Popol Vuh: The Dawn of Life

The chapters I read from Popol Vuh: The Dawn of Life, talked about the creation of life from the animals and the land, to a few attempts at the creation of humans. The text has a lot to do with me personally. Mythological stories help humans to understand what a “good” human is or should be. Seven- Macaw was and vein and lied that he was the sun and the moon. He was proud of his lie. He was proud of his looks and his gold. There are people like that in today’s society. There are many people, even friends of mine that are only concerned with their own looks and money. They are not lying saying they are the moon and the sun, but are lying about other unrealistic things. This text made me think a lot about my opinion of the world. I personally do not have strong religious views and am often challenged by the question of how the world was created. I think the Mayan people are very intelligent and I believe that their explanation of how people and the world are created is very interesting. I thought how many times it took the Gods to make humans. They first made animals and could not use them as people because they spoke different languages. With the language barrier the animals could not idolize and praise the Gods like they wanted. Then they tried to make people out of mud and they just melt away. Lastly, they created humans out of wood. The creation of humans was the most interesting part of the story to me. I have never read Mayan Mythology or anything like it. I enjoyed this story very much and enjoyed the questions it made me ask of myself and of the world around us. The Mayan people are intelligent and what was asked of in this story easily apply to my life today. Language is key in communicating. What makes a good human is important. I thought the chapters I read from Popol Vuh: The Dawn of Life, were entertaining and a great way to learn history.