Religion

Religion was very sacred to the Mayans. Everything aspect of their day revolved around it. They were polytheistic and relied on predicting the gods actions through a system of calendars. They wanted to please the gods because they influenced their everyday life. To appease them, the Mayans would make sacrifices in respect to the gods, even including offering up themselves. Human sacrifice was very popular, believed to nourish the them. They would throw the bodies and precious materials like gold into sink holes called Chichen Itza.

Mayans religion led to many great advancements in things such as the calendar, math, and astronomy. They believed time was a nusense that gods had to handle , so then came about the calendar to schedule which gods had to carry time and for how long. Calendars also helped determine the best time for farming, fighting, and appointing rulers. Their vast knowledge of astronomy helped in the development and we still use the basic ideas presented in these Calendars today.

Mayans where able to determine a 365 day year through the help of very skilled scientists . They had their own writing system, called glyphs, that was so advanced that it preserved the Mayan history and helps us know about them today. A codex was developed which is a document stating historical events. The glyphs made it possible to write Popol Vuh which was a book accounting for the story of creation.

Mayans religion developed from culture and tradition . Their main Gods were Itzamna, Kukulcan, Bolon Tzacab, and Chac. The gods were incorporated with the natural world that were both good and evil. Mayan power heads acted as demigods and posed as a messenger with common people and gods . Mayans believed the soul must make a very risky journey through hell when one dies. They also believed the only ones in heaven where those who where offerings or died young. In conclusion, modern day science owes the Mayans religious beliefs for the knowledge we have today. Our concept of time was determined by their calendar that was created to account for the gods shifts of power and crop rotation. They were ahead of their time when studying algebra and science, you could say religion and wisdom went hand in hand. They did all things to please the gods even participated in human sacrifice. I would say Scientology and Mayan religion have very similar bases for both religions relying on the power of wisdom to guide them.