Popol Vuh · 2014-01-10 · Popol Vuh A UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL Sacred History of the...

Popol Vuh

A U N I V E R S I T Y C U R R I C U L U M F O R H I G H S C H O O L

Sacred History of the Maya

Front Cover

ContentsFront CoverTitle PageTable of ContentsNote from the DirectorUnit Guide for TeachersEnglish-Language Arts Standards CoveredLesson 1 Teacher’s GuideLesson 1 Student WorksheetsLesson 2 Teacher’s GuideLesson 2 Student WorksheetsLesson 3 Teacher’s GuideLesson 3 Student WorksheetsLesson 4 Teacher’s GuideLesson 4 Student WorksheetsLesson 5 Teacher’s GuideLesson 5 Student WorksheetsLesson 6 Teacher’s GuideLesson 6 Student WorksheetsThe Popol Vuh: An Essay for TeachersResourcesGallery of ImagesStudent Work from the Hot ProgramAcknowledgmentsBack Cover

PLEASE SEE NOTES ON THE PDF, PAGE 3.

A publication of Humanities Out There and the Santa Ana Partnership (including UCI’s Center for Educational Partnerships, Santa Ana College, and the Santa Ana Unified School District).

Copyright 2005 The Regents of the University of California

Title Page

By Tracy McNulty, Ph.D., Mark Patrick, Ph.D., and Omar Valerio-Jiménez, Ph.D.Faculty Consultant, Julia Reinhard Lupton, HOT Founding Director

Teacher Consultant, Sonia Velázquez, Century High School, Santa AnaMark Patrick, Ph.D., Editor

Sue Cronmiller, Managing Editor

The publication of this CD has been made possible largely through funding from GEAR UP Santa Ana. This branch of GEAR UP has made a distinctive contribution to public school education in the U.S. by creating intellectual space within an urban school district for students who otherwise would not have access to the research, scholarship, and teaching represented by this collaboration between the University of California, the Santa Ana Partnership, and the Santa Ana Unified School District. Additional external funding in 2004-2005 has been provided to HOT by the Bank of America Foundation, the Wells Fargo Foundation, and the Pacific Life Foundation.

THE UCI CALIFORNIA HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE PROJECTThe California History-Social Science Project (CH-SSP) of the University of California, Irvine, is dedicated to working with history teachers in Orange County to develop innovative approaches to engaging students in the study of the past. Founded in 2000, the CH-SSP draws on the resources of the UCI Department of History and works closely with the UCI Department of Education. We believe that the history classroom can be a crucial arena not only for instruction in history but also for the improvement of student literacy and writing skills. Working together with the teachers of Orange County, it is our goal to develop history curricula that will convince students that history matters.

HUMANITIES OUT THEREHumanities Out There was founded in 1997 as an educational partnership between the School of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine and the Santa Ana Unified School District. HOT runs workshops in humanities classrooms in Santa Ana schools. Advanced graduate students in history and literature design curricular units in collaboration with host teachers, and conduct workshops that engage UCI undergraduates in classroom work. In the area of history, HOT works closely with the UCI History-Social Science Project in order to improve student literacy and writing skills in the history classroom, and to integrate the teaching of history, literature, and writing across the humanities. The K-12 classroom becomes a laboratory for developing innovative units that adapt university materials to the real needs and interests of California schools. By involving scholars, teachers, students, and staff from several institutions in collaborative teaching and research, we aim to transform educational practices, expectations, and horizons for all participants.

THE SANTA ANA PARTNERSHIPThe Santa Ana Partnership was formed in 1983 as part of the Student and Teacher Educational Partnership (STEP) initiative at UC Irvine. Today it has evolved into a multi-faceted collaborative that brings institutions and organizations together in the greater Santa Ana area to advance the educational achievement of all students, and to help them enter and complete college. Co-directed at UC Irvine by the Center for Educational Partnerships, the collaborative is also strongly supported by Santa Ana College, the Santa Ana Unified School District, California State University, Fullerton and a number of community based organizations. Beginning in 2003-2004, HOT has contributed to the academic mission of the Santa Ana Partnership by placing its workshops in GEAR UP schools. This unit on The Popol Vuh, Sacred History of the Maya reflects the innovative collabo-ration among these institutions and programs. This unit also represents a collaboration with UC MEXUS (The University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States) http://ucmexus.ucr.edu.

CONTENT COUNTS: A SPECIAL PROJECT OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIESThis is one in a series of publications under the series title Content Counts: Reading and Writing Across the Humanities, sup-ported by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Content Counts units are designed by and for educators committed to promoting a deep, content-rich and knowledge-driven literacy in language arts and social studies classrooms. The units provide examples of “content reading”—primary and secondary sources, as well as charts, data, and visual documents—designed to supplement and integrate the study of history and literature.

THE POPOL VUH, Sacred History of the Maya

http://ucmexus.ucr.edu

OF ORIGINS AND ENDS: THE CREATION OF A CURRICULAR UNIT ....................................................4

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE POPOL VUH FOR HIGH SCHOOLS ...........................................................5

California Content Standards for Grades 9 & 10 English-Language Arts Curriculum .....................6

LESSON ONE: MEETING THE MAYA...................................................................................................8 Reading: A Brief History of Maya Agriculture ................................................................................9 Reading: The Maya Vigesimal Numeral System ..........................................................................12 Exercise One ..............................................................................................................................13

LESSON TWO: FROM SHADOW INTO LIGHT...................................................................................14 Reading: The Birth of All Heaven and Earth: A Maya Creation Myth ..........................................16 Exercise Two ..............................................................................................................................18

LESSON THREE: TRIAL AND ERROR..................................................................................................19 Reading: The Creatures Made of Earth and Mud and Wood .......................................................21 Exercise Three ............................................................................................................................23

LESSON FOUR: POETIC JUSTICE ......................................................................................................24 Reading: The Hero Twins............................................................................................................25 Exercise Four ..............................................................................................................................27

LESSON FIVE: GETTING IT RIGHT ....................................................................................................28 Reading: The Creation of Humanity from Corn...........................................................................29 Exercise Five ...............................................................................................................................31

LESSON SIX: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOUND IN THE POPOL VUH...................................................32 Exercise Six ................................................................................................................................33

THE POPOL VUH: AN ESSAY FOR TEACHERS....................................................................................34

PRINT AND WEB RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS .......................................................40

GALLERY..........................................................................................................................................42

STUDENT WORK FROM THE HOT PROGRAM: MESOAMERICAN MYTHOLOGY—POPOL VUH.........44

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................47

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

NOTES ON THE PDF:1) Please note that in this pdf document the page numbers are two off from the printed curriculum. For example, page 2 in the printed curriculum is now page 4 in this pdf document.

2) We apologize if some of the hyperlinks are no longer accurate. They were correct at the time of printing.

3) Full-page versions of the images in this unit—some in color—can be found at the back of this pdf.

4) You can easily navigate through the different parts of this document by using the “Bookmark” tab on the left side of your Acrobat window.

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OF ORIGINS AND ENDS: THE CREATION OF A CURRICULAR UNIT

And here we shall take up the demonstration, revelation and account of how things were put into shadow and brought to light.

—From the Popol Vuh, the Maya Quiché story of creation.

This curriculum has been in development since the founding of Humanities Out There in 1997, where it has served as a central piece of our World Mythology track. Humanities Out There is an educational partnership between the School of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine and the schools and community organizations of Santa Ana, California. HOT also works closely with UCI’s Center for Educational Partnerships and the UCI California History-Social Science Project. At the core of HOT is a series of work-shops for K-12 students on humanities topics taught by teams of graduate and undergraduate students in collaboration with host teachers. These workshops serve as laboratories for the development of curricular units like this one, which represents the energies and talents of many people from several institutions contribut-ing to an evolving topic over a period of five years.

Like the process of creation narrated in the Popol Vuh, this unit has undergone many drafts and transformations. I began developing the origi-nal curriculum along with Tracy McNulty, then a Ph.D. student at UCI, in 1998 with students at Heninger Elementary School, Willard Intermedi-ate School, and Santa Ana High School. Teachers Margaret Abend, Michael Haynes, Bonnie Wyner, Sharon Saxton, and Robert Hinman invited us into their classrooms in those early years, and contrib-uted to the unit’s initial formulation. Since then, however, it has taken on a second life, passing through the hands of Dr. Omar Valerio-Jiménez, who taught history and Chicano-Latino Studies here at UCI in 2000-2001, and Mark Patrick, a

Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature who has worked with Omar to bring the curriculum into its current shape. I have studied world mythology with Mark for many years now, and I am pleased that he has agreed to do the final editing of the volume.

Sonia Velázquez helped shape this curriculum from its very beginnings in 1997, when she was a graduate student in Spanish at UCI and a member of HOT’s first World Mythology team. She had studied the Popol Vuh as an undergraduate at Princeton University, and she brought consider-able knowledge and insight to our early uses of this material in school classrooms. Sonia later went on to teach English-Language Arts at Century High School in Santa Ana. I am delighted that she agreed to serve as Teacher Consultant on this unit.

Teachers from the UCI-Santa Ana Teachers Institute and UCI’s California History-Social Science Project provided additional feedback.

The final stages of this unit’s development took place under the auspices of a grant from UC MEXUS (The University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States).

This unit is also in line with the principles of Content Counts, a new series of HOT curricular units funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. This grant, which goes into effect in September, 2003, supports curricular guides that combine literary and non-fictional forms of reading and writing, geared at English language learners. We hope this curriculum will become a model for the new series.

—Julia Reinhard LuptonHOT Founding Director

Note from the Director

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Teacher’s Guide to the Popol Vuh Curriculum

Overview and Objectives

appears before questions that ask students to look at the classical images included in the curriculum. appears before questions that require the analysis of visual information (charts). appears before questions that ask students to look at the map of the Maya region on page 10.

The centerpiece of the Mesoameri-can unit of HOT’s World Mythology program is the Popol Vuh, a long cre-ation story and epic narrative of the Maya Quiché people of Guatemala. Appropriately excerpted, the Popol Vuh gives high school students an opportunity to study, over several sessions, a complex and evocative creation myth that represents one of the great works of world literature. The work explores the relation between gods and humans, establishes the process of creation and creativity as a series of revisions, asserts the respon-sibility of humanity for nature, and confronts the finitude that character-izes the human condition.

In working through the curriculum, students will: explore in depth a creation narrative

of length, substance and historical significance.

explore the religious and social thought of Mesoamerica.

develop vocabulary and thematic awareness.

develop reading skills in content analysis and literary expression.

develop writing skills through both analytic and creative exercises.

consider the influence of mathemati-cal and scientific achievements on a creation narrative.

practice the use of textual evi-dence.

practice visual interpretation and map-reading skills.

The curriculum requires students to look closely at the representation of sound in the story, from the sounds of silence at the world’s beginning and the incoherent sounds made by plants and animals to the empty words of the wood people and the self-satisfied praise of the people of corn. In the course of creation, inarticulate sound evolves gradually into meaningful praise, and high school students are asked to synthesize their reading expe-rience by writing an extended essay on this theme.

The HOT Mesoamerican curriculum will help high school students master some of the English-Language Arts standard for California Public Schools, and will also supplement readings that appear on California’s Recommended Literature list.

The HOT Popol Vuh curriculum for the high school level is intended as a series of exercises focusing on both the historical context and aesthetic expression of the creation myth nar-rated within the Maya sacred history. While it is primarily an English-Lan-guage Arts curriculum, it encourages interdisciplinary thought and cul-

minates in writing assignments that require students to synthesize knowl-edge about Maya civilization obtained through informative readings about science, technology and agriculture, through the study of a map of the Maya region and images of archaeological sites and artifacts, and through criti-cal reading of a primary historical document—the Popol Vuh. The variety of readings and images are chosen to provide students with a well-rounded impression of the Maya world view upon which to draw informed conclu-sions about the Popol Vuh in a final, short essay.

A more specific teacher’s guide precedes each reading and is designed to assist in preparing the lesson by providing a list of objectives, an over-view of target skills, some preliminary activities, reading suggestions for enhancing student comprehension, and strategies for approaching the exercises and writing assignments.

An essay on the Popol Vuh appears at the end of this volume for teachers (and advanced students) interested in more background and a fuller inter-pretation of this masterpiece.

Unit Guide for Teachers

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Applicable Standards for Grades 9 & 10 English-Language Arts Curriculum

READING

1.0 WORD ANALYSIS, FLUENCY, AND SYSTEMATIC VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT Students apply their knowledge of word origins to determine the meaning of new words encountered in reading

materials and use those words accurately.

VOCABULARY AND CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT:1.1 Identify and use the literal and figurative meanings of words and understand word derivations.

2.0 READING COMPREHENSION (FOCUS ON INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS) Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They analyze the organizational patterns, argu-

ments, and positions advanced.

STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS:2.3 Generate relevant questions about readings on issues that can be researched.2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.

3.0 LITERARY RESPONSE AND ANALYSIS Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their

studies of history and social science. They conduct in-depth analyses of recurrent patterns and themes.

NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF GRADE-LEVEL-APPROPRIATE TEXT:3.3 Analyze interactions between main and subordinate characters in a literary text (e.g., internal and external

conflicts, motivations, relationships, influences) and explain the way those interactions affect the plot.3.4 Determine characters’ traits by what the characters say about themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic

monologue, and soliloquy.3.5 Compare works that express a universal theme and provide evidence to support the ideas expressed in each

work.3.6 Analyze and trace an author’s development of time and sequence, including the use of complex literary devices

(e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks).3.7 Recognize and understand the significance of various literary devices, including figurative language, imagery,

allegory, and symbolism, and explain their appeal.3.8 Interpret and evaluate the impact of ambiguities, subtleties, contradictions, ironies, and incongruities in a text.

LITERARY CRITICISM:3.12 Analyze the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and issues of its historical period.

(Historical approach)

CALIFORNIA RECOMMENDED LITERATURE LIST (2001) FOR GRADE NINE

HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE W. S. Penn, ed., Telling of the World: Native American Stories and Art ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ARTS Rudolfo A. Anaya, Bless Me Ultima

English-Language Arts Standards Covered

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WRITING

1.0 WRITING STRATEGIES Students write coherent and focused essays that convey a well-defined perspective and tightly reasoned

argument. The writing demonstrates students’ awareness of the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.

ORGANIZATION AND FOCUS:1.1 Establish a controlling impression or coherent thesis that conveys a clear and distinctive perspective on the

subject and maintain a consistent tone and focus throughout the piece of writing.1.2 Use precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, and the active rather than the passive

voice.

RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY:1.6 Integrate quotations and citations into a written text while maintaining the flow of ideas.

EVALUATION AND REVISION:1.9 Revise writing to improve the logic and coherence of the organization and controlling perspective, the precision

of word choice, and the tone by taking into consideration the audience, purpose, and formality of the context.

2.0 WRITING APPLICATIONS (GENRES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS) Students combine the rhetorical strategies of narration, exposition, persuasion, and description to produce texts

of at least 1,500 words each. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.

2.2 Write responses to literature: a. Demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the significant ideas of literary works. b. Support important ideas and viewpoints through accurate and detailed references to the text or to other works. c. Demonstrate awareness of the author’s use of stylistic devices and an appreciation of the effects created. d. Identify and assess the impact of perceived ambiguities, nuances, and complexities within the text.

8 The Popol Vuh, Lesson One

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The Popol Vuh, Lesson One 9

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Objectives

Students will identify and explore the intimate connections between agriculture and many aspects of Maya culture (including astronomy, math-ematics, literature, cosmology and religion). They will do so by:

reading about the development of a corn-based agricultural society in Mesoamerica;

locating archaeological sites on a map of the region;

examining images of Maya deities related to seasons, fertility and agriculture;

learning about Maya technology and the Maya vigesimal numeral system;

engaging in close analysis and inter-pretation of text and images;

writing a summary using observa-tion and quotation to support claims and ideas.

Lesson One: Meeting the Maya

Preliminary Activity (10-15 minutes)

Before starting the reading, teachers may find it worthwhile to design a short activity that will help students focus on the topic of civilization formation while activating their prior knowledge and stimulating their curiosity. This can be accomplished in a brief, written journal entry or timed writing exercise conducted as homework or in class prior to reading.

For example, students could re-spond to the following prompt:

You have been selected to be one of 30 participants in a NASA experiment. Your task is to establish a new civiliza-tion on a distant planet where no other people exist. The planet is similar to Earth. Choose two of the following items to take with you to the new planet and give reasons for your choice.

a credit card/money a book of your choicea variety of seedsa tool of your choicea microchipan animal of your choice

Allow students time to share their answers and then introduce the read-ing by situating the Maya civilization in place and time.

Reading Suggestions (30-35 minutes)

Students may be asked to read the texts aloud to keep them engaged. To help students monitor their under-standing, ask them to write a brief sentence after each paragraph, sum-marizing its main idea. Remind them that the summary sentence does not need to be derived directly from the text. These sentences can help stimu-late discussion and speculation during the exercises that follow.

Exercises

The exercises that accompany the reading can be completed in groups for the remainder of the period or selectively assigned for homework as time permits. It may be necessary to model a response to questions that require visual analysis or mathematics before assigning the remainder of the exercise as homework.

TARGET SKILLS AND CONTENT STANDARDSStudents will practice the following skills in accordance with the California

English-Language Arts Standards:

Reading 1.0 (1.1); Reading 2.0 (2.3; 2.5) Writing 1.0 (1.2)

Lesson 1 Teacher’s Guide


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THE POPOL VUH, READING 1AA Brief History of Maya Agriculture

maize (over sixty) than can be found in all of the United States, which suggests that it is one of the oldest centers of corn cultivation.

The historical relationship between the Maya people and cultivated corn is an ancient one. Corn grew naturally in Central America long before people occupied the region, though it little resembled the product we recognize today, being a much smaller variety of grass with tiny grains. In Mexico, fossil-ized corn has been found that is at least 80,000 years old, but its cultivation by early Mayas began approximately 4,500 years ago on the Yucatán Peninsula. During the period of its development into a staple food crop, corn became so

thoroughly hybrid that it was no longer able to survive in the wild, requiring the interven-tion of humans for its reproduction.

The cultivation of corn was a sacred duty for the ancient Mayas, who held elaborate planting rituals and harvest ceremonies. To the Mayas, corn was a gift of the gods and it played a central role in every aspect of Maya life and culture. References to corn are common in Maya religion and mythol-ogy. As a primary food source, corn symbol-ized life itself. The most sacred of Maya stones, jade, was used to represent corn in Maya art and sculpture.

The Maya civilization began in approximately 2000 BC and reached its peak during the classic period between AD 300 and AD 900. Since then, Maya Indians have lived throughout the present-day areas of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Today, most people of Maya ancestry reside in Guatemala, where they make up 60% of the Population. They speak over 30 native languages, of which Quiché, Mam, Maya and Kekchi are the most widely used.

Maize, or corn, was very important for the ancient Mayas. Archeologists believe the Mayas were among the first people to cultivate maize. Not surpris-ingly, Guatemala has more varieties of

ancestry: n. family origins

cultivate: v. to

encourage growth [a. cultivation b. culture c. agriculture]

fossil: n. remains

of animals or plants that have been preserved through time

staple: n. something essential (usually a food)

crop: n. harvest

hybrid: adj. genetically mixed

intervention: n.

help, participation jade: n. a bright

green precious stone

vulnerable: adj. fragile

drought: n. a dry

season sedentary: adj.

settled, people who do not wander

dependency: n.

reliance

IMAGE 1. “Young Maize God.” From Copán, Honduras. Photo by ©Justin Kerr.

Lesson 1 Student Worksheets


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IMAGE 2. “Map of the Maya Region.” Drawn by Mark Patrick


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In such images, the young maize god is depicted as an innocent, beautiful being who is vulner-able to rain, wind, drought and pests, and one whose well-being depends, at least in part, on the protection of humans. While the young maize god sustains human beings by providing food, they, in turn, protect and “feed” him with blood sacrifices and worship.

The success of agriculture meant that it was no longer neces-sary for early Mayas, who were hunters and gatherers, to move about in search of food. Because corn was a dependable crop, they were able to stay in one area, developing a sedentary lifestyle with an elaborate culture and civilization capable of creating the magnificent palaces, temples and ceremonial roads that remain visible today. The relative luxury of an agricultural lifestyle also allowed the Mayas to develop the sophisticated systems of math-ematics, astronomy and writing evident in their skillful art, archi-tecture and literature. The Maya carvings and documents studied by archaeologists today reveal not only the many advances made possible by the cultivation of corn in the ancient Yucatán, but the peoples’ awareness of their dependency on agriculture. Their mythology emphasizes the central role of the corn god (or maize god) and, in fact, relates how human beings themselves were made from corn.

Popol Vuh: Historical Background

Maya scribes of high birth prob-ably wrote down the existing text of the Popol Vuh in the sixteenth century. It contains the Maya sacred history, a series of nar-ratives that preserves an ancient oral tradition, a tradition that

IMAGE 3. Incensario Lid: Seated Deity with Seed Pod. Maya Culture. Department of Esquintla, Guatemala. Late Classic- Early Post Classic Periods. Clay, Pigment. Note that the seed pod, probably representing an ear of corn, is connected via an umbilical-like cord to the deity’s navel, indicating that the seeds ultimately derive their nourishment from the deity.

itself recorded not only history, but a wealth of other aspects of the Maya world view, including myths, deities, religious practices and even migratory traditions. In the first years of the eighteenth century, a friar named Francisco Ximénez transcribed this manu-script, now lost, into Spanish from the Maya. The alphabetic tran-scriptions were based on an origi-nal text written in Maya script, a combination of hieroglyphs and phonetic signs, and the original was probably illustrated. The original was likely in the form of a calendar, with extensive charts,

tables, and pictures of gods, stars, and planets illustrating the course of the year. It was called Popol Vuh or “Council Book” because Maya Quiché leaders consulted it during periods of deliberation and crisis. The story evident in this calendar may also have been the subject of extended public perfor-mances. The book was a “seeing instrument,” or ilbál, because it was designed to overcome the limitations of human vision—a finitude explained in the creation story of the Popol Vuh—by offer-ing insight into the future.3


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THE POPOL VUH, READING 1BThe Maya Vigesimal Numeral System

The Maya civilization had great achievements in astronomy, architec-ture, agriculture, and mathematics. Two related discoveries demonstrate their sophisticated scientific knowledge: the concept of zero and a vigesimal number-ing system (base 20).1 They used three symbols: a stylized shell for zero, a dot for one, and a bar for five. These symbols were used in a numeral writing system that increased from bottom to top in vertical columns as shown in the chart to the right.

By combining their mathematical and astronomical discoveries, the Mayas

Venus, brighter than any other object in the sky except the sun and moon, was especially important. By observ-ing its movements, Maya farmers knew when to plant, irrigate and harvest their crops. In the sacred history of the Mayas, the Popol Vuh, the Hero Twins (Hunahpu and Xbalanque), descend into the Underworld to fight the Lords of the Night. The morning appearance of Venus, followed by the rise of the sun, symbolized the Hero Twins’ victory over the gods of the underworld. Venus rep-resented Hunahpu, while the sun stood for the other twin, Xbalanque.2

1 Miguel León-Portilla, Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya. 2nd Edition (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 1-13; James Wilkie, Catherine Komisaruk, and José Guadalupe Ortega, eds., Statistical Abstract of Latin America, Volume 32 (Los Angeles: Latin American Center, 1996), 138, 146.

2 Tamra Andrews, A Dictionary of Nature Myths (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 131-132.

irrigate: v. to wet

Underworld: n. realm of the dead

were able to create a calendar that was more accurate than any other until the invention of the Gregorian calendar (AD 325) that we use today. In addition to an accurate calendar, the Mayas calculated with extraordinary precision the astronomical revo-lution of Venus and the periods of the moon.

The Mayas depended on the position of the moon, planets and stars to determine the seasons of the year. The planet

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

• •• ••• •••• • •• ••• •••• —— —— —— —— ——

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 8 19

• •• ••• •••• • •• ••• •••• ———— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— ———— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— ——

MAYA VIGESIMAL NUMERAL SYSTEM


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THE POPOL VUH, EXERCISE 1Meeting the Maya

1. What is the English translation of the title: Popol Vuh?

2. What type of industry is necessary for a nonsedentary people, such as hunters and gatherers, to become a sedentary people? Which crop helped the Mayas establish a civilization in Central America?

3. Why was it important for Maya farmers to determine the length of the seasons?

4. Is an awareness of the movements of stars and planets important to people living today? Why or why not? And if so, how?

5. What is the Mayan story that explains the appearance of the sun and Venus in the morning sky?

6. The Maya were one of the first cultures to include the concept of zero in their counting system. Why do you think the concept of zero was difficult for some cultures to accept? Is zero something you can see? Or only imagine?

7. Practice writing your grade in school, age, month of birth, and day of birth using the Maya vigesimal numbering system.

ARABIC NUMERALS MAYA NUMERALS

Grade in School

Age

Month of Birth

Day of Birth

8. Writing Assignment: Based on your understanding of Maya civilization—its location, practices, achievements and concerns—write a paragraph describing how the Mayas represent themselves and their role in the natural order. You may want to think about what you have learned so far about the geography, religion, science and art of Maya civilization. As you write, refer to specific examples from the reading and illustrations presented in this unit.

14 The Popol Vuh, Lesson Two

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The Popol Vuh, Lesson Two 15

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Objectives

Students will be able to explain the reasons behind the creation of humans as narrated in the Popol Vuh and to understand the hierarchical position of humans in the Maya creation story. They will do so by:

practicing active reading strategies while learning about the initial creation and the creation of animals in the Popol Vuh;

understanding the motivation of the Maya creator gods in creating earth and its inhabitants;

recognizing the use of sensory description and relating its use to major themes in the reading;

writing a coherent paragraph with support from the text to explain the role of sound in the initial stages of creation.

Lesson Two: From Shadow Into Light

Preliminary Activity (10 minutes)

Students will be introduced to the importance of sound in the Popol Vuh creation story. Ask the students to con-sider the concept of zero and to apply this concept to the world of living things. By subtracting humans, animals, trees and vegetation, they might be able to imagine a world that is both empty and without sound. Encourage the use of descriptive language throughout the exercise.

