pueblos indigenas (ingles)

8/2/2019 Pueblos Indigenas (Ingles)

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PUEBLOS INDIGENAS

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1. THE MYTH OF ARIDOAMERICA2. THE OLMEC : OUR MOTHER CULTURE3. DIVINE DUALITY4. MAN AND WOMAN : a pair of complementary opposites5. THE CIVILIZATION OF THE ANAHUAC6. HUEHUETLAHTOLLI: An ancient Toltec word7. DO WE HAVE A FUTURE?8. MAN: PRIMORDIAL OR MODERN?9. IS IT POSSIBLE?10. A CULTURE OF TOTAL QUALITY11. WHY WRITE ABOUT ANCIENT MEXICO12. THE MYSTERY OF LIFE13. HIEROPHANIES OF THE ANÁHUAC

TOLTECAYOTL The wisdom of the Old Grandfathers of Ancient MexicoAre Mexicans uncultured foreigners in their own land?Does the Future of Mexico lie in its past?Is everything ancient necessarily primitive?Do Mexicans know the name our ancestors called themselves?What did the ancestors call our country and continent?Are we Mexicans a people viewed to be more indigenous than Spanish?What does it mean to be indigenous?

The object of this web is to create a bridge between reflection andcommunication for individuals with the potential to revive the wisdom of the

Old Grandfathers. An ancient legacy that has disappeared from our societyand is dormant in our subconscious, a wisdom and legacy that still is truetoday and embrace the many ethnic peoples that form the Mexican nation.We Mexicans have lived for more than five hundred years in the intricatelabyrinth of desolation. By choice we have ignored and snubbed our MotherCulture in trying to be more Spanish from colonial times, more French fromthe XIX Century and more like Gringos in the last hundred years. Wecontinually deny our roots, belittle our own ancestry and ancient legacy whileon the other hand, we exult foreign culture and extol the white race.Ironically, we are ignored and rejected by the same people who colonized usand other foreign powers.

The future of all Mexicans lies in the capacity and will of each individual tocleanse our minds and our hearts of past colonial imperialism. We must allreclaim our past, our ancestry, our legacy, and revive our languages; for onlythen we can rewrite history in our own words instead of the foreign accountsinterpreted in the words of our conquerors. We must reclaim our own physicalspace, our ancient spirituality and our own ancient knowledge to reclaim ourdignity and rightfully demand justice.How can we continue to ignore and reject the harmony our ancestors onceknew and lived? They achieved a harmonious balance between men andnature. Our Old Grandfathers knew and practice these laws in remote times,in Teotihuacan, when one day, they learned to become gods. This is ourancestry.

We must know to live with these ancient decrees and be worthy of thismagnificent legacy.



1. THE MYTH OF ARIDOAMERICAGuillermo Marín.

The children of the children of the Old Grandfathers, have been subjected,since 1521, to the systematic extermination of language, historical memory,religionlo, old knowledge and their own space. The conqueror wrote Mexico’shistory according to their words and for their own gain and personal fame.

The vast majority of "great" historians writing about ancient Mexico, areforeigners that either lived for short periods in the country to gatherinformation and observe the locals or research others to gather information tobase later on, their own knowledge in the topic. The might research the worksof anthropologists and archaeologists to give depth to their new writings, but,like Hernan Cortez and other Spanish chroniclers, the essence of the realancien world will remain untouched.

The Cartas de Relacion, or correspondence between Cortez and the King of

Spain, deal with judicial arguments whether disregard for the law andauthority of the Governor of Cuba took place; a totally partial fact of the of the historical event. This text, however, is considered today to be of "greathistorical value"as a tool to understand the motive and process of the Spanishconquest and an inappropriate source to understand th history of the OldGrandfathers. Ever since that fatal year of 1521, the history of Mexico hasbeen written by the hands of the conquerors themselves and then by otherforeigners, but never in the hands of the people, whose ancient records,language and hearts, were destroyed by the invaders. Our millenary wisdom,an outcast in the new society was substituted with alien culture, religion andlaws. The foreigners "studied" and "considered" our ancient history, so oneday could divide our civilization in two sections. The first was called

Mesoamerica and embraced the area from state ofZacatecas all the waydown to Nicaragua. This region was acclaimed the place where " good ancientIndians" developed sophisticated cultures, centers of wisdom, built fantasticball courts, lived in magnificent palaces and erected many pyramids. Thesecond region was named Aridamerica, in these parts, "bad Indians that weresavages, bellicose and blood thirsty lived. The former left evidence of advanced craftsmanship in the form of beautiful decorated ceramics andother artifacts, that today are in the possession of European museums andother in the world. The peoples of Aridamerica, however, left nothing, butrecords of bloody sacrifices and persecution and killings of other ethnicgroups. These records reported and written by the conquerors themselves, for

our own millenary historical and religious records were destroyed by theinvaders.It is curious to note, that European culture measures, by their own standard,other cultures in the world. And yet, we know that Europeans have taken holdof everything on this planet that produces revenue. In the last five hundredyears of human history, they have dominated other civilizations, claimingnatural resources for their own profit and in poor countries, exploit the peopleto process and manufacture goods to be exported and sold at great price. Tothem, culture must be based on its three origins: Greco-Latin, Germanic and

Judeo-Christian to be considered "advanced and modern". These threecultures sustain what is called "Occidental Culture" engages in wars that areexplained as necessary to uphold democracy, are ruled by uncaring and

despotic governments, practice a religion centered on material possession,worship money as their god, and put their trust in military power. Yes, these



are the same European that once declared our civilization to be bellicose,primitive and pagan. This European culture, admire the splendor of the grecasthat adorn some of our ancient edifices. These grecas that are the essence of the philosophy of the Anahuac. These ancient motif design that are namedpetrography in their language, were the expression and creation of the peopleof Ancient Mexico. Miguel Leon Portilla, an Mexican investigator, has calledthis ancient knowledge TOLTECAYOTL, This knowledge and its practice is stillobserved by Indian peoples in the northern part of our nation. It is nocoincidence then, that Carlos Castaneda made the discovery of the century inthe field of anthropology, in Sonora and Baja California. Castaneda was put incontact with an old and experienced shaman, a Yaqui Indian that instructedhim in the ancient knowledge of the Mexican people, that has beentransmitted from generation to generation. The nagual or sorcerer, revealedhis ancient philosophy that caused the waters to part and touched people. Itis ironic that these northern Indians are respected in the world and theirphilosophy recognized and added to others, but these same Indians remain inanonymity and unrecognized in their own country.

The Indians living in the northern part of ancient Mexico, were as wise andadvanced as their counterpart in the south. They are different pueblos, butonly geographically, for their wisdom and societies rose in the desert. Theirteachings and philosophies are solid and have managed to survive to thepresent day. This knowledge is an important millenary inheritance to theinhabitants in the north. Geography does not erase the genetic origin. Thesepeople know the wisdom and teachings of the Old Granfathers. This is enoughfor us in the south, to call these peoples our brothers. The name of Aridamerica as called by men of culture, is a myth that rose from amongmany other myths in the Spanish Conquest and Colonial times. Aridamerica isa contradiction. It means that nothing grows and is impossible to sustain inthe desert and yet, we have seen that it is not so, for the people are great

contributors recognized by the whole world.

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2. THE OLMEC : OUR MOTHER CULTUREGuillermo Marín.

The Olmec represent the culmination of a people that were original nomads,

hunters and gatherers to the first and well established culture that developsophisticated systems of astronomy, mathematics and spirituality. Fromremote centuries and from generation to generation, this culture enjoyed along period of existence from 1,500 B.C. to 1,200 B.c. This is the periodknown as the Pre-Classic. This period of formation and achievement is notconsidered important by the so called experts. Yet, these centuries are theroots of our civilization and the culture influenced greatly other cultures thatdeveloped and rose from the Olmec."One of the most controversial aspects in the Olmec culture, beside itschronology and influence in other peoples in Mesoamerica, have been theirethnic and linguistic affiliation to other cultures. In the south part of Veracruzand eastern part of Tabasco, the Olmec eshibit a new form or organization in

economics, and social, political and religious life. This was totally differentfrom the one lived in the geographical space by tribalsin many villages. These



existed prior to the Olmec, that in the passing of time, they would develop amacro cultural area that is denominated as Mesoamerica." (Tomas PerezSuarez, 1994).It is necessary, however, to point the philosophical synthesis that was left inthe Olmec iconography and that this is a thread that maintained a link to allthe processess of development in the civilization of the Anahuac and that theSpaniards themselves, were aware of these, when they found that the sameQuetzalcoatl that appeared in the stones of Chalcatzingo, Morelos, in the Pre-Classic, was also found in the Classic in Teotihuacan and in the Post-Classic,with the Toltec in Tula and the Aztec in Tenochtitlan.An intricate philosophy and religion were expressed by the cult of the serpetn.

This is clearly seen in the representation of Tlaloc, the god of thunder, rainand lightening, with two snakes facing eachother.This philosophy and religionexisted for more than three thousand years. This was the core of the mysticand religious realm of the ancient indigenous peoples of Mexico, that givetestimony to the Mexico of today, in the many archaeological sites andobjects produced by this old civilization.

To decolonized history, we must look onto the face of our real history to seeour faces and stop looking at the faces of today.


3. DIVINE DUALITY The philosophy of the Old GrandfathersGuillermo Marín.

Humans have lived in civilization for approximately 10,000 years. The basisand essence of the wisdom they practiced in life, were few but importantconcepts. With time, these precepts that once were imperative and zealouslyapplied in the society, were forgotten. The so called educated man, set asidethe "old" things of the past and proceeded to "improve" the ancestors’teachings. The final result produced an entangled skein of black thread thatcould not be unraveled. In this confusion, man was no longer to determinewhat was true and old and what was corrected or added. That is why, modernman is not able to see clearly that when European universal knowledge andwisdom that has been practiced in the last 200 years, left out the fivephilosophical truths that distinguished man from beast, giving meaning to our

existence.One of these truths is the basic principle represented in all civilizations of what is complementary to opposites. Our Old Grandfathers throw light in thistruth that is represented by a deity named Ometeotl. This is the god of divineduality. The philosophy of this duality, was known by our ancestors as

Toltecayotl. Ometeotl was a powerful god, the one for whom they live. He wasthe lord of everything near and far. The name is a Nahuatl word that literallymeans: Ome - two and teotl - god. The universe maintains a balance betweenthis duality: opposite and positive. Both are complementary to each other.Man, foolishly, see this balance as unimportant.

Yet, man must continue to achieve this equilibrium in life. Perhaps, a goodexample of this balance can be explained in the differences between a man

and a woman. The differences are balanced when both beings get together. Itis not possible for an individual to maintain a distance between the two.



Creation produced this opposite/complimentary situation and the balance is of this law is then seen in the fruit of a union between the couple: children.

This is how our Old Grandfathers understood and identify this balance knownas Tonal.

The laws that governed the world were negative and positive, opposite andcomplementary, cold and hot, dry and wet, night and day, etc. AguaQuemada or Burnt Water, to our Old Grandfathers, signify the epitome of knowledge. Water was, more or less, burnt on fire and the steam was theresult of a creative force. The steam, however, was considered to be superiorto the two other elements because like steam, the philosophy of ancientMexico was taught by the Nahuatl philosopher, Tescatlipoca, whose namemeans Smoking Mirror.Man and woman no longer walk the complimentary paths. They are inperpetual competition with one another because they walk in different paths.

This are considered to bring power, riches, knowledge and success. Both, manand woman, demand social recognition. Women desire to be superior tomenbecause commerce and government have divided the fundamental principles

of the former. Men and women alike do not realize that they are beingexploited and manipulated in this modern society. We must try to recuperateand practice the universal principles and truth that were once part of thewisdom taught by our Old Grandfathers and this might help us to create asociety more humane and just.Dear reader, what do you think about all this?


4. MAN AND WOMAN : a pair of complementary opposites

Guillermo Marín.

In the ten thousand years of human existence, modern man uses a smallportion of his total potential. This small portion enables him to get by in life,

The secret of essential knowledge has been erased from our memory. On theother hand, others have tried to illustrate and foolishlly emulate the teachingsof the great masters, our ancestors.

