Ideas and theories

This article can be read as an independent study specified in its title. However, put in a wider context it follows up a multi­disciplinary project which was initiated in 1994 at the ICA (International Congress of Americanists) Symposium Anthropology 7 a on «Amerindian thought» - a topic that attracted researchers from different disciplines, let alone those with an interest for «overlapping» fields and with a zeal in initiating new ideas as well as those turning old stones over to view them from a different perspective or angle.

1. In my approach to that much discussed but too exclusively analysed topic I pondered on the necessity of avoiding - wherever possible - such western terms which might influence - even mislead - a free discussion, deriving from traditional conventional categorising and systematising in accordance with monocultural and consequently irrelevant norms. E. g. Latin grammar as a model for linguistic studies, Greek philosophy formalising intellectual interpretations, Christian theological influences on cultural values - all leading to the conclusion that we have «religion» they have «a world view» or at best «mythology», etc.
   My own paper focused on Nahuatl (Aztec) thought, using the term tloque nahuaque as a starting point for a discussion on similar concepts and comprehensive terms of «cosmic totality».
2. That «linguistic» angle I stressed on even more in a paper presented at the symposium organized by the Swedish Association of Americanists (SAMS) in September 1996, the topic of the symposium being «The Trickster». Querying the existence of such a figure outside its main geographic region, North America, and finding it there in its original scientific sphere, anthropology i. a., more «virtual» than real, in other words wishful thinking of some too enthusiastic categorisers, for my own approach I ventured to test «tricky outsiders» as an adequate designation of what I found in Mexico's past and present. On similar grounds and for the same reasons I preferred 'cosmolore' to 'folklore' for expressing what I wanted to test: a perception and a term without pejorative intimation.
3. The present article follows up the same basic idea or opinion that in spite of realising that western researchers are influenced in their work by their own cultural patterns, we still incline to omit - often unconsciously - the strong influence of our own native languages, leading unintentionally to a misuse of our professional terminology when analysing and interpreting - let alone describing - other cultures.

The title of my paper is not just an expression of my desire for playing with terms, but a reflection of my attempt to exemplify some of man's perceptions of cosmic realities visualized in god-like images and conceptualised in traditional lore.

My ethnographic survey goes from pre-Aztec times to the post-revolutionary era - the 20th century. It includes subjectively selected examples from texts on

(a) genuine gods benevolent and/or malevolent;
(b) divinised mothers of gods helping those in need; or ominous of disaster;
(c) deified humans often prominent leaders abiding their time to return;
(d) glorified individuals becoming heavenly bodies;
(e) legendary heroes as «deified men in being».

In my approach to such a multifarious topic I use 'cosmolore' - a term more suitable for the original socio-cultural context of the material.

In cultures with clear distinction between dogma and lore - established on the one hand by indigenous priesthood and on the other by westernised researchers - terms like 'folk' religion and 'folk' lore are authorized tools for scientific work.

In Mexico where the Christian missionaries and monks soon realized that they met their intellectual equals in the tlamatinime 'learned men', and the teopixqui 'priests', the compilation of «religious data» in the indigenous languages started already in the 1520's, thus giving later researchers authentic descriptions of the original patterns of thoughts, although expressed in western terms of value and categories. The authenticity, however, of the common people's beliefs has become much blurred by centuries of ideological indoctrination - already in late Aztec times.

This calls for interdisciplinary approaches and makes the linguistic aspect a must.

Main protagonists and Chronology

Due to the overwhelming multitude of conspicuous figures I have restricted my study to central Mexico, especially the so-called Valley of Mexico, and in the south to the Mayan area. During thousands of years peoples of all kinds were attracted to the central highland plains with their fertile soils, good water supplies and dense woods: nomadic hunters, sedantary farmers, military conquerors and others. Some of them stayed, others went further on, others again moved away to find other places to live on after a certain elapse of time. More and more products and ideas from other and more distant cultural areas were brought here through commercial exchange, social interactions, wars and other ways of contact.