To introduce sound, ask students to imagine wind moving across a grassy field and among trees and bushes and to consider how satisfying this might be to the creator gods. [Optional: next, play the first few minutes of Joseph Hayden’s The Creation.] Ask students to prepare a list of sound words that describes the experience of creation and to include words from the actual reading that they find useful.

Students may be asked to think about the more developed and complex sounds that would occur with the cre-

ation of animals. Ask them to compare the noise of wind over a field to that of a field or forest alive with many kinds of birds and animals. Encourage them to consider whether this would be pleas-ing to the creator gods.

Because the gods are not satisfied with plants or beasts alone, they decide to shape a being who will please them with still more complex and pleasur-able sound—that of praise. In order to help students imagine the gods’ need for recognition, ask them if they have ever felt a need to receive praise after creating or accomplishing something significant.

Help students see that the story not only explains how and why the animals were created, but justifies their place in the hierarchy of beings: animals are perceived as above the plants, but below humans. With a little prompting, students are likely to conclude that the myth serves to explain and justify the practice of domesticating and eating animals.



Reading 1.0 (1.1); Reading 2.0 (2.3; 2.5); Reading 3.0 (3.3-3.4; 3.7-3.8; 3.12) Writing 1.0 (1.1-1.2; 1.6); Writing 2.0 (2.2 a-d)



2 2



This lesson is composed of an account of both the initial creation and the creation of animals, and the former poses more difficulties than the latter. To help students overcome this difficulty, teachers may want to spend time during the reading prompt-ing students to consider what they are learning.

As they read, students should pause periodically to respond in writing to the following three questions:

What is going on? (If students are unsure, have them take a guess.)

If you could meet the author of this story, what question would you ask to help you better understand the reading? (Try to push students to ask specific questions rather than merely what it is about.)

What do you notice that is interest-ing, surprising or beautiful about the reading? Does it remind you of other stories, songs, movies, or experiences you have had?

The instructor will probably need to model the process by reading a section aloud, asking students to write responses to each of the three questions, and then discussing their answers as a class. In this way, students can practice active reading skills so that subsequent class discussion will involve asking questions and exploring answers collaboratively.

Another exercise that will help students appreciate the poetic ele-ments of the myth involves reading aloud by rows, pausing and changing readers after each mark of punctua-tion. In other words, Student A will read The Word began long ago in a place called Quiché where the Quiché people lived. and Student B will read We shall tell how mysteries came out of shadows, followed by Student C, who will read out of the past. and so on to the end of the narrative. This exercise will slow the reading down and underscore the unique phrasing and rhythm of the Popol Vuh.

Exercises

The exercises that accompany the reading can be completed in groups for the remainder of the period or selectively assigned for homework as time permits.

The final question is a writing prompt designed to generate a para-graph in which students describe the importance of sound in the Popol Vuh. This exercise will lay the ground for the final writing assignment that caps the unit. Reminding students of the concept of zero in nature (emptiness) and the subsequent appearance of elements, plants and animals, should help them organize their thoughts for writing. The writing portion can be worked on in class or as homework.


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inscribe: v. to carve, write down

implant: v. to cultivate

citadel: n. fortress

ripple: v. to make waves

murmur: v. to whisper, mumble

sigh: v. to whimper softly

hum: v. to sing softly

hollow: n. valley

meadow: n. plain, grassland

THE POPOL VUH, READING 2The Birth of All Heaven and Earth: A Maya Creation Myth3

The Initial CreationThis is the beginning of the ancient

word, here in this place called Quiché.4 Here we shall inscribe, here we shall implant the Ancient Word, the potential and source of everything done in the citadel of Quiché, in the nation of Quiché people. And here we shall take up the demonstration, revelation, and account of how things were put in shadow and brought to light

by the Maker, Modeler, named Bearer, Begetter,

Sovereign Plumed Serpent,Heart of the Lake, Heart of the

Sea,Maker of the Blue-Green Plate,Maker of the Blue-Green Bowl.5

This is the account, here it is:

Now it still ripples, now it still murmurs, ripples, it still sighs, still hums, and it is empty under the sky. There is not yet one person, one animal, bird, fish, crab, tree, rock, hollow, canyon, meadow, or forest. Only the sky alone is there; the face of the earth is not clear. Only the sea alone is pooled under all the sky; there is nothing which is

gathered together. It is at rest; not a single thing stirs. It is held back, kept at rest under the sky. Whatever might be is simply not there: only murmurs, ripples, in the dark, in the night. Only the Maker, Modeler alone, Sovereign Plumed Serpent, the Bearers, Beget-ters, are in the water, a glittering light. They are there, they are enclosed in quetzal feathers,6 in blue-green.

The feathers help describe the god named “Plumed Serpent,” or Kukul-cán. They are great knowers, great thinkers in their very being.

And of course there is the sky, and there is also the Heart of Sky, named Hurucán. This is the name of the god, as it is spoken.

And then came his word, he came

3 Adapted from Dennis Tedlock, trans., Popol Vuh: The Maya Book of the Dawn of Life. 2nd Edition (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996), pp.63-73, 145-49.

4 Quiché: the language of the Maya Indians of Guatemala.

5 This creation myth involves two gods, Sovereign Plumed Serpent, or “Kukulcán,” (associated with the water or sea), and Huracán (hurricane, associated with the sky), each of whom has several names and aspects. This verse gives the names of Sovereign Plumed Serpent.

6 quetzal: a Central and South American bird with golden-green and scarlet feathers; the national bird of Guatemala. Quetzal is also the unit of currency in Guatemala.

IMAGE 4. “El Caracol.” Located at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán. Photo by Carlos Blanco.



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to the Sovereign Plumed Serpent, here in the blackness, in the early dawn. He spoke with Sovereign Plumed Serpent, and they talked, and then they thought, then they worried. Then it was clear, then they reached accord in the light, and then humanity was clear, when they conceived the growth, the generation of trees, of bushes, and the growth of life, of humankind, in the blackness, in the early dawn.

Heart of Sky came to the Sovereign Plumed Serpent, when the dawn of life was conceived:

“How should it be sown, how should it dawn? Who is to be the provider, nurturer?”

“Let it be this way, think about it: this water should be removed, emptied out for the formation of the earth’s own plate and platform, then comes the sowing, the dawning of the skyearth. But there will be no highdays and no bright praise for our work, our design, until the rise of the human work, the human design,” they said.

And then the earth arose because of them, it was simply their word that brought it forth. For the forming of the earth they said, “Earth.” It arose sud-denly, just like a cloud, like a mist, now forming, unfolding. Then the mountains were separated from the water, all at once great mountains came forth. Such was the formation of the earth when it was brought forth by the Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth: the two gods, as they are called, since they were the first to think of it. The sky was set apart, and the earth was set apart in the midst of the waters.

Creation of the AnimalsSovereign Plumed Serpent speaks:

“Why this pointless humming? Why should there merely be rustling beneath the trees and bushes?”

“Indeed—they had better have guard-ians,” the other replied. As soon as they thought it and said it, deer and birds came forth. And then they gave out homes to the deer and birds: “You, the deer: sleep

conceive: v. to invent, visualize

generation: n. reproduction, multiplication

provider: n. someone who gives (provides)

nurturer: n. someone who gives care, feeds, and raises something

rustling: n. shuffling noise

moan: v. to cry, whimper

keep the days: idiom. to celebrate

squawk: v. to bark out in a rough voice

chatter: v. to babble

howl: v. to roar, squeal, scream

mason: n. builder

along the rivers, in the canyons. You, precious birds: your nests, your houses are in the trees, in the bushes.”

And then the deer and the birds were told by Sovereign Plumed Serpent: “Talk, speak out. Don’t moan, don’t cry out. Please talk, each to each, within each kind, within each group,” they were told—the deer, birds, jaguar, puma, and serpent.

“Name now our names, praise us. We are your mother, we are your father. Speak now:

‘Hurricane,Newborn Thunderbolt, Raw

Thunderbolt,Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth,Maker, Modeler,Bearer, Begetter.’

speak, pray to us, keep our days,” they were told. But it didn’t turn out that they spoke like people: they just squawked, they just chattered, they just howled.

“It hasn’t turned out well, they haven’t spoken,” the gods said. “It hasn’t turned out that our names have been named. Since we are their mason and sculptor, this will not do,” the Bearers and Beget-ters said among themselves. So they told them:

“You will simply have to be trans-formed. Since it hasn’t turned out well and you haven’t spoken, we have changed our word. What you feed on, what you eat, the places where you sleep, the places where you stay, what-ever is yours will remain in the canyons, the forests. Although it has turned out that our days were not kept, nor did you pray to us, there may yet be strength in the keeper of days, the giver of praise whom we have yet to make. Just accept your service, just let your flesh be eaten.” And so their flesh was brought low: they served, they were eaten, they were killed – the animals on the face of the earth.


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The Popol Vuh, Lesson Three 19

THE POPOL VUH, EXERCISE 2From Shadow Into Light

1. What is the situation of things at the moment of creation? Why is this so difficult to describe? How does the speaker manage to describe it anyway?

2. Look closely at the conversation between Plumed Serpent (Kukulcán) and Heart of Sky (Hurucán). What is the physical design of the earth? What is the role of human beings in the gods’ plan?

3. How do the gods bring about the creation of the earth? By what names are the gods called at this point in the creation story? Why are these names significant?

4. Why do Heart of Earth and Heart of Sky create the animals? Do the animals fulfill the expectations of their creators?

5. How do the gods react to the failure of the animals? What order of things in nature (and culture) does this part of the myth explain?

6. Take a close look at this italicized passage from the text: By the Maker, Modeler, named Bearer, Begetter, Sovereign Plumed Serpent, Heart of the Lake, Heart of the Sea, Maker of the Blue-Green Plate, Maker of the Blue-Green Bowl.

a. Why is this passage set apart from the rest of the text through italics? How is the language different from what comes before and after it? Be specific in your observations. You might want to read this passage out loud.

b. What kind of creature is the “Sovereign Plumed Serpent”? Think about what each of the three words in its name adds to your understanding. Can you see this creature clearly in your mind? Would you be able to draw the scene described in this passage? Is there a creature commonly known in your culture that might resemble the Plumed Serpent?

c. To what is the earth compared in these lines: Maker of the Blue-Green Plate, Maker of the Blue-Green Bowl.

7. Writing Assignment: Circle all the sound words in the reading assignment so far. Then, write a paragraph about the role of sound in the initial stages of creation, citing the text in support of your points. The following are questions to consider in formulating your own paragraph: What does the world sound like at the beginning of creation? What does it sound like when there are only plants? Why do the gods want to create creatures greater than plants? Why do the animals disappoint them?


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Lesson Three: Trial and Error

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Objectives

In order to understand the pattern of the creative process, the motivations and limitations of the creators, and the nature of the relationship between gods and humans, students will read in the Popol Vuh the account of the gods’ first two attempts at creating humans. They will explore these ideas by:

discussing the nature of the gods; discussing the gods’ expectations

of their creations; discussing the character of the first

two human prototypes and relate these shortcomings to the human condition itself;

exploring the relationship between the events in the story and the definition of humankind;

writing a short paragraph explaining the hierarchy of being, supporting statements and claims with specific examples from the text.


Briefly review the events from the creation of the animals (lesson 2), touching specifically on how they were created (through the oral command of the gods), why they did not meet the gods’ expectations (they did not speak properly, but squawked and barked), and what happened to them (they were “brought lower” and transformed into lesser beings).

In order to get students thinking about how a creator might go about the task of creating human beings, it may prove beneficial to discuss two important questions that will be relevant to the creation account in the Popol Vuh. First, why would the gods want to create a thinking, speaking being in the first place? Second, having decided to do so, what materials would seem appropriate (in the historical place and time of the ancient Mayas) for shaping humans? Ask students to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the materials they might choose.

In introducing the concept of an imperfect creation, the teacher may want to emphasize the process of revision, using painting or composing as an example of how perfection is often achieved by means of a gradual process that allows for and corrects mistakes as the product develops.


Students will witness two very dif-ferent problems encountered by the gods as they undertake the creation of humans. The first is the gods’ failure to choose sufficiently stable materials to form the bodies, an oversight that reveals the limitations of the creators and which emphasizes the need for a durable humanity. The second is a failure of the created beings themselves to live up to the expectations of the gods. As students read, ask them to keep in mind what is at stake in each failed attempt and to consider who takes responsibility for each failure.

Either the teacher or a couple of strong student readers should do the reading aloud for this lesson. First, instruct students to read along, under-lining three passages that appeal to them for some reason—passages of at least one sentence and no more than three.

After the reading, call on students to read their selected passages and choose a passage with which to work. Have them copy their final selections onto an index card (using this oppor-tunity to teach proper quotation pro-tocol). When the passages are tran-scribed, allow students two minutes to practice reading aloud their passage, using voice modulation, intonation



Reading 1.0 (1.1); Reading 2.0 (2.3; 2.5); Reading 3.0 (3.3-3.8; 3.12) Writing 1.0 (1.1-1.2; 1.6); Writing 2.0 (2.2 a-d) Written and Oral English Language

Conventions 1.0 (1.1-1.3)


20 The Popol Vuh, Lesson Three

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Exercises

Read together the writing prompt to make sure everyone understands the assignment and then allow students to work with a partner to complete the rest of the hand-out. The exercises can be completed in groups for the remainder of the period or selectively assigned for homework as time per-mits. The writing assignment can be completed as homework if necessary.

and body language to convey mean-ing. They may work or consult with a partner to help establish meaning and to test their interpretation-presentation of the quotation. After two minutes, the instructor should model a chosen passage before requiring students to do so.