The result was an entangled skein of black thread that lacks veracity andpurpose. Modern man has not been able to distinguish between the old truthand the one told to us by the European conquerors in the last two hundred

years. They lost, or rather, they conveniently left out the five truths thatliberated us and set us apart from animals.One of these truths, was the ancient principle that for every opposite there isa complimentary side. The knowledge of opposites and complimentary wasobserved and still remains as a basic principle in all civilizations.Our Old Granfathers knew that center of this luminous knowledge wasrepresented by Ometeotl, the lord of divine duality. This ancient philosophywas known as Toltecayotl, the one being for whom we live. This lord was apowerful god of everything near and far. Ometeotl is a Nahuatl world thatmeans Ome-two and teotl-god.

The ancestors knew that the universe was ruled by a series of negative andpositive energies. These energies were opposite and complimentary, but most

of all they were always in balance. This is also found in human beings, but theenergies are not always the same and man must strive to maintain an



equilibrium of these two forces. The two energies or forces are man andwoman.

These are opposites and yet, complementary to one another. Just as the worldis in constant movement and held by two forces, man and woman must holdthese forces to achieve totality. Destruction of one of these, as well aselimination of man or woman, would result in total destruction of both. Thereis no denying that magnetic forces are made of negative and positivecharges. Man is no different. He is attracted to the opposite female force andthe same is for the woman. These two beings need each other to maintainbalance in their nature.Both individuals walk on different paths, but eventually must walk together onthe same path in order to achieve their potential. This is necessary for thepreservation of humanity. The love of man for a woman brings together thedifferences and similarities , the opposite and the complimentary sides, abasic philosophical principle is applied and the result of this basic need forsurvival is manifested in the final outcome, our children. Our Old Grandfathersidentify these constant manifestation of positive and negative attractions as

Tonal and understood the principle when they observed that for every actionthere is a reaction and f everything has an opposite side: cold and hot, dayand night, dark and light. They cleverly illustrated this knowledge with adeliftul allegory: Burnt Water. This term, in the modern mind, is a disparity,but the Old Grandfathers knew that an action would produce an reaction. Inthis instance, the opposites fire and water, will result in the elimination of oneelement. When these were brought to work together the two opposites toproduce a complimentary reaction: steam.Another philosophical figure in the world of ancient Mexico, was Tescatlipocathat means in the Nahuatl language, Smoking Mirror. He was representedwith a mirror in which he saw the deeds of humanity and judged men. Whatwould he say to modern man and woman who now walk in different paths and

compete with one another. What about the destruction of this planet and theignorance of the values and principles instructed in ancient times?reconocimiento social.A couple is not only lured to walk the path of material possession by temptedto judge the love for the families by the amount of money bestowed orshowered on them. Children are deprived of the maternal care for the sake of a second income. The couple are no longer opposite and complimentarysides, but rather, they are now competitive and antagonistic for each sidefights to be better than his or her partner.

There is no struggle to achieve equality. Therefore, we are in dire need to recuperate and practice the four ancient

precepts that were so diligently practiced by our Old Grandfathers. Only theirwisdom and philosophical attitude will enable us to rebuild a society that willbe more humane and know how to apply justice with wisdom. We must returnto our ancestors way of life, when they lived in a world that respected nature,natural resources and spirituality. Not everything old is necessary primitiveand useless. Let us be once again opposite and complimentary by nature.


5. THE CIVILIZATION OF THE ANAHUAC

Guillermo Marín.



Thanks to the mental colonization we were subjected to and have endured forso many centuries, we do not know and care less about our ancientcivilization. It is sad that most of us do not know what was the name ourancestors called their land, the world they live in and what they calledthemselves. For instance, do you know that our country, Mexico, was formedby an autonomous society that ranks among one the oldest civilization in theworld? That is right, our country was the cradle of one of the six oldestcivilizations on this planet and our Old Grandfathers called this civilization:Anahuac. The name comes from the Nahuatl word meaning land surroundedby great waters.

The 7,500 years of the history of cultural development, is known to experts asthe pre-Hispanic epoch. It is important to note here, that the Spanish colonialunderstanding and vision of the old culture of our Old Grandfathers is referredto by their term: Pre-Spanish. Why not pre-Cuauthemic. This at least wouldexplain the time before the last emperor of the Aztecs, Cuauhtemoc.

Therefore, our own history is known through the accounts and understanding

of the invaders. Another interesting fact is that the epoch of our OldGrandfathers before the European invasion is given, by archaeologist andanthropologists as the Pre-Classic that dates as far back 6,000 B.C. to 200 Bc.

The second period is called the Classic and dates from 200 B.C., to 900 A.D.It is true, that the majority of individuals interested in our own history, thatclaim to have studied and investigated our past, are foreigners and most of them write as observed by Bonifaz Nuño, director of the Study Center forMexico Decolonization, with an air of superiority and sense of ownership toour culture and history. This sense of "ownership" appeared to have giventhem the right to divide our country into Mesoamerica and Aridamerica. Theyonly know about the "Indians" of the past whose old cults led them to buildpyramids and beautiful objects or art for their gods. Their term for the other

region of our country, Aridamerica, conveys the message that "Indians"wholived in the states of Sinaloa, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas .As I said before, that for 500 years since the colonial period, we lost interestin our own culture and are ignorant of what our ancestors called themselves.We have sadly accepted the term "Indian", a term applied to all the peoplesof North America, simply because the "great and educated" Europeans wereconfused in their travels and believed they had reached the Indies. We haveseen that Our Old Grandfathers called the country Cem Anahuac. They calledthemselves, Anahuacan and knew that other peoples existed that calledthemselves, Maya, Zapotec, Mexica, Olmec, etc.


6. HUEHUETLAHTOLLI:An ancient Toltec wordGuillermo Marín.

The greatness of our Old Grandfathers, was based on two fundamental axisand four structural columns and these enabled their culture to survive theelement of time and its effects. I am referring, of course, to their teachings in

philosophy, ethic and moral values. The four columns supported agriculture,medicine, social organization and a judicial system. These principles and laws



were applied during the process of human development from 6,00 B.C., to200 B.C. A fruitful and splendid era was enjoyed from 200 B.C., until themiddle of the 8th Century, in the Christian Era. This period is known as theClassic, when mysteriously, the civilization of the Anahuac ceased to exist.

The arrival of the European invaders took place when the culture was indecadence because of the absence of the old venerable teachers that causedthe civilization in the Anahuac to form towns with each town being ruled by alord. The degradation of the civilization reached its peak with the arrival of the Aztec that ignored the ancient Toltec teachings of spirituality, respect forhuman being and other values. Instead, the new religion demanded war andhuman sacrifice.

This period embraced the last one hundred years before the arrival of theEuropeans. In this period, the Aztec destroyed the origin of the ancientteachings left by the ancestors in numerous codices. Most of the valuablecodices where the teachings of the Toltec had recorded their millenarywisdom were altered and the new codices showed the Aztec as the chosenpeople. Not long after, the European destroyed the Aztec records and set

systematically to destroy any vestige of the ancient word, culture, traditionsand religion in order to impose their own laws, beliefs, culture and language. The invaders succeeding more or less to destroy from our memory the MotherCulture. They left us without land, without history, blind, mute, incapacitatedto live neither as Indigenous nor as Europeans.We, Mexicans, are ignorant foreigners in our own land. We were stripped androbbed of our natural resources and human dignity. We have suffereddespicable atrocities at the hands of "civilized" Europeans and for 490 yearsthis abuse continues to be manifested in the exploitation of human labor,injustice and disregard for all traditional values. We have suffered since thearrival of Hernan Cortes and his greedy subordinates through past andpresent heads of government.

All of them have depleted the richness of this country and have attempted todestroy the four columns that once sustained our great civilization. If acountry does practice and exhibit "advanced western colonization," it is thenviewed as primitive and, therefore, unworthy of respect Some ancient textthat exist today, date back from the time after the conquest and written inNahuatl, Old Spanish and Latin. Some old humanists, like Andres de Olmos,Bernardino de Sahun, Bartolome de las Casas, Vasco de Quiroga are followedby modern writers like Angel Maria Garibay, Miguel Leon, Laurrete Sejurenett,Alfredo Lopez Austin and Ruben Bonifaz Nuño.

These men are great contributors in the preservation of the ancient scriptsthat await the sons of the sons of the Old Grandfathers. These texts are

available to those who wish to cease to be strangers in their own country andstop being ignorant of the wisdom of the ancestors. These are powerful weapons to use in the XXI century to aid our society tobuild a more humane and just world four our sons and their sons. Therecovery of old wisdom and ethic and moral principles that guided ourancestors, is absolutely necessary to build our future. This was the case of many Europeans that lived in the darkness of the Middle Ages. They turnedaround and began to search in the past. They re-discovered the Greco-Latinwisdom of the ancient culture and applied it to their lives.Like them we must strive to accomplish this re-discovery of our past, butlearn to balance it with the wisdom introduced by the Europeans. We mustsee our reflection in the smoking mirror and recognize our own face and heart

that has traveled through a labyrinth of confusion, the result of ignorance and



disregard for the ancient Toltec word: Huhuetlahtolli - teachings. Atcontinuation we give the reader some examples of this ancient teaching.Come closer, my children. Your mother and your father are on this world, butfor a brief time. During our lives, we must guide you in the path of virtue andspiritual knowledge. This path takes us to a place of glory made for us by theone who created us.

My son, my necklace and precious plume, you were born out of the womb of the earth on this land of our lord. He formed you and gave you life to live it forthe one we live for. Your parents, aunts, uncles and other relatives have criedand suffered for your arrival. Now, you are born on this land, your land."My daughter, my little turtle dove, little woman. You were born and at mybreast suckled to be molded. My prayer is that you do not suffer on this earth.How would you live among your people? How would you survive danger andfright? It is true that we must live through great difficult times, but how wouldyou overcome? Because there is hope on earth when the faces of humans areno more. We are then rewarded with honor, warmth, sweetness and peace by

our your maker.Be sure you do not waste your life. Do not astray and be left behind, you, myprecious quetzal feather. I pray your face, your heart, your body are notharmed.My children, you are of my blood and color. I have taught you and moldedyou. I pray you are not only fashioned like precious metal and your eyesremain closed by scales. You, whom I have watched and taken care of, I hopeyou unveil your own face and discover who you are. Perhaps you are a tinybird covered with feathers, but you will have wings. If this is the case, do notbe disrespectful with others. Do not engage in needles flight above theirheads. Peace and wisdom will take you to nest in the Ceiba - silk cotton tree -.Be careful not to damage it in any way. For only in that manner you will find

peace and live in happiness.(Huehuetlahtolli. Testimony of the ancient word. Trans. by Miguel Leon-Portillaand Librado Silva Galeana. SEP/FCE. Mexico 1991)


7. DO WE HAVE A FUTURE?Guillermo Marín.

The future, at present, seems to be based on oil, computers, stock marketsand travels to explore space. However, I am concerned with the real futre.Fifty years from now, because at the speed we are world powers are depletingthe planet from its natural resources, our children and their children will beleft on a vast desert. How much more can our planet take? This abuse andcontamination that goes on at the expense of progress and financial gain.Mother Earth, your children are, like you, in peril. It is true that most of yourchildren do not care about the brutal rape you are subjected at the hands of careless and greedy industries and governments. It I sad that only a fistful of your children care about you and your future. How can awaken those who areso arrogant as to think that death is so far away or young enough that death

cannot reach them?