My choice of protagonists aimed at finding adequate personages from such time period where historical - and even pseudo-historical - events initiated new eras by causing political, economic and social changes in the original cultural patterns. After a short survey of the epoch of the Otomí Indians those eras are

Toltec epoch: political hegemony in the Valley of Mexico, 12th century AD
Aztec epoch: geopolitical - military - expansion, 12th c.-1523
Colonial times: The Spanish Conquest - christianisation, 1523-1823
Independence: for the Criollos (1810) 1823-1910
Revolution: «... for Democracy, the posters said...».

Such a chronological arrangement may seem to contradict my ambitions to avoid wherever possible western methodology and terminology. My reason for this, however, is to facilitate for readers interested but not familiar with non-western history, in this case Mexico and its neighbouring countries, where the continuity of the past into the present is so strikingly near in time and real in mind - if not always true. History based on «collective memories» needs some ordering to be understood by others. I have chosen chronology as the main guideline for my presentation.

As Octavio Paz (1990: 362-363) says:

The Otomies - from hunters to soldiers

The Aztecs were not the first to rule in the Valley of Mexico nor were the Toltecs. Among the various peoples inhabiting the fertile valley the Otomís were known as brave and feared warriors. Although living outside the real Valley region and in spite of their militant image they were dominated by other peoples, first the Toltecs and then the Aztecs. Socially and culturally they were looked down upon by their conquerors, but recruited as elité-soldiers by the Aztec military forces and used as special guardians by their long trade merchants.

This is evinced by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún in his account on the Spanish Conquest. When the Spaniards came to the land of the Tlaxcallan their subjects

More relevant here is what is known about the religion of the Otomís. Three principal gods are mentioned in the Códice Fuenleal: Yocippa, the Supreme God, and Otonteuktli - a deified human (Paso y Troncoso 1898: 190).

Sahagún describes them as follows:

The Otomís had priests and their supreme priest was named Tecutlatca. They had also wise men whom they called 'Tlaciuhqui'.

Of special interest here is what Sahagún says directly of their Supreme God: «The name of their god was Iocippa» and that «his temple [was] very good (vel qualli in jteucal),» while on the other hand «the straw hut of trimmed and smoothed straw [was] called the temple of Oton (in teteçauhquj xacalli; in motocaiotia otonteucalli).»

This may be seen as an indication that Otontecutli was the deified political leader worshipped later as a god of war.

In the light of such traditions whether historical or religious Sahagún's description of the final confrontation between the Otomís and the Spaniards makes the surrender understandable:

So the people of Teocalhueycan together with their relatives the people of Tliliuhquitepec consulted among themselves /---/ [and] agreed in a common determination to meet with and pray to the Captain - the god - and all the [gods]: «They have come to reach their revered home here at Teocalhueycan. Here we /---/ offer our prayers and greetings. - And may our lord hear (yoan ma qujmocaqujti in totecujo). For Moctezuma and the Mexicans have greatly afflicted and troubled us.» /---/ (FC, Book XII: 71)

The Toltecs - from warriors to intellectuals and artists

After the gradual decline of Teotihuacán as the religious and cultural centre in the Valley of Mexico the Toltecs - whatever their direct influence in that process - took over the political leadership from the 11th century approximately. Their political centre and capital was Tollan/Tula. Among their many outstanding figures - mythical and/or historic - are Huemac and Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl with the calendar name of Ce Acatl = 1. Reed.

There are many different versions describing their images and they have been the subjects of much scholarly discussion for centuries as to their character, position and even existence, not the least who preceded whom as ruler of the politically expanding Toltec people. All this results in a rather blurred picture of the Toltec «history» (León-Portilla 1992: 375-76, Gonzalez 1990: 181 ff.).

