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The Maya today continue to believe each person has a spirit companion. The easiest place for you to meet your Wayeb is in your dreams. In Maya-view, dream time is the meeting place between the seen and unseen realms; the place where both you and your Wayeb can show up. So pay attention! If you want to get to know your spirit companion, invite your Wayeb to a dream meeting and start writing your dreams down. Pay attention especially to the animals in your dreams and see if one type of animal shows up over and over.

Holy Books of the Maya: Codices

You may be wondering how we know about the Mayan spiritual practice. As you know from Chapter 1, the information we have about the Maya-view comes mostly from three and a half surviving pre-Columbus codices. These were the books that survived destruction at the hands of the zealous missionaries. They are the only known unadulterated record of the knowledge and culture of the ancient Maya. In addition, there are two other books that are invaluable in understanding the realm of Maya spiritual practice: the Popol Vuh and the Chilam Balam.

Dresden Codex

The Dresden Codex is the most elaborate of the codices. It contains information about astronomical events. It has a large focus on Venus and the cycles of Venus that were used to predict outcomes of war. It was smuggled out of Mesoamerica in the 1600s, making its way to the royal courts of Saxony in Dresden.

Madrid Codex

The Madrid Codex was sent to the royal courts of Spain by Cortés. It was split into two codices that traveled separately until 1880 when it was reunited. The Madrid Codex contains descriptions of the rituals and divinities associated with each day of the 260-day Mesoamerican sacred calendar, the Tzolk’in. It may have been written post-conquest.

def·¡·¡·t¡on

The ecliptic is the path the sun, planets, and constellations travel across the sky.

Paris Codex

The Paris Codex is similar to the Chilam Balam and relates prophetic events for the Mayan calendars and zodiac. It includes what appears to be a Maya zodiac of the constellations traversing a path along the ecliptic.

Grolier Codex

The Grolier Codex is a fragment of 11 pages that didn’t surface until the 1970s. Not everyone is convinced of its authenticity.

Chilam Balam and Popol Vuh

In the 1500s and 1600s, many Mayan records were transcribed from hieroglyphics by the Mayan people and written down in Spanish or Latin to preserve them. Although most were influenced by the missionaries and don’t offer an accurate report, the Popol Vuh and Chilam Balam are considered relatively free of influence and are rich resources for understanding Mayan spirituality. The Popol Vuh is the Quiche Mayan book of creation. The Quiche Maya live in the highlands of Guatemala.

The Chilam Balam is a historical record and includes prophecy and predictions from the calendars. In the Chilam Balam there are references to the dark time coming for the Maya people with the arrival of white people from the east.

Both books are extremely important because the content has been verified through hieroglyphic stories found on murals in caves and newly discovered ruins. The murals in the ruins at San Bartolo in Guatemala recreate the creation story as recorded in the Popol Vuh.

New Revelations

There are many other codices that were transcribed in the 1500s and 1600s, some of which have come to light only recently and are changing ideas about Mayan history. For example, you probably were told that the Aztec welcomed Cortés because they believed he was the return of Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl, or Kukulkan in Mayan, was a god who appeared in human form as a white man with a black beard and brought wisdom to the Maya. The legends say he left in a boat proclaiming he would return to bring prosperity and peace. The newly found codices say that Cortés learned of the legend and was taken with the idea that he was Quetzalcoatl. He began to call himself Quetzalcoatl, the return of the plumed serpent. Well, that’s a switch!

Cosmic Caution

A lot of history is written about