10 Examples of Mayan Legends

Mayan legends

The mayan legends They are orally transmitted narratives that contain supernatural events or characters that originated in the Mayan civilization, but continue to be told in the present. These stories have no author and reflect very important cultural aspects for this people.

The Maya were a civilization that lasted for approximately eighteen centuries (until 1572) and that found in southeastern Mexico, in Yucatan, Guatemala, Belize, and part of Honduras and El Savior. This original people produced very important cultural advances and many of them are present today.

Are legends They show aspects of the worldview and religious beliefs of the Mayans, but some have been modified by the influence of the Spanish conquerors and the Catholic religion.

Characteristics of Mayan legends

Examples of Mayan legends

1. The legend of the white flower

This legend explains the origin of the May flower. According to legend, a man was very sad because he could not have children with his wife. He walked at night looking at the stars and one day he prayed to the gods to allow him to have a daughter who was like the stars he looked at.

His wife gave birth to a girl, who when she grew up she spent her time looking at the stars. Soon after, the girl fell ill and no one knew what to do to treat the illness she suffered. Years passed and one month in May the young woman passed away. The father dreamed that his daughter was flying to the stars and understood that the gods had sent him to a star as her daughter.

The parents, very sad, buried her daughter and a year later, in May, a plant grew on her grave that gave white flowers, which they called the Mayflower.

1. Legend of Canek

This legend is a fantastic explanation for an event that occurred: the breakup of the Mayapán League in 1441. This league was made up of the inhabitants of Uxmal, Chichén Itzá and Mayapán.

According to legend, Sac Nicté was the princess of Mayapán and Canek was the prince of Chichén Itzá. The day this young man was crowned he saw the princess and fell madly in love with her. But she was already betrothed to Ulil, the prince of Uxmal.

The day of the wedding arrived, Canek went with his warriors to stop the ceremony and San Nicté left with him. The two lovers ran away, but the inhabitants of Uxmal and Mayapán were furious and went to Chichén Itzá to get revenge. When they arrived, all the inhabitants were gone, but they destroyed the city anyway.

1. The sadness of the maya

This legend seeks to convey a teaching about sadness and the difficulty of erasing it with other things. It is said that there was a very sad man in the forest and that some animals came to ask him what was wrong. The man replied that he was sad and the animals told him to ask them for something. The man replied that he wanted to be happy.

The animals told him that they could not grant that wish, but others could. Then the man told them: "I want to have a great sight" and the buzzard gave him the gift of good sight. Later the man said that he wanted to be strong and the jaguar gave him the gift of strength. Then he said that he wanted to be smart and the fox gave him the gift of cunning. Then he said that he wanted to climb trees and the squirrel gave him the gift of climbing. Later he said that he wanted to know all the uses of plants, and the snake, as he knew a lot about that, also gave him that gift.

The man left and the owl told the animals: "He can have many things, he can do many things, but he will remain sad."

1. Legend of the man who sold his soul

This legend was used to explain the origin of the different types of beans that exist. The legend begins with a man who was very intelligent, but who was very sad and that is why he invoked Kizín, the demon. The man offered his soul in exchange for seven wishes and the demon accepted.

The first wish the man made was to be rich, and he was immediately filled with gold. The second was good health, and he got it. The third was food, and he ate as he never had before. The fourth was having power, and he also got it. The fifth was traveling, and the man was able to see very beautiful places. The sixth was a wife, and he too was granted this wish.

But the seventh wish he made was for Kizin to wash the black beans until they were white. The demon tried, but he couldn't clean them, so he thought that he had been tricked and that from now on there would be white, red and green beans, in addition to black ones.

1. Legend of the Huay Chivo

This legend comes from the Mayans, but in many regions the Huay Chivo is still believed to exist. It is said that this being is a man who can become a monster, half goat and half man.

According to legend, the Huay Chivo was a sorcerer who sold his soul to Kizín, a demon. This being can make men go crazy if they look directly at it, but if they look down nothing will happen to them. It is also said that this creature is responsible for strange things that happen in the field, for example, the theft of chickens, droughts, among other things.

1. The aluxes

According to Mayan legend, the aluxes were small clay beings that were made to protect crops. In the present, some people believe that these beings exist and that they can be good or bad. They will be good if they are treated well, but they will be bad if they are insulted or if they attack the space they are taking care of.

It is also said that they are invisible, that they scare people who enter the forests and that they can take the form of a Mayan warrior, but much smaller.

1. Maní Cenote

A cenote is a well, and this legend happens in a place that really exists, in Maní, a city in the state of Yucatán. According to legend, the water will run out because people have always used it badly and, when this happens, the only place where there will be water will be in this cenote.

Legend also tells that an old woman and a large snake live there and that, when the water runs out, they will have to feed the snake with people, so that the old woman gives the people stones with water that can quench their thirst.

1. The legend of the wood pigeon

This legend is a love story. It is said that there was a warrior and hunter who was once in the forest hunting and suddenly he saw a woman near the river and fell in love with her. He returned many times to the same place to see if he saw her, but he was useless, he could not find her.

As he was desperate, she asked a sorceress to help him and she told him that he would only see her again if she turned into a dove, but that he would never be a man again. The warrior accepted, the sorceress stuck a thorn in her neck and he became a dove.

He returned to the river, saw the woman and approached her. She grabbed it with her hands and removed the thorn, but that caused the pigeon to die. The woman, very sad, stuck her thorn in and turned into a dove. It is said that, from that moment, she does not stop crying over the death of the pigeon.

1. The Chom

This legend tells of the origin of the buzzards. It is said that one day the king of Uxmal made a great banquet, but before the guests arrived, the king went to rest and all the food was left on the terrace of the palace. The choms, birds that had feathers of many colors, approached the terrace and devoured all the food.

When the king saw the mess they had made, he wanted to punish them, so he called on his sorcerers to make the birds pay for what they had done. The sorcerers took some chom feathers they found and put them on the fire. These were black and were placed in a vessel containing a potion. They told the king that he had to re-prepare the banquet for the spell to work.

The feast was prepared, the birds returned to devour everything, but they did not realize that the sorcerers had hidden. Suddenly, the wizards came out and threw the potion with burned wings at the birds. The beautiful feathers of the birds turned black and they could no longer eat rich dishes, but only carrion. It is said that from that moment, buzzards began to exist.

1. The Cocay

This legend tells of the origin of the cocay or the firefly. It is said that there was a healer who could cure all diseases with a bright green stone. One day this man was walking through the forest and lost his precious stone.

The healer returned to the forest and asked different animals to help him find his stone. The deer was the first to find it, but he found it so cute that, instead of taking it to the healer, he swallowed it. But his belly hurt so much that he had to spit it out.

The buzzard got tired of flying so much and not seeing her and the hare was running so fast that he couldn't see her either. Meanwhile the cocay kept searching in all the recesses of the forest, until suddenly he found her, her body lit up when he grabbed her and took her to the healer. The man was very grateful and told him that from that moment on, his body would be enlightened forever.

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