The name of the most prominent ruler of Tula was 1. Reed Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. This last denomination indicates that he also may have been the supreme priest of that god. However, his fate seems sinister in that he was wheedled into committing two severe offences - that of drunkenness and then incest. Remorseful and in despair he gave up his high position as ruler and priest and left his country, however, declaring that he would return in power on the day of his birth - 1. Reed.

Whether this frightening prophesy was pronounced by the god Quetzalcoatl or by his namesake the human supreme priest and ruler Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl is irrelevant. His geopolitical successor in the Valley the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II when confronted with the approaching conquistador Hernán Cortés gave credence to the traditional prediction. The day when the Spaniards landed 1519 was Good Friday. Their captain and leader was dressed in black as was the Catholic custom, he was bearded and the date was according to the Aztec calendar Ce Acatl = 1. Reed. All criteria of the authenticity of the returning god.

Huemac, in many sources referred to as the last ruler of Tula, had a gruesome story.

During his rule politics deteriorated into «despotism» (yn tlacaliztli) (Anales de Cuauhtitlan T II: 26) while violence paved the way for human sacrifices becoming an intrinsic part of religious performance. When finally the former powerful «state» collapsed, Huemac after a similar moral degradation as that of 1. Reed, committed suicide at Chapultepec (Brotherstone 1992: 162).

He «reappears», however, referred to as «The King of the Dead» (Anales: 29) in a strange episode where he is visited by the messengers of Moctezuma II. He scolds them for their living and reproaches Moctezuma for his cowardice in planning to escape and hide rather than do penance and change lifestyle, thereby resisting what shall come according to the omens. All this Huemac tells the messengers in the image of an old soothsayer and wise man (Davies 1977: 236).

Irrespective of the identification problem of the two rulers and the relationship of the first mentioned to his namesake the god Quetzalcoatl all three personages exemplify how history - and pseudohistory - were exploited by later political leaders for their own aims of expanding both territories and power.

The same legendary motives were merged into equally valued explanations in order to justify their new political programs. However, they all fell victims of failures due to tyranny and dictatorial extremes.

The Aztecs - from immigrants to imperialists

Conjectural history had a long tradition in Mesoamerica, and the Aztecs applied this selfglorifying method to the extreme, destroying the history of subdued peoples, while continually exploiting their knowledge! According to traditions told by the elder - huehuete - the priest who led the migrant Mexica, was named Meçitli already when he was born (metl 'maguey', citli (tochtin) liebre) (Molina 1944: 23, 56).

The history of it was saved, but it was burned when Itzcoatl ruled (1427-40). A council with the rulers of Mexico was held. They said:

The comment to this event by the learned scholar of Mexican history and cultures Frances Gillmor is worth quoting: It is interesting that the later burning of Aztec books by the Spaniards was not unprecedented (Gillmor 1964: 85, 136, 215 note 23).

Tezcatlipoca - «The Smoking Mirror» - Creator God, transformer, sorcerer.

He is one of the Supreme Creator-couple's four children and master of the First «Sun» or era.

He is both benevolent and malevolent, and consequently both feared and worshipped. He sees everything and influences even more. He is omnipotent as far as mankind is concerned.

Tezcatlipoca is the creator but he is also the destroyer, a bringer of fortune as well as disaster. According to the creation myth Tezcatlipoca is bereft his leadership of the world or universe by his brother and rival Quetzalcoatl. However, he is still the most prominent of the gods of ancient Mexico and keeps his influence over men.

He was considered a «true god» (vel teutl) whose abode was everywhere - in the land of the dead, on earth, in heaven (mictlan, tlalticpac, ilhujcac) (FC, Book I: 2).

On his frequent visits to Earth he transformed into a wicked sorcerer who brings ill fate to mighty men out of ill will and troubles everyone who provokes his capricious mood. He manipulates people to make mistakes and, even worse, to commit «sins». He was most destructive - and best known later - when he took the form of a wise adviser and bewitched and lured the mighty king of Tula to get drunk, commit incest and finally had to give up his leadership and withdraw.

