popol vuh – Last Readings

At the end of the trials of Hunahpu and Xblanque, the unending night is lifted as the hero twins climb out of Xiabalba and into the Heavens to become the Sun and Moon. This event becomes even more transformative once the first humans come into existence, which the final half of the Popol Vuh covers in great detail.

When the gods are finally successful in making humans, the animals play a role as well. There seems to be an indication of a type of harmony or cooperation between nature and the gods in making people here, not just with the animals helping out, but also in the importance of maize and other foods in making people. This is also interesting because maize really does become a huge part of agriculture and diet across Meso and South America, especially through the process of nixtamalization (and, honestly, we make so much from byproducts of maize’s descendant, corn, nowadays too). While the humans are capable of language and of faith in the gods, they pretty immediately make the mistake of having a touch of hubris when they claim to know everything. This displeases the gods, as even the gods are not all-knowing, and so they resolve to cloud the vision of humans. I can see where they are coming from with that decision. Even as the humans’ vision becomes clouded, they are able to remember the gods, and begin to pray for light.

This coincides with the first sunrise, where it is said that the heat from the sun physically changes the Earth and dries up the marshy environment that was there before. It is also said that only the very first people know the sun’s true face- what we see now is merely a reflection of what once was. The first dawn, and the rising of the sun, moon, and stars, bring clarity and stability to the Earth, and enable the first humans to begin to form a settlement on the mountaintop where they witnessed the first dawn. The first sunrise is welcomed not only by humans, but also by the animals that were on Earth before them. There is a great sense of unity across the world during the first dawn, which is encapsulated (beautifully) in the lines: “However many nations/ live in the world today,/ however many countless people/ they all had but one dawn.” (pg. 237) From there, all of history is ahead for them.

One of the first parts that struck me about Popol Vuh was the introduction, which informs the reader that writing the story down is likely the only way to ensure that it will survive. It specifically relates that Christendom is a threat to the existence of this story. It isn’t then hard to infer that European colonialism had already done significant damage to traditional beliefs and ways of life. I am glad that the stories within Popol Vuh survived, but it made me wonder about all the things that have been erased, lost altogether, to imperialism and to power struggles. The start of the story is what we might refer to as a creation story, wherein the world, natural forces, and the creatures within it are created by the gods. Before the land exists, there is only sky and sea. Two gods, the Framer (Quetzal Serpent) and the Shaper (the Sovereign), speak the land into existence, and begin to fill and shape the world. The act of creation here is described as being of “their pure spirit/ […]/ conceived by the mountains and the valleys/ whose face grew sudden groves of cypress and pine.” (Page 9)

The main challenge faced by the Framer and Shaper is that the animals they have created to fill the world cannot speak their name; there is no one (yet) who is able to properly give thanks to the gods for creating the world. The animals are allowed to live, and are indeed given lands to sustain themselves, but the price they pay is that they will serve as food for the beings that can thank the gods properly. This dimension in Popol Vuh was particularly interesting to me, as it showed that the gods were imperfect, and were capable of making mistakes and that they did not know everything. This is most obvious when it comes to creating people; their first two attempts fail miserably. On the first try, the Framer and the Shaper use mud, but the mud crumbles quickly. Then, after using wood, the wood-people are washed away or killed by other animals. Only a few survive and their descendants become monkeys. It was also interesting to see that people were created for the specific purpose of worshipping the gods. The designation of animals as the food of people, along with designating humans to worship gods, readily creates a hierarchy. However, it does not stratify people themselves into other categories, which I think was interesting- especially once the story of the Lady of Blood was told. Her narrative treatment was similar to the heroic twins, Hunahpu and Xblanque, and all are shown to be cunning and capable of accomplishing their trials.

Tag: popol vuh

Popol Vuh, Week 2

Popol Vuh, Week 1