I was talking with my husband a little bit the other day (because, ya know, I'm not ready for a huge "hey, I don't think I believe... dicussion yet) and he mentioned that there are a lot of things in the Popal Vuh myth that seem to align with the Book of Mormon. I know his Dad also shares that belief (probably where my hubby got it from) and uses that as a way to help strengthen his belief. Granted, I only read a quick summary of it, but I had a hard time finding any type of continuity between the two. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Most religious myths align together at least a little bit. That is why I don't believe anybody has the the truth. In my studies, I find it interesting the similarities between creation and god that developed through all part of the world.

Yes. Ancestoral memory and universal archetypes account for a lot of it, I think. Combine that with each culture taking the creation (however it happened) and putting it in context with their cultural beliefs, and there's bound to be tons of overlapping and a lot of differences as well.

I can see alignment between the Popal Vuh myth and, well, the creation, but nothing that aligns specifically with the BoM.

Disclaimer: I am not familiar with the Popol Vuh, other than the bits that Erich Von Daniken claimed 'seemed to align' with his theory of aliens and ancient astronauts.

However, I would be very suspicious of any 'alignment' between the PV and the BoM, and I would like to see the translation (a reputable translation, not from BYU) and see it in context.

The short answer is: NO, the Popol Vuh has NOTHING in common with the fantasy-stories in the Book of Mormon.

Mormons have developed these like:like games to a ridiculously high degree in desperate attempt after desperate attempt to remain relevant in a world that, scientifically speaking, finds them irreversibly irrelevant.

Wild-hare hypothesizing is NOT good research, nor is it good science.

parallelomania.

Exactly.

Parallelomania and the Mythical Fallacy.

When I heard about the Popul Vuh book and the BoM relationship, I went and got a copy of the Popol Vuh, in Spanish. I read it and could not make any relationships between the two. I even thought I had the wrong book. However, as a good mormon I thought the problem was that I didn't have any training of whatever sort you need to make the square peg fit the round hole.

I should probably go and dig it out, see what I make of it now. =)

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who doesn't see it. Even the parallels (does spell check work in this little text box? I always feel like I'm spelling things wrong and not getting the little underline to tell me) with other creation stories are a bit of a force.

I read the Popol Vuh about 14 years ago, and don't really want to read it again.

But there's a tale of a young princess who is forbidden to go near a certain tree. She goes near the tree and there's a talking skull in the tree inviting her to come closer. When she comes closer (and if I remember correctly) the skull spews sperm at her and she gets knocked up and gives birth to two boys.

Okay, just kinda, sorta like Eve and the fruit. But that's just a snippet of the story. The rest of the story bears no resemblance.

Yeah, but that would be kinda like a Biblical account, kinda (right? I mean, that's not just Mormons that say Eve ate the fruit, lol), and not anything special about the Book of Mormon.

Wow, it is like a combination between the Eden myth with the forbidden tree and the Osiris myth where Isis impregnates herself by reattaching his severed penis to his dead corpse! That proves the BoM is true because it combines Hebrew and Egyptian myths just like how Nephi wrote in Egyptian but was a Hebrew!

I don't remember much because quite frankly I didn't understand what I was reading, although it was translated to english. Sufficient to say that I fail to see how it's similar to BoM, or to anything christian whatsoever. It was a very strange read but if I could find it online so can you, and perhaps you'll have better success comprehending the thing.