The Original Popol Vuh is The Mayan Version of the Bible
By Sandra Musser
The sacred book the Popol Vuh, was written long before Cortez. The Maya called it the Council Book. It's believed quite different from the Mayan creation myth, written in the 1500's for Spanish conquers. Many scholars believe the Post-Classic Maya protected the true version, and the identity of its originators.
This in itself makes the manuscript written for the Spanish...suspect.
And, so the mysteriousness of the ancient Maya continuous...
Jose Arguelles has this to say too: "...not only did the Spaniards have no idea that a separation in time had occurred between the Classic ninth-baktun Maya and the later Maya of the League of Mayapan, but the texts and manuscripts of the later Maya themselves – Popol Vuh, The Books of Chilam Balam, and The Annals of the Cakchiquels – give us virtually no information about their predecessors.
Not only did the Christians garble or misinterpret what was told them by the Maya, but the later Maya themselves seem to have intentionally confused their texts.”
What was in the version given to the Spanish?
This book is quite clearly about astronomy.
It’s based on the cycles of precession.
They presented the Spanish with an existing myth or story that was rendered throughout their ceremonial sites. Each character in this story represents a celestial body in the universe. Each scene reflects a past or future cosmic occurrence of the celestial body. In other words, the theatrical play or performance of this myth takes place above us in the cosmos. They gave the Spanish the "what" but not the "how." Even still there is great value in what they wrote.
The characters in the Popul Vuh are celestial bodies playing out precession in the night sky
The Popol Vuh, is explained through characters representing celestial bodies. It explains the journey of the Hero Twins in their efforts to reveal the true Galactic Center. The sky is mapped from the early B.C.'s right through to December 21, 2012.
One Hunahpu, their father, represents the December solstice sun, and his resurrection marks the beginning of the next World Age in 2012. It’s on this day One Hunahpu, our sun, will be reborn. But, first the Hero Twins must bring down the false Cosmic Center, Seven Macaw, the Big Dipper. He was considered the center of the Universe in the time of the ancient Olmec culture, but has since been proven false.
Hidden in the text are some interesting jewels about
the Classic Maya.
"There is the original book and ancient writing but the one who reads and assesses it has a hidden identity..."
Popol Vuh, Dennis Tedlock. ...Hmmmmmm.
Today, I’m going to concentrate on the possible purpose of the original manuscript, and the hidden clues left by the re-creators of this book. We are going to read between the lines. The complete Creation Myth story is available in Dennis Tedlocks book, Popol Vuh.
This is translated at the beginning of the Popol Vuh...The hieroglyphic version was amongst the most precious possessions of the Quiche Mayan rulers: "They knew whether war would occur; everything they saw was clear to them. Whether there would be death, or whether there would be famine, or whether quarrels would occur, they knew it for certain, since there was a place to see it, there was a book. "Council Book" was their name for it." Popol Vuh, Dennis Tedlock
It was through this Council Book the Maya knew to the day of Cortez’s arrival. They hoped he was
Quetzalcoatl, the Mayan messiah
returning to save them. They were looking for their savior to help them through the dark times slated to begin that day. The Maya treated Cortez with reverence and he brutally returned the favor.
Cortez’s arrival in the New World on April 21, 1519 represented the change in cycles from 13 Heavens to 9 Hells. His arrival changed the
way of life forever. After the Maya’s hopes were dashed, for the most part they accepted their fate. They felt they had to. It was written in the stars and recorded in the Council Book.
"When "everything they saw was clear to them" the Quiche lords were recovering the vision of the first four humans, who at first "saw everything under the sky perfectly." That would mean that the Popol Vuh made it possible, once again, to sight "the four sides, the four corners in the sky, on the earth," the corners and sides that mark the earth and serve as reference points for the movements of celestial lights." Popol Vuh, Dennis Tedlock
The Tzolkin gives us clues as to what the original Council Book may have been about.
