The Popol Vuh is the a collection of K'iche' historical myths about the creation of the world and the earliest ancestors of the Maya. Just as with other religious texts, the Popol Vuh is one, ever-changing interpretation of a small piece of Maya mythology and religion. But, it is our richest source of information about the world view and religion of the Maya.

Back in the 1980s Patrivia Amlin created an animated version of the Popol Vuh based upon images from Classical a time period from 300 to 900 C.E.  Maya pottery and a 1970s interpretation of the Popol Vuh writings. I'll include the videos below with a short excerpt about what has happened in each segment. As a forewarning, the Popol Vuh will tell a unique story that may seem very odd at times. 

Popol Vuh, Part One

If you want to hear some spoken Maya, there is a short snippet of it around two minutes into the video. If you want to skip to the beginning of the myth, then start at 2:45.The creation myth begins before humans existed on earth.The Heart of Sky (A.K.A. Hurricane) spoke to the Plumed Serpent, and they decided to create earth. But, the earth needed guardians, so they created animals. But, they needed someone to take care of the land and worship them, so they tried to create people. First, they tried to create humans out of dirt. That didn't work. Then, they tried to create people out of wood. That didn't work either, so they destroyed the wood people. Some of the wood people survived and they became monkeys. So, finally, they got it right and made humans out of maize (corn.)

The Hero Twins are two very important figures in the Popol Vuh. The next bit of the video focuses on the Hero Twins' fathers, One-Hunter and Seven-Hunter. One-Hunter has two other sons, One-Howler and One-Monkey, and they all played a ball game together a lot. But, the Lords of Xibalba were very jealous of their skill as ball players, so they captured and sacrificed One-Hunter and Seven-Hunter.

Popol Vuh, Part Two

One-Hunter's head became a tree that sprouted skulls, gourds, and flowers. It was a forbidden tree, because a skull tree is weird. But, a maiden named Little Blood really wanted to eat the fruit from the tree, so she went to the tree. One-Hunter, yes, the tree, got Little-Blood pregnant. Tricking her father with the help of some owls, she escaped and went to live with One-Hunter's and Seven-Hunter's mother. Little Blood had to pass a test for the grandmother to accept her. Yay, she passed the test!

Popol Vuh, Part Three

Little Blood gave birth to Hunter and Jaguar-Deer, but the grandmother didn't want her grandchildren. The older brothers, One-Howler and One-Monkey didn't like their younger half-brothers. So, Hunter and Jaguar-Deer took care of themselves, because no one would care for them. Hunter and Jaguar-Deer wanted to teacher their older brothers a lesson, so they told them to climb a tree and used their magic to turn their older brothers into monkeys. Hunter and Jaguar-Deer tried to become farmers, but they were really bad at it. Rat told them that they weren't meant to be farmers, but rather ball players like their fathers.

Popol Vuh, Part Four

Rat told the Hero Twins where all their fathers' ball playing equipment was. The grandmother had hidden the equipment on purpose, so the Hero Twins decided to trick her and take the equipment while she was gone. The boys began to play. The Lords of Xibalba heard the Hero Twins playing ball and they became jealous again. So, just like with their fathers, the Lords of Xibalba challenged Hunter and Jaguar-Deer to a ball game. A long chain of animals went to tell the Hero Twins about the Lords of Xibalba and the challenge. Hunter and Jaguar-Deer met Seven Macaw on their journey to see the Lords of Xibalba. Heart of Sky asked punish Seven Macaw, so they took the jewels and teeth that gave Seven Macaw his powers. Afterwards, they descended into Xibalba (in the Maya world view, the gods often live under ground and in watery place).

Popol Vuh, Part Five

Hunter and Jaguar-Deer used their blowguns to cross the deadly waters into Xibalba. They were craft and sent a mosquito ahead to spy on the Lords of Xibalba. The mosquito learned valuable information, which he passed on to the Hero Twins. So, they weren't tricked by the Lords when they met them for the first time. They called the Lords of Xibalba by name, which stole the Lords' powers. The Lords of Xibalba sent the Hero Twins on several trials to prove their worth. The first trial was in the House of Darkness. The twins won. Then, the ball game happened and the Lords of Xibalba tried to sabotage the ball game, but it didn't work. That night, the Hero Twins were locked in the House of Knives, but they asked the knives politely to not cut them and to bring them flowers from the Lords garden. Of course, the Lords were furious and then locked the Hero Twins in the House of Cold. But, once again, Hunter and Jaguar-Deer used their magic and they were fine. They triumphed in the House of Jaguars, too.

Popol Vuh, Part Six

Hunter and Jaguar-Deer conquered every trial and punishment that the Lords of Xibalba gave to them. Unfortunately, in the House of Bats, Hunter lost his head, but Jaguar-Deer had the animals of Xibalba help give Hunter a new head and bring him back to life. The Lords of Xibalba were using Hunter's old head as a ball when the Hero Twins arrived. But, Rabbit switched a pumpkin for the ball, so he could help the Hero Twins win. The Hero Twins won the ball game! But, they knew they would die in Xibalba, so they asked some seers to trick the Lords of Xibalba into burying the Hero Twins a specific way. By being buried in this specific way, the Hero Twins could use their magic to come back to life. After coming back to life, they pretended to be famous dancers.  

Popol Vuh, Part Seven

The Lords of Xibalba wanted to see the 'famous dancers' and the magic the dancers could perform. The Lords of Xibalba were amused by the magic and asked for the 'famous dancers' to bring all sorts of creatures back to life after they had been sacrificed. Soon, the Lords of Xibalba wanted to try it for themselves, so they asked to be sacrificed and brought back to life. But, of course, the disguised Hero Twins did not bring the Lords back to life after the Lords were sacrificed. Once the Lords of Xibalba were powerless and the Hero Twins conquered Xibalba, the Hero Twins became the sun and the moon.