Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of

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Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of

by Anonymous, Dennis Tedlock (Translator)

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 1,057 ratings · 86 reviews

"Popol Vuh, " the Quiche Mayan book of creation, is not only the most important text in the native languages of the Americas, it is also an extraordinary document of the human imagination. It begins with the deeds of Mayan gods in the darkness of a primeval sea and ends with the radiant splendor of the Mayan lords who founded the Quiche kingdom in the Guatemalan highlands....more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published January 31st 1996 by Touchstone Books (first published 1701)

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Jul 22, 2011 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

I re-read this book with a writing group and still find it amazing. The hero twins on the road to Xibalba. It is a dark creation myth that partially follows Joseph Campbell's heroic journey, but there are corners of Mayan consciousness that remain impenetrable. It presents a fascinating world laden with imagery and symbolism that defy our comprehension. What a shame that this world was virtually destroyed first by European viruses and later by European arrogance in the guise of Christianity and...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Allen J. Christenson has given us a brilliant translation (packed with very helpful notes) of the Popol Vuh, the Sacred Book of the Quiché Maya, the "book that pertains to the mat." The "mat" is the royal throne upon which the king gave counsel to his people, with the fibers symbolizing the interlaced community remembered in the text.

This is a personal book for me, because if family legend is to be believed, the distant ancestors of my Ecuadorian relatives might have come through the area of Gua...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Gijs rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-ages, fiction, myths-and-legends, latin-american-literature

Gelezen in de Nederlandse vertaling van R. van Houte van de Duitse vertaling van Wolfgang Cordan.

Het mythische boek van de Maya's leidt je naar een vreemde wereld vol onbekende goden (met daarin meerdere scheppers), veel symbolische getallen, vreemde wezens als de Zevenpapegaai, een akelige onderwereld, Xibalbá genaamd en een opvallend belangrijke rol voor het balspel.

De mythische verhalen zijn even vreemd als intrigerend en laten een opvallend gebrek aan zwart-wit zien: maar weinig figuren zijn...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Osho rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, around-the-world

Guatemala.

An engrossing religious and historical document, well-contextualized and commented upon by Christenson. Lots of linguistic and explanatory notes, as well as anthropological material. I confess to skimming the lists at the end, but I got the gist.

People are almost Soylent Green, in that they were created from maize.

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Aug 19, 2011 .kathleen. rated it 4 of 5 stars

amazingly insightful. love the Mayans and can't wait to get back to Central America to do some more digging and connect on an even more personal level.
It's insane to see how they tied everything together in such sensical ways. They accounted for everything surrounding them, every piece of their world that needed defining just as we still try and do today. It is also fantastical and extreme in some of the interpretations for how various things came to be, with that magical and mysterious quality...more

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Jan 30, 2010 Gawain rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-in-my-apartment

The "Mayan Bible", or more accurately the Quiché Bible. Absent a law code, it is divided into two parts, a Genesis, and a Chronicle of kings. But what I find remarkable is that the stories of the "Genesis" section are not myths in the Western sense -- stories rooted in psychology. Rather they are stories rooted in _astronomy_. It is believed that the Popol Vuh would have represented an interpretation of a hidden book, and that this hidden book would have in fact been a complex astronomical chart...more

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Jun 03, 2009 Matthew rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was hard to rate this book on the five-star scale. It's kind of like trying to rate the bible. It is truly a fascinating read and worth the time. Here are the liner notes:

_Popol Vuh_, the Quiche Mayan book of creation, is not only the most important text in the native languages of the Americas, it is also and extraordinary document of the human imagination. It begins with the deeds of Mayan gods in the darkness of a primeval sea and ends with the radiant splendor of the Mayan lords who founde...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Crystal Carroll rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's always interesting reading primary source material for what a people thought about their world. This work is particularly interesting because it represents stories written down when the Mayan culture was in transition, as the Spanish had already taken over the region. There's a sense of people trying to preserve who they were and what they thought before it was lost.