The book would have been like a Mayan bible. I feel within the
Tzolkin is the actual Council Book or Popol Vuh.
Along with the Tzolkin, there would be a book that explained the actual symbols and numbers in the Tzolkin. That book could be the original Council Book. This book would have been given to aspirants who went to ceremonial centers like Izapa to learn more about the Universe. This information too is missing.
When the dates and interpretations of the
calendars were included, a complete interpretation of a day or time period was possible.
The information within these "calendars" as we call them is quite different than what we are accustomed, in particular the Tzolkin. To this day, it’s doubtful that anyone except maybe a few Mayan elders truly knows how the Tzolkin was used. Hence the riddles presented at the beginning of the Popol Vuh. They knew the Spanish wouldn’t understand. After all the Maya themselves wrote the decoy book for the Spanish. Why reveal vital information to your conquers, when they wouldn’t know the difference anyway?
But, let's take this a step further...could the greater meaning be beyond the intellect? Hmmmmmmm...I believe it is.
"If the authors of the alphabetic Popol Vuh had transposed the ancient Popol Vuh directly, on a glyph-by-glyph basis, they might have produced a text that would have made little sense to anyone but a fully trained diviner and performer." Popol Vuh, Dennis Tedlock
There has to be more to the Tzolkin, much more than what we know. The Tzolkin is somewhat of a riddle to us right now. We are trying to use our limited sensory perception and the intellect to figure it out. That won't do it.
Today’s Maya use this calendar. But is it used in the proper way? Do we even know how to use it as it was intended? In one quote it was stated that the Maya knew to the day when Cortez would be coming because the information was in the Council Book. What do the 20 symbols and 13 repeating numbers really represent in the Tzolkin?
We may finally know the knowledge of the Council Book around 2012.
Here is a translated quote from the Popol Vuh, "Here we shall set forth the revelation, the declaration, and the narration of all that was hidden, the revelation...and at the same time the declaration, the combined narration of the Grandmother and the Grandfather...we shall bring to light because now the Popol Vuh...cannot be seen anymore, in which was clearly seen coming from the other side of the sea...The original book, written long ago, existed, but its sight is hidden to the searcher and to the thinker." The Mayan Factor, Jose Arguelles
"Hidden to the searcher and to the thinker." These are key words. The knowledge of the Council Book is within us and cannot be gained through the intellect. It's not available to anyone who searches for it or to those who try to use the thinking mind to figure it out. It's probably right in front of us right now. But, we will not know it's purpose or gift till we accept our own gifts given to us by God in the beginning.
But first we have to clear the gap between this knowledge and spirit. The gap is the heartlessness and lovelessness that exists within us that has to be felt, accepted, mourned and finally forgiven. Once this happen, the space will be replaced with Gods Light and Love.
The manuscript produced for the Spanish was a smoke screen. It was created to keep the real prize away from these brutal materialist strangers. It was easy to give the Spanish this story. This myth is plastered all over their buildings, and the ball court. Its authenticity would not have been questioned.
"If the ancient Popol Vuh was like the surviving hieroglyphic books, it contained systematic accounts of cycles in astronomical and earthly events that served as a complex navigation system for those who wished to see and move beyond the present." Popol Vuh, Dennis Tedlock
To KNOW, does not involve using the intellect. It is actually, the absence of relying on our own minds to gain understanding. Instead it’s the TAPPING INTO the vast universal knowledge of the collective consciousness. This consciousness represents all the knowledge of the
going back to the beginning of time. It is available to us all...if we can learn to truly feel and remember our own power.
December 21, 2012 will be 4 Ancestors according to the Tzolkin calendar. This is the most powerful and revered symbol of all.
Popol Vuh, Dennis Tedlock
Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, John Major Jenkins
The Mayan Factor, Jose Arguelles
Jaguar Wisdom, Kenneth Johnson
Heart Song, Vibrating Heartlessness to Let Heart In, Ceena DeRohan
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