The ancient spirituality of the modern Maya / Thomas Hart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hart, Thomas, 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mayas--Guatemala--Religion.

Mayas.

Mayas--Guatemala--Rites and ceremonies.

Maya mythology--Guatemala.

Maya mythology.

Rites and ceremonies.

Religion.

Guatemala.

Physical Description:

xvi, 270 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, [2008]

Summary:

Since the arrival of the Europeans, the indigenous people of what is now Guatemala have endured massacres, persecution, and discrimination; their religious beliefs and practices have been condemned as superstition and witchcraft. Yet the spiritual worldview of the Maya has survived and even flourishes, five centuries after the invaders' first attempts to destroy it.

In The Ancient Spirituality of the Modern Maya, Thomas Hart weaves together the stories and experiences of those who practice Maya spirituality today, based on the relationship between God, the World, and the Ancestors, and provides a sense of the Mayan worldview as it is revealed through myth, ceremony, and teaching. The information provided by Hart adds a modern perspective to this largely oral traditional culture and provides a unique insight into its practice today, with its many variations, and with the adaptability that has sustained it for over five hundred years.

Contents:

All god's children : the coming of Christianity

Adoring the world : the Mayan vision of god

Sacred time : the Mayan calendar

Presents for the world : Mayan ceremonies

Sacred places : shrines and altars

You need the driver : the Mayan priesthood

Putting a question : divination

The owners of sickness : illness and curing

Here is our mother : corn and the Maya

Enchanted hills : spirits of the earth

Stones of the world : ancient relics

A different person, a different god : Maximin and the saints

Sometimes the dream is true : revelations in dreams

They give signs : animal portents

"We say there's no heaven and there's no hell" : death and after

Coming out of the shadows : Mayan spirituality in the modern world.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 254-260) and index.

ISBN:

9780826343505

0826343503

OCLC:

180576553