Maya art cannot be understood by merely looking. It must be seen and experienced within the context of the cosmological principles from which it springs forth. Viewed in reference to the spiritual traditions it embodies, the art itself becomes a portal through which we peer into the very consciousness of ancient shaman-artists. They not only used their art to give order and meaning to their lives, but they also used it as a tool to penetrate into the mysteries of human existence. The communicatively powerful art and writing they left behind are testimony to their quest.

From Martin Brennan’s The Hidden Maya, Santa Fé, New Mexico: Bear & Company, 1998, pp. 135-136.