Christian. Amateur Mayanist & mythographer. Interested in civ cycles & societal collapse. Threads about mythopoesis, botany, history & technics.
It hardly bears mentioning that the concept of nuclear armageddon loomed terrible over how the Cold War generation saw the world & themselves. What receives less attention is how professional elites saw this technology in light of their 'expert knowledge'.
Yog-Sothoth, The Key and The Gate 
Like ancient Egyptians, they saw elongated heads as a mark of divinity. For the Maya, it also carried the aesthetic association of an ear of corn, around which much cultural & religious symbolism revolved.
(This is purely based on keeping my ear to the ground during my first week at vocational college, which wrapped up today, so don’t ask me for literary sources. This is what I have picked up from muttered comments & black humour shared between teachers, senior students etc.) 
First, a brief primer on the Christian subtext of good leadership & a little bit about post-liberal theories of power. If this bores you, I get into Mayan sacral kingship at #32. If you know nothing of the Maya, you can start with this thread:
Once again, a theological prelude is necessary if you want the full benefit of this thread, but if you just want Maya trivia, skip ahead to #18. Those not familiar with the Maya can learn more here:
For those who are interested, first take a look at this thread. It will help situate the overarching thematic of rise & fall, give you a better feel for the timeline of Maya civilisation & a sense of its broader ecological & political context.
The Mesoamerican cultural continuum is one of the eight high cultures explicitly named by Oswald Spengler (though he simply calls it “Mexican”). Its zenith spanned from 250-700AD, generally periodised as the ‘Classic’ epoch.