Mayan Origin Story
Storyboard Text
- There were makers in the sea, together called the Plumed Serpent. There were makers in the sky, together called the Heart of Sky. Together these makers planned the start of life.
- The Earth arose because of them. It appeared simply by them speaking. The sky was set apart, and the Earth was set apart in the midst of the waters.
- The makers in the sky planned the animals of the mountain. They made the deer, pumas, jaguars, and rattlesnakes. Then they started the nests of the birds, great and small. The deer and birds were told to talk to praise their makers, to pray to them. But the birds and animals did not talk; so they had to accept that their flesh would be eaten by others.
- The makers wanted to create a creature who would nurture and provide. They made a body from mud but it didn't look good. It talked at first but the crumbled and disintegrated into the water. The makers called on the Grandfater Xpiyacoc and the Grandmother Xmucane to help them. The Grandparents were also creator gods. They helped them make wooden carvings that were human in looks and speech.
- So wooden humans came into being; they talked and multiplied. But there was nothing in their minds and hearts. They had no memory of their builder, no memory of Heart of Sky. Then there came a great destruction. The wooden carvings were killed when the Heart of Sky devised a flood for them. It rained all day and all night. The animals came into the homes of the wooden carvings and ate them. The people were overthrown. The monkeys in the forest are a sign of this they look like the previous people- mere wooden carvings.
- The story continues with the final people being made from corn. The all-important crop enable the Mayan people to move from being a hunting-and-gathering society to a more advanced civilization.
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