Middleworld

Article summary

In ancient Maya cosmology, Middleworld is the Earth, or the world of men. "In ancient Maya thought, the universe was suffused with sacredness that resonated from the presence of deities. The ancestors, spirits and deities not only resided in the Upperworld and the Underworld (sometimes called Xibalba), but also shared the Middleworld, or Earth with its human and animal populations." According to Mayan belief, gods occupied the Upperworld and the Underworld, and the middle level consisted of mortal beings. The gods inhabiting the Upper and Underworlds possessed shape-shifting powers to shift into different supernatural realms of time and space, whereas the flow of time and space of the middle level was stuck in one spot. All three levels were joined by the World Tree, a giant ceiba tree which served as the central pole holding the worlds together. The nine levels of the Underworld were represented by the roots, Middleworld by the trunk, and the thirteen heavens of the Skyworld by the branches. This concept is similar to the beliefs held by many ancient cultures, including the Norse, who thought that they inhabited a middle-earth. The Maya also believed that their pyramid temples were sites at which these worlds could be transversed.…

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.