The religion of the Mayas, like their civilization, was complex and multi-layered. Based on cyclical times of growth and destruction, with an emphasis on the growing seasons, a time for planting and a time for harvesting, important dates were ruled by the need for survival.
The supreme deity, the creator of the world, Itzamná, also called Hunab Ku[,was also the lord of the fire and the hearth. He is pictured as a serpent god in many of the surviving representations.
Under Itzamná, a multitude of gods had particular functions, such as god for life and death, agriculture, birth, sun and moon, travelers, weather, valleys and rivers, cities, medicine and the arts and sciences.
The priests followed the Mayan calendar and arranged for the rites and celebrations required to ensure the continuation of the empire. Since they were also in charge of learning and ritual, they had a core role in the Mayan religious and civil daily life.
Part of the duty of the priests was the appeasement and feeding of the gods, who demanded human blood. Ritual blood letting by the rulers and nobles was part of a religious event.
When ritual blood letting wasn't sufficient to propitiate the gods, or in the case of a failing city, the rulers and priests turned to more drastic measures to recover the god's pleasure. They offered up human sacrfices to the gods. When they ran out of likely candidates in their own region, they looked elsewhere.
In the early days of the empire, it is likely that animal sacrifices were sufficient to nourish the gods, but as the empire grew, and the gods grew hungrier, human sacrifice depleted the population.
Absolutely!
During the course of the Survivors' time in Guatemala, they will be called to compete and offer up one of themselves on a regular basis, all in the name of the god of greed.
While cutting out the beating heart of a vanquished foe isn't called for, many a Suvrivor will be called to the Tribal Council and voted off.
Many Survivors will leave broken hearted and broken in spirit and physical energy until at last, one survives the rituals and sacrifices to become the Sole Survivor.
What will prevail? Agile, athletic youth or seasoned, wily maturity?
We don't know yet who the Survivors are. We don't know their individual personalities, competitive spirits of strategies.
But we will when the Survivor Guatemala premieres on CBS in September!
Be here then to read the recaps of each Survivor episode! If you have questions or comments about Guatemala or the upcoming Survivor show, post them on the South America for Visitors Forum. If you're not already a registered user, you'll need to register, but it is easy and free.