This is to a degree reflected in the story itself, which covers waves of creation interwoven with the adventures of the Mayan...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Antony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

uhg.. just ugh!.. i need to come up with more words for this but it´s like 12 in the morning .. so it wasn´t that good of a book:S

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Jan 07, 2013 Kerim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Refreshing and engaging look at one of the best preserved accounts of the earliest complete work of literature as recorded from oral tradition, allowing a spectacular look into the cosmological, social, and lingual mind of the ancient Maya. Don't just read a bunch of misinformed misinterpretations of their calendar by whichever "expert" thinks whatever new disaster will happen this year, and because the often dry thick archaeological literature that I read as an archaeology masters student is no...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Dario Alioscha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Es muy importante conocer nuestra cosmogonía, la mitología maya. Como pensaban nuestros origen y argumentación en este mundo para justificarlo. Los relatos son originales, auténticos. El hombre hecho de maíz, los gemelos que derrotan a los señores del Xibalba, la visión de la naturaleza donde los animales jugaban diferentes roles en las culturas precolombinas, que van desde, las hormigas que roban las flores sagradas, El hombre jaguar, y todo esto que tiene un misticismo lleno de magia, impregna...more

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Jan 22, 2008 Lily added it

Can you really rate something like the Popol Vuh?

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May 15, 2012 Lyn Fuchs rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

New travelers often see the world in terms of countries on a map or stamps in a passport. This is somewhat misleading. Seasoned world-trekkers know that natural boundries such as mountains played an older and deeper role in shaping cultural differences. Water defined humanity most of all. Today's global cultures evolved from ancient civilizations built on three great freshwater sources: The Nile, The Indus and The Papaloapan.

Big rivers allowed bigger settlements. Enhanced productivity gave human...more New travelers often see the world in terms of countries on a map or stamps in a passport. This is somewhat misleading. Seasoned world-trekkers know that natural boundries such as mountains played an older and deeper role in shaping cultural differences. Water defined humanity most of all. Today's global cultures evolved from ancient civilizations built on three great freshwater sources: The Nile, The Indus and The Papaloapan.

Big rivers allowed bigger settlements. Enhanced productivity gave humans sufficient resources to move beyond the primal survival question: How do the ones with the muscles provide food and protection to the ones with the breasts who give food and protection to the children? Spirituality was the result. People could pursue higher questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going?

The three rivers of civilization produced three streams of existential reflection. Enlightened travelers understand this. Such awareness helps them in relating to and learning from the people they meet on their journeys. Culture is like an iceberg. Food, art, clothes and music are just the visable tip that clues in the savvy trekker there is a huge reserve of meaning below the surface. Don't be a clueless traveler, obsessed with the tip but oblivious to the bulk of the mass.

Here are some resources that can help any traveler get a basic literary grip on the big three philosophical cradles of humanity. From the West, read The Torah, The Gospels Plus Acts and The Koran. From the East, read The Bhagavad Gita, Siddhartha and The Art of War. From the Americas, read The Popol Vuh, The Conquest Of New Spain and (wait for the shameless plug, wait for it...) my upcoming book Fresh Wind & Strange Fire. It won't be as good as The Torah or The Koran but will have more pictures. Keep in mind that this is more or less a kindergarden spiritual education. It probably won't impress babes at parties. However, it will make you more substantive and globally-informed than almost any reporter on CNN.

A few years ago, there was a popular travel book by a major publishing company containing a laughably-ignorant blunder. The author journeyed to The Haida Gwaii Archipelago. Wandering a cemetary, he offered politically-correct musings on tombstone inscriptions. A white Anglican man's eulogy read "Gone on to heaven." The author ranted long and hard about how arrogant this was. He then contrasted such with the spiritual humility of an indigenous man whose marker simply read "I have fought the good fight."

The writer was unaware that this is a quote from Paul who wrote half of the Christian scriptures. Paul's passionate words in anticipation of his own execution go on like this, "I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness." Hardly an example of meek religious understatement. Even Jon Bon Jovi knew enough of this quote to write a song without looking dumb.

