The different peoples who have populated this world are too numerous to number, but within each of their cultures several things remain constant. The constant feature that I wish to address is that all of these cultures have an explanation for their origin. They all have a way of explaining how they came to being as they are where they are at. These explanations can be long, short, detailed, and most definitely varied. A people who have as interesting a tale to tell as any other, is the Quiche[RB1] Maya. We read of the in the sacred book, the Popol Vuh, how the Maya view the creation of human beings.
Tepeu and Gucumatz are the deities most involved with the creation of human beings; although throughout the creation, many gods and deities participate in the discussions and actions which lead to the creation of the humans. It takes several tries and much debate before the "true human being" is created. Something that should be pointed is that these gods were only trying to create obedient, respectful beings that will nourish and sustain the gods and will remember them on earth. The gods first make animals as beings to adore and invoke them, but the animals are not able to speak; they can only make animal noises. So, the animals cannot even talk to each other. The animals are condemned to worse food and living conditions and to be killed throughout their existence because they cannot venerate and praise the gods. The gods would have been happy with animals as the beings to inhabit the earth if they could remember them and speak of them there. And since the animals could not fulfill this duty, the gods had to try again with a different being.
In their next attempt to create a being who would do them justice, the the gods made a man of whose flesh was of mud. But he was a very flimsy man who had no strength. Being soft and limp, he could not stand. He spoke but he had no mind and his vision was blurred. Another problem with this human being was that he could not multiply and further his posterity. All of these factors resulted in a man who did not know enough to use his mouth to worship and invoke the gods and who was unable to populate the newly created earth. This "mud" man was therefore destroyed.
The gods were a little unhappy about their first unsuccessful attempt at creating a human being so they wanted to make sure they got it right the next time. After more time of discussion, they thought that wood figures would work well and they asked soothsayers if indeed wood was the best material. Receiving their confirmation from the Fates, the gods made the wooden figures which looked and talked like men. These figures could also multiply and have more wooden sons and daughters, therefore populating the earth, being the first to exist in great numbers. Unfortunately, they did not have souls nor minds and they did not remember their Creator nor their Maker. So, the figures fell out of the gods favor. They could speak but their faces were without expression. They had no blood, flesh, nor moisture. They were dry, yellow beings who took no thought of the gods who had made them and cared for them. The wooden figures were disobedient and would not remember the gods on earth and they were destroyed. All who had been mistreated by the wooden figures had a hand in annihilating them. The gods they had forsaken, the dogs they had not fed, the pots they had caused pain to, and even the houses, caves and trees all sought to destroy them. The gods sent a flood, the dogs bit, the pots and pans attacked, and the trees, caves and houses offered no protection from the others. In the end, the wooden figures were destroyed and those left turned into monkeys. That is why monkeys look like humans.
The gods in the end are helped in their work of creating a true human being by the animals. They show the gods to a beautiful land where the white and yellow corn is found. It is from this corn that the true human being is created. His strength and flesh are formed from ground corn. His whole body is made up of the dough of corn meal. The gods create four men in the beginning and it is by a miracle because they are not born of the gods or of woman, only by incantation do they come to life. They are and have the appearance of men. They talk, converse, see, hear, and walk. These humans are handsome men with intelligence and the ability to see and see very far. It appears they can see all things both in the heavens and on the earth. This is too much for the gods because man knows too much if he knows all of this. So man will not be equal to the gods, the gods restrict man's great wisdom and blind his sight so he can only see so far. After this, the gods create wives for the men and they begin to reproduce.
Finally, the gods have a perfect man that has the mind and the voice with which he can call to, sustain, and nourish the gods. In the previous attempts, there was an imbalance between spirit and matter. The mud man was almost totally spirit and the wooden figure was almost totally matter. They both lacked certain facilities which allows the final, true human being to fulfill his duty to the gods. The gods need humans so they will be remembered on earth. They need to be obeyed, worshipped and sustained on earth in order to exist. The gods want to be in control. Humans cannot be equal. A true human being fulfills all of these requirements.
The characteristics of a true human being which allow him to complete his role are brought forth in this story by the progression of the creation of man. He must be able to speak and walk. He must have knowledge and the ability to think. He should have sight so he can gain more knowledge and understand the things around him. And, he must be a handsome, strong man made with flesh. The gods hope this man will be their greatest advocate on earth.
Two stories which are stuck in the Popol Vuh after the destruction of the wooden figures and before the creation of the of the man made with corn, relate more ideas which surround the creation of man and the characteristics he should have. The first story tells of Vucub-Caquix and how he sets himself up as a false god. He is proud and believes he is the sun. His two suns are also proud and all do not humble themselves to the real gods. So, the gods kill the proud and vain Vucub-Caquix and his sons. We see from this story that pride is highly disfavored among the Maya and is thought of as a bad character trait. The next story is one of the process of how perfect gods came to pass. It is interesting to note that it took three tries at making gods before they were perfect, the same number of tries it took to make man perfect. And only after the story of how the gods became perfect is told, is the explanation given of how the true human being came to pass being made of corn.
The Maya are a people of Central America and since often times peoples of the same geographic region hold close cultural ties, the Mayan explanation for man's creation shares similarities with the Nahuatl explanation. Both peoples believe that the creation of humans was a process. Humans did not all of a sudden appear as perfect beings. Gods spent time and energy in discussing and working at their creation. The differences here is that the believe it took the gods three tries before getting the true humans being; whereas, the Aztecs think that it took five tries. Another similarity is in the fact that the gods were shown where to find corn to for men by animals who did not want to show them at first. The two cultures disagree as to the use of corn though. The Maya believe that corn was used to make man, and the Nahuatl tradition calls on corn only as food and nourishment for man. Both traditions also accounted for in the process of the creation of man some of the reject humans to be killed by a flood and some to be turned into monkeys. But a strong difference between the two cultures is that the Maya held that all this creation happened all in the same world and that it all came to pass before the first sun rise. The Nahuatl people tell us that this process of the creation of man evolved through several worlds and suns. Each time a people were destroyed so was the world they were part of . ("Legend of the Suns" 35-37)
The Maya were a pondering society and we have the great benefit today of studying some of their thought through the Popol Vuh. They come across as a fully developed society and as one that knows where its roots lie. The explanation of the creation of the true human being presented by the Maya is a quite different way of looking at things when compared to the world of today.
Works Cited
"Legend of the Suns." Pre-Columbian Literatures of Mexico. Trans. Miguel Leon-Portilla and Grace Lobanov. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.
Popol Vuh. Trans. Adrian Recinos, Sylvanus Morley and Delia Goetz. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1950.
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