Optional: This follow-up to the quota-tion exercise is valuable because it encourages students to begin thinking of the quotation as a point of departure for interpretation. It can be integrated here or assigned for homework as time permits.

Students will have approximately ten minutes to gloss their quotation by responding to the following questions:

What did I find appealing about this line? (The image it presented, the sound of the words, ‘it reminded me of...’)

Why is my quotation important within the story? (How does it relate to what has happened before?)

Example:

Selected quotation: “Let it be merely a thought.”

Reflection on quotation: Although the words are few, one could feel each weighed down by the sadness and disappointment the gods felt after their second creation attempt. This passage relates to the events before because, unlike other attempts, the creatures of earth and mud leave no trace of their existence. They don’t live long enough to try to speak like the animals before them, and they certainly don’t live long enough to be cruel like the people of wood created after them. They were just a thought, just a rough draft.


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The Creatures Carved of Earth and Mud

Again there came an experiment with the human work, the human design, by Sovereign Plumed Ser-pent:

“It must simply be tried again. The time for the planting and dawning is near. So let’s try to make a giver of praise, giver of respect, provider, nurturer. How else can we be invoked and remembered in the face of the earth?”

So then comes the building and working with earth and mud. They made a body, but it didn’t look good to them. It was just separating, just crumbling, just loosening, just soften-ing, just disintegrating, and just dis-solving. Its head wouldn’t turn either. Its face was just lopsided, its face was just twisted. It couldn’t look around. It talked at first, but sense-lessly. It was quickly dissolv-ing in the water.

“It won’t last,” the mason and sculptor said then. “It seems to be dwindling away, so let it just dwindle. It can’t walk and it can’t multiply, so let it be merely a thought,” they said.

THE POPOL VUH, READING 3The Creatures Made of Earth and Mud and Wood

The Creatures Carved of Wood

Again they talked: “What is there for us to make that would turn out well, that would succeed in keeping our days and praying to us?” they said. They decided to design manikins out of wood, human in looks and human in speech. This was the peopling of the face of the earth:

They came into being, they multi-plied, they had daughters, they had sons. But there was nothing in their hearts and nothing in their minds, no memory of their mason and builder. They just went and walked wherever they wanted. Now they did not remem-ber the Heart of Sky.

And so they fell, just an experiment and just a cutout for humankind. They were talking at first, but their faces

invoke: v. to pray, to call on

dwindle: v. to wither, disintegrate, soften

manikin: n. a doll of human form

IMAGE 5. “El Castillo at Chichén Itzá.” In the foreground are a statue of Chac Mool (the Toltec name for the rain god) and a column of the Plumed Serpent (Kukulcán). Photo by Carlos Blanco.



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This was the service we gave you at first, when you were still people, but today you will learn of our power. We shall pound and we shall grind your flesh,” their grinding stones told them.

And this is what their dogs said: “Why is it you can’t seem to give us our food? We just watch and you just keep us down, and you throw us around. You keep a stick ready when you eat, just so you can hit us. We don’t talk, so we’ve received nothing from you. So, this very day you will taste the teeth in our mouths. We shall eat you,” their dogs told them, and their faces were crushed.

Now the manikins run for it, helter-skelter. They want to climb up on the houses, but they fall as the houses collapse. They want to climb the trees; they’re thrown off by the trees. They want to get inside caves, but the caves slam shut their doors.

Such was the scattering of the human work, the human design. The people were ground down, over-thrown. The mouths and faces of all of them were destroyed and crushed. And it used to be said that the monkeys in the forests today are a sign of this. They were left as a sign because wood alone was used for their flesh by the builder and sculptor. So this is why monkeys look like people: they are a sign of a previous human work, human design—mere manikins, mere wood-carvings.

were dry. They were not yet developed in the legs and arms. They had no blood, no lymph. They had no sweat, no fat. And so they accomplished nothing before the Maker, Modeler who gave them birth, gave them heart. They became the first numerous people here on the face of the earth.

Again there came a humiliation, destruction, and demolition. The mani-kins, woodcarvings were killed when the Heart of Sky devised a flood for them.

There came a rain of resin from the sky.

There came the one called Gouger of Faces: he gouged out their eyeballs.

There came Sudden Bloodletter: he snapped off their heads.

There came Crunching Jaguar: he ate their flesh.

There came Tearing Jaguar: he tore them open.

They were pounded down to the bones and tendons, smashed and pulver-ized even to the bones. Their faces were smashed because they were incompe-tent before their mother and father, the Heart of Sky. The earth was blackened because of this; the black rainstorm began, rain all day and rain all night. Into their houses came the animals, small and great. Their faces were crushed by things of wood and stone. Everything spoke: their water jars, their tortilla griddles, their plates, their cooking pots, their dogs, their grinding stones, each and every thing crushed their faces. Their dogs and turkeys told them:

“You caused us pain, you ate us, but now it is you whom we shall eat.” And this is the grinding stone:

‘We were undone because of you.Every day, every day,in the dark, in the dawn, forever,r-r-rip, r-r-rip,r-r-rub, r-r-rub,right in our faces, because of you.’

lymph: n. a life giving substance

humiliation: n. dishonor, shame

resin: n. sticky substance, usually from trees

gouge: v. to dig violently, tear, or wrench (gouger)

griddle: n. a flat warming pan

helter-skelter: idiom. in disorder.


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1. What continues to be the aim and desire of the creators? How do they try to attain the goal this time?

2. What are the results of the experiment?

3. Do the gods destroy their creation made of earth and mud? What do the gods learn from this attempt at making humans? Identify both positive and negative aspects of this lesson.

4. How do the gods react to the failure of this attempt? What motivates them to try again?

5. Do the people of wood fulfill the expectations of their makers?

6. Why do the gods decide to destroy the people of wood? How is this “humiliation, demolition, and destruction” different from the previous ones? Why is it more violent?

7. Examine the accompanying image of the pyramid called “El Castillo” at Chichén Itzá (IMAGE 5). In the foreground are a statue of Chac Mool (the Toltec name for the rain god) and a column of the Plumed Serpent (Kukulcán). Why would the Mayas erect statues and columns to these gods? Why might these two gods be revered with these physical structures? Can you think of any gods or concepts (liberty, freedom, etc.) that people in the United States represent with sculptures? Why do they create these sculptures?

8. Using the map (IMAGE 2) of the Maya region, locate Chichén Itzá. In what country is Chichén Itzá presently located?

9. How is the god’s process of trial and error in creating humans an example of our own human creative or writing process? Site examples from the text.

10. Writing Assignment: The Popol Vuh establishes a clear hierarchy or order of power, with the gods at the top, humans in the middle, and animals at the bottom. Make a list of ways that the people of wood fail to honor both sides of the hierarchy—their relationship to the gods and their relationship to the animals. Using your list, write a paragraph explaining how the people of wood disappoint their creators by not observing their place in the hierarchy. Cite the text to illustrate your points.

THE POPOL VUH, EXERCISE 3Trial and Error

24 The Popol Vuh, Lesson Four

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The Popol Vuh, Lesson Four 25

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Objectives

Although this reading may seem digressive, it follows the actual progres-sion of the Popol Vuh, which interrupts the creation narrative with an episode that focuses on false claims to godly power. In the narrative of the “Hero Twins,” students will have an opportu-nity to relate false humanity (people of wood) to false divinity (Seven Macaw). They will also see a second example of “poetic justice,” a concept central to the creation event (and evident in the fate of the wood people) recounted in the text. By reading the narrative, they will:

understand the Seven Macaw epi-sode and his claims to lordly power as a parallel narrative;

perceive how often mythological narratives serve to explain phenom-ena in the natural world (here, the origin of the macaw and its unusual appearance);

understand the theme of “poetic justice” in the creation narrative;

consider the importance of point of view in the narrative;

write a paragraph on the theme of poetic justice, using concrete details from images and the text to support ideas and claims.

Lesson Four: Poetic Justice


The account of the hero twins intro-duces a reading that may at first seem hard to follow. Careful introduction of the characters may help, as will a discussion of why excessive pride might threaten or offend the creators. Have students discuss briefly their thoughts on the relationship between spiritual beings, perhaps by referring to familiar Biblical examples (God, angels, fallen angels, etc.).

Allow students time (3-5 minutes) for discussion before beginning the reading.

Work with students to arrive at a definition and example of poetic justice. Next, have them paraphrase in writing a definition and example of their own. The following definition is from the Oxford English Dictionary, online version (see “justice”):

Poetic justice is the ideal justice in distribution of rewards and punishments supposed to befit a poem or other work of imagina-tion.

A simpler definition is “the punishment fits the crime.”

The example of the wood people in lesson 3 should serve to illustrate the concept. There, because the manikins ate the dogs, they are in turn eaten by the dogs.

TARGET SKILLS AND CONTENT STANDARDSStudents will practice the following skills in accordance with the

California English-Language Arts Standards:

Reading 1.0 (1.1); Reading 2.0 (2.3; 2.5); Reading 3.0 (3.3-3.8; 3.12) Writing 1.0 (1.1-1.2; 1.6); Writing 2.0 (2.2 a-d; 2.4 a-d)


Chronologically, this story takes place at the same time as the creation of the wood people. Students should keep this in mind during their reading. It may be useful to explain that the fall of Seven Macaw initiates the same storm that brings about the destruction of the wood people.

As students read, it may be helpful to explain the actors in the narrative and to keep them distinct from one another during the reading. The essen-tial categories of actors are creator gods and their lesser counterparts (both good and bad demi-gods). Have students underline passages where they are not sure what is happening.

After the reading is completed, ask students to revisit the areas they underlined and to form at least 5 “think-ing” questions that explore “how” or “why” events occur. In small groups, have students share their questions and choose a single question to challenge the class as a whole. Write each of these questions on the board and then have the student groups search the text itself for an answer to the questions, locating and underlining any support-ing evidence. The teacher should then moderate a discussion of their answers, ending the exercise when it is clear that students have good comprehension of the reading.

Exercises

After the discussion of the reading, it should take students no more than 10-15 minutes to answer the questions in the exercises. When they are fin-ished, read over the writing prompt as a class to make sure it is clear. Next, review the protocol for quoting mate-rial from the text. Students can then work individually on the final writing assignment in class or as homework.



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This was when there was just a trace of early dawn on the face of the earth, there was no sun. But there was one who magnified himself; Seven Macaw was his name. The sky-earth was already there, but the face of the sun-moon was clouded over. Even so, it is said that his light provided a sign for the people who were flooded. He was like a person of genius in his being.

“I am great. My place is now higher than that of the human work, the human design. I am their sun and I am their light, and I am also their months. So be it: my light is great. I am the

THE POPOL VUH, READING 4The Hero Twins

walkway and I am the foothold of the people, because my eyes are of metal. My teeth just glitter with jewels, and turquoise as well; they stand out blue with stones like the face of the sky. And this nose of mine shines white into the distance like the moon. Since my nest is metal, it lights up the face of the earth. When I come forth before my nest, I am like the sun and moon for those who are born in the light, begotten in the light. It must be so, because my face reaches into the distance,” says Seven Macaw.

It is not true that he is the sun, this seven Macaw, yet he magnifies

magnify: v. to enlarge—made himself big with pride

macaw: n. a bird of colorful feathers

begotten: v. born

surpass: v. to go beyond, exceed

nance: n. a sweet fruit

implore: v. to beg

insufferable: adj. unable to be tolerated

IMAGE 6. “Hunahpu and Xbalanque bring their father, the Maize God, back to life from a cracked-open turtleshell.” On the surface of codex-style plate. Photo by ©Justin Kerr, 1982.

IMAGE 7. “Queen of Uxmal.” For-merly located atop the Pyramid of the Magician. Photo by Jorge Pérez de Lara.



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himself, his wings, his metal. And so Seven Macaw puffs himself up as the days and the months, though the light of the sun and moon had not yet clarified. He only wished for surpassing greatness.

Here is the beginning of the defeat and destruction of the day of Seven Macaw by the two boys, the first named Hunahpu and the second named Xbalanque. Being gods, the two of them saw evil in his attempt at self-magnification before the Heart of Sky.

And here is the shooting of Seven Macaw by the two boys. We shall explain the defeat of each one of those who engaged in self-magnification.

This is the great tree of Seven Macaw, a nance, and this is the food of Seven Macaw. In order

to eat the fruit of the nance he goes up the tree every day. Since Hunahpu and Xbalanque have seen where he feeds, they are now hiding beneath the tree of Seven Macaw, they are keeping quiet here, the two boys are in the leaves of the tree.

And when Seven Macaw arrived, perching over his meal, the nance, it was then that he was shot by Hunahpu. The blowgun shot went right to his jaw, break-ing his mouth. Then he went up over the tree and fell flat on the ground.

After that they approached the place where Seven Macaw was in front of his home.

“I implore you, please take pity on me! What sweets can you make, what poisons can you cure?” said the lord.

