Amazing Mayan Facts

Amazing Mayan Facts- By Madison Nef

#1- Continuing Culture

Mayans very strongly believe in repetition, and have been holding traditions for over 3000 years now. There are over 7000000 Mayans still living on the ground on which their ancestors were born. While some get caught up in modern times, many are stuck in the old Mayan ways and still speak Mayan as fluently as we speak English.

#2- Controlled Beauty at Young Ages

The Mayans had a thing about how their children looked. As babies, boards would be pressed on the young ones’ foreheads so as to flatten it down to the parents’ liking. Another odd practice was to cross the babies’ eyes.  To do this, dangling objects were held in front of the babies’ eyes until they were permanently crossed. There was also a naming pattern according to the day, month and year they were born in. All parents were expected to follow this rule.

#3- Weird Medicine Practices

Most Mayans were not given a very good education. Only a select few who had been given proper teaching were selected to be the doctor, or in Mayan terms, shaman for their village. The shaman was devoted to practicing sorcery involving seeing the future etc., but must also have good medicine training. The Mayans were known to be very good healers, covering raw wounds with human hair to keep it from infection. They were also semi-advanced dentists, using iron pyrite to fill teeth.

#4- Blood Sacrificing

Many people already know that the Mayans used to be real big into sacrificing people to the gods by tossing them down wells, chopping them up, etc., but most do NOT know that some Mayans STILL practice sacrificing. However, some changes have been made to this process. People are still sacrificed, but chicken blood has been exchanged for human blood, making it a tiny bit less gory.

#5- Mayan Painkillers

Many natural drugs were used in sacrifice services. They also can be used for painkillers. The most common type is hallucinogenic, which was regularly used in religious ceremonies. Other popular natural drugs include: peyote, the morning glory, certain mushrooms, tobacco, and plants used to make alcoholic substances.