When it comes to religion, however, we see quite a different picture. The Maya were polytheists; they worshipped gods of the sun, moon, rain, and corn, among many other things. Their priests were assiduous observers of the stars. Their worship included the use of incense and images, self-mutilation, ritual bloodletting, and the practice of human sacrifice​—of prisoners, slaves, and children in particular.

Speaking of the present-day Maya, the book The Mayas​—3000 Years of Civilization says: “The Mayas venerate their old gods of nature and their ancestors in fields, caves and mountains . . . and at the same time worship saints in church.” Thus, the god Quetzalcoatl, or Kukulcán, is equated with Jesus, and the moon goddess with the Virgin Mary. Furthermore, the worship of the sacred ceiba tree was replaced with the veneration of the cross, which the people still water as if it were a living tree. Instead of bearing representations of Jesus, crosses are decorated with ceiba blossoms.