IMAGE 8. “Pyramid of the Magician.” Located at Uxmal, Yucatán. Photo by Ignacio Guevara.

“We just pull the worms out of teeth, and we just cure eyes. We just set bones, your lordship,” they replied.

“Very well, please cure my teeth. They really ache, every day. It is insufferable! I get no sleep because of them – and my eyes. They just shot me, those tricksters! Ever since it started I haven’t eaten because of it.”

“Very well, your lordship. It is a worm, gnawing at the bone. It’s merely a matter of putting in a replacement and taking the teeth out, sir.”

“Very well. Yank them out! Give me some help here!” he replied.

And when the teeth of Seven Macaw came out, it was only white corn that went in as a replacement for his teeth – just a coating shining white, that corn in his mouth. His face fell at once, he no longer looked like a lord. The last of his teeth came out, the jewels that had stood out blue from his mouth.

And the eyes of Seven Macaw were cured. When his eyes were trimmed back the last of his metal came out. Still he felt no pain; he just looked on while the last of his greatness left him. It was just as Hunahpu and Xbalanque had intended.

Such was the loss of the riches of Seven Macaw: only the doctors got the jewels and gems that had made him arrogant, here on the face of the earth.

Just as they had wished the death of Seven Macaw, so they brought it about. They had seen evil in his self-magnification. After this the two boys went on again. What they did was simply the word of Heart of Sky.


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1. Why does Seven Macaw pretend to be the sun and moon?

2. What parts of his body does Seven Macaw consider most valuable?

3. What characteristics of Seven Macaw do the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, dislike?

4. After Seven Macaw is destroyed, who obtains his riches? What is the significance of Seven Macaw’s loss of his jewels and gems?

5. Is this a morality tale? If so, what is the lesson?

6. Discuss the description of the boys’ attitude and action in the last paragraph “the boys went along ..” Does the description of the boys’ attitude reinforce the lesson of the story?

7. Examine the image of the ceremonial plate (IMAGE 6). The Maize God (Hun Hunahpu), shown in the middle, is emerging from the split in the earth (depicted as the back of a turtle). The two figures by the side are the Maize God’s twin sons, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who are pouring water to ensure that the corn sprouts from the earth. List the characteristics of this representation of Hun Hunahpu that remind you of corn.

8. Examine the image of the “Queen of Uxmal” (IMAGE 7). Of what animal does the structure around her head (which looks like a “C”) remind you? Why might this animal be important to the Mayas?

9. Examine the image of the “Pyramid of the Magician in Uxmal” (IMAGE 8). The stone sculpture of the “Queen of Uxmal” was originally located atop the pyramid. Locate Uxmal on the map (IMAGE 2) and determine in which country it is located.

10. Archaeologists found the ceremonial plate of the Maize God and the Hero Twins in the area near “El Mirador.” Locate the archaeological site “El Mirador” on the map (IMAGE 2) and determine in which country it is located.

11. Writing Assignment: Look back at your notes from Lesson 3, “The Creatures Carved of Wood,” and think about what you have learned so far about poetic justice. Write a paragraph comparing the treatment of Seven Macaw by the Hero Twins to that of the wood people by the gods and animals. Was poetic justice served in each case? Why or why not? Make sure to support your opinions with quotations from the text and explain how each quotation is relevant to your argument.

THE POPOL VUH, EXERCISE 4Poetic Justice

28 The Popol Vuh, Lesson Five

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The Popol Vuh, Lesson Five 29

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Objectives

Students will synthesize their previ-ous readings and findings, activating their previous exploration of concepts such as the relationship between cul-ture and agriculture, the importance of corn in Mesoamerica, the idea of poetic justice, and the place of humans in the universe. Students will achieve these objectives by:

articulating the intimate relation-ship between culture and agricul-ture in Maya civilization;

reviewing visual representations of Maya deities;

considering the nature of corn and the logic of using it as the material for human creation;

discussing the need for the most perfect being (humankind) to be limited in its power in order to keep the hierarchy of beings intact;

writing a persuasive, coherent paragraph containing a well-defined thesis and textual support.

Preliminary Activity (10 minutes)

Most of the students will probably be familiar with the biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve from grace. The story of the Garden of Eden, which serves to explain the human limitations of labor, pain, and death, is not so different from that of the corn people in this regard. Both it and the Popol Vuh recount not only the creation

Lesson Five: Getting It Right

narrative. These notes can be shared immediately after the reading. The instructor may contribute by asking “how” and “why” questions to make sure that significant issues are addressed.

As they read, be sure students are aware of the role of the animals, the steps in processing the corn, the ritual aspects of poetry in recounting the actual creation, the unprecedented suc-cess in forming humans, their uncom-fortable likeness to gods, and the gods’ response to this minor problem. Also make sure they notice that women are created last.

Exercises

Read the writing prompt together to make sure students understand that they are being asked to write a persuasive response. The instructor can take this opportunity to define persuasive writing and how it attempts to assert that a thesis or interpreta-tion is correct while also taking into account areas in the text that seem to go against the position. Explain that these seeming contradictions do not weaken a sound argument. Also emphasize the need for a clearly stated thesis supported with quotations and evidence from the text itself.

The exercises should prepare stu-dents for the final writing assignment by getting them thinking about the text. They should take about 10 minutes to complete and can be done as a class. Ask students to take notes in the space provided and to use these notes for ref-erence while writing their paragraphs.

TARGET SKILLS AND CONTENT STANDARDSStudents will practice the following skills in accordance with the

California English-Language Arts Standards:

Reading 1.0 (1.1); Reading 2.0 (2.3; 2.5); Reading 3.0 (3.3-3.8; 3.12) Writing 1.0 (1.1-1.2; 1.6); Writing 2.0 (2.2 a-d; 2.4 a-d)

of human beings and their elevation above other forms of life, but also the reasons for human finitude, an essential difference between them and their creator(s).

Prior to reading the story, ask stu-dents to consider the reasons both mud and wood failed to serve the needs of the creators. Ask them to imagine what materials they are familiar with that might actually resemble human beings. Prompt them to discuss how these items/materials resemble humans. Next, get them to think about how humans are like and unlike gods (compared to animals, wood or mud, for example).

The main purpose of this exercise is to reactivate the information and the ideas explored in previous lessons. This can be accomplished, in part, by a brief review of the graphics that accompany lesson 4. Have them look at the image of the Hero Twins and recall the earlier reading on the importance of corn in Mesoamerican culture. Moder-ate a discussion of the significance of corn and the relationship between Maya culture and Maya agriculture.

Reading Suggestions (40 minutes)

The reading for this lesson is longer, but students who have completed les-sons 1-4 should be adequately prepared to handle the text. It can be read aloud by various student volunteers, stopping about every half-page so that students can write a brief summary and ques-tions in the margins at key points in the



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seek: v. to look for (sought)

cacao: n. a tree from whose seeds we get cocoa

fruition: n. completion; state of being fruitful

builder and mason: n. the creator gods

mar: v. to diminish, darken or damage

prawn: n. shrimp

sacrificers: n. people who make sacrifices (to the gods in this context)

penitent: adj. apologetic, sorry

7 Xmucane: the divine midwife.8 From these four parents the Maya Quiché people traced their family trees.

And here is the beginning of the conception of humans, and of the search for the ingredients of the human body. They sought and dis-covered what was needed for human flesh. Broken Place, Bitter Water Place is the name: yellow corn, white corn, came from there.

And these are the names of the animals who brought the food: fox, coyote, parrot, crow. There were four animals who brought the news of the ears of yellow corn and white corn. They were coming from over there at Broken Place, they showed the way to the break. And this was when they found the staple foods. And these were the ingredients for the flesh of the human work, the human design, and the water was made for the blood. It became human blood, and corn was also used by the Bearer, Begetter.

And so they were happy over the provisions of the good mountain, filled with sweet things, thick with yellow corn, white corn, and thick with cacao and sweets—the rich foods filling up the citadel named Broken Place, Bitter Water Place. All the edible fruits were there: small staples, great staples, small plants, great plants.

And then the yellow corn and the white corn was ground nine times by Xmucane.7 Corn was used, along with the water she rinsed her hands with, for the creation of grease; it became human fat when it was worked by the Sovereign Plumed Serpent. After that, they put it in words:

the making, the modeling of our first father-mother,

THE POPOL VUH, READING 5The The Creation of Humanity from Corn

with yellow corn, white corn alone for the flesh,

food alone for the human legs and arms,

for our first fathers, the four human works.

It was staples alone that made up their flesh.

This is the first person: Jaguar Quitze.

And now the second: Jaguar Night.

And now the third: Mahucutah.And the fourth: True Jaguar.8

And these are the names of our first father-mothers. They were simply made and modeled, it is said; they have no mother and no father. We have named the men by themselves. No woman gave birth to them; they were modeled by the Sovereign Plumed Serpent. And when they came to frui-tion, they came out human:

They talked and they made words.They looked and they listened.They walked, they worked.

They were good people, handsome, with looks of the male kind. Thoughts came into existence and they gazed: their vision came all at once. Perfectly they saw, perfectly they knew every-thing under the sky, whenever they looked. The moment they turned around and looked around in the sky, on the earth, everything was seen without any obstruction. They didn’t have to walk around before they could see what was under the sky; they just stayed where they were.



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As they looked, their knowl-edge became intense. Their sight passed through trees, through rocks, through lakes, through seas, through mountains, through plains. And then they were asked by the builder and mason: “What do you know about your being? Don’t you look, don’t you listen? Isn’t your speech good, and your walk? Don’t you see the mountain-plain clearly? So try it,” they were told.

And then they saw everything under the sky perfectly. After that, they thanked the Maker, Modeler:

‘Truly now,double thanks, triple thanks,that we’ve been formed, we’ve

been givenour mouths, our faces,we speak, we listen,we wonder, we move,our knowledge is good, we’ve

understoodwhat is far and near,and we’ve seen what is great

and smallunder the sky, on the earth.Thanks to you we’ve been

formed,we’ve come to be made and

modeled,’

they said when they gave thanks for having been made and mod-eled. They understood everything perfectly, they saw the four sides, the four corners in the sky, on the earth, and this didn’t sound good to the builder and sculptor:

“What our works and designs have said is no good; ‘We have understood everything great and small,’ they say,” And so the Bearer, Begetter took back their knowledge: “What should we do with them now? Their vision should at least reach nearby, they should see at least a small part of

the face of the earth, but what they’re saying isn’t good. Aren’t they merely ‘works’ and ‘designs’ in their very names? Yet they’ll become as great as gods. Let it be this way: we will take them apart just a little, that’s what we need. What we’ve found out isn’t good. Their deeds would become equal to ours, just because their k n o w l e d g e reaches so far.”

And when

they changed the nature of their works, their designs, it was enough that the eyes be marred by the Heart of Sky. They were blinded as the face of a mirror is breathed upon. Their eyes were weakened. Now it was only when they looked nearby that things were clear. And such was the loss of the means of understanding, along with the means of knowing everything, by the four humans.

And such was the making, mod-eling, of our first grandfather, our father, by the Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth.

And then their wives came into being. Again, the same gods thought of it. It was as if they were asleep when they received them, truly beautiful women were there with Jaguar Quitzé, Jaguar Night, Mahucutah, and True Jaguar. With their women there they became wider awake. Right away they were happy at heart again, because of their wives.

Celebrated Seahouse is the name of the wife of Jaguar Quitzé.

Prawn House is the name of the wife of Jaguar Night.

Hummingbird House is the name of the wife of Mahu-cutah.

Macaw House is the name of the wife of True Jaguar.

So these are the names of their wives, who became great ladies of rank, giving birth to the people of the tribes, great and small.

And this is our root, we who are Quiché people. And there came a crowd of penitents and sacrificers. It wasn’t only four who came into being then but there were four mothers for us, the Quiché people. There were different names for each of the peoples when they multiplied, there in the east.

IMAGE 9. Urn With Jaguar Effigy Cover. Quiché Maya Culture. Highland Guatemala. Late Classic Period. C.800-950 A.D. Clay, Pigment. Anonymous gift to the Bowers Museum. Photograph by Don Wiechec.


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1. Why is it significant that the animals, who helped destroy the people of wood, find the corn that will be used to create humans?

2. What are these new humans like in terms of gender? What are these new humans like in terms of their ability to see and understand things?

3. Why do the new humans respond to their creators in poetry? Read what they say. What is unsatisfac-tory to the gods in this response?

4. Do the gods seem to think they have failed this time? How do they change their creation? How is this reaction like and unlike the previous ones? Explain the expression, “blinded as the face of a mirror is breathed upon.”

5. Does the gods’ treatment of the corn people seem just? What might the gods have learned from the actions of the wood people?

6. Why do you think the gods decide to create women? Why do the men feel “wider awake” with the women? Why are they “happy at heart again” (“again” in relation to what?)?

7. How do the final comments restate concerns at the beginning of the story? Who is the “crowd of sacrificers and penitents”?

8. Describe the teeth of the jaguar seated atop the urn in image 9. What do they remind you of? Why?

9. Writing Assignment: It is easy to dismiss or criticize the actions of the gods in relation to the people of corn. The new humans have finally given the gods the praise they desired, and yet the gods respond by blurring their vision. Write a defense of the gods’ actions, supporting your points with details from the story.

