Let the Firm Earth Arise (When the Word Created the Earth)
In what we now know as Guatemala, Honduras and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, there once existed one of the most sophisticated and organised societies of the ancient world: the Mayans. According to modern history, they appeared there around 2000 BC, reaching their peak as a civilisation between 250 and 900 AD. The architectural achievements that survive from this mysterious society can be found in the ruins of Palenque, Chichén Itzá and Tikal. The famous Mesoamerican pyramids were supposedly designed and built by this ancestral people. Through their complex mathematical calculations, the Mayans concluded that the Earth began to exist on 13th August 3114 BC, according to the Gregorian calendar. The vast majority of information that has reached us from the Mayans comes from the few books or codices that the Spanish Empire did not destroy during its Mesoamerican conquests. Among them is the main sacred text of the Mayans, known as the Popol Vuh, which means: the book of counsel. It narrates the story of the creation of the Mayan-Quiché people. In this manuscript we find a strong biblical influence, which makes sense, as the original texts were transcribed by Spanish monks, who adapted them, something that can be deduced from the extreme similarity to the biblical account of creation, or Genesis.
The Mayan creation myth begins as follows:
This is the account of how everything was in suspense, everything calm, in silence; everything motionless, still, and the expanse of the sky empty. This is the first account, the first discourse. There was not yet a man, nor an animal, birds, fish, crabs, trees, stones, caves, ravines, grasses nor forests; only the sky existed. The face of the earth had not yet appeared. Only the calm sea and the sky in all its extension. There was nothing that made noise, nor anything that moved, nor trembled, nor made a sound in the sky. There was nothing standing; only water at rest, the peaceful sea, alone and tranquil. There was nothing endowed with existence. There was only stillness and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Progenitors, were in the water surrounded by clarity. They were hidden beneath green and blue feathers. Then the word came. Tepeu and Gucumatz came together in the darkness, in the night, and spoke to one another. They spoke, then, consulting among themselves and meditating; they came to an agreement, joining their words and thoughts. Then clarity manifested itself, while they meditated that at dawn man should appear. Then they arranged the creation and growth of trees and vines, and the birth of life and clarity in the action of man. Thus it was set in the darkness and in the night by the Heart of Heaven, who is called Huracán. The first is called Caculhá Huracán. The second is Chipi-Caculhá. The third is Raxa-Caculhá. And these three are the Heart of Heaven. Then Tepeu and Gucumatz came together and conferred about life and clarity, how it should be done so that it would dawn, who would produce food and sustenance. -So let it be! Let the void be filled! Let the water withdraw and clear the space, let the earth arise and be firm!- Let it dawn in heaven and on earth! There will be no glory nor greatness in our creation and formation until the human creature exists, the formed man. Thus they spoke. Then the earth was created by them. Thus indeed was the creation of the earth made: -Earth!, they said, and instantly it was made.- Like mist, like a cloud, like a cloud of dust was the creation, when the mountains emerged from the water; and at once the mountains grew. Only by a miracle, only by magical art, was the formation of the mountains and valleys achieved; and at once the cypress and pine forests sprouted upon the surface. And thus Gucumatz was filled with joy, saying: -Good has been your coming, Heart of Heaven, you, Huracán, and you, Chipi-Caculhá, Raxa-Caculhá! Our work, our creation will be completed-, they answered.
First the earth was formed, the mountains and valleys; the currents of water were divided, the streams began to run freely between the hills, and the waters were separated when the high mountains appeared. Thus was the creation of the earth, when it was formed by the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of the Earth, so called those who first fertilised it, when the sky was in suspension and the earth lay submerged in the water. In this way the work was perfected, when they carried it out after thinking and meditating upon its happy completion. Then they made the small animals of the mountains, the guardians of the forests, the spirits of the mountains, the deer, the birds, lions, tigers, serpents, vipers, guardians of the vines. And the Progenitors said: -Shall there be only silence and stillness beneath the trees and vines? It is fitting that there be those who guard them.- Thus they spoke when they had meditated, and immediately the deer and birds were created. Then they assigned their dwellings: -You, deer, shall sleep in the meadows by the rivers and in the ravines. Here you shall be among the undergrowth, among the grasses; in the forest you shall multiply, on four legs you shall walk and you shall be.- And as it was said, so it was done. Then they also assigned dwellings to the birds, both small and great: -You, birds, shall dwell upon the trees and the vines; there you shall make your nests, there you shall multiply, there you shall shake yourselves upon the branches of the trees and the vines.- Thus it was told to the deer and the birds so that they might do what they were meant to do, and all took their dwellings and their nests. In this way, the Progenitors gave the animals of the earth their places. And once the creation of all quadrupeds and birds was complete, it was said to them by the Creator, the Maker and the Progenitors: -Speak, shout, chirp, call, let each of you speak according to your kind, according to the nature of each one.- Thus it was said to the deer, the birds, lions, tigers and serpents. -Say, then, our names, praise us, your mother, your father. Invoke, then, Huracán, Chipi-Caculhá, Raxa-Caculhá, the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of Earth, the Creator, the Maker, the Progenitors; speak, call upon us, worship us!- But it was not possible for them to speak as men do; they only screeched, cackled and squawked. Their language did not take form, and each cried out in a different way. When the Creator and the Maker saw that it was not possible for them to speak, they said among themselves: -It has not been possible for them to say our name, that of us, their creators and makers. This is not right-, said the Progenitors among themselves. Then it was said to them: -You shall be changed because it has not been possible for you to speak. We have changed our minds: your food, your pasture, your dwellings and your nests shall be the ravines and the forests, because it has not been possible for you to worship us nor call upon us. There will still be those who worship us; we shall make other beings who are obedient. As for you, accept your fate: your flesh shall be consumed. Thus it shall be. This shall be your destiny.-
Thus they spoke when they made their will known to the small and great animals upon the face of the earth. And so, a new attempt had to be made to create and form man by the Creator, the Maker and the Progenitors. -Let us try again! Dawn and the morning are approaching; let us make the one who will sustain and nourish us! How shall we be invoked and remembered upon the earth? We have already tried with our first works, our first creatures, but it was not possible for us to be praised and honoured by them. Let us now try to make obedient beings, respectful ones, who sustain and nourish us.- In the first attempt to create a person, the gods used mud and clay. However, these creatures collapsed because they were too soft, or hardened excessively and turned into stones with no human form or usefulness. The gods then decided to seek the help of the grandfather god Xpiyacoc and the grandmother goddess Xumane. These wise ones suggested that wood would be a more suitable material. The wooden men -from the coral tree and the reed- were indeed an improvement compared to those of mud, but they lacked the intelligence and refinement needed to appease the gods. In a fit of rage, Huracán sent a fierce storm to destroy the wooden creatures. Finally, they found various grains of maize -yellow, white, black and red-. The grandmother goddess Xumane ground the grains and mixed them with water; the resulting dough moulded the first human beings -four men and four women-, with whom the gods were satisfied. They had only one flaw, and that was their excess of intelligence and curiosity, and so the gods formed a cloud before their vision and perception, so that in this way they would always depend on the help of the gods to resolve the mysteries of life. Could it be a coincidence, or a corruption by Catholic monks? The truth is that the same passage appears in all myths of creation or worldviews of the ancient world. The power of the word, the force of sound -vibration- capable of manifesting materially, creating worlds and realities, regenerating them or destroying them.
