Digital Preservation of Ancestral Science, Cosmology, and Regional Knowledge
The Mayan Library is a digital repository dedicated to the preservation, study, and responsible dissemination of the ancestral knowledge systems developed by the Maya civilization. Structured as an open-access research and educational platform, it contributes to the continuity of Indigenous science, sacred cosmology, ecological memory, and traditional healing practices. Rooted in the cultural and bioclimatic diversity of the Mayan Region —encompassing present-day southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras—this initiative recognizes the ongoing relevance of Maya epistemologies for contemporary fields such as integrative medicine, environmental resilience, and bioregional planning.
“The Maya did not separate the sacred from the scientific, the ritual from the empirical. Their cosmology was a coherent system where time, nature, spirit, and body formed one integrated whole.”
— Barbara Tedlock, Time and the Highland Maya (1992)
This project is part of the Worldwide Library Project, an interlinked network of digital knowledge archives coordinated through Ancestrix.org, a platform dedicated to constructing the world’s most comprehensive open-access collection of ancestral wisdom and emerging ecological science. Through this network, the Mayan Library participates in a global ecowebecosystem, offering a scalable and multilingual model for cultural preservation, spiritual education, and biocentric scholarship.
The content curated within this library includes but is not limited to: traditional healing methodologies; botanical classifications of medicinal plants native to the Maya Forest; spiritual practices and rituals relating to calendrical systems such as the Tzolk’in and Haab’; foundational cosmological concepts including ch’ulel, ka’an, ixim, and the three-tiered universe; oral traditions and ceremonial narratives; and ongoing efforts in language preservation for Mayan languages such as Yucatec, K’iche’, Q’eqchi’, and Tzotzil, among others. These knowledge domains are presented through a combination of academic research, community-based documentation, and historical sources, all formatted to facilitate cross-disciplinary engagement.
Our methodological approach is grounded in principles of respect, attribution, intercultural dialogue, and epistemological plurality. We explicitly recognize Indigenous Peoples as the sovereign holders of their knowledge and reject extractivist or appropriative frameworks. The materials published here are either open-source academic resources, publicly available fieldwork records, or contributions from recognized cultural practitioners who have agreed to share their insights for educational purposes.
“Indigenous knowledge is not just knowledge of the past. It is a dynamic, adaptive system rooted in experience, ecology, and intergenerational memory.”
— Arturo Gómez-Pompa, Ethnobotanist and Maya Forest conservationist
This initiative is intended to serve a broad spectrum of users: scholars conducting ethnohistorical or ethnobotanical research; educators integrating Indigenous science into curricula; traditional healers seeking comparative references; linguists engaged in language recovery; and members of Maya communities or diasporas reclaiming and recontextualizing their heritage. Each entry is accompanied by citations and, where applicable, cross-referenced in a multilingual bioregional glossary that supports semantic consistency across the wider library system.
The value of ancestral science lies not only in its historical significance, but in its applicability to the crises of the present. In times of climate disruption, cultural fragmentation, and epistemic homogenization, the revitalization of place-based, relational knowledge is an ethical imperative. The Mayan Library stands as a response to this need—an instrument of continuity, connection, and intellectual dignity.