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Mythology Worlds
MESOAMERICA
Land of the Mayans and the Aztecs
Mayan Myths and Gods
Primary Sources on Mayan mythology
The Popol Vuh, the Quiche Maya book of creation; transcribed from oral traditions by Franciscan monks, ensuring that the Mayan myths would endure Spanish colonization
Those lucky few codices that survived the Spanish invasion
Keep In Mind
The Maya are still around today.
They form significant populations in the regions of Mexico and Central America where their ancestors established their civilization.
The Maya Calendar(s)
The Maya had two different calendars that operated in cycles and meshed together.
These were the 260-day Sacred Calendar and the 365-day Solar Calendar.
This made for a total of 18,980 days, or 52 years.
The Maya also had a Long Count calendar, which began at the mythic starting point of 3113 B.C.E.
The Long Count system went like this:
1 k'in=1 day
1 winal=20 k'in=20 days (about 3 weeks)
1 tun=18 winal=360 days (about a year)
1 k'atun=20 tun=7,200 days (about 20 years)
1 b'ak'tun=20 k'atun=144,000 days (about 394 years)
If you are looking at this website right now, the so-called "Mayan apocalypse" never happened.
That was but a mere misunderstanding of the Mayan Long Count calendar.
December 21, 2012 was actually the start of a new creation cycle--a sort of Mayan New Year.
People also thought the world would end on January 1, 2000.
Remember Y2K?
Aztec Myths and Gods
Primary Sources on Mexica (Aztec) Mythology
The Chimalpopoca Codex, a 16th-century Nahuatl manuscript
The Florentine Codex, transcribed by Franciscan monk Bernardino de Sahagun, ensuring that the Mexica myths would survive the Spanish conquest
Clarification
"Aztec" is actually something of a misnomer.
It really refers to the mythical original homeland of this great Amerindian civilization, a place in the north called Aztlan.
The ethnic groups who established the Aztec Empire are technically known as the Nahua, and their language is called Nahuatl.
The dominant Nahua group in the area were the Mexica, and that is where Mexico got its name.
Also, saying "Ancient Aztec" is misleading because (Fun Fact)
Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire!
Oxford University was founded in 1096.
The Aztec Empire started in 1428.
Before that, there were earlier civilizations in Mexico such as the Toltec, the Olmec, the Zapotec, and (Spoiler Alert) the Maya.
Before the arrival of humans, the world was inhabited by giants called Quinametzin.
They refused to pray to the gods, so the gods got rid of them.
It was prophesied that Quetzalcoatl would return in the year One Reed (1519 C.E.), the year when the Spanish conquistadors destroyed the Aztec Empire (with help from Amerindian allies who made up most of their forces).
However, it turns out that the whole "Aztecs thought the Spanish were gods" story is a big fat lie after all.
The Aztecs (who did not have horses or experience with nautical travel) actually thought the Spanish were deer-people who arrived in floating houses.
The former Mesoamerican heartland is still predominantly Amerindian by ethnicity today.
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