THE POPOL VUH, EXERCISE 5Getting It Right

FOLLOW-UP ASSIGNMENTS

A. Find current articles in Archaeology Magazine on ancient Maya sites. What are some of the issues facing ancient Maya ruins? Write a letter to the editor to ask for more information on the subject.

B. Search the web for tours of Maya sites. www.mayatour.com offers tours in Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. Have students plan a trip listing what they will see at three or four Maya sites.

C. Research the lives of contemporary Maya. Write a story or article about a Maya family living today in Guatemala.

www.mayatour.com

32 The Popol Vuh, Lesson Six

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The Popol Vuh, Lesson Six 33

Lesson Six: The Significance of Sound in the Popol Vuh

TARGET SKILLS AND CONTENT STANDARDSStudents will practice the following skills in accordance with the California English-Language Arts Standards:

Writing 1.0 (1.1-1.2; 1.6; 1.9); Writing 2.0 (2.2 a-d; 2.4 a-d)

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Objectives

Students will synthesize the infor-mation and narratives they have read in order to examine the role of a unique theme in the Maya account of cre-ation—that of sound. They will do so by:

reviewing the socio-historical context of Maya civilization and its practices, taking note of the motivation for creation;

reviewing the creation myths themselves to take note of the use of sound in each phase of the process;

composing a short essay that describes the use of sound and its gradual sophistication as creation undergoes its many phases and as the human race develops.

Suggested Reading Strategies (approximately 40 minutes)

Students will need time to locate the various kinds of sounds throughout the stories. This may take some time and can be accomplished as a homework exercise during which they highlight areas of the narratives that exhibit or relate to sound.

The guidelines for the essay are given on the next page, and students should follow a process similar to that outlined there.


32 The Popol Vuh, Lesson Six

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The Popol Vuh, Lesson Six 33

Writing Assignment:

Write an essay on the role of sound and language in the Popol Vuh. Do you see a progression in the nature of sounds as the story moves from the time before creation into the period of early human history? How does this progression in sounds within the story help us understand the significance of the “ancient word” in the myth itself? How does the progression of sound in the story emphasize the role of language in the relationship between humans and their god-creators?

Your essay might follow a very general outline like this (you will of course need to make your own specific points under each heading):

I. Introduction (introduce the Popol Vuh to your audience and state thesis)

II. The sounds of silence

III. The sounds of new creation

IV. The sounds of the animals

V. The sounds of the wood people

VI. The sounds of the corn people

VII. Conclusion: the “ancient word” of the opening paragraph

Tips as you write:

Each paragraph (with the possible exception of your Introduction) should include at least one citation from the text. Choose a quotation that features a description or evaluation of sound, then analyze the significance of this passage for your argument.

Avoid simple plot summary; each paragraph should make a point about the meaning of sound at this moment in the story.

In this story, even the gods revise! If time permits, please complete at least two drafts of your essay.

THE POPOL VUH, EXERCISE 6The Significance of Sound in the Popol Vuh


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The Mayas: Historical Background

In about 2000 BC, the Maya civiliza-tion began, and during the preclassic period (from this point of origin to AD 300), the Mayas built spectacular pyramids and domesticated a consider-able variety of animals and crops. Maya farmers used terraces, fertilizers, crop rotation, and household gardens to grow maize (corn), avocados, papayas, pineapples, and cacao (chocolate). The development of such an extensive agricultural system allowed the Mayas to become sedentary and to build large cities. Among the most spectacu-lar of these were the settlements of Kaminaljuyú, Tikal, and El Mirador. Foremost among their crops was corn, the mainstay of the Maya diet and an important part of their religion. Agriculture and the ability to store food also allowed the Mayas to pursue scientific and leisure activities. Maya astronomers, for example, tracked the movement of the sun, moon, and plan-ets (especially Venus) and developed two precise calendars (one based on a 365-day year and another on a 260-day almanac). And by the late preclassic period, the Mayas had developed a complex system of writing with hiero-glyphs.

The Maya civilization reached its peak during the classic period from AD 300 to 900, building over sixty cities, becoming a stratified society, and increasing significantly in Popula-tion. Competing Maya rulers and their followers built pyramids and temples throughout the Petén region of north-

ern Guatemala and southeastern Mex-ico. Among the major city-states in the Petén jungle area were Copán, Palenque, and Piedras Negras. Indeed, by the arrival of Europeans, the Mayas had developed one of the most advanced civilizations in the Ameri-cas.

Since the classic period, Maya Indi-ans have lived throughout the present-day areas of southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, and many continue to live in these areas. Today, however, most people of Maya ancestry reside in Guatemala, where they make up 60% of the Population. They speak over 30 native languages, of which Quiché, Mam, Maya, and Kekchi are the most widely used.

The Maya civilization had great achievements in astronomy, architec-ture, agriculture, and mathematics. Two related discoveries demonstrate their sophisticated scientific knowl-edge: the concept of zero and a vigesi-mal numbering system (base 20) in which whole numbers acquired value according to their positional func-tions.1

By combining their mathematical and astronomical discoveries, the Mayas were able to create a calendar that was more accurate than any other until the invention of the Gregorian calendar (AD 325). In addition to a precise calendar, the Mayas calculated with extraordinary precision the length of the tropical year, the astronomical revolution of Venus, and the lunation periods.

According to Maya scholars, the gods were the bearers of time. There-fore, the Mayas created a hieroglyph,

kinh, to represent the concept sun-day-time, which was a primary reality, divine, and limitless. Accordingly, they conceived of time itself as without limits—neither in the past nor in the future—a concept important to con-sider when teaching the Popol Vuh.2

Popol Vuh: Historical Background

Maya scribes of high birth probably wrote down the existing text of the Popol Vuh in the sixteenth century. It contains the Maya sacred history, a series of narratives that preserves an ancient oral tradition, a tradition that itself recorded not only history, but a wealth of other aspects of the Maya world view, including myths, deities, religious practices and even migra-tory traditions. In the first years of the eighteenth century, a friar named Francisco Ximénez transcribed this manuscript, now lost, into Spanish from the Maya. The manuscript is cur-rently housed in the Newberry Library in Chicago. The alphabetic transcrip-tions were based on an original text written in Maya script, a combination of hieroglyphs and phonetic signs, and the original was probably copiously illustrated. Although our current text is largely narrative, the original was likely in the form of a calendar, with extensive charts, tables, and pictures of gods, stars, and planets illustrating the course of the year. It was called Popol Vuh or “Council Book” because Maya Quiché leaders consulted it dur-

The Popol Vuh: An Essay for Teachers

1 Miguel León-Portilla, Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya. 2nd Edition (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 1-13; James Wilkie, Catherine Komisaruk, and José Guadalupe Ortega, eds., Statistical Abstract of Latin America, Volume 32 (Los Angeles: Latin American Center, 1996), 138,146.

2 Maya scholars calculated the tropical year to an extraordinary level of precision, calculating its length at 365.2420, a figure that differs only slightly from the current calculation of 365.2422 days. Miguel León-Portilla, Time and Reality in the thought of the Maya. 2nd Edition (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 1-13.

The Popol Vuh: An Essay for Teachers

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ing periods of deliberation and crisis. The story evident in this calendar may also have been the subject of extended public performances, not unlike the public recitation of national epics and creation narratives in other world civilizations. The book was a “seeing instrument,” or ilbál, because it was designed to overcome the finitude of human vision—a finitude explained in the creation story of the Popol Vuh—by offering insight into the future.3

Maya Mathematics

The first lesson in the curriculum serves as an introduction to the com-plexity of Maya civilization and to the advanced level of sophistication for which it is famous. Because the creation story will emphasize and reinforce the importance of agriculture, specifically corn, to the development of the society, some introduction to this dependence and its logical relationship to advanced discoveries is necessary. The unit begins, then, with a discussion of the benefits to civilization of such a successful crop and its central role in Maya thought. Even the system of mathematics has relevance to corn, and the reading on the vigesimal number system will illustrate this intersection at many levels, introducing students to techniques for identifying corn species by calculating kernel numbers and observing kernel patterns and to the significance of Venus for the origin of agriculture and determining the planting season. Finally, the lesson introduces the Popol Vuh by referring to the Hero Twins, a story that ulti-mately leads not only to the appearance of agriculture but to that of human beings who, according to the Mayas, were created from corn itself.

The Invocation

Like many epics in world literature, the Popol Vuh begins with an introduc-tion that ties the work to ritual acts and indicates the religious and national importance (rather than purely literary value) of the text. “This is the begin-ning of the ancient word, here in this place called Quiché.”: with these words, the authors locate the work in a particular place—the region of Guatemala inhabited by the Maya Quiché. The “ancient word” refers to the text of the original Council Book, which would likely have been consulted at key moments in the reli-gious calendar or during periods of national need. From the beginning, the text is linked to the history and destiny of a people, the Maya Quiché. It is a cosmogony (or creation story) and a national epic, the story of one people’s journey. The full text of the Popol Vuh, which runs 135 pages, includes a history of the Maya Quiché up through the Spanish Conquest. The opening lines also suggest the post-Conquest transcription of the text, possibly influenced by the Book of Genesis and the Book of John from the Bible.

The prose beginning of the narra-tive is followed by a verse of poetry, once more indicating the religious and probably ritual origins of the work. This passage intones the names of the Sovereign Plumed Serpent, or Kukulcán, a primal god associated with the water or sea. References to the Maya gods in the Popol Vuh are irregular, since gods could have multiple names and multiple aspects (appearances) that could include one for each of the four geographical direc-tions, one for each gender, an old and a young aspect, and in the case of the astronomical gods, an underworld aspect used by the god to pass through the underworld before re-emerging in the eastern sky in a new aspect.

Consequently, a god may be referred to in the plural and may change names, gender, age or appearance as the nar-rative develops.

The Creation of the World

Following the introduction, the authors give a sublime description of the world before creation. It is difficult to describe a world that does not yet exist, one characterized primarily by emptiness and stillness, and yet the absence of earth is conceivable for a society whose mathematicians created the concept of zero. The authors man-age to evoke the sense of potential growth and energy stored in this scene of immense quiet by describing the scene negatively, subtracting features from common experience to expose a ground of pure potential beneath: “There is not yet one person, one animal, bird, fish, crab, tree, rock, hollow, canyon, meadow, forest.” Another technique employed by the authors is the introduction of quiet, almost imperceptible sounds—“ripples, murmurs, sighs”—and their visual equivalent—“a glittering light.” The effect is one of both tranquility and expectation in which “everything is held back, kept at rest”—ready, that is, to burst into the fullness of creation at the behest of the creator gods.

The two creator gods, Kukulcán and Hurucán (gods of the sky and storms) enter into dialogue in the next paragraphs.4 They agree to create humanity, and with it a world of trees, bushes, and “the growth of life.” The first step is to draw water from off the face of the earth, “for the forma-tion of the earth’s own plate and platform,” again showing the emphasis on subtraction in the creative process.

3 Dennis Tedlock, “Introduction.” Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Maya Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. 2nd Edition (NY: Simon Schuster, 1996), 27-29, 21.

4 Kukulcán is the Maya name for Quetzalcoatl. Gucumatz is the Maya Quiché name for Kukulcán. Delia Goetz and Sylva-nus G. Morley, Adrián Recinos, translator, Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiché Maya (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950), 78. Hurucán is the Spanish-language name for Hurricane.

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The reason for the creation of humanity itself is, in fact, because an absence exists, for without human beings, the gods observe, “there will be no high days [holidays] and no bright praise for our work.” This impulse reveals a key theme in the Popol Vuh: the creator gods, Kukulcán and Hur-ucán, feel an absence—a need to have their work acknowledged by beings other than gods, by lesser creatures. Their need implies that a certain reli-gious attitude and set of religious practices are at the heart of the human project as conceived by the Maya Quiché: human beings exist in order to praise their creators. As the story unfolds, the importance and social function of this piety will be further developed.

Like the God of the Hebrew Bible, the Maya gods create the world out of their word: “And then the earth arose because of them, it was simply their word that brought it forth.” Though this line can be attributed to cross-cultural influence, one must still ask the question: why might the writers have borrowed this feature of the Bible for their own reworked religious epic? The answer must have something to do with the compelling notion of a creative word and the power of articulate speech, of sound raised to the level of poetic praise, a theme stressed throughout the Popol Vuh and exemplified by the text’s own high level of verbal artistry.

The Creation of the Animals

Once the earth, sea, and sky have been situated with relation to each other and the earth Populated by an initial outgrowth of plants, Kukulcán, rather than taking pleasure in his creation and calling it good, expresses irritation: “Why this pointless hum-ming? Why should there merely be rus-tling beneath the trees and bushes?” The humming and rustling of wind in leaves is only a modest step forward from the sighs and murmurs of the world before creation; if anything, these new sounds are worse, since they irritate rather than soothe. Unlike the sounds of silence at the beginning

of the world, these inarticulate noises do not seem pregnant with potential meaning and future development.