I realize that spiritual illiteracy won't hurt an author's rep with the media. More likely, knowing anything about the Bible would make one a suspect of polygamy or snake-handling. (No matter how many women reject me, I refuse to handle my snake.) Nevertheless, let me boldly contend that travelers should make some effort to know before they go. Friends don't let friends travel stupid.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Katsumi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: unsorted

The Popul Vuh discusses the world before there was Man, when the gods got together and created everything, and how they went about doing that. If you aren't familiar with Mayan mythology, this is a treat. The language of this book follows Mayan patterns, which are really different from, say, American patterns, and you know right away you're dealing with a markedly different world view, which is fun from time to time for a sense of perspective. There are stories about heroes who were born before...more

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Nov 12, 2008 Morgan rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Free Library of Philadelphia leant me their 1950 edition of "The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiché Maya." Purported to have been scrawled on ficus bark by an unknown Quiché author in Latinized Mayan script and discovered by one Father Francisco Ximénez in the late 17th century, this Popol Vuh reads like a Narnia-ized version of Mayan legend, which leans toward the upholding of Christian mores and the justification of the Spanish conquest of most of the Americas. The pre-Columbian stories are...more

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Aug 23, 2008 LonewolfMX Luna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Raza and Native American Majors

Recommended to LonewolfMX by: Jackie Mendez, and Professors Rivera & Onate

This is the Mayan Bible so to say it deal with the Quiche Mayan creation stories and the diverse characters with at times difficult to memorize names.

It is full of symbolism that at times is difficult to interpret for the first time reader, but so far it is an interesting read.

Part I: Deals with the creation of the Universe and it's creator Gods such as Tepeu, Gucumatz or the forefathers, Caculha Huracan, Chipi-Caculha, and Raxa-Caculha become the triumvirate that would become known as the Hear...more This is the Mayan Bible so to say it deal with the Quiche Mayan creation stories and the diverse characters with at times difficult to memorize names.

It is full of symbolism that at times is difficult to interpret for the first time reader, but so far it is an interesting read.

Part I: Deals with the creation of the Universe and it's creator Gods such as Tepeu, Gucumatz or the forefathers, Caculha Huracan, Chipi-Caculha, and Raxa-Caculha become the triumvirate that would become known as the Heart of Heaven that are responsible for creating the living creatures that would worship them properly and their early attempts at creating Humanity out of wood as well as bringing in a huge flood that destroyed most of the world.

Part II is the story of the Maya Hero twins Hunahpuh and Xbalanque in which they descend into the underworld of Xibalba to confront the Dark Lords of the underworld for killing their father Hun-Hunahpu and their uncle Vucub-Hunahpu. Their mother is Xquic daughter of Cuchumaquic one of the Dark Lords of Xibalba, was impregnated with the twins after Hun-Hunahpu's severed skull which was on top of a Calabash tree spit on Xquic's hand.

The Hero twins would endure the tortures and torments of the 5 houses of the dead which the first is the House of Gloom/Darkness Quequma-ha where impenetrable darkness loomed, second is the House of Cold Xuxulim-ha where there a is never ending winter inside (reminds me of a giant freezer) the third is the House of Jaguars Balami-ha where the Jaguars would devour any unfortunate alive, the fourth is the House of Bats Zotzi-ha where the giant death bats would attack and kill their prey, and the fifth and final house was the House of Knives Chayim-ha where the flying knives would stab, kill, and sacrifice those unfortunates that pass though here.

In which they had to pass the trials in which the twins would though wit and cleverness as well as their powers passed the trials of the lords of Xibalba in which I think one of the twins was killed, but brought back to life by his brother and then they would disguise themselves as old men present themselves to the the Dark Lords in which they would perform dances and acrobatic tricks along with magic in which they would kill each other and others and bring them back to life.

The Dark Lords who became drunk challenged the twins to sacrifice and kill them and bring them back to life, but the twins took their revenge on the Dark Lords by killing them and not bringing them to life again this would intimidate the inhabitants of Xibalba (who were probably the souls of the dead or demons) in which they would throw themselves at the mercy of the twins some for participating in the slaying of the twins father and uncle.

but the only thing I did not like about the book was the long winded introduction that dealt with the many different editions of the Popol Vuh, but as a history major one can appreciate the history that was behind in preserving this history/creation account by one Frey Francisco Ximénez who was a Spanish priest who took interest in preserving the conquered Maya people's history. As well the long winded footnotes that tried to explain things while I appreciate the footnoting, but for me these footnotes while reading this edition of Popol Vuh was distracting.