He disguised in many different ways: human, animal and natural phenomenon, being a token of an omen of destruction:

Tezcatlipoca also took the disguise of different animals like the coyote, the racoon and the skunk. This last mentioned animal was shunned both for his omen of death and for his evil smell (epatl 'cierto animalejo que hiede mucho', according to Molina 1944: 29). When it entered someone's home (ichan) or bore its young there, they said: «Now the householder will die».

Also they supposed that it was the likeness of the demon Tezcatlipoca (ca ixiptla in tlacateculotl, tezcatlipuca) / when it loosed an odor, a foul odor (in jquac mjexi, in teiexi). Then they said: «Tezcatlipoca breaketh wind» (qujtoaia: omjex in tezcatlipoca) (FC, Book V: 171).

Another portent omen was the so-called «bundle of ashes» (tlacanexqujmilli - nextli 'ashes'; cf. Molina 1944: 72).

And thus it was said:

As Tezcatlipoca's last performances or interventions on earth in pre-Hispanic times there are two episodes worth mentioning described by Sahagún in the 12th volume referring entirely to the Conquest:

It is well known that the Aztec warriors of the highest grades had the title of 'tlacochcalcatl' (Moreno 1962: 120, referring to Durán) «titles in use long before the Aztecs and that /---/ they reflect an older system of social organization» (Townsend 1992: 196, cf. Schultze-Jena 1957: 303-305, 315-334).

What intrigues me is the nahuatl 'itoca' which Anderson and Dibble translate as 'named'; however, in my opinion it could also be interpreted as 'his name [was] Tlacochcatcatl' thus referring to a person. Could that «person» have been the sinister Tezcatlipoca? Or is it just my wishful thinking?

In the text on the second episode Tezcatlipoca is actually mentioned as the protagonist in disguise.

Once again Moctezuma sent more messengers (titlano(l)i), soothsayers (tlaiiuhq) and magicians and also fire priests (tletlenamacaque) to stop the Spaniards casting a spell over them. But they failed.

And so the messengers went further to encounter the Spaniards.

There are many parallels to beliefs and features ascribed to Tezcatlipoca - and other ancient gods, for that matter - found in Mexican present-day lore. One of his spectacular paraphernalias is the obsidian mirror he wears on his head - in other versions also on his left foot. The Huichol of Nayarit today consider the circular glass mirrors as supernatural passageways as well as representing symbolically the Sun, Moon, eyes and flowers, just as the peoples of Teotihuacán a thousand years earlier saw them as similar symbols also of «a world that could be looked into but not passed through» (Miller & Taube 1993: 115).

Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca's brother and rival; benefactor

Quetzalcoatl became master of the Second «Sun» of the five eras of the world creation. He is often referred to as the «cultural hero». He brought the human bones back from Mictlan, the realm of death, and he gave mankind their most important food: corn, both deeds after overcoming obstacles and fighting hostile guards.

However, Quetzalcoatl is more than this image of a cultural hero - he is a god, and one of the most potent as to influencing mankind mainly to their benefit. Thus he is quite the opposite to his brother Tezcatlipoca and venerated for his goodness, seldom feared. He is evocated by leaders and rulers, by warriors but also by the common people (macehualtin).

His story is fused with his namesake the king of Tula Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl in that many of the legends told about the one have merged in those of the other. For centuries this fusion of identities blended into a confusion in that different sources tell different stories about what might be one and the same personality (cf. Esplendor del México Antiguo I, 1959). Their early life stories are almost identical as to the miraculous birth of both the god and the human ruler also called Pontifex Tonitzin in the Anales de Cuahtitlán. His mother is said to have swallowed a precious stone (ynantzin Quetzalcohuatl chalchihuitl quitollo). This happened in the year of 1. Reed and his mother's name was Chimanal (Anales del Museo Nacional T. III, 1886: 13f. Sp. trad. G. Mendoza y Felipe Sanchez Solis).

