Ancient Surviving Wisdom of the Maya

The Ancient Maya Empire

We know so little about the ancient pre Columbian Maya.  Only tiny amounts of their writings and wisdom have survived. Time, erosion and direct destruction have erased most of their ancient words.  Indeed, what we know in general is limited to stone carvings and four surviving Maya Codices (original Maya books made from bark).

In one of the saddest episodes in Mesoamerica, thousands of the sacred codices of the Maya were burned by the Spanish priests and conquistadors. One Bishop Diego de Landa, wrote, ‘these people used certain letters with which they wrote in their books about ancient subjects. We found many books scripted with these letters and since they held nothing that was not falsehood and the work of the evil one, we burned them all’.

Today after countless work by many and some breakthroughs at understanding the meaning of what is left, we marvel at their advanced knowledge in astronomy, mathematics and their apparent ability to foretell the future.  No telling what knowledge has been lost forever.  Their writing system was original and based on phonetics like ours.  And ancient Mayan art is beautiful, vibrant and today commonly used in Mexican style decor. 

The pre Colombian Calendar of the Ancient Maya and their View of the cosmos

Ancient Mayan art and writing that has survived explains that the Maya believed in a cyclical nature of both time and celestial movements.  Everything occurs more than once and continues to cycle in perpetual repetitious patterns.  These patterns were inscribed in their calendars and used to look into the past or view the future. 

Maya priests provided prophetic outlook based on the number relations to their ancient calendar and significant past dates such as a birth or a death.  If the interpretations of the priests spelled bad times to come, offerings and sacrifices would be performed with the intention of satisfying the gods. 

It is not known how the ancient Mayans being a Stone Age indigenous society acquired such exactness in measuring time. Their calendar is very precise, 1/10,000 of a day more accurate than the Gregorian calendar we currently use.

It is also unknown how the Mayans discovered celestial alignments and incorporated them into their pre Columbian pyramids. Indeed, many of their most important buildings were devoted to the calculation and transition of time.

Mayan Prophecy Accounts of 2012

last page of Dresden Codex

Incredibly the ancient Mayans were able to anticipate an astrological alignment that only occurs every 26,000 years.  According to the surviving Dresden Codex, the Great Cycle of the Mayan Long Count Calendar (the fifth sun) ends on the winter solstice of December 21, 2012. This date happens to coincide exactly with the Earth’s and our sun’s alignment with what modern astronomers call the Great Rift. This Great Rift is a band of dark dust clouds located around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy from our vantage point on Earth. The ancient Mayans were aware of this Great Rift.  They knew it as Xibalba-Be or “Black Road”.  According to the Maya, this “Black Road” was the entrance to the underworld, a place of evil and misfortune.  

The image portrayed in the last page of the Dresden Codex, shows the destruction of the world by water.

Learn more on the Maya 2012 prophecies