Never before in the history of humanity such horrendous acts are known tohave taken place. It is ironic because at the time when the world inhabitantswere considered to be primitive, they took good care of the earth, the placewhere they live. Now, we are modern. We pride ourselves of the progress intechnology and the new inventions and yet, we are now committingunspeakable acts against our world, for the sake of money and progress. Wehave discarded moral and social responsibilites. We ignore the importance of our spirituality and the obligation we have to future generations. We do notknow nor care about our purpose to live our lives and to live them for the onewho created us. That was the purpose in life, our sole mission on this earth.Our Old Grandfathers practiced this decree and taught their children torespect and live by it. This spirituality and respect for the planet was wellknown and practiced in China, Egypt, the Anahuac and other ancientcivilizations, but unknown in the "more civilized" countries than the ancientworld.Failure to practice this simply law have resulted in the loss of spiritual valuesin so many individuals and societies. It is exactly this disregard and respect

for our Mother Earth that we do not hesitate to contaminate and abuse thebounty of her womb. This contamination is also within the soul of manyindividuals who are concern with financial gain and disregard the future, ableak future , that will affect the lives of others, and strangely enough, thechildren of the children of those committing such atrocities at this time.Politicians and industries reap financial profit at the expense of others, in thiscase poor countries whose inhabitants are helpless to prevent the dumping of chemical waste and garbage at their door. These powers do not livethemselves in garbage and in dirt, they do not eat in dirty dishes, but they donot hesitate in dirtying their hands and hearts to commit horrendous acts.

The little spiritual flame that lives in the heart of the human being, wassnuffed by this corruption, greed and disregard for the well being of others.

Progress has a price and in poor countries, this price is paid at the expense of so many.

The world powers are aware and acclaim many beautiful places where Natureis still untouched by human hands, but these places are viewed with potentialfor modern development. These powers see themselves as the rightfulowners to do with God’s legacy as they please. These powers claim they trustin God and practice the good faith, but in reality they worship the Goldn Calf and their god is the god of capitalism, industrial dehumanization and themyth of progress. Man’s paradigm in the triumph of modern society is hisapology for violence, competition in the business world and indulgence insensuality and sexuality and the same applies to the modern woman who

competes in the business world with men. She is also guilty of material gain,sacrificing motherhood for a better social world. Modern society in this part of the world abandoned the ancient rules and mores for the European approachto life in a world that is viewed as modern and civilized because fashion,business and social development dictate humans how success, fame andmoney are the most important things in life.Under the distortion of reality and the manipulation of the truth combinedwith the lack of interest for the well being of this planet and disregard for theprinciples and spiritual values that were once practiced by our ancestors, Iask myself, and you, dear reader: Do we still have a future?

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8. MAN: PRIMORDIAL OR MODERN?... that is the questionGuillermo Marín.

Christians are at the beginning of the third millennium of Judeo-Christiantheology. The question still remain from Mediaeval Europe time to the presentabout he debate of the imposition of modern man on the primordial ancestorand modern society over primordial society. These are two distinct ways toview the world and life. Primordial man dates from around 150,000 years agoand then evolved in what anthropologists named Homo Sapiens whosupposedly lived for about 40,000 years. In the last 10,000 years, HomoSapiens began to apply their discovery of agriculture that led them to settledown and form the first civilizations.During the first 9,700 years, Primordial Man lived under the universal law thatgoverned all living organism. In fact, all living organism are ruled by a

universal principle that determine specific functions of the human body. Thehuman body is an excellent example to understand how this universal orderworks. We know that the human body is made up of millions of cells andthese form organs that in turn work in systems. These systems are complexand like the brain, they are ruled by a genetic order where DNA can be found.

Thanks to this extraordinary mechanism we call the human body, individualsenjoy what is known as life. Like the human body, our mother earth isgoverned within a macro organization in the Solar System and together withmankind, the two enter a mega system to live within until infinity.As above, so is below and what is within is also without. The same happens tothe individual that is in a world society. He is like a cell that belongs to themajor system. In this manner, for over 8,000 years, mankind has lived on this

planet in the "Ancestral Order," where a ruling group is prepared from birth togovern and develop in society and apply the universal principles of natureand divine and sacred values. Responsible individuals looked after theirfamilies and cities and animals and insects that live in societies apply similarrules to their communities. This was the general rule in the entire planet.Monarchies were established based on the nobleness of humanity andwisdom that led them to a spiritual awakening and development. But as wehad said before, humanity is ruled by universal laws that also govern thisplanet like good and bad, day and night, cold and hot. Civilizations alsoexperienced within their societies, at one time or another, negative aspectsthat caused severe recessional blows and impeded high expectations of

development and spiritual blockage. The great merchants of the Orient,moved west to the zone less evolved and in some cases, parts of a savageworld, to initiate their transformation of humanity, for they proposed toeliminate the old order of things. They proposed instead to install a newuniversal order of things, thus giving them the power to rule the entire world.So, these merchants settle in Europe in the XII century and commenced theirwork of corruption and dominion over the less evolved and bellicosemonarchal societies. At the end of the XV Century, they were in control of theeconomy, but were unable to ascend to the power of the nobility. For thispurpose they turned their eyes to kingdoms almost destroyed by wars andpoverty to embark in the conquest of other kingdoms and obtain land.Spain had just finished her war to reclaim the land. She had succeeded in

expelling the Moors to Africa. Merchants made use of a cartographer fromGenoa that was familiar with old maps to explore new trade routes to the



Indies. This route was necessary for the merchants to consolidate their powerfor the Turks had closed the passages to the far East thus stopping allcommercial trade. Merchants were aware that by doing this, they wereinitiating the Universal New Order. The new routes would bring theglobalization in free trade, private enterprise and democracy would destroythe Primordial Man for the Modern Man. In doing this, ancestral values,principles and spirituality would be abandoned in favor of financial gain.Religion would be versus technology, priesthood versus science, churchversus state. The philosophers soon engaged in battles against theeconomists and politicians and the new religion of materialism became ineffect. By the end of the XVIII century, the populace set out to rid the countryof monarchy. Encyclopedist were the ideologist of the time; the New Order.

These began to demand liberty, quality and fraternity and demanded theabolition of all monarchal power. Ironically, however, merchants in the neworder had ever since, the money, the means and the power to dictate andcontrol society.In the XIX century, philosophers were at the service of merchants. They

decreed that God was dead. They defined the search for happiness and thelatter was found in the material world. Metaphysics was ended andmonarchies collapsed in Europe. A democracy was established by themerchants and with that step, the colonization of the bellicose Europeans,that were in a way, employed by the merchants, became mercenaries in theNew World. By the XX Century, the shameless consolidation of the "NewWorld Order" was in the hands of merchants that took control through capitalfinances, technology, massive methods of communications and fire arms. ThePrimordial Man was extinct and Modern Man was now in control of the planet.With the disappearance of Primordial Man, the search for spirituality anddivinity was ended. The spirituality, harmony and understanding of nature,was replaced with the understanding of economics, production, consumption

of natural resources, exploitation of people and abuse of labor condition,domination of ethnic peoples and a hunger for power and money. PrimordialMan lived in search of his spirituality and of God. Modern Man has adoptedmoney as modern god.At the beginning of the third millennium, we find that Primordial or Modernman does not exist in any society, because at the center of first worlds wesee the appearance of the so called "green" movement and otherconservation movements that are an example of human spirituality. On theother hand, in third world countries, like the Amazon and other remote areas,have been afflicted with the fever to make money at the expense of nature. InAsia and Latin America, we find the manufacturing of illegal drugs for the

consumption of modern man. In Mexico we debate this problem in anschizophrenic, while the poor search for an adaptation to the old primordialway of life. The proof can be seen, every year, at the Basilica of Guadalupe inMexico City Shrine, when four million pilgrims gathers for the festivities of Diade la Raza on October 12th and again on December 12th, to celebrate thefeast of Virgin of Guadalupe.


9. IS IT POSSIBLE?

Guillermo Marín.



Is it possible that in the history of mankind a sophisticated and advancecivilization created and made use of a philosophical system that empoweredthem to rule their society? Is it possible that they created and practiced anadvance scientific knowledge and based their laws on human rights? Yes, thiswas possible. This civilization in question evolved in Mexico. Its inhabitantspracticed a religion based in nature and other natural phenomenon. Theypracticed a complex religion and worshiped the god s of water, of wind, of fireand air. They observed the heavens and follow the movement of the Eartharound the Sun, to explain their human existence and their relation with thegods and the universe. They recorded their observation and left the testimonyof their wisdom in magnificent buildings that today we call archaeologicalzones, and if this is not enough, how about their knowledge in architecture,irrigation systems, accurate calendric systems and incredible trepanationsurgery.

Yet, this astounding civilization was viewed right from the beginning, asprimitive and the inhabitants considered to be nothing but savages and

heathens. It is ironic that the conquerors who considered themselves to besuperior in every aspect based their opinion of this civilization on what theysaw and not on what they knew and understood of this people. They regardedall indigenous people to be less than dogs and administered vicious laws andbloody punishments to a society that existed before them. A 3,000 years oldcivilization that practiced social justice. That had respect for the elderly , law,authority and religious beliefs. This, so called primitive civilization hadservices of sewerage and potable water. Aqueducts were know and in use tocarry water from its source to supply their cities. They frequently bathed anduse steams baths for a variety of purposes. Many of these things wereunknown to Europe. How then, a society ruled by a system that was able tosustain peace for more than a thousand years be considered primitive.

Was it possible that a civilization that enjoyed a well established publicsystem of education where knowledgeable teachers instructed their studentsin a wide scope of different subjects be regarded by the foreigners as anuncultured and ignorant society? Yes, it was possible. For the foreignerspassed judgment based on what they saw. They based their observations ontheir own cultural and religious background and they assumed, therefore, thatall New World societies differed from their own in any aspect, including thecolor of the skin. These observations and opinions were enough to justifiedthe invaders to submit the people to their demands. They had the power toridicule, used verbal and corporal abuse, persecution, slavery and if all thisfailed, they did not hesitate to kill.

In spite of the bad treatment received at the hands of the Europeans,Mexicans did not changed their spiritual values, their cheerful personalities,the mystical attitude, creativity and optimism. We have been able to facepast adversities and have confronted those in the present with the samephilosophical approach inherited from our ancestors. We had and still havethe strength to continue to live using our old wisdom, creativity andimagination. Our ancient determination is also seen in the preservation of ancient rituals that were attacked and threatened to be extinguish at thehands of the invaders. The millenary religion of the ancient peoples of theAnahuac survived thanks to the astuteness of our eldest that managed toconcealed ancient beliefs and essential rituals from the eyes of ourtormentors. Rituals and worship that still persist in spite of the new imposed

by the alien religion. A foreign system of worship that was backed by the



sword, threads and brutal punishments for we were accused to be primitiveand idolaters.One day, we will learn to accept and recognize our own face and identity onthe smoking glass. With a new heart and open mind we will realize we areheirs to an ancient civilization and stop to ignore and belittle our MotherCulture. It is true we are a half-breed culture, but because of our ancientspiritual and philosophical teachings that were inbreed in us, we are moreindigenous in our thinking and cultural background than we are European.

The wisdom of our Old Granfathers that set the foundations for ourspirituality, education, traditions and way of life, one day will surface onceagain to help us re-build our society based on justice and democracy.One day, we must put an end to the colonial systems that continues to exploitour ancient civilization in the name of progress. We must put and end to theimport of foreign products. We must end the discrimination of Indian by thewhite race and narrow the distance between the rich and the poor. In short,can we do it? Can Mexico return to its old traditions and face a luminousfuture? Is it possible?


10. A CULTURE OF TOTAL QUALITYGuillermo Marín.

Mexicans belong to one of the oldest autonomous civilizations in the world.More than eight thousand years of cultural development testify to this humanachievement. We must thank our Old Grandfathers for this culture that

exhibits a total quality. In fact, thanks to our ancestors, we inherited a richcultural patrimony that is recognized at a universal level and everything leftby our ancestors, as evident in the magnificent archaeological zones andartefacts, are greatly appreciated by other civilizations. The quality of thecraftsmanship and the quality of the various materials chosen for themanufacturing of their object, enabled the preservation of these through thecenturies. Pyramids, plumes, ceramics, etc., are testimony to this greatculture, for our Old Grandfathers knew how to do a great job of anything theywished to accomplish. But, the most important element they desired to teachus, was the spiritual and moral values that transform individuals into honesthuman beings.

