Covers Maya and Aztec religious traditions as related but distinct systems surviving mainly through post-conquest colonial-era texts (Popol Vuh, Florentine Codex). Shared framework: layered cosmos, 260-day ritual calendar, cyclical world-ages, feathered serpent deity, and blood as cosmic maintenance. Maya section centers the Popol Vuh's creation account and the Hero Twins' defeat of the Xibalba death lords; Aztec section covers the Five Suns creation cycle, Quetzalcoatl/Tezcatlipoca cosmic conflict, the major pantheon (Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc, Coatlicue, Xipe Totec, Mictlantecuhtli), the theology of human sacrifice as cosmic debt repayment, bloodletting/auto-sacrifice, and the 3,500-year-old Mesoamerican ball game.
Members Only
Sign in free to keep browsing Modern Monticello. Unlocks are one-time payments — no subscription.
53 entries inside. See what's inside.
Sign In — FreeWays to read this book