The Maya also observed the movement of the planet Venus, which was associated with the myth of Kukulkan (Quetzalcoatl – Feathered Serpent) Sometimes this planet was in the heaven behaving more like the Quetzl bird – and at other times it is invisible as it appears to travel below the earth like a serpent. During the Spring and Fall equinox at Chichen Itza, there is a pyramid that was built in a way that the jagged edges form a wavy line that descends along the side – giving dimension to the stone head of a snake below. It was a time when Kukulkan came to the earth.
Maya gods had affinities and merged with one another in ways that seem unbounded. There is a massive array of supernatural characters in the Maya religious tradition, only some of which recur with regularity. Good and evil traits are not permanent characteristics of Maya gods, nor is only “good” admirable. What is inappropriate during one season might come to pass in another since much of the Maya religious tradition is based on cycles and not permanence.
Philosophically, the Maya believed that knowing the past meant knowing the cyclical influences that create the present, and by knowing the influences of the present one can see the cyclical influences of the future. The Maya have much to be proud of and our excursions center on the timeless wisdom and appreciation for life that is at the center of their culture.
