Astronomy In The Mayan Religion

What does Mayan religion involve? The Mayan religion involved several aspects of nature, astronomy and rituals. The Mayans were known for their calendar and their beautiful buildings they constructed. In “Science of Mayan Science/Religion” by Hunbatz Men talks about the teachings that were hidden by the Mayans also he goes in deep depth explaining the meanings of the letters “G”, “T” and “O”. However, in “Religions of Mesoamerica” by David Carrasco focuses on the study of the Americas, the religion, and cultural studies of the new world. Hunbatz Men all his sources come from Indigenous people. In the other hand David Carrasco quotes Bernardo Del Castillo and his information is not one hundred percent accurate. After reading the two books they
To the Maya this science reflected order in the universe and the gods place. David Carrasco mentions what time and space meant to the Maya people and states, “The passage of time was created by supernatural forces that emanated from the sky and the underworld and converged on the earthly level. In this manner, human time and space were filled with sacred forces” (72). In other words, to the Mayans, capturing the essence of time was of the utmost importance. In the other hand Hunbatz Men states something different about astronomy “They also understood that our galaxy had another graphic configuration, which they adopted and began to use as the mathematical symbol for the milky way. This new symbol was that of the egg, visible in the Mayan hieroglyphs they called it G” (34). What Hunbatz Men really means is that to the Mayan the letter “G” represents the milky way, sacredness, egg creator, the essence, and the beginning. As we can conclude both authors have different perspectives views and thoughtsn towards Mayan
One reason I believe the book “Secrets of Mayan Science/Religion” is way better is because is more accurate and Men provides a lot of good information. For example, it shows symbols about the Mayans culture and Men explains what the symbols represent and meant with a lot of details. Also in every chapter in Hunbatz Men book he provides photos based on what he is talking about like pictures of Gods, Symbols, etc. however illustrating pictures gives the reader a better idea and visualize better. Although Hunbatz does not provide sources when he claims something, but he gets his information out of indigenous people and he is a Mayan. In the other hand, Carrasco does not provide any sources where he gets his information. For example, he states something about the ball game in Mesoamerica “It appeared that one certain occasions the losing warriors, or at least the representative, was publicly and ritually sacrificed and beheaded in the shrine” (52). David Carrasco did not leave a source at all. Carrasco is just making statements without backing it up. For people to take in consideration what he claims is true he needs to show the reader proof the loser would be