2013 or Is Creation the Right Word: Mesoamerican Cosmology and - PDF document

2013 or Is “Creation” the Right Word: Mesoamerican Cosmology and Concepts of Creation Martha J. Macri Rumsey Endowed Chair in California Indian Studies University of California, Davis Although academics who are scholars of both ancient and contemporary Mesoamerican cultures describe beliefs and traditions about creation, it is not at all certain precisely what these scholars are discussing, and even less certain what Mesoamerican peoples of two thousand years ago may have understood by such a term. This paper looks specifically at what contemporary Western scholars imply by their use of the word creation, and suggests that accounts of events in the far distant Mesoamerican past may have had significance quite distinct from any Aristotelian or Judeo-Christian concept of prime-mover who creates the universe from nothing. In several of the papers of this session, so-called creation stories are shown to be metaphorical explanations of natural phenomena, some specifically referring to recurring astronomical occurrences. Data from hieroglyphic texts and Classic Period iconography support the Maya’s notion of a cyclical, rather than linear, organization of time, again reflecting a focus on repeating and predictable cosmic events. The indigenous peoples of the Americas have a long tradition of oral and written narratives. These are often grouped into genres, one of which is called creation stories. These origin stories themselves can be further organized by their formal characteristics (whether they are written or unwritten, sacred and formal or anecdotal) or by their subject

matter. The genres of one culture do not, however, necessarily match the characteristics of similar genres in other cultures. In the case of creation stories, this is certainly the case. Traditional stories told by Native Americans that ethnographers and linguists have labeled creation stories recount activities of varying scope. Some tell of the origin of the entire cosmos, others the origin of people and animals, some the origin of only the true people—the origin of a particular ethnic group. Sometimes these stories include a creator, a person (human or animal or mythical) who creates the world or the people from nothing or from mud or corn or some other substance. But often, the agency in these stories is unclear or not referred to at all; they are simply narratives of what happened. Some of these creations are instantaneous events. Others take place over a period of time, and may involve multiple phases of creation, or multiple attempts at creation (as in the Popol Vuh—sometimes by a second or third tier of creators. Stories of the creation of humans often tell of an arrival of the first person or first people from the sky or their emergence from under the earth or from a direction—the north, or the south, or the east. or the west. Almost never should indigenous creators be identified with the concept of prime-mover who creates the universe ex nihilo . Unfortunately, Mesoamerica scholars have a tradition of labeling as creation stories anything that has to do with a distant time or mythological past, whether or not the story involves some sort of creation event.

In Mesoamerica, we have written records from as early as the seventh century, that record the 0.0.0.0.0 (or 13.0.0.0.0) 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk’u initial date of the Mesoamerican long count calendar over 3000 years earlier (recorded in sets of days, 20 days, 360 days, 20 x 360 days, and 400 x 360 days, up to 13 x 400 x 360 days—about 5,125 years, at which point the count begins again). In addition to having been recorded several times by the Classic Period Maya, this initial date is implied in all long count dates, of which the earliest known are from the late seventh b’ak’tun (400-year period), from Guatemala and Veracruz dating from about 32 BCE to 37 CE (e.g., Takalik Ab’aj, Stela 2, Tres Zapotes, Stela C, and El Baúl, Stela 1). Whether the long count was invented about this time, or whether it was in use earlier remains unknown. We do know, however, that the Classic Maya also recorded a few dates that took place prior to 3113 BCE. In Palenque on the Temple 19 platform are three dates that occur in the twelfth b’ak’tun: 12.09.19.14.05, an 819-day count, 12.10.01.13.02, the accession of Junal Ye, and 12.10.12.14.18, a series of several other events occurring under the auspices of Junal Ye. Similarly, on the Temple of the Cross are several 12.19 dates, that is, dates that fall within the twenty-years prior to 13.0.0.0.0 (or 0.0.0.0.0), including the birth of Na Mat Muwan, and an 819-day count. These 12 b’ak’tun dates unequivocally show that 13.0.0.0.0 was not understood as the date of the creation of the universe, but simply the beginning of a new cycle of b’ak’tuns. The Maya did record several times that on 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk’u the three celestial hearthstones were set up, or manifested (e.g., Palenque, Temple of the Cross and Temple

of the Sun; Piedras Negras Altar 1; Quirigua Stela C). This is generally understood as a creation event, but might be better understood as the setting up of a new age, of a new era, especially considering that certain events predate this. Just as the initial date of 13.0.0.0.0, is the date of completion of a b’ak’tun count, the final date of 12.19.19.17.19, and the new beginning on the following day of 13.0.0.0.0, on the winter solstice of our year 2012 mark points on a recurring cycle, not an absolute beginning and ending. Most people are not aware that we have no known example of the Maya ever having recorded the date of the coming end of 13.0.0.0.0. We only know of it in the same way that we know of the 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk’u event—by projecting the long count into the future. Nor are the events prior to 13.0.0.0.0 ever described specifically as acts of cosmic creation. They are recorded simply as the births and accessions of notable persons who are identified by some scholars as various celestial bodies. Additional written evidence of the antiquity of some of these personages comes from the Mixtec historical books. The Oaxacan personage Nine Wind may be the same individual mentioned in Maya texts who has the birth date of 9 Wind in 01.18.05.03.02. The Mayan texts in which this is recorded were carved in the seventh century, hundreds of years before the activities of a series of Mixtec ruling families beginning in the tenth and eleventh centuries were recounted in the Codices Zouche-Nuttall and Vienna, books whose latest written versions probably date to the decades immediately prior to the

Spanish conquest. In Mesoamerica, scribes recorded what was considered to be events of cosmological importance, some of which set in place movements of the moon and planets and stars that could be directly observed, that could be depended on to repeat. A word of caution to those who would attempt to understand any indigenous accounts of creation. Any origin story accessible to us today has either been told in the indigenous language or in Spanish or English. If in an indigenous language it has been translated, either at the time of hearing or later by someone removed from the event of telling. If translated, it may have been done either by the teller, or by someone else, not necessarily a native speaker of the language. The opportunities for information to be misunderstood multiply the farther remove one is from the original story. These same caveats are not less important to those examining written records of events in the remote past, for which the vagaries of decipherment multiply the opportunities for misunderstandings. Finally, what are the deliberate as well as the unconscious purposes of stories about the setting up of the cosmos, stories of ethnic origins? If the motive of those who tell creation stories is to ensure cultural continuity, what elements of culture are being emphasized? What spiritual or intellectual concepts? What natural phenomena? What political motivation? In the case of Mesoamerica it would seem to be a blending of explanations for natural phenomena that are illustrative of philosophical ideas and useful for political legitimization.

A clearer understanding of the continuous count of the b’ak’tuns, and a more precise use of the word “creation” forces us to clarify the nature of the many different phenomena that are described by what we have called “creation.” And as we honor the cyclical nature of virtually all aspects of the cosmos, instead of fearing the year 2012 as an escatological event, it becomes a marker of change, a new beginning. Victor Montejo, a contemporary Maya writer and activist, in a recent lecture, urges the world to prepare for change, for renewal, and to participate in the coming end of the thirteenth b’ak’tun as a time of hope. In that spirit, perhaps we might not focus on 2012, but look forward to 2013—a future that some would fear does not exist, but that others, including many Maya people, imagine as a renaissance, a time of transformation and regeneration.