The edition I am reading is an older edition the first one from 1950 which I checked from SFSU's J Paul Leonard Library.(less)

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Jun 20, 2009 Cristina López rated it 5 of 5 stars

Are uxe‘ ojer tzij
waral K‘iche‘ ub‘i‘.
Waral
xchiqatz‘ib‘aj wi
xchiqatikib‘a‘ wi ojer tzij,
utikarib‘al
uxe‘nab‘al puch rnojel xb‘an pa
tinamit K‘iche‘
ramaq‘ K‘iche‘ winaq. "This is the root of the ancient word
of this place called Quiché.
Here
we shall write,
we shall plant the ancient word,
the origin
the beginning of all what has been done in the
Quiché Nation
country of the Quiché people."

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Jul 29, 2011 Jenee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book reminded me a lot of a fable or a fairy tale the way it was written. I enjoyed it a lot. I think more people should read this book, expecially the ones thinking that 2012 is the end of the world. All that is said is that the 5th change is going to happen, people blow everything way out of context. Expecially when its negative, for some reason humans love death and distruction.

But deffinitly read this book, it's really worth it.

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Nov 21, 2010 Leah Ixchel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am of full Mayan decent but have never got a true understanding of any sort of the culture since I'm adopted and no longer reside in my hometown back in Guatemala. This book was just what I needed to begin my journey in learning about the culture I had lost. I loved Popul Vuh but found the English version dreadful compared to the Spanish version, so I wouldn't reccomend the English translation.

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May 26, 2010 Ellie Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really love stuff like this. I'm totally into the whole Maya and Aztec culture. I love the thought of extraterrestrials and the thought that we came from something bigger than religion. The Maya/Mayan and Aztec people believed so. And it's just all so interesting. It's something different and i like that!

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Jun 17, 2009 Elena rated it 4 of 5 stars

por increible que parezca las similitudes entre el libro egipcio de los muertos y este libro son extraordinarias, creo que todo en este planeta, sucesos, historias, creencias, heroes, etc... es lo mismo pero con diferentes nombre, tal vez menos nombres dan mas similitudes, menos tiempo, mas eternidad!!!

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Jan 25, 2012 Myth Girl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythology

There is something inherently fascinating about creation myths. Some great things about this text: easy to read and includes a handy glossary in the back. I didn't read the 100+ pages of endnotes, but now I've been exposed to the Mayan Creation myth. A fundamental task for my Native American traditions course.

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Jan 16, 2012 Misaf rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Una de las cosmogonías más hermosas de la historia de las culturas, la explicación de la vida desde el punto de vista Maya con todo y los capítulos de conformación de una sociedad así como pasajes sobre la confrontación con los señores del inframundo y los primeros seres en la tierra.

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Jan 27, 2009 Carolyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I actually read this for my earlier years of college but ended up enjoying the book quite a book. I might not count it among my favorites, but it was very enlightning & worth keeping on the shelf at home. It helped me to look at the world a little different.

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Apr 26, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

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Feb 01, 2009 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

The sacred text of the Quiche Maya (with some Christian influence (possibly disdainful) as well as some overlapping with other creation stories, but distinctly Maya). If you liked Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, you're really going to love this book.

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Jan 14, 2012 L'Artiste rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the Bible of the Mayan people. Comparing it to the Old Testament was thrilling to say the least. The read was swift, but full of interesting information about the lineage of the Quiche' people of Guatemala. I may read it again someday!

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Dec 09, 2011 Isaura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Siempre pensé que este libro sería aburrido hasta que decidí arriesgarme.. La mera verdad me gustó bastante casi todo, el final si se me hizo pesado pero la historia en general de como el mundo y el hombre fue creado según los Quiché me gustó mucho.. Una bonita y diferente forma de ver de donde vinimos ;)

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Oct 19, 2011 Monico Neck rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mayan

I really liked this book. I started liking Mayan culture after I read Xtabentum: A Novel of Yucatan. That is a Novel with Mayan Legends at the begining. I was glad to find this book to understand a little more.

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Aug 02, 2011 Luis Diego Camacho Mora rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Es muy interesante leerlo como libro histórico, pero es que esas repeticiones de nombres una y otra vez lo hacen cansado. Aunque se aprende más sobre la mitología maya, no le revela grandes aportes sobre la cultura.

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