South and Meso American Mythology - Free Books on Windows Pc

The world from which the mythology of South and Meso-America emerged is a land of extremes. It is a land of high, snow-covered mountain peaks and low river
basins; of barren, rocky, cold, and windy ocean coasts and hot tropical rain forests;
of land that is fertile and lush, and land that is subject to drought or created with
steep terraces so that crops could be grown. Volcanoes erupt. Earthquakes shake
the ground—sometimes so violently that entire towns are flattened. Hail, wind, and
driving rains destroy crops. The area covered by South and Meso-America gave
rise to several major civilizations; today the land encompasses 21 countries. The
mythology of this land is rich with stories of floods and fires, horrific monsters,
and a host of gods and goddesses who are jealous, and kind, and evil, and arrogant.
Some may be alternately kind and evil; some are so vast they have several names.
The realm of these gods and goddesses, and in fact of the people who revere
them, is not linear. Time does not flow on a single path that goes from then to
now. Space does not necessarily go from here to there. In this world, time and
space merge so at any moment one can tap into the future or access the past. In
South America, the Inca saw the cosmos as three concentric spheres—the past, the
present, and the future. Humans, often with the help of a shaman who could mediate with the inhabiting spirits, could learn from the past and future because they
were always accessible. In Meso-America, too, the past and future merged with the
present; it was possible to change the future by returning to the past. The MesoAmerican use of two or three calendars, each operating on a different cycle—it
might take as long as 52 years for a “date” to repeat—illustrate this perception of
time and space as more fluid and multidimensional.
In the myths, time means little: Heroes help create a world before their fathers
are born; people age or grow younger by ascending or descending a mountain.
And because of this timelessness, the myths do make sense. They do explain why
a condor’s feathers are black, what causes an earthquake, and how a much-played
ball game replays a cosmic fight. They also provide role models so strong that
people both fear and live to serve them—even today. These gods and goddesses
were real and infused every part of everyday life.
The myths of South and Meso-America reflect the themes found in the
mythology of other places. Here you will find heroes who face ordeals or tests. You
will read about paradise, the underworld, serpents, evil demons, the creation,
and stories of how the Earth became populated and how people got fire. Some
believe that ancient people created myths to help them explain their world or
construct their history—a world that we, in the age of information, try to explain
through scientific and historical facts and theories. Yet, history is more than a list
of facts. It is the telling of a people’s story.

South and Meso-America : A Brief History
Historians believe that humans began to migrate from Asia across the Bering land
bridge as long as 15,000 years ago. These humans brought with them a belief
system that included shamans and the conviction that animals held spiritual
power. People from several different groups made this trip, either gradually or
in waves. Eventually, some groups arrived in South and Meso-America. We don’t
know much about these early people, but this we do know: Some had reached
what is now Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America by 9000 b.c.;
by 8000 b.c. people in the Andes grew plants, probably to use to weave cloth; and
by 7000 b.c. people in Meso-America farmed. The growing of crops for food in the
Americas began in Meso-America and, from there, spread north and south.

South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z second Edition.

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