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Title: Maya Cosmos by David Freidel, Justin Kerr, MacDuff Everton ISBN: 0-688-14069-6 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 27 February, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The First Book to Tell the Real Story About Maya Shamanism
Comment: As a person who has traveled in places where the modern Maya live--Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico--and who has taken the trouble to get to know what the history and culture of these admirable people is really like, I have always been appalled at the number of books that claim to be about "Maya shamanism," but are really just New Age claptrap. While it is true that MAYA COSMOS does not read like a mass-market paperback, it is one of the most heartfelt, well-researched, and stunning books on the Maya that I have ever read. If you want the REAL story on who the Maya are and how their spiritual and cultural beliefs have evolved over the last 5,000 years, this is the book for you. Yes, there is some scientific data and research here, but I would rather a thousand times read that than the silly cultural misinformation written by dozens of New Age authors who project their own interpretations onto the art and the cities without even being able to read the very texts they are claiming to understand. The late Linda Schele was one of the five major figures who was responsible for cracking the code of the Maya language. As an art historian, she was well versed in the complex and fascinating symbolism of Maya culture. David Freidel has been a brilliant Maya archaeologist for over 25 years, and first became involved with the culture because of his interest in shamanism. Joy Parker, who, by the way, was the ghost-co-author of A FOREST OF KINGS (check out the Acknowledgements and the Forward where her work is credited) has spent over a dozen years working with the modern Maya (most recently, as an editor of Maya shaman Martin Prechtel's SECRETS OF THE TALKING JAGUAR and LONG LIFE, HONEY IN THE HEART) and with other indigenous cultures such as the North Native Americans (check out her book WOMAN WHO GLOWS IN THE DARK) and African cultures, so she brings a special personal interest and flair to this project. The first-person stories told in this book are priceless. I spent as many pleasurable hours reading it as I did the authors' first effort A FOREST OF KINGS. If you truly want to learn about the history of the Maya, the tragedy of the Spanish conquest, and how the modern Maya find the strength to endure, this is the book for you.
Rating: 3
Summary: Not for the Beginner
Comment: I have to admit I didn't get more than halfway through this one - no way is this written for inquiring minds who aren't already versed in Mayan lore.
The book seems to describe the authors' discovery and fleshing-out of a new theory about how the Maya interpreted the stars. Apparently their creation story was all written up in the sky and, as the stars and planets moved, episodes in the creation were cyclically reinacted. This is not described very straight-forwardly, though, and I'm still not sure if I've got it right.
There is an attempt to make the whole thing read like a mystery novel, sort of a la "Celestine Prophesy": the book starts out describing the eager young scientists mixing with the wise tribals in an ancient ceremony. Later, for several chapters, one of the authors is quoted at length about how she discovered some commonality amongst various artifacts and codices which backed up some hypothesis, and which I entirely lost sight of by the end. She kept calling up friends and friends kept calling her up until I thought I was watching a Gidget movie. All the authors come off a little too New-Age loopy for me, adding lots of little asides praising the aboriginal and putting down the modern, and talking about how their life has been changed by their discoveries. But then, my confusion with all that Jaguar-3-Peccary-Holy-Twins-Tree-of-Life stuff may have made me just a bit grouchy.
At any rate, my point is, all the reviews on this page (except the very good Kirkus one) make the book sound like an easy read, which it isn't. It's a delineation of a hypothesis with some adventure stuff thrown in for better surface marketability. The result is, to me, confusing. Granted, it's not an easy subject, but that makes clear writing all the more important, especially if you're writing for mass consumption. Better to start out with one of Michael Coe's books and go from there.
Rating: 5
Summary: Archeoastronomy of the Maya
Comment: The authors present Mayan archeoastronomy in a very readable and absorbable form. Compare the astronomy/astrology/ myths and stories of the Maya to other cultures of which you are aware, and you will see that this book presents a valuable contribution to world archeoastonomy.
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Title: A Forest of Kings : The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya by David Freidel, Linda Schele ISBN: 0688112048 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 24 January, 1992 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Popol Vuh : The Definitive Edition Of The Mayan Book Of The Dawn Of Life And The Glories Of by Dennis Tedlock ISBN: 0684818450 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 31 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya by Mary Miller, Karl Taube ISBN: 0500279284 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: April, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The CODE OF KINGS: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs by Linda Schele, Justin Kerr ISBN: 0684852098 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 06 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art by Linda Schele, Mary Ellen Miller, Justin Kerr, Kimbell Art Museum ISBN: 0807612782 Publisher: George Braziller Pub. Date: May, 1992 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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