Maya Cosmos

by David A. Freidel

Book Overview

A Masterful blend of archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, and lively personal reportage, Maya Comos tells a constellation of stories, from the historical to the mythological, and envokes the awesome power of one of the richest civilizations ever to grace the earth.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688140696
• ISBN13: 9780688140694
• Release Date: February 1995
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 2.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Best serious book about ancient Maya

As an amateur interested in ancient Maya who has studied the subject for many years (and traveled extensively to Maya sites in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, & Honduras) I can say without hesitation this is the best book available for anyone seriously interested in understanding the unique mind and culture of the Maya. Linda Schele had a depth of understanding for the Maya that surpasses that of all other scholars in the field today. She tragically died young in 1998 but thankfully was able to complete this fantastic book. It's probably not the best book for a beginner, but if you already know a little about the Maya and you want to take your understanding to the next level, read this classic book. (If you are a beginner, you might try one of Schele's other wonderful books, Forest of Kings.)

Excellent read for amateur and scholar!

I found this book to be very informative and interesting. Speaking strictly as an amateur Mayanist, with no college level education, the book captured my interest, and opened my eyes, to many things most people do not know about the Maya. This is a great read for anyone who has interest in the Maya of yesterday and today.

The First Book to Tell the Real Story About Maya Shamanism

As a person who has traveled in places where the modern Maya live--Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico--and who has taken the trouble to get to know what the history and culture of these admirable people is really like, I have always been appalled at the number of books that claim to be about "Maya shamanism," but are really just New Age claptrap. While it is true that MAYA COSMOS does not read like a mass-market paperback, it is one of the most heartfelt, well-researched, and stunning books on the Maya that I have ever read. If you want the REAL story on who the Maya are and how their spiritual and cultural beliefs have evolved over the last 5,000 years, this is the book for you. Yes, there is some scientific data and research here, but I would rather a thousand times read that than the silly cultural misinformation written by dozens of New Age authors who project their own interpretations onto the art and the cities without even being able to read the very texts they are claiming to understand. The late Linda Schele was one of the five major figures who was responsible for cracking the code of the Maya language. As an art historian, she was well versed in the complex and fascinating symbolism of Maya culture. David Freidel has been a brilliant Maya archaeologist for over 25 years, and first became involved with the culture because of his interest in shamanism. Joy Parker, who, by the way, was the ghost-co-author of A FOREST OF KINGS (check out the Acknowledgements and the Forward where her work is credited) has spent over a dozen years working with the modern Maya (most recently, as an editor of Maya shaman Martin Prechtel's SECRETS OF THE TALKING JAGUAR and LONG LIFE, HONEY IN THE HEART) and with other indigenous cultures such as the North Native Americans (check out her book WOMAN WHO GLOWS IN THE DARK) and African cultures, so she brings a special personal interest and flair to this project. The first-person stories told in this book are priceless. I spent as many pleasurable hours reading it as I did the authors' first effort A FOREST OF KINGS. If you truly want to learn about the history of the Maya, the tragedy of the Spanish conquest, and how the modern Maya find the strength to endure, this is the book for you.

Archeoastronomy of the Maya

The authors present Mayan archeoastronomy in a very readable and absorbable form. Compare the astronomy/astrology/ myths and stories of the Maya to other cultures of which you are aware, and you will see that this book presents a valuable contribution to world archeoastonomy.

Maya Cosmos is essential to archeo-astronomy

The foundation of Maya Cosmos is the re-discovery of the Mayan creation myth in hieroglyphs, art, and modern Mayan daily ceremonial ritual. The creation myth centers around First Father, the Maize god and father of the Twins, famous in the Popul Vuh creation story. First Father is identified with Orion where he is resurrected from the dead from the cleft carapace of a turtle, which are the three stars in Orion's belt. Recent studies in Egyptian archeo-astronomy has identified the constellation Orion with Osiris, the god of resurrection. The lower left star in Orion's belt, Alnitak, has been identified with the Great Pyramid of Giza. First Father emerges out of a cleft mountain and a cleft turtle carapace, the mountain here possibly related to the idea of the pyramid. Maya Cosmos has gathered a creation story that can be placed now in the archeo-astronomical tradition of the world. In like manner, ancient India has the god Vishnu sitting upon Mt. Meru. A serpent is entwined around this mountain and under the mountain is a great turtle. This identifies Vishnu and Osiris with First Father; Mt. Meru and the great pyramid with the Cleft Mountain; the Vishnu turtle with the Mayan constellation of the turtle, the belt of Orion; and the serpent entwined around Mt. Meru with the Mayan double-headed serpent of the Ecliptic. Maya Cosmos is the first book I have read that has looked at the archeo-astronomy of the Maya and the Olmec and has given archeo-astronomers a valuable resource.