All ethic, moral, mystical and social values were practiced by our ancestorsand present laws and mores practiced today, have their roots in the past. Traditional family structure is not based on European values, for we alreadyknew the importance and function of the family nucleus in a civilized andancient society. Our staple foods, traditional methods of healing, use of medicine and former education, testify to our ancient knowledge and thiscontinues to be evident in our daily lives. In a way, our Mother Culture hasmanaged to survived modern changes and a continual denial for justice forthe people and acceptance and recognition of the most precious of the gifts:our ancient culture, that is, in many cases, ridiculed and unappreciated bythose who set their eyes on foreign traditions. To you, Mexicans, I ask if youcan imagine how it would be to live without corn and tortillas.

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11. WHY WRITE ABOUT ANCIENT MEXICOGuillermo Marín.

Not long ago, I was waiting my turn at the local bank, when I was approachedby a man that recognized me. In a most sincere manner, he asked why someauthors write about the past. He told me that he knew a well read andeducated person that had in his library a large amount of historical booksabout ancient Mexico. He also told me that he himself was bored with thepast and tired to read about ancient topics. He wanted writers to write aboutthe future. He like the subject and wished there were more books about thetopic.I was very surprised to hear his commentary and I tried to explain that if allMexican writers were still writing about the past, it was, perhaps, because it

was still unresolved. I used the illustration of a sick individual whose doctorprescribed medication that did not cured the ailment and was forced to goback to the physician for new medication. In a way, we writers have to goback to the past and revisit it in order to understand our history. No doubt,some of this valuable information has been overlooked and it is necessary tobring it to light.

This obsession is experienced not only by Mexican writers like myself, but byothers individuals in the world, like painters, musicians, historians,anthropologists and archaeologists. Studying and searching for the past tellus who we are and where we are heading. Going back again and again is todiscover that History has been written in many forms. One has only to read anewspaper. The reports in the news, by the time they reach the reader, are

events that took place in the past. Take any event reported in the Jornada andread the same in the Herald or any other newspaper. You will find that thearticle is a bit different.History, then is written in various forms and under different circumstances. Inour history, we have the "official" version, but written by our conquerors. Thesame can be applied to wars. It all depends what side was favored by thewriter and what nationality wrote the events.Many times, these events were written a long time after the events and atother times, the events were reported by people who no longer remember theevents with clarity. Our own history is related by many writers and in differentforms. For instance, the accounts of the conquerors differ greatly by those

given by the missionaries. Today, even schools teach about President Benito Juarez under a differentlight and image. It all depends if Juarez is taught in public schools or privatereligious schools. Historical accounts can be compared to the same reportgiven by the Liberal Party or the Conservative.Mexicans have to continue towrite their own history.Why is it important?Consider this: a person cannot live, fully live, if he or she suffers of amnesia.Do you think that Mexicans, even those who have been fortunate enough toobtain higher education know about our history? No, not at all. We areuneducated foreigners living in our land. How many, for instance, know aboutthe history of the revolution; how many know what took place in the last

century, and how many know about the three centuries of colonialgovernment.



It is sad, but true, that we know nothing about the 7,500 years of our history,called now Hispanic. You see, then, that if you, your children and yourchildren’s children do not know your own history, your roots and origin, youridentity, we will never attain stability, either social nor economical. We do notlive, but merely exist. Now you see why it is imperative we turn our heads andeyes to the past.

The first transgressors were the Mexica, better know as the Azec. They werethe last arrivals in the Valley of Mexico. Their leader, Tlacaelel, ordered thedestruction of the records written by the Old Grandfathers, erased the theirnames and placed their own as the chosen people. When the Spaniardsarrived, they in turn, destroyed the old records and set out to re-write ourhistory. They knew so little and understood nothing. The Spanish arrived atthe time when the civilization was in decadency, but did not bother to knowwhy. After the Spaniards, the Creole wrote the history of "their country" andat then end of the century, President PorfÍrio Díaz, ordered the "officialhistory."

This official history contained myths and legends created, in most cases, by

the vivid literary imagination of the time. An example is the legend of theFather of Independence, Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, represented as an oldman with graying hair, that is, what it was left on his head. In reality, the manwas 56, healthy, strong, but the image of the priest was created for theCentenary celebration of the re-make of the "official history of the country"and the desired effect was successfully obtained.In the late 40's, a tomb was discovered in Ixcateopan, State of Guerrero. Thistomb was believed to be the resting place of Cuauhtemoc, who according tolegend, Cortez ordered the feet of the Indian be slowly burn on a charcoal fire,to extract information on the great gold treasure believed to be hiddensomewhere in the city. The president, at the time, was faced with thedilemma to to declare whether the bones found in the tomb were the bones of

Cuauhtemoc, or they were the bones of some one else.After a long debate, the president decided to announce to the people that thebones found were Cuauhtemoc’s. It did not matter if they were not. What itwas important at that time, was to reassure the people of their identity. So,the bones were officially accepted and declared an old legacy, because it wasalso important that the State claim the old bones as a relic and symbol of thepast.In the Third Millenium, there is the need to revise the "official history" for thereasons discussed beore. We must strive to obtain the truth in the matter thathistory be told as accurate as possible. Searching the past is absolutelynecessary to exit the colonial labirynth we have lived in for five centuries. Our

historical wounds must be healed totally and completely once and for all. Thehealing is necessary to stop the festering inour hearts, minds and race. Youwill be surprised to hear that many do not believe this is necessary becausenothing wrong took place long ago.


12. THE MYSTERY OF LIFEGuillermo Marín.

Is it true that we live on this earth?



Not on this earth forever, but only for a bit.Even if is made of jade, it will shatter.Even gold would break.Quetzal feathers will tear.We are not here on earth forever, but only for a bit.

This energy, brighter than light is called spirit or soul and it is present inhumans. This essence or energy is immortal. It was the first source of energyborn out of the experience of our evolution on the different planes of existence in the spiritual world.. It is so old and remote from our own mindthat it is no longer comprehensible.Do you, heart of my heart, think you will live alone on this earth?

You fear, my heart, because I was born on this earth!...I cry and I am sad. After all, I am a singer.If only at times, I could take some flower,And with them I could adorn the place of those without bodies.(*)Life circumstance in this world are no more than "a field of flowery battle", socalled by our own ancestors that were wise and knew the origin of the

spiritual energy that we all possess within the core of our being. There is an eruption of precious stones. There is a surge of quetzal plumes,Are these perhaps, your heart, giver of life?...Eagles, and tigers,like us, one by one will perish,

Thee will be no one left.(*) The spirit needs of matter to trascend and at the same time, matter finds inthe spirit the energy that transform the heart and the reason for being. Thespiritual energy permit the purification that otherwise was obtain in the fireand the anvil. The fire feeds the happiness, the hopes and the anvil forges theadversities in life.

What was I vaguely looked for?Was I looking for your heart?A heart that you give to everything,Without aim you go as you destroy your heart.While you are on this earth, can you go after your desire?(*)

The mystery of life is then revelead in a simply and transparent way. Life isthe opportunity we hae to purify our souls. It is not important what we do, butwhat it is important is to strive and arrive at this important level. Ourconscience determines the authentic intensity of our acts and the quality of the experience.At the end of our lives, when there is nothing more to do, all material things

are left behind. Nothing material passes to the other side. Our corpses willdeteriorate and will leave, eventually, nothing behind, but our spirit or soulwill live forever.We are no more.Are we nothing?

You have destroyed us. You have made us disappear from here.. (*) The opportunity we had at our disposition has ended. Many have wasted lifein a series of indulges in lust, greed, avarice and other sins. Their spirit wasdragged through the lowest level and because their own stupidity andblindness, they reached a sad end. Others have accumulated knowledge andexperience in the flowery battle and are are closer to their final destination.

Now, the hearts that was beat in live are no more. We all leave this empty



The Toltec, in turn, took the philosophy of Cem Anahuac, initiated by theOlmec, to its zenith. The cultural philosophy of the divine and the sacred canbe appreciated in the iconography and symbolic designs in sculptures,paintings, and engravings. For example, the eagle, the feathered serpent, the

jaguar, and the representation of the divine duality in humanity. This is clearlymanifested by two profiles of two snakes in opposite positions or representedby two quetzal birds.

We must also mention the supreme construction of truncated pyramids andtemples, ball courts, stela, and many three-dimensional works of art.However, few people are aware that the same similarities were maintain, forat least three millennia, not only in Cem Anahuac, but surprisingly, it also tookplace among the indigenous peoples all the way from Alaska to Tierra delFuego. This observation was never accepted in the European vision of thecolonizers. They denied that in the “new world” existed, before their invasion,cultures with more advanced civilizations than theirs. It is also amazing to find

the conquerors never found, or chose to ignore, the fact that all theindigenous peoples shared the same philosophies in their cultures, and in therealm of the divine and the sacred.

The point we want to make is that there is a necessity to know and tounderstand the philosophical and theological structures of Cem Anahuac. Thisis, of course, a titanic challenge to visualize the character of our Motherculture. The challenge lies in changing the conditioning of our minds anddisregard the interpretation and views inculcated in all of us by eruditeforeigners about our culture. The Hermeneutic of Old Mexico is, therefore,presented to us, as an urgent task to clear our minds of foreign concepts andsometime erroneous interpretations of our culture.

There is an urgency to get educated in our own history, study the past, andlearn about the lives our ancestors. We must see and accept the fact thatafter achieving the satisfaction of their basic necessities, our ancestors theydid not stop there, but focused their capacity, ability and knowledge totranscend the human spirit and enter the vast universe of the divine and thesacred. This was their mission. It is also ours. It is our turn to embrace aconsciousness of the duality of humanity. Cem Anahuac reveals this duality inmankind. Its humanity and its divinity. The other old civilizations of the world,Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, India, and Peru, together Mexico’s, show how allthese civilizations accomplished this tremendous task.

The knowledge of the Old Grand Fathers is a legacy to all Mexicans. We areheirs to this millenary evolution and cultural and historical development of this ancient civilization that our ancestors called TOLTECAYOTL. Yet, despitethis fountain of information we still live in a materialistic culture. We are apragmatic society blinded by the mental, cultural, and spiritual results of colonialism. We have lived under its hold for over five centuries, but we muststand up for ourselves, reclaim our past, and take responsibility for thedesecration of cultural heritage and to the earth. Yes, this earth, part of theuniverse. We all are intimately linked to both because it is our sacred legacy.

This concept is explained to us in the myth of the creation of the Fifth Sun.Where time ceases to be ordinary and becomes sacred. Where we accept our

responsibility and mission to maintain the balance in our environment.



Our manifestations of who we are and what we believe, are only partialexpressions of our European indoctrination. Only fragments of the sametotality. The Moon, Sun, Venus and the Milky Way together with elements of water, wind, fire, and earth, are represented in their duality by the featheredserpent, the jaguar and other symbols. These are not only metaphoricsymbols of divine duality but expressions of their inter-action with humanbeings. These interactions entered our material body through the umbilicalcord, believed, by our ancestors, to be the unifying center of humanexistence. The four cardinal directions, believed to be the four different pathsof our existence, each has a philosophical, esoteric, and religious significance.

These are a few fundamental elements given as examples, to understand thecomplex and vast ancient religious concepts and system, that taught ourancestors to believe that humanity was created for the purpose to serve, toworship, and to sacrifice to our gods. These laws were for the sole purpose of helping the gods to maintain order and balance in the world. Was this systemwrong?

The Europeans gave us a similar system with the only difference in theWestern culture and doctrine that God created humans into his own imageand He delivered the earth and everything in it to his human creation. Thisresulted in the wrong interpretation that man was given the earth for his own,and because of the power given from above, he assumed it was, and still is,alright to do as he pleases without regard to other human beings and natureitself.

In contrast, our ancestors regarded the earth as a Mother, who nurtured itsinhabitants. Therefore, the earth was considered sacred. Not theirs topossess, but to take care of it and leave it in good condition to futuregenerations. This concept of historical and collective responsibility continued

to be manifested in the Post-Classic, even at the time when the society beganto crumble and decline and the system saw a reform by what the Mexicacalled Tlacaele.

This was the case with Monte Alban, which initiated its construction in 500B.C. It was abandoned in 850 A.D.

