Mayan Creation Myth
The Maya of Mesoamerica creation story is recounted in the book "Popol Vuh". Tepeu and Gucamatz
came together to create the world. Whatever was thought of by Tepeu and Gucamatz came into being.
Next for creation are the creatures of the forest: birds, deer, jaguars and snakes. They are told to
multiply and scatter, and then to speak and "pray to us". But the animals just squawk and howl. So
Tepeu and Gucumatz try to make some respectful creatures from mud. But the results are not great,
and they allow the new race to be washed away. They call upon their grandparents, who suggest wood
as an appropriate medium. But the wooden people are just mindless robots, so Tepeu and Gucumatz
set about the destruction of this new race by means of a rain-storm. This causes the animals to turn
against the wooden people; even their pots and querns rebel, and crush the peoples' faces. The wooden
people escape to the forests and are turned into monkeys. Heart-of-Sky then make yet another attempt
at creating a suitably respectful race, and finally succeed by fashioning humans out of maize-corn
dough