The gods respond to the situation by creating animals and appointing them “guardians” of the plants. But when the creators ask the animals to speak to them and praise them, their desires are once again frustrated: ”it didn’t turn out that they spoke like people; they just squawked, they just chattered, they just howled.” The epic’s sound vocabulary has taken a new turn: we now have animal sounds, more varied and distinctive, louder and more urgent than those of the silent world or the world of plants, yet still fundamentally lacking in meaning, and still unable to fill the gods’ need for praise. The animals are, therefore, demoted in the world of creation, made into food and domestic servants for the human race yet to be created: “they served, they were eaten, they were killed – the animals on the face of the earth.”

The Creatures Made of Earth and Mud

Now the gods turn to another build-ing material, mud, in their attempt to create creatures who will praise them. The mud body, however, is too wet and does not keep its shape. More importantly, perhaps, “it talked at first, but senselessly.” Though it seems to be moving towards language, its words lack meaning, just as its shape lacks definition. It can sustain neither itself nor meaningful language, and the gods are likewise passive in their response, simply letting it dissolve: “‘Let it be merely a thought,’ they said.”

Unlike the other attempts of the gods, this one leaves no visible trace in the created world: the mud people do not become lower creatures or any other inhabitant of the living world. And yet, by remaining “merely a thought,” they do seem to retain a place in the creative process itself. We can think of them as a kind of rough draft or sketch, as a clay model such as that used by artists to establish the general outline of a work before turning to a more substantial, valuable and resistant material such as marble

for the finished work. With the mud people, the gods begin to approximate the form of human beings, even though they have not yet been successful.

In many creation traditions, includ-ing the Greco-Roman and the Judeo-Christian ones, the gods are com-pared to potters or sculptors who mold human life out of earth, dust, or clay. The Hebrew name “Adam” is, in fact, derived from their word for earth—adamah. The Popol Vuh includes a version of this story among its repertory, but only as an initial stage in a sequence of drafts or experiments leading towards a final creation.

The Creatures of Wood

After their initial failure, the gods turn from the wet, crumbly, ever-dis-solving substance of mud to a material that is hard, firm, dry and capable of holding any shape into which it is carved. The substance is wood, and the people formed of wood are able to retain their forms and to multiply. But while they satisfy the need for a lasting physical form, they are, like the substance from which they are made, mentally and spiritually empty: “there was nothing in their hearts and nothing in their minds, no memory of their mason and builder.”

The gods decide to destroy the people of wood, and Hurucán under-takes the task by bringing on a great flood and tempest from the sky, a catastrophic violence represented in the form of vicious animals (Sudden Bloodletter, Crunching Jaguar, Tear-ing Jaguar).

The flood creates a state of emer-gency throughout all of creation and leads to an inversion of the hierarchy of nature. Animals, previously in a posi-tion of servitude to people and things and properly the instruments of people, begin to take over the devastated land: “Into their houses came the animals, small and great. Their faces were crushed by things of wood and stone.”

This inversion raises a question of justice, and students are often surprised by the violent treatment the wood people receive from their creators and from the creatures and

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objects of the world. The rationale for this treatment, though, is evident in the intended function of the human race. Although created to praise the gods, the humans of wood fail to recognize and observe their place in the cosmic hierarchy:

GodsHumansAnimalsPlants

Objects

And this failure has, in turn, led to another: the wood people have not taken proper care of and responsibility for the creatures and objects beneath them. Their lack of piety in relation to the gods has made them poor custodi-ans of nature and the world of things, and they lack a proper sense of order. Implicit in the story is a theory about the social function of religion in keep-ing human society operating smoothly within the natural environment. Hense the dogs criticize the wood people for beating and starving them, and the tortilla stones protest the endless grinding to which they have been subjected.

At the end of the story, the storm, the animals, and the household imple-ments smash the faces of the wood people, who retreat in terror into the rain forest, becoming the ancestors of monkeys. The episode is designed to explain both the resemblance and dif-ference between monkeys and humans: “So this is why monkeys look like people: they are a sign of a previous human work, human design—mere manikins, mere wood carvings.” The monkeys are an early version of human beings, though incapable of speech and possessing faces distorted by their punishment. Moreover, they represent a continued emphasis in the Popol Vuh on creation as a process of design, experiment, and revision.

The Hero Twins

The gods, who at this point have nearly solved the problem of making human beings, will need only one more try to succeed. But the authors of the Popol Vuh postpone this episode, turn-ing their attention instead to stories about heroic gods whose adventures make the sky-earth a safer place for human habitation. The episode included here recounts the exploits of Hanahpu and Xbalanque, the twin sons of One Hanahpu.

Hunahpu and Xbalanque are the protagonists of the first of the two hero cycles, and their enemies are a father and his two sons, pretenders to lordly power over the affairs of the earth. Hurucán, or Heart of Sky, is offended by this threesome, and it is he who sends Hunahpu and Xbalanque against them. The first to get his due is the father, named Seven Macaw, who claims to be both the sun and moon. The twins shoot Seven Macaw while he is at his meal high up in a fruit tree, and he falls to earth with his jaw broken. Later, while posing as healers, the twins pull out all of his teeth and remove the metal disks from around his eyes, putting an end to his career as a lordly being. His earthly descen-dants are scarlet macaws, with broken and toothless jaws and mottled white patches beneath their eyes. Seven Macaw himself remains as the seven stars of the Big Dipper, and his wife, named Chimalmat, is visible as the Little Dipper. The rising of Seven Macaw (in mid-October) now marks the coming of the dry season, and his fall to earth and disappearance (begin-ning in mid-July) signal the beginning of the hurricane season.

In chronological terms, this episode coincides with the story of the wooden

people, since Seven Macaw serves as their source of celestial light and since his downfall sets theirs in motion. It was his first fall, brought on by the blowgun shot of Hunahpu, that opened the way for the great flood that would bring down the wooden people. Their fates, too, are parallel: just as Seven Macaw only pretended to be the sun and moon, so the wooden people only pretended to be human.

The Creatures of Corn

Finally, the gods turn to another substance, corn, for the molding of human beings. Corn is neither too wet (like mud), nor too dry (like wood), but “just right.” Combined with water, corn will form human flesh and blood, resulting in a creature capable of survival, multiplication, and language.

Animals lead the gods to the corn—perhaps to atone for their previous role in the destruction of the wood people. The gods find the corn at a place called “Broken Place, Bitter Water.” The Mayas surviving today still associate the Broken Place of the Popol Vuh with a particular mountain near the Mexican border.5 The phrase “Broken Place” describes a cleft in the ground, an open-ing on a mountain from which corn sprouts. The cleft is a common motif in Mesoamerican art rain gods are usu-ally featured with a cleft in their heads, sometimes empty, sometimes sprouting vegetation. Similar clefts also appear on the facades of buildings which are themselves often designed as masks of the gods.6 Commenting on this passage from the Popol Vuh, Roberta and Peter Markman write, “The creation of man is intimately connected here with the origins of agriculture, that is, with the

5 Dennis Tedlock, Breath on the Mirror: Mythic Voices and Visions of the Living Maya (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1997), 12.

6 Roberta H. Markman and Peter T. Markman, Masks of the Spirit: Image and Metaphor in Mesoamerica (Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1989), 14.

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‘discovery’ of corn at Broken Place ... symbolically the place at which man’s sustenance, the corn, emerges from the world of the spirit into the natural world.... But corn, as Mesoamerica well knew, is a cultivated plant, not a wild one, and the import of the myth in this regard is clear. Man exists in culture, not as a wild animal; the animals find the corn, but man is formed from it. Only within the context of culture can man make use of plants and water, his symbolic flesh and blood, to sustain his individual life and the life of the com-munity without which truly human life would be impossible.”

Here we see the fundamental link between culture and agriculture. Cul-ture (etymologically linked to the “cultivation” of the earth) begins with the domestication of plants, and the creation of efficient staple crops such as corn allows for the diversification of human labor into activities beyond those necessary for subsistence. Corn, a cultivated crop that cannot survive in its present form without human intervention, also requires technology in order to be readily consumable: it must be ground, cooked, and subjected to “nixtomalization,” the softening of maize by cooking it with lime, a process which serves not only to balance its amino acids but to release its niacin for use by the human body.

By suggesting that human flesh was derived from corn, the myth links suc-cessful humanity with a subsequent cultivation of the earth and the surplus of leisure that makes advanced civiliza-tion possible.

In the final episode of creation, the first four human beings are the four parents from which the Maya Quiché trace their family trees. And here, the national and genealogical element apparent in the invocation reemerges. The original humans are described as “father-mothers,” both male and female, though more like men in appearance. They are physically handsome, but more importantly they possess intel-lectual skills that the previous experi-ments lacked—they “talked and made words.”—and they have extraordinary

vision, capable of seeing everything on earth without obstruction. This vision, of course, gives them profound knowl-edge: “As they looked, their knowledge became intense.”

Having seen “everything under the sky perfectly,” the humans sing a song of thanks, a feature of the narrative that suggests its liturgical function in a national epic. In their song of praise, they emphasize their joy in their own attributes: “we’ve been given / our mouths, our faces, / we speak, we listen ... our knowledge is good, we’ve understood / what is far and near.”

And although they express gratitude for these gifts, they do not praise the gods directly, emphasizing their own qualities rather than those of their creators.

It is perhaps for this reason that the gods are dissatisfied with the praise they have so long awaited, and they conclude: “‘What our works and designs have said is no good; ‘We have understood everything great and small,’ they say ... Aren’t they merely ‘works’ and ‘designs’ in their very names? Yet they’ll become as great as gods.’” This time, the gods have succeeded too well in their efforts; they have made creatures so perfect that they resemble gods themselves.

The gods respond by limiting the vision, and hence the intellectual capacities, of the new humans: “They were blinded as the face of a mirror is breathed upon.” This powerful image describes the blurring, not the destruc-tion, of human vision. The mirror is not smashed, but rather misted over, and can no longer fully reflect back the natural world.

The decision to “breathe on the mirror” of human vision and intellect is probably the most troubling moment for modern readers of the story. They wonder why the gods have responded to praise by limiting their own cre-ations.

One way to understand the gods’ actions is to look back at the example of the Wood People. Because the crea-tures of wood did not understand and properly ritualize their subordinate

relation to the gods, they failed in their custodianship of nature and the world of objects. Throughout the creation story, the gods continue to “learn from their mistakes,” taking cues from their earlier works and designs, their rough sketches and first drafts. The people of corn do praise their creators, and for this reason they retain their position above animals and just below the gods in the cosmic order. But since their praise is self-directed and celebrates the godlike knowledge made possible by extraordinary vision, it represents a blurring of the distinction between humans and gods. For this reason, the gods increase that difference by forever limiting human vision. In the process, they hope to insure the smooth workings of the natural order at all its levels.

To compensate for their loss of “vision,” the gods give the first “father-mothers” four newly-created wives. This development is in turn linked to a new kind of intellectual growth, a new “awakening”: “It was as if they were asleep when they received them ... With their wives they became wider awake.” In place of the godlike vision that has been taken from them, the creatures are given access to the quintessentially human realities of social relationships and domestic companionship.

The creation story concludes with a return to the genealogical focus of the epic: “And this is our root, we who are the Quiché people. And there came a crowd of penitents and sacrificers.” Those who began their religious life by praising themselves are now “penitents and sacrificers,” aware of their distance from the deities who made them and ready to found a set of religious prac-tices on that basis. If, in the course of the story, they have become less like gods, they are compensated by becoming more fully human in their relations to one another, in their rela-tions to the forces above, and in their awareness of human limitations, the beginning of true knowledge.

7 Michael D. Coe, The Maya, 6th edition, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1966), 12.

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Print Resources For Teachers

Coe, Michael D. The Maya. London: Thames and Hudson, 1966.Comprehensive history of the Maya people, copiously illustrated in black and white; somewhat dry, and disappointing on questions of art and culture. Nonetheless, a definitive historical work.

Coe, Sylvia. America’s First Cuisines. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.A cultural history of food in Central and South America, pre- and post-Conquest. Fascinating discussions on current theories concerning the origins of maize and its cultivation. Includes black and white illustrations.

Galeano, Eduardo. Memory of Fire. Volume One. Genesis. Trans. Cedric Baldrage. New York: Random House / Pantheon, 1985.Documentary novel by a modern author from Uruguay that uses materials from myth, legend, and history, including the Popol Vuh.

Markman, Roberta H. and Peter T. Markman. Masks of the Spirit: Image and Metaphor in Mesoamerica. Introduction by Joseph Campbell. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.Combines anthropology and art history in a philosophical analysis of Mesoamerican imagery that sometimes tends towards pop psychology, but remains illuminating and learned. Lots of illustrations, some in color.

Spence, Lewis. The Myths of Mexico and Peru. 1913. New York: Dover, 1994.Somewhat old-fashioned, this inexpensive paperback is nonetheless a good resource for information on Maya, Aztec and Inca mythology. Includes maps and (low-quality) photographs.

Tedlock, Dennis. Breath on the Mirror: Mythic Voices and Visions of the Living Maya. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1997.Transcribes stories from Mayas living today, interfiled with historic legends. The first episode, “Breath on the Mirror,” retells segments of the Popol Vuh within the contemporary Maya landscape.

Tedlock, Dennis, trans. Popol Vuh: The Maya Book of the Dawn of Life. 2nd Edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.Passages on creation of the world, animals, and humans form the centerpiece of HOT’s Mesoamerican curriculum.

Print Resources for Students

Baquedano, Elizabeth. Eyewitness Books: Aztec, Inca, and Maya. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.

