Name: The Popol Vuh
Author: Lewis Spence

How you explore The Popol Vuh on Literah

The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.

Built for your phone. Literah is designed for mobile, so your worlds travel with you. On a laptop it shows a QR code to carry the world to your phone.
A feed, not a wall of text. 36 characters, 7 places, 5 objects and 8 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
The author’s own words. 51 passages of The Popol Vuh sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as Lewis Spence wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
The same scroll, a better world. The gesture you already give away to feeds, spent on Lewis Spence instead.

9:41

The Cast

Hun-Ahpu

Main · Hero Twins

A young ballplayer walks into the underworld carrying the game his father could not survive.

Locations

Xibalba

underworld

Climb down past the river of blood to rulers who trick the living before they kill them.

Passage

The gods can make life, but can they create beings worthy of mercy?

Read →

The Author’s Pen

The Wooden Mannikins

Over a universe wrapped in the gloom of a dense and primeval night passed the god Hurakan, the mighty wind. He called out "earth," and the solid land appeared. The chief gods took counsel; they were Hurakan, Gucumatz, the serpent covered with green feathers, and Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the mother and father gods. As the result of their deliberations animals were created. But as yet man was not. To supply the deficiency the divine beings resolved to create mannikins carved out of wood. But these soon incurred the displeasure of the gods, who, irritated by their lack of reverence, resolved to destroy them.

Reading

The gods here make the world by speaking to it: Hurakan says "earth," and earth simply comes. That ease is the point, because it makes the failure that follows so strange. These same powerful beings, who can pull solid land out of darkness with a word, cannot get one thing right, which is a creature that will worship them. Animals come, but animals cannot pray, and the wooden men they try next turn out to be worse, going about their lives without a thought for the ones who made them. So the makers destroy their own work out of wounded pride.

World Index

The Plot

The Creations and the FloodThe False SunThe Fathers in XibalbaThe Birth of the Hero TwinsThe Twins and the MonkeysThe Descent to XibalbaDeath and TriumphThe Maize Men and the Dawn

The Cast

Hun-AhpuXbalanqueHun-HunahpuXquiqXmucaneHun-CameVucub-CameVucub-CakixZipacnaCabrakanVucub-HunahpuHunbatzHunchouenXpiyacocHurakanGucumatzCamazotzBalam-QuitzeBalam-AcabMahucutahIqui-BalamTepeuChimalmatCuchumaquicTohilAvilixHacavitzThe Four Hundred YouthsVocXanMessenger OwlsAnimal HelpersCaha-PalumaChoimhaTzununihaCakixa

Locations

HacavitzHouse of BatsThe BallcourtThe Calabash TreeTulan-Zuiva, the Seven CavesXibalbaXmucane's Household

Objects of Note

Ballgame EquipmentBlowpipeHun-Hunahpu's Severed HeadMaizeThe Majesty Enveloped

Core Concepts

Cunning answers death and forceDeath can be entered and reversedFalse brightness falls before sacred orderHuman limitation completes creationHumanity becomes complete through right relationInheritance repeats until it is repairedMemory turns creation into peoplehood

The Author's Pen

The Wooden MannikinsThe Wooden MannikinsThe Flood of MannikinsThe Flood of the MannikinsThe Household Turns On ThemThe Household Turns On ManThe Revolt of All ThingsNo Refuge for the MannikinsThe Overthrow of Vukub-CakixVukub Cakix Struck DownVukub-Cakix Tears Off Hun-Ahpu's ArmVukub Cakix Operated UponZipacna's Deadly ReturnThe Fall of ZipacnaCabrakan Bound and BuriedZipacna's RevengeChallenge From XibalbaThe Challenge to XibalbaThe Red Hot SeatHunhun-Ahpu's Head TreeXquiq Conceives by SpittleThe Substitute HeartXquiq Wins Xmucane's TrustCast Out, Made HuntersXmucane Laughs at ApesXmucane Laughs Them AwayMagic Tools and DeceptionThe Rat Reveals the BallgameXmucane Sends WarningThe Cane of Their WelfareXan Tests the XibalbansThe Xibalbans OutwittedThe House of BatsThe House of BatsDeath and TransformationDeath and Return TogetherThe Slaying of Xibalba's MonarchsThe Slaying of Xibalba's KingsPunishment of Xibalba's PrincesSun Moon And StarsThe Four Perfect MenHurakan Veils Their SightHurakan Clouds Their EyesGods Given at Tulan-ZuivaLeaving Tulan Under TohilThe First Appearance of the SunThe First Kiché CityThe Majesty EnvelopedHurakan Veils Their EyesTohil Brings Fire