The second object in the civilization of the Anahua, known to the Toltec as theFlowery Wars, was for the purpose of engaging the individual to search withinhis inner-self. The weapons of the warriors were the song and the flower. Inother words, the song and the flower represented the beauty of wisdom.Peasants, artisans, public servants, those who practiced medicine and

architects, were all guided by an elite dedicated to the study of the potentialspiritual energy based on solid social, moral, and religious teachings.

In the XVI century colonizers did not accept that the fathers and sons of theold cultures possessed human qualities and much less that they had anadvanced civilizations. The truth is that even in the Post-Classic Period, a timeof decadence, the peoples of Cem Anahuac had a better standard of livingthan Europeans. The invaders viewed us as inferiors and therefore, discardedour culture as advanced and worthy of admiration. Even our daily nutrition,left to us by our Old Grandfathers, was ridiculed, but in fact, it had betternutritional values and variety.

Our old agricultural technology produced all year round the desired results. This is so even today.



Through a process of biogenetic transformation, our ancestors developed cornfrom Teozintle.

We had an efficient health system where medicinal plants were widely usedand the complicated method of trepanation was known.Hygiene was practiced by all. A concept not commonly practiced by anyEuropean. Our old educational system was more advanced that those inexistence in Europe.

In short, when the Europeans arrived in Tenochtitlan in the XVI century, theyfound a city with libraries, schools, markets, parks, zoos, sports courts andcultural and religious centers. This was the result of seven thousand years of wisdom left to us by our Old Grandfathers.

Our culture is not found in the archaeological ruins of our ancient civilization,nor in the treasures exhibited in art or anthropology museums. The richnessand roots of our Mother Culture is found in the heart of each descendent of

the Old Grandfathers. In this way, Toltecayotl reveals to us that we are heirsto an ancient culture and spirituality. This is manifested in our traditions,fiestas, and customs.

Unfortunately, investigations and discoveries in archeology and history, onlyreveal the material and profane world of Ancient Mexico. It is high time wepractice spiritual archeology and begin to reconstruct the sacred history of the Anahuac. It is necessary to recapture the wisdom, knowledge, and legacyof our ancestors. We must revive the traditions, legends and teachings tounderstand the cultural patrimony as tangible and intangible. The sacredessence of our civilization and its people, as well as the principles and valuesmust be acknowledged because we have been made to think that there is no

connection between modern Mexico and the Mexico of our Old Grandfathers.

It is time we learn to recuperate the historical and spiritual legacy; a valuablelegacy that teaches us who we really are. The Europeans robbed us of ourtrue identity. We let them and still believe who we think we are. Our sacredvision and mission in this life, is to reclaim our identity found in the teachingsof TOLTECAYOTL, because they represent the HIEROPHANIES OF THEANÁHUAC.


BooksAuthor : Guillermo Marín.

The Old Grandparents:Our indigenous roots

Guillermo Marin is a cultural promoterconcerned with the complex processin cultural identity. He is the director of

Cultural Development , a project inthe states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Morelos



and Mexico City. He is the author of Daany Beédxe: the spirit of the warrior;

The True History of the Profound México;And To Read Carlos Castañeda; The BasicManual of the Cultural Promoter; Calmecac:A Cultural Alternative; and Cultural Administration.He is also the author of various tourist guides like:Monte Alban; Mitla, the City of the Death; TheSacred Valley of Tlacolula ; and, The Treasuresof Monte Alban and Oaxaca: spiritual reserveof Mexico.

The Old Grandparents: our indigenous roots

By Guillermo Marin Translated by Marie Eugenie La Rué de Eibich

INDEXIntroduction The four anterior SunsSun of WaterSun of FireSun of WindSun of Earth

The creation of the Fifth Sun The creation of human beings The "invention" of cornEducation

The warriors of the flowery battle

The ancient gods Tloque Nahuaque: For whom we liveOmetéotl: Divine duality

Tláloc: The giver of material lifeQuetzalcóatl: The giver of spiritual lifeHuehueteotl: The grandfather of the gods

Tonantzin: Our beloved motherMictlantecutli: The lord of death

Tezcatlipoca: Smoking mirror The millenary civilization of Anáhuac The Olmec great-grandfathers

The old Toltec grandfathers The Zapotecs The Mixtecs The Mayas The Nahuas The Totonacs The Purépechas The young Aztec grandfathers The centers of knowledge:Monte AlbánMitlaPalenque and the Lord of Pacal

Chichén Itzá The people of México



To professorVentura LópezFor his invaluable and generous supportto the Oaxacan culture.

The fact of having no knowledge of the pastnor of the place where they live, is the reason thatmany people leave to cross the border to seek work.

The day when our people get to know their ancestors,the day when they get to know that the placeswhere they live were inhabited by famous men,the day when they learn that this land has givenample proof of ancient cultures, man will be firmly rooted.He will take pride in his labor and will be conscious of

the land where he lives. He will have the courage todefend his birth right and to work not only with enthusiasm,in his own land, but with love for the place where he was born.

That is the importance of history. Juan RulfoI. INTRODUCTIONMexicans are heirs to one of the six oldest civilizations on this planet.Approximately eight thousand years ago our ancestors ceased to bebarbarian nomads when they domesticated corn and embarked on a long

journey through the path of spiritual and personal development in theirhuman existence, kept uninterrupted, to this day.We are, unquestionably, a mestizo people that cannot continue to deny its

indigenous roots, a legacy of many millennia beginning with the developmentof agriculture until the arrival of the Spaniards. To ignore our past, our roots,to stubbornly deny the existence of the civilization of the Anahuac in ourgenes, in our historic memory, traditions, feasts, customs and education. aswell as to know not friendship, love, death, the sacred and the divine, we arecondemned to live in a labyrinth of emptiness and loneliness. Bysystematically disdaining and refusing our own origins to exult and admireinstead what is foreign, we pretend to be someone else. This behavior causesthe disrespect and unworthiness to be accepted by our foreign ideal modelsof the past, be either Spaniards, French, or in this modern times, Gringos.In the pre-Hispanic epoch, the solid and profound basis of what we are as a

people and as a nation already existed. It is clear that the only thing we ownand we don’t share with other civilizations is our own past; a past before thearrival of the Spaniards. Everything that we own in the present either byappropriation or by imposition of more than five thousand years cannotdismiss or deny our indigenous roots. At the same time, we cannot ignore thatthe ontological spiritual essence of our indigenous beginning has its origin inthis land and has been transmitted from generation to generation in acontinuous and permanent manner.At the beginning of the third millennium, globalization, new technologies andcommunication lead to the dehumanization of peoples and thehomogenization generated resulted in the loss of regional and nationalidentity. Therefore, as our Old Grandparents used to say: "’Our own face and

true heart’, the principles and values of our people are threatened." Theurgent need to recuperate our own historical memory and to strengthen our



own identity must be met in the lessons taught to our children to value ourculture, to understand its roots and its fruits and to know who we are andought to be. This is why we must inculcate the knowledge, value and respectfor our own ancient Mother Culture to our children and grandchildren. It isimperative we forget the ignorance and disregard for our culture in colonialeducation that we have been forced to live and accept for more than fivehundred years. We must now teach our children the legacy of our culture, butat the same time, as parents and teachers, we must ourselves begin to takepride in our heritage, our blood, our origins to be worthy descendants of theOld Grandparents, for only then we can be true Mexicans; worthy heirs toNetzahualcóyotl and acknowledge at the same time, Miguel de Cervantes, acomplementary part of our totality because we cannot deny and ignore thatother root. Not knowing and not accepting equally both sides, we areincomplete. This leaves us without our own face and true heart.

The main objective of this book is to lead and encourage our youth to take thepath to return to the heart of ancient México and to find there the values,principles and inspiration to build on their own future.

II. THE FOUR ANTERIOR SUNSAll the peoples on this earth have their own stories of how the world wascreated because human beings have the need to know and explain theirorigins. They need to know who they are and for what purpose they are onthis planet. They must know and understand the meaning of this existenceand where they are heading. Our own Old Grandparents, just like the ancientcivilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India and Perú, had their ownaccounts of how the world in which we live was created.

To our Old Grandparents, the world was in a constant estate of change andevolution. That is why four epochs or eras called Suns, have always existed. Ineach of these eras, human beings evolve and each Sun ends in a cataclysmthat allows the creation or formation of a new Sun to intent a new optimized

beginning. This is a new opportunity for human beings to improve on thisearth. Therefore, since remote times, our ancestors have been aware that ineach generation we must better ourselves, be fully responsible for our ownevolution and perfection and that of each individual. We are charged with thetask to utilize our existence as a marvelous opportunity to fight for theindividual and collective advancement of humanity through family andsociety.Our Old Grandparents possessed this knowledge and passed it on fromgeneration to generation, through verbal teachings and in the writings of codices that were, if you will, their books, colorfully depicting our history andwisdom. Our people, in fact, kept alive since memorable time its history, its

language and its customs passed on from parents to children. The greatestlegacy left to us is the written word, therefore, our Old Grandparents left theirknowledge in writing less we forget:Our grandfathers and our grandmothers,Our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers,Old ancestors,Repeated their accounts in discoursesAnd left the stories as a legacy

To their descendants. These will never be lost, They will never be forgotten To those that came after.

For they wrote to reaffirmIn black and red ink



Memories, names…, history,We will never let their stories die.We will keep them with us forever.We are their children,We are the grandchildrenDescendants carrying their bloodAnd same skin color.We will continue to tellAnd to communicateWhat we know

To the new born.By Fernando Alva IxtlixóchitlIn this manner we get today in their own words, the memories, the historyand accounts of how the world was born and how each of the Suns in ancientMéxico came and went. This was so we never forget our past and keep it alivein the present by passing it to our children: thus says history, thus weremember.

SUN OF WATER

Here is the account the Old Grandparents used to tell in a remote time solong ago nobody remembers exactly when. This is about the birth of the FirstSun that came to be when Quetzalcóatl blew his divine breath on the firsthuman beings. At the same time, Tezcatlipoca, an eternal adversary of Quetzalcóatl, sent down a great flood and all human beings drowned, butwere transformed into fishes. This happened at the time when the people ateteocintle – an early form of corn.SUN OF FIREMany years went by and the earth was kept in darkness and void of human

beings. The gods tried once again to populate the earth and in a secondintent to perfect it, they placed Tláloc, the god of rain and celestial fire, asinitiator of a new Sun, but Quetezalcóatl sent a shower of fire and humanbeings burnt to death to rise as birds of the sky. At that time, the food wasthe acecently – water corn.SUN OF WINDAgain, the earth experienced many years without sunlight and without humanbeings to worship the gods. Then, Quetzalcóatl created the third Sun andattempted the new creation of human beings. At that time, humans ate of theacconcentlí – pine acorns.It was Tezcatlipoca’s turn to send strong winds that destroyed most of the

trees and human beings. The few survivals became monkeys and lived on thetrees.SUN OF EARTH

This Sun was created by Tezcatlipoca and populated the earth with gigantichuman beings. When these giants fell, they did not rise again. These giantsdid not cultivate the soil and did no planting. They ate roots, acorns and otherfruits they collected around the forest.One day, Qauetzalcóatl defeated Tezcatlipoca using a cane and the latter fellin the water and was transformed into a tiger. The tiger ate all the giantsleaving the earth depleated of human beings and, the earth, without Sun.III. THE CREATION OF THE FITH SUN



Time went by and the earth continue to be unpopulated and in darkness. There was no one who would take charge. Then the gods convocated, thussays the legend:When still there was night,When still there was no day,When still there was no light,

The gods convenedIn Teotihuacan.

They said,Speaking among themselves:Come here, oh gods!Who will take chargeOf the new day,

The new light?All the gods agreed that two of them would have to sacrifice themselves tocreate the new Sun. For this purpose Tecuciztecatl, the Lord of Snails andNanahuatzin, the Purulent, came forward. The first one was the exultation of

beauty and the latter was the representation of human imperfection. Both of them wanted to be the Fifth Sun seeking the perfection of humanity. Thisrequired a week of sacrifices and purification and then jump over the cosmicfire to convert matter into energy.

