MYTHICAL WORLDVIEW: HISTORY, CHARACTERISTICS AND EXAMPLES - HISTORY - 2025

The mythical worldview is a way of appreciating the world, space, and cosmos that ancient Mesoamerican cultures had before the time of the European conquest. This vision was an attempt to understand how the world and everything around it worked, including the forces of the universe.

The Popol-Vuh, a mythical book of the ancient Mayan civilization, spoke about this belief. In the same way, there are writings of civilizations such as the Chichimecas of Mexico that speak about the theory of the mythical worldview.

It was present throughout several centuries, dictating the way in which certain social practices of the time were carried out and the way in which ceremonies were made to the ancestors.

Historical background

Map of Mesoamerican cultures

The belief in a worldview that encompasses all life and the universe originated in parallel throughout Mesoamerica, and the various concepts that emerged were combined through cultural exchange between civilizations.

Although there was no single concept of what the worldview was, in the same way it was adopted by all the great Mesoamerican civilizations at some point in history.

In fact, they all had three common themes around which this global vision revolved: the creation of a world for people, the development of this world and the renewal of the resources it offers.

He

This image shows the Mayan Hero Twins, known from the Sacred Book of the Mayas, the Poopol Wuuj: Junajpu and Xbalanq'e. Painted by Lacambalam. Ornament taken from an ancient Mayan pottery.

The Popol Vuh describes in considerable detail the importance of the creation and renewal of the planet that the Mayans had. This text describes the relationship of people with the world, the influence of the gods and their relationship with the universe, as well as the importance of leaders in civilizations.

The Mayan book presents concepts such as the belief of unity between the Earth and the spiritual world, the sacrifices and the ceremonial rites practiced by the cultures of the time. The origin of humans is also discussed through a mythical story and the process of creating the world is explained with stories of ancient heroes.

The Mayan culture was strongly influenced by these elements throughout its existence. The tributes and rituals they made to the gods were all backed by beliefs present in the Popol Vuh.

Archaeological patterns

The temple of Coba is one of the main Mayan ceremonial centers.

Archaeological studies of ancient Mesoamerican structures have revealed the unifying importance of the worldview for Mesoamerican societies.

The patterns found in the excavations present clear evidence of the presence of religious beliefs linked to the worldview.

In fact, these excavations have produced remarkably similar results in all areas where they have been carried out.

The largest urban areas of the pre-Columbian period, scattered throughout Mesoamerica, present structures that are quite similar to each other; mainly the architecture and the position of the structures in relation to the sky.

This is why the ancient civilizations of America used to build pyramids. These buildings served as bridges between heaven and Earth; they had very great religious implications and were chained to the worldview of each civilization.

For this reason, they had certain peculiar characteristics depending on the town that built it but, in turn, the image of each one was very similar.

These pyramids served as central areas in Mesoamerican societies where tribal leaders and chiefs met with the people to convey to the inhabitants of civilization the way in which they saw the world.

characteristics

The worldview in Mesoamerica had a series of characteristics that differentiate it from any other view of the world that has been had in the history of humanity. These are:

Duality

Ancient beliefs claimed that everything that existed had a parallel in existence. That is, all kinds of representation existed in conjunction with something else.

For example, the forces of the universe that keep it in constant motion are represented on Earth by the life of the planet.

Creation of the world

Mesoamerican civilizations structured their world view based on what they thought was correct. Civilizations had cosmic characteristics; one of them is the organization of houses around structured centers with an upward direction (such as the pyramids), a clear example of this belief.

The shape of the structures was a way of making heaven reach Earth, philosophically speaking.

Centrality of the world

The indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica believed in the importance of paying tribute to deceased ancestors and even turning the ancient leaders of the tribes into deities. It was common to pay tribute also to the living, especially to the families of the leaders of each civilization.

Renewal and human sacrifice

The renewal of the world was a belief that they carried out through a variety of methods. Rituals and sacrificial ceremonies were performed, in addition to inherently respecting the value of solar calendars.

Sacrifice in these civilizations was not seen as something barbaric and cruel; rather it was sought through them the spiritual renewal of the world and pay tribute to the gods.

These beliefs that sacrifice would renew the world were tied to their worldview and the same theme of duality that they conceived as correct. Considering that the Earth was a reflection of the sky and vice versa, the sacrifice of people was the way in which they purified the world.

Examples

The vision of the world in these civilizations was represented in the various rituals that they put into practice.

- The skulls that were placed in the tzompantli came mostly from sacrifices to the gods.

- The construction of pyramids such as the Temple of Kukulkan or the Pyramid of the Sun sought to bring the earthly to heaven.

- Today there are still traces in society of what was the mythical worldview of the ancient Mesoamericans. This is mainly reflected in the Mexican festival known as Día de los Muertos. The belief in offering tributes to the ancestors on this day is based on the ancient practices of the Mesoamerican Indians.

References

1. The Mayan Cosmovision, Carlos Barrios, (nd). Taken from mysticomaya.com
2. Rediscovering the Lost Code of the Inca Cosmic Power Matrix, A. Cowie, May 17, 2017. Taken from ancient-origins.net
3. Mesoamerican Cosmovision, (nd), September 26, 2017. Taken from Wikipedia.org
4. Mesoamerican Civilization and the Idea of ​​Transcendence Extract, Gordon Willey, 1976. Taken from Cambridge.org
5. Popol Vuh, (nd), February 25, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org