In the year 9. Reed he went looking for his father - at this age of nine he was quite prudent - but his father was dead. So he tried to find his father's bones in order to bury them in his own palace.

In the year 5. House the Toltecs called for Quetzacoatl to become their regent and also to be the high priest (el gran Sacerdote/yn Teopixcauh catca) (ibid. 15).

Due to rivalries between political groups in Tula/Tollan and because some were especially irritated that Quetzalcoatl was against human sacrifices (no se atrevía él jamás a sacrificar a los hombres nacidos en Tula), the «demons» (demonios, Tlatlaxacatecollo) made jokes about him and they mortified him in order to make him leave /---/ (ibid. 17).

And the same demons (Tlatlaxacatecollo) agreed to call upon assistance of Tezcatlipoca. Disguised as a young man he told the guards to tell Quetzalcoatl that a young man had come to show him his image (monacayo, monacayotzin) (ibid. 18). Then he gave him a mirror (tezcatl) saying «Here know yourself which emerges from your own flesh (carne) just like it emanates from the mirror (tezcatl).» Seeing himself - as they had painted him grotesquely - he got frightened and so alarmed that he left the room (ibid. 19).

Then the demon proceeded to invite him to drink wine (octli) saying: «To drink four glasses will do you no harm (con las cuatro tomas no muere).» But they gave him also a fifth glass in honour of his authority.

And Quetzalcoatl felt very much at ease (gozaba sintiendo un bienestar indefinido) (ibid. 19).

And then the demon made him sing and very happily Quetzalcoatl sang and said: «Bring my wife Quetzalpetlatl (nopiltzin cihuapilli Quetzalcoatl) and let's enjoy ourselves together /---/!»

Afterwards he felt bitter remorse and his shame had no measure. And this same year of his birth, 1. Reed he left his country. And when he came to the sea, he ordered a funeral pyre to be lit and he threw himself into the fire. And when they gathered his ashes, several beautiful birds assembled around the pyre (ibid. 21). And from the ashes of his heart (yn iyollo) his spirit arose as a star and it reached the heaven. This is the star that appears in the mornings to bring joy to the homes and the houses; it was called Tlauitzcalpan.

But after his death he did not appear in heaven for eight days, because he went to hell (mictlan) first. But after eight days (chicueylhuitica) he appeared as a huge bright star (huy citlalli).

And it was said that then he was deified (él quedó divinizado, moteuhtlali) (Versión trad. Mendoza & Sanchez Solis) or then Quetzalcoatl reached his supreme position (fué cuando Quetzalcoatl tomó su asiento real) (Version trad. Galicia Chimalpopoca. Ibid. 22).

There are two interesting parallels in the eschatological accounts of Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl: both are transformed after death into heavenly bodies, in Spanish 'astro' which also means star.

The Mexican historian and archaeologist Alfredo Chavero points out in his analysis of La piedra del Sol based on the description of Torquemada (Anales del Museo Nacional, México 1886, Tomo III: 23 Torquemada: t.2° p. 40) that Tezcatlipoca has characters of both the Sun and the Moon. On earth he walks around in the form of a beautiful young man (Telpuctli sic) observing and revealing the «secrets of the night» (Chavero 1886: 23). So they put out icpalli on the streets, the roads and at the cross-roads for him to rest, seats that nobody dared to use! They were called 'momaztli' of 'ichialoca: y eran para que descansase el astro en su curso' ('for the star to rest'). But for the people (para la multitud) they were real resting seats for the very god in a person (eran verdadero descamso de la persona del mismo dios). And Chavero comments: «The celestial body was transformed into a god and the god in a person (el astro se convirtió en dios, y el dios en persona)» (Chavero: 23). According to Chavero the star in question was the Evening Star, Tezcatlipoca being related to the night.