Tecuciztecatl used in his sacrifice, the feathers of the quetzal bird instead of the branches of the fir tree and the balls made of pine needles needed to holdin place the maguey’s sharp needles to prick the penitents. He offeredinstead spines made of coral. Tecuciztecatl avoided material and spiritual self sacrifice and offered instead ostentatious offerings. Nanahuatzin, on the otherhand, offered sacrifices with fervor using the required branches of the fir tree,the balls of pine and the spines of the maguey. The first one confusedspiritual sacrifice with material richness; the latter understood his

responsibility of total sacrifice of flesh to purify his spirit. The big day arrived and the gods in Teotihuacan sat around the great cosmicfire where the two gods had to jump to let the fire cleanse them of impurities.

The first to try was Tecuciztecatl, but intense fear froze him to the spot. It wasNanahuatzin’s turn. He jumped without hesitation into the great flames.

Tecuciztecatl, ashamed of his cowardice, jumped into the fire, but he was toolate.Nanahuatzin became the Sun of the fifth era and Tecuciztecatl became themoon because at the end, he overcame his fear. As the moon, he also rose inthe west, but the other gods threw a rabbit in his face so he could not be asbrilliant as the Sun.

How can people live now?How can we strengthen and keep the Sun?We must offer in sacrificeOurselves.In this manner, the gods decided that the sun would shine. It was because of them that the earth had a new sun and movement; however, the mostimportant thing was still missing: people; called macehuales – deserving of the sacrifice made by the gods.IV. THE CREATION OF HUMAN BEINGSWhen the earth had again light and movement, the gods convened oncemore. They said: "Who will live on earth? The heavens already exist and the

earth was made new again. Who will populate the earth?" The gods askthemselves the same question again and again for they worried.



It was then decided that the god of the Sacred Breath, Quetzalcóatl, be incharge to go to the region of the death and ask Mictlatecutli, the Lord of Death, for the bones of human beings that lived in the Fourth Sun. With thesebones, the new generation of human beings will come into existence in theFifth Sun.Quetzalcóatl descended to the dominion of the Lord of Death, accompaniedby his nahual – his double - called Xólotl. Mictlantecutli proposed twoconditions: that they sound the conch shell and performed four completeturns around his holy circle. Qutzalcóatl summoned the help of his friends:worms and bees. The first made holes in the conch shell and the latterentered through the holes. Once inside, the bees flapped their wings sovigorously that sound came out of the holes. When Mictlantecutli saw thisportent he ordered his vassals to capture Quetzalcóatl, who, with the help of his double, took the bones. Though he suffered minor injuries he was able toreach Tomanchán, the mystical place of origin where the goddess Quilaztli,ground the bones on a metate – grounding stone. Then, Quetzalcóatl mixedhis sacred blood with the powder obtained from the bones and offered the

mixture as a sacrifice to the gods, for the birth of new human beings topopulate the earth. That was the way we were born. A product of the sacrifice offered to ourancient gods. Since that time we continue to live in the Fifth Sun. Thisheritage left by our ancestors must be kept in constant balance with thematerial and the spiritual; between the absolute certainty of reasoning andthe insurmountable faith in the mystery of the divine.Our mission is to populate the world and to maintain the existence of the FifthSun. We must do this through spiritual sacrifices and live a virtuous andharmonious life, in the same manner our Old Grandparents did, for seventhousand and five hundred years in a time so long ago nobody can recall.When once long ago, in Teotihuacan – Place of Gods - our ancient gods

created the existence of the Fifth Sun, an era in which live today.V. THE CREATION OF CORN AND FOOD

The gods were attentive to the development and perfection of life in the FifthSun. They worried about the food for the living beings. For this purpose, theycommanded Quetzalcoatl to provide food for the created beings. Since antsare hard workers and live underground. Quetzalcoatl observed a red antcoming up to the surface of the place where the food for the living beings washidden. He asked the red ant to tell the truth. The red ant confessed corn andother grains were buried inside the Mountain of our Sustenance. Then,Quetzalcoatl transformed himself into a black ant and together with the redant they went to search for the food for the human beings of the Fifth Sun. To

the Old Grandparents, the metaphor of the red and black ink, means wisdom.Accordingly, with wisdom and labour, our ancestors extracted from the earthall our food.Quetzalcoatl carried all the corn he could take from the Mountain of ourSustenance and took it to Tonachan - Place of Origin – so the gods could tasteit. Everyone agreed it was delicious and decided to place it on the lips of Oxomoco and Cipactonal – equivalent to Adam and Eve – to grow strong.Since the gods discovered that corn was an excellent source of food, theydecided to grant the Mount of our Sustenance to human beings. Toaccomplish this, the gods ask that one of them should send lightening to openthe mountain. From the four corners of the world, the Tlaloques – Rain gods –arrived: The Tlaloque of the Blue South, The Tlaloque of the White West, The

Tlaloc of the Yellow East and the Tlaloque of the Red North. All four togethersucceeded, with their rain, to fertilize the corn in the Mountain of Sustenance,



then one of them sent a powerful lightening that split the mountain causingthe corn to spill together with the other grains. All these became valuablefood that have been the basis of our sustenance for more than eight thousandyears. In the matter already explained, the people received corn of all shadesand colors, beans, chia, chilies, squash, tomatoes, nopales, cacao andavocadoes, just to name a few of the many food the gods granted to thepeople.

The Old Grandparents developed through the centuries an excellent andnutritious balance cuisine. They learned to cook beans, make corn tortillas,salsas, tamales, atole and chocolate. They added honey, grasshoppers, ants,worms, and other insects. Fish was included in their diet and eaten regularly.Once in a while, an especially during important festivities, they ate venison,turkey, ducks, rabbit, armadillo and snake as well as hairless dogs calledXoloescuincle, considered a delicacy. Without this rich diet for sustenance,the people of ancient Mexico couldn’t have been able to build the pyramids,temples and other buildings and attain such wisdom and knowledge in nature,architecture, cosmology, medicine, etc.

The domestication of corn, that is to say, the genetic transformation of thegrass called Teozintle into the present plant known as corn, the use of cornfields and irrigation canals and other complex methods of irrigation, permittedour Old Grandparents to lay the foundation for the development of what lateron would be known as the splendor of Ancient Mexico.VI. EDUCATIONEducation in ancient Mexico began at home. There were ancestral traditionsrelated to the upbringing of children because education was very important toour Old Grandparents. Among the many treasures of education, we find theone called Huehuetlahtolli – the old word – zealously transmitted fromgeneration to generation that taught ancient wisdom and rituals. For instance,when a girl reached adolescence, the mother would instruct the following:

My daughter, precious bead of gold and fine feathers,conceived in womb. Blood of my blood made into myimage, pay attention to what I am going to tell you. Youhave reached the age of discernment and discretion: godthe creator has given you the use of reason, the abilityto understand the meaning of worldly matters. You knowthat in this world there is no true rest nor pleasure; there is,however, beside work and affliction, poverty.

You are noble, generous and considerate. A maiden sculptedlike a precious stone, a sapphire, but of noble blood, descendantof a generous family. Take care you never be ashamed of

yourself. Never participate in vile and dishonorable acts thatbring shame and effrontery to your family and to our ancestors.My daughter, what I have told you, let it be your doctrine. What Ihave just done in front of the gods, was my duty; to teach younever to forget your blood, who you are. You now take charge.Oh, my beloved daughter, my first born, my dove, may you beblessed with peace and fortunate to attain rest.In a similar manner, when a boy attain adolescence, his father took him asideand said to him during a feast prepared in his honor:My beloved son, please pay attention to my words and takethem into your heart because they were left to us by ourancestors: wise old men and women. They came into this world

to teach us and warn us to keep their teachings. Their teachingsare to be kept, like precious jewels and gold in coffers, because



their words are like precious stones polished with advice and wisdom.Live your life well, without blemish of any kind. Be perfect like theprecious stones called chalchuites – sapphires – and like fine andbrilliant feathers.

There were, in Ancient Mexico, three great institutions of education. The firstone was called Telpochcalli – boarding house - where seven year old childrenwere preparedto enter, harmoniously, into society. There was a school for boys and anotherfor girls where they were taught how to be citizens and learn the rules of theirsociety. They also learned, history, religion, language and the secrets of astronomy. In this manner, their identity and wisdom of their culture becamevaluable tools to live with family and society. The old Grandparentsconsidered community life more important than the life of an individual,therefore, the children were taught from an early age, the spirit of communityand service to others. The Telpochcalli, like all education in ancient Mexico,was free and obligatory.In the evening, boys and girls gathered at the Cuicallai – second learning

institution. This was a cultural center that taught them all forms of art; likedancing, singing, how to play instruments, painting, poetry and oratory. Thesewere taught with the aim to develop individual talent, polish and refinemanners and be sensitive art appreciators.

The third educational institution was called Calmecac. This instruction wasreserved for those leaving the Telpochcalli and wished to continue with theireducation. At this third level, they were trained as teachers, administrators,government officials and priests. It was here, that leaders were born to formgroups to continue to preserve civil and cultural laws that lasted for morethan 7,500 years.In the XVI century, when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico, they were surprisedto find that there were no children who could not attend school. The schools

were self- sufficient. The Taltocan – supreme government council – providedgreat portions of arable land to all the schools. The teachers till the land,planted crops and harvested them for their own sustenance, at the sametime, they taught the children the importance of agriculture. The schoolscounted with the support of committees called cuadrillas. These looked afterthe construction of public buildings and their upkeep. In an all girl school, thechildren were educated in millenary traditions in the art of cooking,embroidery, spin cotton, use the loom, raise children, look after domesticanimals like the turkey, Xoloescuicle – a type of edible dog – cochinealinsects- for dyeing cotton- use edible and medicinal plants, to sew garments,keep house and how to be a good wife.

The purpose of education in ancient Mexico was to "form our own faces andtrue hearts," because through education our Old Grandparents could transfercontinuity in their society. A good example of this is the sacred place of MonteAlban, founded by the Zapotecs, 500 years before the Christian era. This citywas not built by slaves forced to work under the rule of a tyrant lord; on thecontrary, it represents the work of thirteen centuries of a community joinedby enthusiasm and faith, as the result of an excellent system of education. Itwas abandoned in the IX century after the birth of Christ. This era embracesmore than 1,300 years of cultural and spiritual knowledge of the people. It is arich heritage that continues to be alive today.VII. THE WARRIORS OF THE FLOWERY BATTLE

The symbol that perhaps can be understood by all, is the primordial aspiration

of the Old Grandparents of ancient Mexico that can be found in the FloweryBattle. As we have said before, our ancestors knew that humanity was under



the constant estate of evolution and perfection. They understood thathumanity existed thanks to the spiritual sacrifices of the gods and in return,the people were expected to live a virtuous life and make other sacrifices inorder to continue with the population of the earth and at the same time, tomaintain a perfect balance in nature, the cosmos and humanity.A formidable and difficult task that the Old Grandparents called "Battle of theFlowery Battle," demanded that if an individual wished to dedicate his or herentire life to embark in constant battle against spiritual weakness, were calledwarriors. This battle, a spiritual warfare took place in the individual’s heart.

The weapons used in battle were called Flower and Song and these weaponswere understood as wisdom and beauty. The purpose of these battles was toattain the Flowery of the heart and rid the individual of flaws and otherweaknesses. An accomplished warrior was distinguished by the sacrificesperformed, frugality, sobriety and austerity. These accomplishments werehighly regarded in their society. When a male warrior died, it was believedthey were sent to keep guard to the sun from dawn to noon. If the warrior wasa woman, they guarded the sun from noon to dusk. The ideal of the society in

general, was to encourage in life, these people to built and develop thesociety’s status. In death, they were expected to sustain the Fifth Sun’scourse, with their spiritual existence.VIII. THE OLD GODSAll ancient peoples of the world created a religious structure to understandlife and give meaning to their existence, after the primordial need of food,shelter and clothing was satisfied. Humanity, in all levels of life, seeks to finda relation between the cosmic and nature through ideas and conjectures of how the world and human beings were created. Then, through eithercomplicated or simple religious beliefs, a society tries to understand andexplain what happens after death. The majority of the world’s cultures believethat death is not the final step because there is a link between an unseen

supreme force and the people. Our own Old Grandparents believed in apantheon of ancient gods known by different names in various cultures, butthe deities served for the same purpose: to explain the belief of creation byunseen minor and major holy gods.