Plot point 01

The Creations and the Flood

The gods try again and again to make creatures who will praise them — until their failed wooden people are drowned and turned to monkeys.

Objects of Note

Blowpipe

A small hunting tube brings down proud beings who mistake brightness for real power.

The Cast

Xbalanque

Main · Hero Twins

Beside his brother, he answers death's traps with patience, disguise, and sharper tricks.

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The Popol Vuh

Lewis Spence

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 128 classics in the Literah library

The Popol Vuh feed, as it appears in your mobile

The plot of The Popol Vuh

The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.

The Creations and the Flood
The False Sun
The Fathers in Xibalba
The Birth of the Hero Twins
The Twins and the Monkeys
The Descent to Xibalba
Death and Triumph
The Maize Men and the Dawn

The author's pen in The Popol Vuh

The passages themselves, Lewis Spence's own words, as Literah maps it.

The Wooden Mannikinsch. 1
The Wooden Mannikinsch. 1
The Wooden Mannikinsch. 1
The Flood of Mannikinsch. 1
The Flood of the Mannikinsch. 1
The Household Turns On Themch. 1
The Household Turns On Manch. 1
The Revolt of All Thingsch. 1
No Refuge for the Mannikinsch. 1
The Overthrow of Vukub-Cakixch. 1
Vukub Cakix Struck Downch. 1
Vukub-Cakix Tears Off Hun-Ahpu's Armch. 1
Vukub Cakix Operated Uponch. 1
Zipacna's Deadly Returnch. 1
The Fall of Zipacnach. 1
Cabrakan Bound and Buriedch. 1
Zipacna's Revengech. 1
Challenge From Xibalbach. 2
The Challenge to Xibalbach. 2
The Red Hot Seatch. 2

The characters of The Popol Vuh

Who is who, as Literah maps it.

Hun-Ahpumajor
Xbalanquemajor
Hun-Hunahpumajor
Xquiqmajor
Xmucanemajor
Hun-Camemajor
Vucub-Camemajor
Vucub-Cakixsupporting
Zipacnasupporting
Cabrakansupporting
Vucub-Hunahpusupporting
Hunbatzsupporting
Hunchouensupporting
Xpiyacocsupporting
Hurakansupporting
Gucumatzsupporting

The locations in The Popol Vuh

Where it happens, as Literah maps it.

Xibalbaunderworld
The Ballcourtballcourt
Xmucane's Householdhousehold
The Calabash Treetree
House of Batsordeal house
Tulan-Zuiva, the Seven Cavesmigration place
Hacavitzmountain

The core concepts in The Popol Vuh

What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.

Humanity becomes complete through right relation
False brightness falls before sacred order
Cunning answers death and force
Death can be entered and reversed
Inheritance repeats until it is repaired
Human limitation completes creation
Memory turns creation into peoplehood

The objects of note in The Popol Vuh

The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.

Blowpipe
Ballgame Equipment
Hun-Hunahpu's Severed Head
Maize
The Majesty Enveloped

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How you explore The Popol Vuh on Literah

The plot of The Popol Vuh

The author's pen in The Popol Vuh

The characters of The Popol Vuh

The locations in The Popol Vuh

The core concepts in The Popol Vuh

The objects of note in The Popol Vuh

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