in honor of the rain god Chac. Each one would hold a limb of the victim and another priest called a nacom opened up the victim’s chest to remove the heart. Also present was a shaman called the chilam who was in a trance during the sacrifice in order to receive messages from the gods. Ritual presentations were made by the kings and priests to reaffirm their power in front of their kingdoms. The royal family and priests would perform in trances publicly through ritual dance and dramas. Thousands would come to witness such events which reinforced the idea that the king was a vessel that had the ancient secrets to invoke the supernatural powers of the gods to help his kingdom.
Mayan Civilization Ancient Maya History
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