TLOQUE NAHUAQUE - FOR WHOM WE LIVEOur Old Grandparents recognized the existence of an all-powerful god thatwas the creator of heaven and earth and all there is in both. They believed inthis omnipotent god and because they were mere insignificant mortals, theycould neither give him a name nor build an image to represent him. Thepeople refer to this supreme god by three names: the first was "One forWhom We Live." The name given to the god was because the entire life of an

individual was consecrated to him from birth to death. The god was alsoknown as "Night Wind," because the people said he could not be seen andwas invisible as night itself. The third name was "Lord of Near and Far,"because his power allowed him to be present with them and at the same timein any other part of the world.OMETEOTL – DIVINE DUALITYAnother form to refer to the supreme deity was to call him Ometeotl – DivineDuality, because the Old Grandparents believed the god was so powerful thathe could be both, male and female. His power was seen in everything found inthe world because every thing in his creation had negative and positivequalities: Day and night, cold and hot, above and below. Therefore, the nameOmeteotl was derive from the word Ometecuhtli – Of The Two: Lord; while

Ometecihuatl was Of The Two: Lady. TLALOC - THE GIVER OF MATERIAL LIFE



The people believed that the world was made up of two realms: material andspiritual. The material realm, life, was symbolical represented by water. Theyunderstood that when there is no water, there is no life. Therefore, Tlalocbecame the god of water. The god was known by other names in differentMesoamerican cultures, The cult, however, had the same basis in theologyand philosophy. Tlaloc represented water in all forms: in lightening andthundering and rain. The Mexica call him Tlaloc, the Zapotec called himCocijo, Chac to the Maya and Tajin to the Totonac. Though known by differentnames to different cultures, his image always retained the large discs aroundthe eyes and a tongue like a serpent.QUETZALCOATL – GOD OF WINDQuetzalcoatl – Feathered Serpent – was represented as the divine breath of the one who gives consciousness to human beings. He is the protector of humanity, the giver of consciousness and wisdom. The one who teaches ushow to live virtuous and purposeful lives. That is why, the third level of education we explained before, called the Calmecac, was consecrated to thisdeity. The Maya called him Kukulcan, the Mexica called him Quetzalcoatl and

the Zapotec called him Belaguetza. To these cultures, he represented thespiritual, the wisdom and virtues in all human beings.HUEHUETEOTL – GRANDFATHER OF THE GODS

The old god Huehueteotl, was known as the grandfather of the gods. He wasassociated with the fire that transforms and liberates the essence in matter.He was the symbolic energy of life, the vital force that runs along the spinechord. The knowledge and use of fire was the main achievement of ancientpeoples. Fire protects, destroys, provides warmth, and a necessary elementto cook meals. It was around fire, that people gathered at first for warmth.Later on, they learned to use fire to cook their meals. They also learned to useit for protection against beasts and other human beings, but they also soughtanswers to problems, deliberated on theological matters and attached

mystical powers to this element. TONATZIN – OUR BELOVED MOTHER Tonatzin is the goddess representing earth and birth. She stands forgenerosity and kindness. The earth gives us our sustenance. The earth givesus shelter and protection. Its love is like a mother’s, infinite and maternal.Human beings turn to her for help, for food, for protection and liberation. Likein all worldly religions, religious figures are metaphors of complex andprofound truth. Tonatzin, like all the gods of ancient Mexico, she has manyrepresentations and patronages. One of this was incorporated in the Catholicfaith as the Virgen of Guadalupe.MICTLANTECUTLI – LORD OF DEATH

Our Old Grandparents believed human beings went after death to fourdifferent places, according to the way they had lived. The first place,Ilhuicatltonatiuh, was destined for the Warriors of the Flowery Battle whoaccompanied the Sun with music, song and dance, from sunrise to sunset.

The second place called Chichihuacuahco, was reserved for infants. In thatplace, there was a large tree that fed the infants by exuding milk drop bydrop. The infants would return to the world at the end of the cycle of the FifthSun. Tlalocan was the mansion of the Moon and of Tlaloc. It was a paradise forthose who had encountered death in relation to water. The last place, Mictlan,was governed by Mictlantecutly and Mictlanciuahtl , the Lord and Lady of Death. This was destined for those who have lived unproductive lives.Because of this grave sin, they were forced to make a trip, four years long,

full of hardships and sorrows before they could attain entrance to the



underworld. When they arrived at their final destination, the souls dissolvedinto nothing; thus leaving no evidence of their existence.

TEZCATLIPOCA – SMOKING MIRROR Tezcatlipoca is the counterpart of Quetzalcoatl, He represents the night andhe is associated with the Moon. This god, eternally young, was the patron of the Telpochcalli, that is, the school for the Warriors of the Flowery Battle.

Tezcatlipoca was the intercessor for those who have fallen into the dark sideof life. He is represented in the figure of a jaguar. The name Tezcatlipocameans Smoking Mirror because through him, the image of man and hisconscience can be seen. Lord of darkness and of shadows, he knows thehuman heart. He represents the untruthful inner spirit. His presence meantimmediate danger. In the temple of the warriors, he represented the interiorbattle against darkness.IX. THE MILLENNARIAN CIVILIZATION OF THE ANAHUAC

The Old Grandparents called their land, Cem Anahuac – Land surrounded bygreat waters. Since the land was called Anahuac, they called themselvesAnahuacans and the culture became known as Civilization of the Anahuac. We

believe that Mexico had only one civilization that branched into manydifferent cultures through time and space united by the mainphilosophical/cultural frame, like the human hand with its five different fingersall attached and dependent of the same part.

The history of the civilization of the Anahuac began with the domestication of corn and the birth of agriculture, approximately six thousand years before theChristian era. This civilization ended with the arrival of the Spanish. Ours wasan ancient civilization that emerged and developed without the interventionof foreign influences. We are , without any doubt, one of the six oldestcivilization known to man. Our culture consists of three distinct eras:Pre-classic: 6,000 B.C., to 200 B.C. This is known as theformative period. The culture representing this period is

called the Olmec.Classic: 200 A.D. to 800 A.D. In this era, the Toltec culturereached its splendor.Post-classic: 850 A.D. to 1519 A.D. This era, represented bythe Mexica known as Aztecs, is the end of ancient cultures.X. THE OLMEC GREAT-GRANDFATHERS

The Olmec civilization is known as the Mother Culture. The Olmec are theoldest civilization known in our history. Our Old Grandparents establishedthemselves before Christ, but the Olmec are considered to be our great-grandfathers. Their culture emerged between the states of Veracruz and

Tabasco. This civilization grew and expanded throughout Mesoamerica. It is

believed the Olmec invented a system to measure time that consisted of three exact and perfect calendars. The first consisted of 260 days based onlunar observations. The second calendar of 365 days was based on themovement of the earth around the sun, and the third had 52 years that wasbased on the observations of the earth’s movement in relation to the starsand constellations, known as the Pleiades. Even today, 4,000 years later, theiraccurate calendars are a source of wonderment because the Olmec knew howdevelop and use the system. Their superb knowledge in mathematics isevident in the architecture of pyramids, plazas and temples that alsodemonstrate their knowledge in astronomy for their buildings are preciselyaligned with the four cardinal points.In Oaxaca, like in the rest of Mexico, there is ample evidence all significant

cultures were influenced by the Olmec. A vivid example is the Dancers of Monte Alban. These magnificent engraved stones depicting deformed human



beings show Olmec influence. The Olmec culture left evidence of theirexistence in the form of gigantic stone heads with Negroid features wearinghelmets. The Olmec - People of the Rubber - knew how to use this product inthe balls used in their games and other various forms. Their most famousarchaeological sites are found in La Venta and Comalcalco in Tabasco; SanLorenzo, Tres Zapotes and Catemaco in Veracruz, Oxtotitlan and Zumpangodel Rio in Guerrero, Monte Alban and Huamelupan, in Oaxaca, Uaxcatun inQuintana Roo and Chalcatzingo in Morelos.XI. THE TOLTEC GRANDFATHERS

The ancient mystical men of knowledge, possessors of the "red and blackink," wise men, master builders, artists, authors of spiritual works andfounders of splendid civilizations were known to others as the Toltec.According to information received by Bernardino de Sahagun, he says:

The Toltec were painters, scribers of codices,sculpturers, wood carvers, stone engravers,builders of temples and palaces, writers andceramicists.

The Toltec, truthfully, were wise, their literary workswere good and virtuous. Their plots were wellplanned and marvelous.

They were experienced speakers that knew how tospeak from their hearts

They knew the stars by name and their influencein their world, for the Toltec knew how to follow thecourse of the stars in the heavens and their movementin relation to the earth.

The splendor of this ancient culture lasted for more than 1,000 years. Thisperiod was known as the luminary of Quetzalcoatl. During that time, therewere no wars and human sacrifices.

Teotihuacan was the beating heart of the Toltec civilization, the cradle of Toltecayotl - Wisdom of the Old Grandparents - because from Teotihuacan, allthe peoples and cultures of the Anahuac were guided and directed. MonteAlban III, Zapotec culture and Chichen Itza, Maya culture, demonstrate Toltecinfluence. This influence is also evident in all the cultures during the periodknow as classic.

THE ZAPOTEC The Zapotec lived in what today is known as the state of Oaxaca. Their firstimportant center of wisdom was in San Jose del Mogote, in the region of Etla.

They moved, for some reason to Teotitlan del Valle in the region of Tlacolulawhere they founded the city of Yagul. Later on, in the Valley of Zimatlan,

known at that time as Teozapotlan, they settled in Zaachila. The Zapoteccalled themselves Zaa and together with the Mixtec, they are geographicallylocated in the center of Old Mexico or what is known as Mesoamerica. TheMixtec and Zapotec are the bridge between the Nahuatl and Maya cultures.

The Zapotec built Monte Alban and Mitla. These two sites are of significantimportance in the continent. As we have previously explained, the civilizationsof the Valley of the Anahuac, exhibit the same cultural and philosophicalstructure, but each culture added their own individual touch according to theinterpretation of the original.

The Zapotec distinguished themselves for their unique style in pottery andtheir exquisite urns depicting the symbolic representation of the jaguar, theserpent and the eagle. In the post-classic period, the culture moved further

south to the Isthmus where they founded Tehuantepec, a Nahuatl name that



means In the Mountain of the Tiger. The Zapotec have always been a resilientpeople, excellent merchants and able politicians.

THE MIXTECApoala is the mystical place of origin of the Mixtec culture that claims to haveinhabited the region of the clouds. Legend tells that the first people were bornin trees that grew in the banks of the river that form a cavern. Fourindividuals took hold of each different cardinal point where they settled. Thisdecision accounts for the region of the Mixteca being such a large regionextending through the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla.

The Mixtec were superb jewelers working with gold and silver. Theirmagnificent pieces of jewelry were found in the famous Tomb 7 in MonteAlban. They left a legacy of magnificent codices or books painted on deerskins and folded in the form of accordion. Few of these survived thedestruction of the Spanish invaders. They are also distinguished by theirceramic work and beautiful, perfect polychrome pottery.During the apogee of great lords and rulers of the Mixtec, the great market of Coixtlahuaca, flourished among other great places like Tlaxiaco, Tututepec

and Tilantongo, considered by archaeologists to be important centers asMonte Alban. They were great warriors as told in the legends of the Archer of the Sky and 8 Deer Tiger Claw.

THE MAYAAs we already know, all the cultures in ancient Mexico were interconnectedbecause all of them rose from one mother culture. Therefore, between theNahuatl and Zapotec architecture, there are may similarities, but the Mayaare an exception. Their world covered the Yucatan Peninsula, the state of Chiapas and the countries of Guatemala, Belize and Honduras in CentralAmerica. The culture had a higher style in art. It was complex and tookcapricious forms.We can see the Maya were different even though they are part of the

Anahuac culture. They were the first culture to invent a mathematical systemusing the cero. This allowed them to handle large numbers, too large, fortoday’s standard. In their method of adding known as long counting, theywere able to count tenths of thousands of years. They were also excellentastronomers. In fact, their astronomical calculations are so precise they wereable to measure the duration of a year in exactly 364.3420 days.

The Maya recorded a fountain of philosophical literature. An invaluable legacyof knowledge is found in the teachings of the Chilam Balam and the PopolVuh. Their archaeological sites have revealed the importance of their citieslike Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Palenque and Bonam Pak.

THE NAHUA

The Nahua were located in the Valley of the Anahuac, but their culture spreadto other places, including Teotihuacan, through a complex system of channelsthat joined several lakes and other bodies of water. The central regionconsists of the states of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala and the Valley of Mexico .

The Nahua culture then went further than the Valley of Mexico, reaching thestates of Guerrero, Hidalgo, Queretaro and even Oaxaca. All the cited placesexhibit, therefore, Nahua influence. Indisputably, in the period known as theclassic, Teotihuacan and Tula were the major centers and in the period knownas the post-classic, the most populated area was around the lake whereMexico City is located today. The Nahuas of the high planes and surroundingareas share the same mother culture and their Nahuatl language was the

lingua franca in Old Mexico. These strong cultural ties despite the passing of



time and of the diversity of regions that they influenced with their presenceand culture, provided the basis and sustenance for their descendants today.

THE TOTONAC The Totonac people share the same origin with the Nahua. The Totonacremembered they originated from the mystic Chicomostoc and wanderedabout until they founded Teotihuacan. They continued to Puebla and finallythey settled in Veracruz. In this state, the most important evidence of theirexistence is found in the archaeological sites known as El Tajin and Cempuala.

Tajin was the first city dedicated as a symbolic representation to the God of Water. Tajin represented to the Totonac what Kukulcan was for the Maya and

Tlaloc was for the Nahua. The Totonac tattooed their bodies, they shaved their heads and wore finecotton garments. The Old Grandparents left us the inheritance of the Flyers of Papantla and these in turn gave the world the cultivation of vanilla.

THE PUREPECHAAs all the peoples of the Anahuac, the Purepecha shared the same basis thatunified them and at the same time, they exhibit multiple differences in their

culture. They remembered to have come from South America, specificallyfrom Peru. This account is not impossible because for more than 7, 500 yearsthe people of the Anahuac came in contact with South American cultures likethe Tawantinsuyo. Any way, the Purepecha are part of the multiculturalmosaic that forms Mexico.

The Purepecha are magnificent artisans. They developed the art of metallurgyand knew and applied the technique of cold hammering known as laminate,the melting of molds through the process known as lost wax, filigree , weldingand working with gold, silver and copper. They knew how to work wood andproduced beautiful ceramics.

The Purepecha culture developed along the lake of Patzcuaro in the state of Michoacan. They were formidable warriors and excellent fishermen. They

engaged in frequent battles against the Aztecs. Their famous hero,Calzontzin, fought constantly against the Aztec and the Purepechasuccessfully avoided being conquest by the enemy. The most important ruinsof this culture are the Yacaras in Tzintzuntzan and the ones in Tingambato inthe State of Michoacan. Their influence embraces the states of Guanajuato,Queretaro, Guerrero, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa.XIII. THE YOUNG AZTEC GRANDFATHERSFour centuries had passed since the splendor of Ancient Mexico ended, whenthe Aztec arrived to the Valley of Mexico from the northern plains. This wasthe last barbarian people in search for a place to settle down. They did notspeak Nahuatl. They were gatherers and hunters and fierce warriors. Their

search ended when they encountered the shore of a lake. In 1325, theyfounded their city, Tenochtitlan. The people living around the shore of thelake, were descendants of the legendary Toltec, but the culture was alreadyin decadence. Several centuries had gone by since the departure of the greatmasters and the people lived in fear that the Fifth Sun was about to end.

The Aztec quickly learned the language and got thoroughly acquainted withthe knowledge of the Old Toltec Grandparents with an 180 degrees twist tothe ancient culture. To be exact, Tlacaelel was the individual who modifiedthe philosophy of Quetzalcoatl, that had been the symbol of Toltec wisdom,and gave him instead a warrior status by imposing their own god,Huitzilopchtli. In this manner, the Aztec named themselves People of the Sunand through human sacrifices they believed they were able to prevent the

end of the Fifth Sun. The new ideology and cult of their deity, Huitzilopochtli,came to be. The Aztec grew and their power was felt and feared by many



cultures that were subjugated and forced to pay tribute to the conquerors. They were feared for the frequent human sacrifices of captives, in constantdemand, for their wars referred as flowery wars, which they claimed to be inremembrance of the spiritual flowery wars observed by the former Toltec.

Their impressive culture did not survived for too long. Victims of their ownmistakes, for they confused the arrival of Hernan Cortez, In 1519, with thereturn of Quetzalcoatl and with the peoples they have dominated andterrorized that joined forces with the Spanish, these two powerfulcombinations contributed to the downfall of the Aztec Empire in less thanthree years.XIII. THE CENTERS OF KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOMIn the northern part of Mexico City, in the State of Mexico, we find the city of

Teotihuacan, one of the most beautiful and impressive cities found in the sixancient civilizations in the world.

Teotihuacan – Place Where Men Learned To Be Gods – is, indisputably, theplace where the plumed serpent embarked in its flight to seek celestialheights. Crossing the ample avenue that runs from North to South, the Street

of the Dead is found in the northern part where the splendid pyramid of theMoon was built to crown the road of the dead in search for the ultimatereality.In the central part of the Street of the Dead, facing West and under a hugegrotto in the shape of a shamrock, emerges a monumental and imperturbableman-made mountain, the Pyramid of the Sun. This pyramid pays homage to"For Whom We Live," Lord of the darts of fire, solar eagle that guides anddirects life. To the south of the street of the Dead, there is a complex net of fourteen edifices called "The Citadel." The complex is breathtaking for itssymmetry and beauty. In the center of the plaza the pyramid of Quetzalcoatl,Lord of Divine Breath, looms in Teotihuacan, monument to the human spirit.

Teotihuan, with its millions of tons of adobe and stone, reminds us of the

concept of divinity and humanity, and, at the same time, it maintains aliveand present the constant struggle to transcendence the limited materialworld. More than 85,00 Toltec, luminous spiritual warriors speak through "theblack and red ink," symbols of wisdom and beauty, of Teotihuacan and thegrandeur of the human spirit.MONTE ALBAN: THE MOUNTAIN OF THE JAGUARIn the center of a valley surrounded by numerous mountains and at analtitude of 400 meters, the sacred site of Monte Alban or Mountain of the

Jaguar, was built atop a mountain laboriously flatten by hand to accomplishthe impossible. To build this magnificent city in the sky by carrying tons andtons of green quarry stones to the summit. This place, still permeated by the

spiritual force of the warriors of the flowery battle, gives testimony that for3,003 years, advanced civilizations inhabited the area and produced amarvelous piece of architecture that allows the spirit to soar through thecourts and spaces. The Old Grandparents sent us through the unlimited spaceand time the message of the grandeur of people that inhabited this sacredplace and the wisdom within its walls, surrounded by natural beauty tocompliment the work of man.MITLA: PLACE OF DEATHIn the west part of the luminous and vast Valley of Tlacolula and appearing toseek refuge in the mountains, we find Mitla, the place of the death. The abodeof the Lord and Lady Death resists disappearing despite its advance state of ruins. Those arriving at Mitla are able to appreciate a view that more symbolic

it is a reality of our people. A short distance from the ruins, a Catholic churchrises from its foundation and walls built with stones used in the temple of the



Lord and Lady of Death. This is Mexico, a country of mixed blood, but ourorigin is found deep in the ancient roots of the Old Grandparents.According to Spanish Historians they recorded a legend that speaks about acomplex system of underground tunnels that reach as far as Monte Alban. Incontrast to that legend, we have today ample evidence of our past in thecourts, patios and the four buildings that mark the four cardinal points ordirections. In these splendid buildings we also find engraved in stonemagnificent fret work and millenary adornments called grecas, made by thecivilization of the Anahuac. In the grecas, identical to those found in

Teotihuacan, we can appreciate the same spiritual message that records theparable of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered God of Wind and Tlaloc, God of Water.

These gods of the Anahuac are known as Kukulcan and Chac to the Maya, andBelaguetza and Cosijo to the Zapotec.Quetzalcoatl is also represented by a longitudinal sliced caracole or spiralshell where the divine breath passes through to give consciousness or life.

Tlaloc, is represented by a flash of lightening that announces rain that in turnaids in the reproduction of living matter. The grecas are accompanied by the

Cross of Quetzalcoatl representing the four sites of existence and the centerthat gives them balance.PALENQUE AND LORD PACALAmong all the centers of wisdom of the Old Grandparents and what today areknown as archaeological zones, undoubtedly Palenque occupies a very specialplace because it is a monument to the creativity of the Maya culture. It is theonly pyramid found in Mexico, built with the sole purpose of providing amortuary place of rest for an important person.Many years went by after the discovery of Palenque with its Temple of theDescriptions, when an archaeologist discovered on the upper floor of thepyramid small holes that were overlooked before during the first exploration.He thought, at the time, that they were probably secret passages. His

supposition turned out to be right. When the lab stones were lifted theyrevealed a set of stairs that went all the way down to the base of the pyramidwhere he found a chamber and within this chamber a huge stonesarcophagus that contained the remains of the illustrious and powerful LordPacal.Palenque is situated at the foot of chain of mountains in the middle of tropicaland humid forests embracing the states of Chiapas and Tabasco. From the

Tower of this marvelous architectonic complex., one can appreciate thegentle slopes of the terrain that reaches all the way to the Golf of Mexico.CHICHEN ITZA AND ITS MONUMENTAL BALL COURTMexicans today ought to be proud of our Old Grandparents, who, among

many other things, ranging from wisdom, food, objects and inventions, left usa the invaluable heritage of the ball game, known as the oldest sport in thehistory of humanity and still in existence.It is believed that our Old Grandparents invented the game in the year 1,500BC. It is interesting to not that the game is played in various parts of thecountry following almost the same rules used in antiquity. In all thearchaeological zones, ball courts have been discovered, but the mostimpressive, not only for its size but for its general arrangement, is the onebuilt by the Maya and found in Chichen Itza, in Yucatan. The ball game servedthree purposes; for astronomy/philosophy, religious and, finally for sport. Thelatter was practice in all the towns and taught at the telpochcalli or school.XIV. THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO

Mexicans are a millenary people that have developed during 7,500 years andbelong to one of the oldest cultures in the world, but for the last 500 years



their culture is a mixture of races influenced firstly the Spanish, then by theFrench and lastly by the United States. In the last decade, however, thecommunication and free trade have subjected us to cultural influences fromaround the world. This phenomenon is neither good nor bad, but a reality thatcan bring to humanity positive and negative aspects.

To educate our children in the sea of turbulence of the XXI century, we mustprepare them as able seafarers in the raging sea and provide them with ananchor and a compass: the compass as a symbol of knowledge and theanchor as cultural identity. In fact, societies base their development ininformation, education and knowledge. We must prepare our youth in anefficient manner to face each day, using the values and principles inheritedfrom our ancient civilization; our Mother culture that is the essence of spirituality in humanity and prevent erase this legacy from our minds andhearts in respect to our Old Grandparents, our indigenous roots.We must not continue to ignore and devaluate what is our only and truelegacy. We cannot deny anymore we are the children, the descendants of the

Old Grandparents of the Civilization of the Anahuac, our mother culture. Thisis present in our consciousness, around our material and spiritual worlds andfills the empty spaces in our daily lives. For 500 years, Mexican society hastried to deny our indigenous roots philosophically, ethnologically andspiritually. Mexican are dual in ethnicity; one is Indigenous and the other oneis European. We must affirm despite our duality that the syncretism createdin our cultural identity does not rob us of our true face and own heart. Ourchildren should be brought up as deserving heirs to Netzahualcoyotl andCervantes; proud of mixed cultures, of their ancestors, proud of the oldGrandparents, our indigenous root.

[email protected], SK., CanadaSummer of 2002

pueblos indigenas (ingles)

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