![]() ![]() The Twins also represent the importance of family loyalty, team work and the need to use intelligence and wit along with physical strength to overcome life’s challenges. It also suggest that the tales of the Heroic Twins like the sun and the moon brighten the gloomy nights and days of man. Mayan scholars claim the Heroic Twins’ new stature in the cosmos is to remind Mayan Royalty that they too will become fixtures in the heavens after death. Later the brothers are transformed and reborn as sun and moon. Needless to say once the gods permit their own dismemberment the brothers renege on their promise and reign victorious. The brothers’ good fortune continues in the next episode when they magically reassemble their bodies’ severed parts they promise to teach this trick to the underworld gods. The Twins’ luck returns when an errant rabbit distracts the gods’ attention long enough for Xbalangue to retrieve his brother’s severed head and reunite it with his body. Latter in the House of Bats, Hunahpu is decapitated his head hangs trophy-like over the ball court during Xbalague’s match with the underworld gods. In the House of Jaguars they appease the beast by feeding them bones. They survive freezing to death in the House of Cold by building fires. The brothers also use their wits to avoid pitfalls in the various houses of horror. ![]() This knowledge prevents the brothers from offending the god’s dignity or committing errors of protocol. First the brothers send a mosquito to spy and learn the correct assignment and pronunciation of the deities’ names. The Heroic Twins use their intelligence and cleverness to even the odds and avoid the death traps set for them. The brothers’ egotism and enthusiasm for the game prompt them to accept even though they recognize the unfair homecourt advantage of the gods. The gods challenge the brothers to play against them. These twins are consummate ball players, (Sport being Sacred Ritual) whose constant victories generate jealousy and anger among the gods of the underworld. This story recounts the adventures of the Hero Twins, Hanahpu and Xbalague. Our first selection is from the Popol Vuh- The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. Prometheus: The first three stops on our trickster journey around the world will be in Mesoamerica, Australia and India. ![]()
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