Mayan Culture

agriculture - The Maya have a deep spiritual connection to the land, which dictates how they think, interact and engage with their environment. Agriculture has been practiced for millennia by the Maya and it is one of the pillars of their cultural heritage. Through their agricultural practices which are rich in ceremony and rituals, they are able to maintain a deep-rooted cultural connection to their land and ancestors. Their sustenance comes from the land; principally through the cultivation of corn which is like a spiritual thread that connects them ecologically, socially, and spiritually to their land and culture. One of their most incredible and sophisticated inventions, the Mayan calendar, Tzolkin, is based on the growing cycle of corn, the sacred food of the Maya. The cultivation of food, flowers, medicinal plants, trees and other natural products has tremendous social, political, cultural and economic significance for Maya. As long as the Maya have land to cultivate, agriculture will continue to play an important part in their daily life, helping to sustain their culture and traditions.

the birth of a Mayan child - When a Mayan child is soon to be born, the parents, in-laws and husband gather around the expectant mother. Then the midwife arrives and all together they pray for the woman in labor, burning incense and lighting candles. The father and mother then ask the woman to look back on her life and do a self examination. This is likened to an internal confession, in which the woman acknowledges all negative actions and asks for forgiveness. A cleansing of the mind and spirit to ensure that she will have a safe and successful delivery.

Once she has performed the self-cleansing and the mind and heart are pure, then she is ready to deliver her child. If her labor is difficult, then she has failed to be truthful to herself, her parents and in-laws. So the father intervenes and asks her to re-examine her life and to be truthful and confess all the negative things she's done in the past. Once, she confesses, then the baby will be born. If she was honest in her self-analysis, the delivery will be normal.

After the baby is born, the mother rests and then the whole family prays again, accompanied by lots of incense and candles. Traditional food is then served, including: pulique, tamalitos, atole and chicken to celebrate the arrival of the new child into the world.

The next day and every two days after, the midwife will take the mother into the temascal or sweat lodge and massage her uterus. She will repeat this process 7 times which will result in the uterus being placed back into its normal position. The last time the mother enters the temascal, the midwife also takes in the new born child, to be with the mother. If its a girl, she places in a small basket, all the tools and instruments that the women use in their life, such as: weaving loom, threads, apron and needles. Each item is passed over her tiny hands. If it's a boy, then the midwife puts these instruments in a morral and passes a machete, mecapal and ropes over the tiny boy's hands. This practice predisposes that the newborn child will utilize these tools and instruments when they grow up, and thus will allow them to maintain their family.

Mayan calendar - The Maya developed a remarkably accurate and complex calendar that employs three distinct dating systems: the Long Count, the Tzolkin, and the Haab. Of these, only the Haab has a direct relationship to the length of the year. Our focus is the Tzolkin, a ritual calendar that uses a count of 260, divided in 10 months with 20 days. The Tzolkin is more than just a calendar; it's a unique representation of Mesoamerica's spirituality, engrossed with profound symbolism that provides a vision of the past and future of one of the greatest civilizations of this planet, the Maya. The Tzolkin governs human interests, as it's the same period of the gestation cycle. It's a perfect mathematical instrument used to understand our destiny and purpose in life. The calendar is part of the cosmovision Maya that contains the beliefs, myths and rituals of the Maya.