The beginning of the long count in 3114 BC, long before the rise of Maya civilization, marks the date of Creation. But on the handful of Classical monuments that memorialize events of the mythic age, Creation is written 13.0.0.0.0, the completion of 13 baktuns, a period of about 5125 years. This suggests that the present age followed an earlier world that endured 13 baktuns. An inscription at Coba records even earlier epochs, counting back for some 13 x 2021 years.
The Popol Vuh preserved this tradition of successive creations or world orders. According to the Popol Vuh, the gods created humans to honour them: There would be "no high days and no bright praise for our work, our design, until the rise of the human work, the human design". But their first three efforts were failures. The third failed race, people fashioned from wood, were destroyed in a universal flood.
The antediluvian world was lorded over by Vukub-Cakix, "Seven Macaw," who took the place of the sun. To prepare for the creation of the true humans, the rule of Seven Macaw had to be ended. This was achieved by the Hero Twins of the Popol Vuh, who shot Seven Macaw from his tree.
The Quiche still identify the seven stars of the Big Dipper with Seven Macaw. At sunset on August 13, the Milky Way is nearly erect, and the Dipper is visible in the the northern sky in the Maya area. But as the heavens rotate, the Milky Way turns away from its upright position, and the Dipper dives toward the horizon. About two hours after sunset, the Dipper sets: Seven Macaw is knocked from his perch atop the World Tree. Dennis Tedlock reports that among the Quiche, the mid-summer descent of the Dipper just after sunset marks the beginning of the hurricane season, the time of flooding.
The Popol Vuh preserved this tradition of successive creations or world orders. According to the Popol Vuh, the gods created humans to honour them: There would be "no high days and no bright praise for our work, our design, until the rise of the human work, the human design". But their first three efforts were failures. The third failed race, people fashioned from wood, were destroyed in a universal flood.
The antediluvian world was lorded over by Vukub-Cakix, "Seven Macaw," who took the place of the sun. To prepare for the creation of the true humans, the rule of Seven Macaw had to be ended. This was achieved by the Hero Twins of the Popol Vuh, who shot Seven Macaw from his tree.
The Quiche still identify the seven stars of the Big Dipper with Seven Macaw. At sunset on August 13, the Milky Way is nearly erect, and the Dipper is visible in the the northern sky in the Maya area. But as the heavens rotate, the Milky Way turns away from its upright position, and the Dipper dives toward the horizon. About two hours after sunset, the Dipper sets: Seven Macaw is knocked from his perch atop the World Tree. Dennis Tedlock reports that among the Quiche, the mid-summer descent of the Dipper just after sunset marks the beginning of the hurricane season, the time of flooding.
