Mayan Cosmos

On Tuesday, in class we studied classic Mesoamerican cultures like the Maya. Interestingly, the Maya viewed the cosmos as being "divided into three layers connected along a vertical axis that traced the course of the sun. The earthly arena of human existence held an intermediate position between the heavens, conceptualized by the Maya as a sky-monster, and a dark underworld. A sacred tree rose through the three layers; its roots were in the underworld, and its branched reached into the heavens." Here are a few of the student's personal interpretations: