Our spiritual roots have been kept alive inside stories that have been passed from generation to generation. Today those ancient voices are transformed into words and take form into the soul of al Mexicans... A novel that makes every Mexican spirit proud of who they are, their essence and their past. In a journey through ancient Mexico and the wonders of Tenochtitlan, the characters are faced with the harsh reality of a modern Mexico who constantly discriminates against its indigenous roots.
Huitzilopochtli has returned. Aztec destroyer, god of sun and war. He of the hummingbird. Son of Coatlique, Our Lady of the Serpent Skin. But you can call him H. H. is reborn in the sprawling suburbs of an American metroplex in the late twentieth century, a place where "the future is a cartoon of the future." Life in suburbia is hard for an Aztec god: H. falls in and out of love, works downtown as an oficinista, raises children, and learns to command the awesome power of modern electronic media. Then one indifferent summer's day H. is seriously wounded by the policeÑin a case of mistaken identity, of courseÑand faces death once more. In the City of Smoking Mirrors relates H.'s adventures as he hovers between life and death, revisiting his homeland and ancestors. He issues letters and edictsÑto the faithful, to his dead amigosÑand chronicles his circumnavigation of the Land of the Dead and "what he saw there that made him write this book." In tantalizing verse that walks the edge of dream, Albino Carrillo takes readers on a lyrical exploration of a dark netherworld, a quest for hope in a universe overshadowed by impending doomÑa place where "The demons you'll have to defeat on your inward journey / Are like so many little yellow hornets buzzing about / Window screens in summer, angry but looking / For anything sweet, any way out . . . ." Through the unforgettable persona of Huitzilopochtli, Carrillo shows us the transitory nature of our passions and wounds as he chisels a new headstone for our times.
The myths of the Aztec and Maya derive from a shared Mesoamerican cultural tradition. This is very much a living tradition, and many of the motifs and gods mentioned in early sources are still evoked in the lore of contemporary Mexico and Guatemala. Professor Taube discusses the different sources for Aztec and Maya myths. The Aztec empire began less than 200 years before the Spanish conquest, and our knowledge of their mythology derives primarily from native colonial documents and manuscripts commissioned by the Spanish. The Maya mythology is far older, and our knowledge of it comes mainly from native manuscripts of the Classic period, over 600 years before the Spanish conquest. Drawing on these sources as well as nineteenth- and twentieth-century excavations and research, including the interpretation of the codices and the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing, the author discusses, among other things, the Popol Vuh myths of the Maya, the flood myth of Northern Yucatan, and the Aztec creation myths.
From the early cities in the second millennium BC to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan on the eve of the Spanish conquest, Ancient Mesoamericans created landscapes full of meaning and power in the center of their urban spaces. The sixteenth century description of Tenochtitlan by Bernal Diaz del Castillo and the archaeological remnants of Teotihuacan attest to the power and centrality of these urban configurations in Ancient Mesoamerican history. In Landscape and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica, Rex Koontz, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, and Annabeth Headrick explore the cultural logic that structured and generated these centers.Through case studies of specific urban spaces and their meanings, the authors examine the general principles by which the Ancient Mesoamericans created meaningful urban space. In a profoundly interdisciplinary exchange involving both archaeologists and art historians, this volume connects the symbolism of those landscapes, the performances that activated this symbolism, and the cultural poetics of these ensembles.
Vol. two is a compilations of five books. Each author describes the cultural background, written sources, and continuing legacy of the major myths, illustrated throughout by archaeological and artistic evidence.
Legend of Tenochtitlán tells the story of the Mexica people who founded the city of Tenochtitlán. The history of the city is linked to legendary gods and goddesses. Huitzilopochtli led the Mexica people to their new home, where they found a golden eagle clutching a serpent perched on a cactus growing from a rock in a lake. In 1345, at the site where the eagle had appeared, the Mexica tribe began building the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlán, a temple that would rise 164 feet above the city. Tenochtitlán grew to be the largest and most powerful city of Mesoamerica. Under a succession of emperors, the Aztec city expanded into a vast empire, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. In 1519, Emperor Montezuma anticipated the return of the god Quetzalcóatl, who was prophesied to arrive from the ocean in the east, sailing on a serpent-shaped ship to claim all Aztec lands in his name. Instead, Spaniard Hernán Cortés arrived in November that year. Days later Cortés imprisoned Montezuma and took control of the Aztec empire, but was later driven out by the Aztecs. A year later, the Spaniards and their allies retook Tenochtitlán after three months of battle. This victory marked the destruction of the city and the fall of the Aztec empire. In all, the land of the golden eagle had lasted almost 200 years. During Spanish rule, Mexico City rose above the ruins of Tenochtitlán. The Metropolitan Cathedral was built near the former site of the Great Pyramid. After 300 years, the Spanish withdrew and the land of the golden eagle re-emerged as Mexico. The site, where the tribes are believed to have first seen the golden eagle, is located in the Zócalo plaza in the heart of Mexico City. There every morning, a band plays the Mexican anthem as soldiers raise the Mexican flag with the symbol of Mexico: a golden eagle clutching a serpent, perched on a cactus.
The ancient Aztecs dwelt at the center of a dazzling and complex cosmos. From this position they were acutely receptive to the demands of their gods. The Fifth Sun represents a dramatic overview of the Aztec conception of the universe and the gods who populated it—Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent; Tezcatlipoca, the Smoking Mirror; and Huitzilopochtli, the Southern Hummingbird. Burr Cartwright Brundage explores the myths behind these and others in the Aztec pantheon in a way that illuminates both the human and the divine in Aztec life. The cult of human sacrifice is a pervasive theme in this study. It is a concept that permeated Aztec mythology and was the central preoccupation of the aggressive Aztec state. Another particularly interesting belief explored here is the “mask pool,” whereby gods could exchange regalia and, thus, identities. This vivid and eminently readable study also covers the use of hallucinogens; cannibalism; the calendars of ancient Mexico; tlachtli, the life-and-death ball game; the flower wars; divine transfiguration; and the evolution of the war god of the Mexica. A splendid introduction to Aztec religion, The Fifth Sun also contains insights for specialists in ethnohistory, mythology, and religion.