Bellingham, David; Headlam, Catherine; O’Neill, Cynthia, eds. Goddesses, Heroes and Shamans: The Young People’s Guide to World Mythology. New York: Kingfisher, 1994.Includes a useful illustrated section on Mesoamerica.

Sullivan, Charles, ed. Here is My Kingdom: Hispanic-American Literature and Art for Young People. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994.

Wood, Marion. Ancient America. Oxford: Equinox, 1990.

RESOURCES

Resources

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Web Resources for Teachers

http://www.mayadiscovery.comSpanish and English site with many links to information and images related to Maya cosmology, history, agriculture, codices and contact with Spanish explorers.

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayan.htmlA site with information and images related to Maya art and architecture, astronomy, calendar, geography, deities, his-tory, archaeological sites, religion, the Popol Vuh, society and codices.

http://pages.prodigy.com/GBonline/ancwrite.htmlA site dedicated to ancient Mesoamerican writing systems and codices.

http://loremipsum.online.fr/html/maya/mayaethno/mayaland.htmlProvides basic information on important aspects of Maya life. Also includes a bibliography of resources relevant to the Mayas.

http://www.jaguar-sun.com/gods.htmlInformation on Maya history, culture, religion, writing system, number system, calendar and links to other resources.

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4780.htmlSocial studies lesson plan in Maya civilization.

http://www.marc.ucsb.edu/elpilar/Site for ongoing research at El Pilar. Classroom and tour resources available on-line.

http://www.hist.unt.edu/web_resources/anth_mayas.htmSite providing many links to Maya resources.

http://www.maya-archaeology.org/Extensive resources for Maya archaeology, hieroglyphic writing, and the latest digital photography with links to muse-ums and images. Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Belize.

http://www.princeton.edu/~marp/Princeton University’s Mesoamerican Archive and Research Project.

Web Resources for Students

http://www.halfmoon.org/index.htmlOn-line guide to translating and composing in Maya language and heiroglyphs. Many games, books and activities related to the Mayas.

http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/specex/maya/maya.htmMcLung Museum’s on-line Maya exhibit.

http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mminteng.htmlCanadian Museum of Civilization’s on-line Maya exhibit: “Mystery of the Maya”.

http://www.mayakids.com/mmkglossary/!glossary_m.htmInteractive site for children to learn about the Mayas.

http://www.mayadiscovery.com

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayan.html

http://pages.prodigy.com/GBonline/ancwrite.html

http://loremipsum.online.fr/html/maya/mayaethno/mayaland.html

http://www.jaguar-sun.com/gods.html

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4780.html

http://www.marc.ucsb.edu/elpilar/

http://www.hist.unt.edu/web_resources/anth_mayas.htm

http://www.maya-archaeology.org/

http://www.princeton.edu/~marp/

http://www.halfmoon.org/index.html

http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/specex/maya/maya.htm

http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mminteng.html

http://www.mayakids.com/mmkglossary/!glossary_m.htm

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IMAGE 2 “Map of the Maya Region.” Drawn by Mark Patrick. (page 10)

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IMAGE 3 Incensario Lid: Seated Deity with Seed Pod. Maya Culture. Department of Esquintla, Guatemala. Late Clas-sic- Early Post Classic Periods. Clay, Pigment. Note that the seed pod, probably representing and ear of corn, is connected via an umbilical-like cord to the deity’s navel, indicating that the seeds ultimately derive their nourishment from the deity. Reprinted courtesy of The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana, CA.(page 11)

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IMAGE 4 “El Caracol.” Located at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán. Credit: Carlos Blanco.* (page 16)

*Images 4, 5, 7 and 8: D.R. nombre del fotógrafo/ Proyecto México/ Coordinación Nacional de Difusión/INAH, 2001.

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IMAGE 5 “El Castillo at Chichén Itzá.” In the foreground are a statue of Chac Mool (the Toltec name for the rain god) and a column of the Plumed Serpent (Kukulcán). Credit: Carlos Blanco.* (page 21)

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IMAGE 6 “Hunahpu and Xbalanque bring their father, the Maize God, back to life from a cracked-open turtleshell.” On the surface of codex-style plate. Credit: ©Justin Kerr, 1982. (page 25)

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IMAGE 7 “Queen of Uxmal.” Formerly located atop the Pyramid of the Magician. Credit: Jorge Pérez de Lara. * (page 25)

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IMAGE 8 “Pyramid of the Magician.” Located at Uxmal, Yucatán. Credit: Ignacio Guevara.* (page 26)

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IMAGE 9 Urn With Jaguar Effigy Cover. Quiché Maya Culture. Highland Guatemala. Late Classic Period. C.800-950 A.D. Clay, Pigment. Anonymous gift to the Bowers Museum. Photograph by Don Wiechec. Reprinted courtesy of The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana, CA. (page 30)

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STUDENT WORK FROM THE HOT PROGRAM:MESOAMERICAN MYTHOLOGY—POPOL VUH

Dr. Omar Valerio-Jiménez and graduate student Mark Patrick, above, look at images from Mesoamerica. Left, boys in class at Santa Ana High.

Undergraduate tutor James Claffee with student.

At right, Sonia Velázquez with her class at Century High.

Student Work from the Hot Program

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Within this example, it is clear that the writer is attuned to transitions and paragraphs. In addition, she uses her conclusion to provide an insightful statement about the use of language.

by Marcela Rendon, ninth grade

The Popol Vuh is the Mayan myth about the creation of the earth, the animals and humans. There is a progression in the nature of sounds throughout the story.

In the beginning of the story, the earth is silent. The sounds that are made are the sounds of the earth: “ripples, murmurs, sighs and hums.”

The gods decide that they want someone to talk to or to praise them. They also think that nature needs to have guardians. So when they create the animals, they tell them to speak, but they don’t, “they just squawked, they just chattered, they just howled.”

The gods decide that they still need a “giver of praise,” so they create the wood people who have the ability to speak, but there is nothing for them to speak because there is nothing in their hearts and nothing in their minds.

So the gods take the next step and create the corn people. The corn people are able to speak and they are able to understand and appreciate the gods.

The ancient world is the final product of the whole creation. At the end of creation, they have language to tell stories. Now they can explain how everything has ended up the way it is now.

By beginning with a question, this student engages her audience in a piece that possesses a conversational and accessible tone.

by Elaina Madrid, ninth grade

Have you ever thought about how humans were created? I will talk about the sounds of silence, the sounds of new creation, the sounds of the wood and corn people and what the Popol Vuh means.

Ripples, murmurs, sighs and hums were all the sounds that were heard in the empty sky. There was only the blue-green plate and the blue-green bowl, which means that there was only the sky and the earth. Humanity was not clear at this point.

The gods needed someone to praise them so they made animals. The only thing was that when these creatures were created, they still didn’t speak. There was only pointless humming and squawking. So the animals on the face of the earth were brought low: they served, they were eaten and they were killed.

Then came the sounds of the carved wood. You would think that it would come out better, but it didn’t because the wood people didn’t talk or even know how to praise the gods. They had no blood. Since the gods were unhappy with their creation, they crushed them.

The gods had one last hope. It was to make man out of corn. The fox, coyote, parrot and the crow brought the gods to the corn. The gods were happy with this creation. Man made out of corn had perfect vision and could understand everything. The gods were kind of mad because maybe they thought that the corn people would overcome them. The gods took away some of their intelligence and gave them four women instead.

In conclusion the gods were happy that they had people praising them and the animals were happy because they had people to feed them.

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This student aptly imitates the style and mood of the Maya original:

by Aracely Mojarra, ninth grade

I could imagine the world before the world. What is there is not human, but it’s living. It is angry, full of rage, since there is nothing they can do, but burn everything. They boil the water they come across. The boiling water, the darkness over a circle, prevents them from seeing the limits they aren’t supposed to pass. Only what moves in the dark circle is the hot water, the lava. It can’t stand its own rage, their anger. So they rise and splash, but that’s all they can do.

Suddenly there was a crack, something the darkness couldn’t explain. Then the hot water stayed in its boundaries. There was a cool tension where the rage was calmed. The silence was broken. What broke the silence were these words, “Silence is meaningless, this world can’t be alone, it has to be full of life.”

This myth imagines different stages and media of creation, as did the authors of the Popol Vuh:

by Arthur Sandoval, ninth grade

This story is my point of view of how we were created in a mythical way. In the beginning, there was nothing before us except the world and Gods, but the world’s creation is another story.

Green God of the wild plants decided to make a helper to watch the earth for him, so he started to make humans with dirt, but they were so lumpy and dirty that when it rained, they disintegrated. Then he decided to make humans out of water. Everything went fine till the sun came out and they evaporated. So the gods and goddesses wondered, “Why don’t we make something with each one of us contribut-ing our unique power?”

We had Sunny the Goddess of all light make the warmth and goodness of the humans and their feelings. The God of dirt and rocks said, “I’ll make the bones out of rock for protection.”

Green made the eyes out of flowers and the mouth from a leaf. The ears were made out of lily pads because it’s the perfect shape. Aphrodite the goddess of beauty gave him looks and made him love and hurt. Green put sap from trees on top of the bones that Ricky made. The sap would be the skin so it would protect their organs. The goddess of water made the blood of the human out of water like a plant, and they would also drink it to keep having blood.

by Genaro Ponce, ninth grade

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THE UCI CALIFORNIA HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE PROJECTRobert G. Moeller, Faculty Director and Professor of History

Stephanie Reyes-Tuccio, Site DirectorEileen Powell, CH-SSP Program Assistant

http://www.hnet.uci.edu/history/chssp/

HUMANITIES OUT THEREJulia Reinhard Lupton, Faculty Director and Professor of English and Comparative Literature

Tova Cooper, Director of PublicationsPeggie Winters, Grants Manager

http://yoda.hnet.uci.edu/hot/

THE SANTA ANA PARTNERSHIP:

UCI’S CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPSJuan Francisco Lara, Director

http://www.cfep.uci.edu/

THE SANTA ANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTLewis Bratcher, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education

http://www.sausd.k12.ca.us/

SANTA ANA COLLEGESara Lundquist, Vice-President of Student Services

Lilia Tanakeyowma, Director of the Office of School and Community Partnerships and Associate Dean of Student DevelopmentMelba Schneider, GEAR UP Coordinator

http://www.sac.edu/

This unit would not have been possible without the support of Professor Karen Lawrence, Dean of the School of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine; Professor Robert G. Moeller, Faculty Director of the UCI California History-Social Sci-ence Project, who provides ongoing intellectual leadership in all areas touching on historical research, interpretation, and teacher professional development; Dr. Manuel Gómez, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, who provided funding and has been a steadfast supporter of our work; and the leadership of the Santa Ana Partnership, including Dr. Juan Lara, Director of the UCI Center for Educational Partnerships; Dr. Sara Lundquist, Vice-President of Student Services at Santa Ana College; Lilia Tanakeyowma, Director of the Office of School and Community Partnerships and Associate Dean of Student Development at Santa Ana College; and Dr. Lewis Bratcher, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education at the Santa Ana Unified School District.

PERMISSIONSThe materials included in this booklet are original works of authorship, works for which copyright permission has expired, works reprinted with permission, or works that we believe are within the fair use protection of the copyright laws. This is an educational and non-commercial publication designed specifically for high school English-Laguage Arts and History-Social Science classes, and is distributed to teachers without charge.

Selections from Popol Vuh, The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, 2nd Edition by Dennis Tedlock adapted with the permis-sion of Simon and Shuster, Copyright 1985 by Dennis Tedlock. Cover Images: Resurrection Plate: ©Justin Kerr; Photographs: D.R. nombre del fotógrafo/ Proyecto México/ Coordinación Nacional de Difusión/INAH, 2001. Images 1 and 6: ©Justin Kerr. Image 2: Mark Patrick. Images 3 and 9 reprinted courtesy of The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana, CA. Images 4, 5, 7 and 8: D.R. nombre del fotógrafo/ Proyecto México/ Coordinación Nacional de Difusión/INAH, 2001.

Book design by Susan Reese

Acknowledgments

http://www.hnet.uci.edu/history/chssp/

http://yoda.hnet.uci.edu/hot/

http://www.cfep.uci.edu/

http://www.sausd.k12.ca.us/

http://www.sac.edu/

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The Popol Vuh is about the creation of humans. Many gods tried different kinds of materials and other sources to try and create humans, but they failed until they succeeded.

—Liz Garcia, eighth-graderWillard Intermediate School, Santa Ana

The Popol Vuh is an astounding, foundational text of the Maya people. Touching on history, literature, anthropology, science, religion, and mythology, it has had lasting influences on major writers and thinkers from Latin America. I am delighted that this impor-tant work of world literature is being made available to middle and high school students and their teach-ers.

—Jacobo Sefami, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese The University of California, Irvine

HOT’s Mesoamerican curriculum opened new ways for me to read and teach the Popol Vuh. The cur-riculum’s use of primary and secondary texts allows me to teach different modes of reading. The lessons make creative use of visuals to introduce concepts that will be encountered in the reading, allowing English Language Learners to take part in the kind of reading, writing, and thinking that usually happens in college preparatory classes.

—Sonia Velázquez, TeacherCentury High School, Santa Ana, California

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