You are currently viewing Kukulkan the WInged Serpent and How Stories Came Into the World

Kukulkan the WInged Serpent and How Stories Came Into the World

I found this story in an amazing collection of stories called The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas, collected and told by Maria Garcia Esperon, illustrated by Amanda Mijangos, and translated into English by David Bowles.

Gathered from the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America, from a vast tapestry of Native American storytelling traditions, Kukulkan: How Stories Came Into the World is a gift from the Mayan people. Children will be mesmerized by the two creators, Hurakan, Heart of Sky, and Kukulkan, the Winged Serpent. Adults will wonder about how language both operates in creating the world, and in being able to give thanks for the world that is created.

Maria Esperon writes in her introduction, “fifteen thousand years before Europeans stepped foot in the Americas, people had already spread from tip to tip and coast to coast  [of what we now call the Americas]. Like all humans, these Native Americans  sought to understand their place in the universe, the nature of their relationship with the divine, and the origin of the world into which their ancestors had emerged. The answers lay in their sacred stories. Passed down through generations, these narratives created an unbroken strand of indigenous wisdom, lore that guided life and love, warfare and worship. …Our hope is to open your hearts and minds  to the wisdom and the beauty of the people on whose land we now live. Let these vital ancient words thread  themselves into the woof of your soul, teaching you to respect and admire the lore that has endured unto this moment, and to weep for all that has been irrevocably lost.”   

Things to talk about and explore: where the world comes from, how the earth, the plants, the animals and human beings are connected, the  importance of being thankful for the gifts of the earth, the act of creation, creativity, making things, language, poetry, storytelling, Mayan cultural traditions, Native American storytelling traditions, storytelling, learning, and wisdom

 

Leave a Reply