MAYAN CULTURE AND RELIGION. Cultura y religión maya

    The Mayan culture was a complex civilization with a lot of interesting elements for nowadays citizens around the world. Let’s take a look at the next short videos that teach us about the Mayan civilization. La cultura maya fue una civilización muy compleja cargada de interés histórico para muchos ciudadanos de todo el mundo. Veamos los siguientes vídeos que nos enseñan cuestiones sobre la civilización maya. 

This first video depicts the Mayan culture from the perspective of a nowadays Mayan descendant. El primer vídeo muestra la cultura maya desde la perspectiva de un descendiente maya actual.

    The next video offers some example of Mayan rituals, ceremonies and beliefs. El siguiente vídeo ofrece algunos ejemplos de rituales, ceremonias y creencias mayas.

     We can learn more about the Mayan by watching the following video on Mayan engineering. Podemos aprender más sobre la cultura maya viendo el siguiente vídeo sobre la ingeniería maya.

Mayans Played Sophisticated Deadly Ball Games

The ancient Maya ballgame was played for thousands of years throughout Mesoamerica, and had great religious significance.Contact with the ball was limited. Any body part, except the hands and feet, was allowed; The abdomen, thighs, upper arms and back were used. Maybe even the head. Kicking or throwing the ball was forbidden. In addition, the ball was not allowed to touch the ground. Slightly larger than basketball hoops, the rings were positioned on opposite walls, about 25 feet above the playing field. The ball had to be bounced off the wall in order to enter a ring. The ball was made of rubber and weighed about eight pounds! This made severe injury a definite possibility. Ballplayers wore protective gear, including wide padding around their hips called “yokes.” They also wore pads on their forearms and knees so they could fall to the ground in a kneeling position and hit the ball with one hip. Game play itself is thought to have been incredibly violent. Players would ram into each other at top speed so as to cause serious injury or death to an opponent, and this was actively encouraged by the referees. The game ended when the first goal was scored.

     Knowing more on other cultures and on the history of different countries help us to be freer. It is very important to locate each belief in its historical context, its time and circumstances. Learning to understand and respect our different cultures is learning to respect ourselves.

     Conocer más sobre otras culturas y la historia de los pueblos nos hace más libres. Es importante situar cada creencia en su contexto histórico, su tiempo y circunstancias. Aprender a comprender y respetar nuestras diferencias culturales es aprender a respetarnos a nosotros mismos.