Bloody Rituals of the Ancient Maya

The ancient Maya were many things. They were great astronomers, engineers, architects, artists, traders, and fierce warriors. They developed a complex religion and worshiped many gods. The worship of different deities in the Maya world involved ceremonies where, on many occasions, the rulers were called upon to intercede with the gods on their people’s behalf. Evidence exists that the royals would wear different makes that would represent the gods in the ceremonies. However, the Maya were also known for their bloody rituals.

During the pre-Columbian era, human sacrifice was common in the Maya culture. These bloody rituals were seen as an offering of nourishment to the gods. In fact, according to historians, blood was viewed as a very powerful sustenance of Mayan deities. The sacrifice of a living creature was a powerful blood offering. Therefore, across the Mayan world, such bloody rituals were common practices. According to certain statistics, the ancient Maya would make one sacrifice every ten minutes. If we do the math, it means they performed a little over 50,000 sacrifices per year.