However, both the Evening and the Morning stars were related traditionally to Quetzalcoatl, whose divine identities fused with the personality of the ruler of Tollan and the supreme priest. Consequently his official dress and paraphernalia were the costumes and functions of the star Quetzalcoatl. The star that died in the evening would reappear in the morning in the East: thus the tradition was transformed to reality and the prophesy of the return of the king/priest of Tollan would be from the Orient. «Nobody doubted this in Mexico; Moctezuma II was convinced that when Cortés landed on the eastern shores of Mexico, he was the returning god.» (Chavero: 24)

Huitzilopochtli - «Hummingbird on the left (south)» - from political leader to God of Sun and War

Huitzipochtli is the only divinity of Aztec origin in the pantheon of Ancient Mexico. He was «only a common man, just a man (tlacatl)» (FC, Book I: 1). The etymology of his name has been much discussed. 'Huitzilli' is the 'hummingbird' (or 'colibri') and 'opochtli' means 'left' but also 'sinister' (malignant) (Santamaría 1959: 606 siniestro, zurdo).

The verb 'opochiua', 'nitla' means 'to make something with the left hand' (hazer algo con la mano izquierda; cf. opochmaitl 'mano izquierida', Molina: 78; icxjtl 'foot', ibid. 34). Huitzilopochtli is described thus by Sahagún. «And on his thin foot, his left, he had the sole pasted with feathers (auh pitzaoac in jcxi yiopochcopa)» (FC, Book III: 4).

The Franciscan monk says further:

The traditional conventional interpretation is that opochtli is related to the south, probably, however a reconstruction of the legend that dead warriors carried the Sun from the east to the zenith where they transformed into hummingbirds! - a poetic and plausible explanation considering that Huitzilopochtli became their God of War but he was also seen as the Sun. Consequently the Aztecs saw themselves as the People of the Sun.

The story of Huitzilopochtli's miraculous «birth» I have summarised from Sahagún's FC Books I and III:

Now her other children were angry with the mother:

With the 'xiuhcoatl' - fire serpent - he pierced Coyolxauhquj and

The migration story of the Aztecs is summarised from different versions shaped over long times and based on political facts and fantasies along with religious visions. On Huitzilopochtli's order they changed their name from Aztecs (Aztlan was the name of their mythical point of departure) to «Mexica». He told them: «Now you shall not call yourselves Aztecs any more, now you are Mexicans.» And his gifts to the people were the arrow (mitl), the bow (tlahuitolli), the spear-thrower (atlatl) and the «little net» (chitatli) (Davies 1977: 7; see also Tezozomoc 1949: 23; cf. Molina 1944: 22 chitatli 'redezilla para lleuar de como por el camino').

The migration is said to have started around A. D. 1111 from Aztlan. The people few in number was led by four priest-leaders (teomamas) i.e. «bearers of the god»:

And everywhere they stayed they were told to «build temples and erect the dwelling place of their god Huitzilopochtli» (ibid. 10, 20; an oratory 37). All through the sufferings of the hard migration times they were constantly encouraged by the promises of a glorious future told them by their priests who learnt of it in dreams sent by the god.

These were said to be the words of the god speaking to his chosen people:

The migration story - as the political history - of the Mexica is filled with extraordinary sufferings caused by their enemies along with shuddering cruelties from their side in self-defence in order to survive, but also fighting for power - all following the orders of their god Huitzilopochtli. Whether apocryphic or partly based on cultural facts the most gruesome story is how they lured the ruler of Colhuacan to give his daughter as wife to their god. Then they killed her, flayed her and the priest donned her skin according to the ceremonial rite for the fertility. Moreover they invited the unsuspecting father, Achitometl, to take part in the ceremonial festivities in honour of the «goddess» (Davies 1977: 33)

However apocryphic this story it gives in a nutshell their aims and methods: to become respected even through horror.

Naturally the Mexicas were expelled but they won their purposes in accordance with their political model: military conquest, ruling with terrors and social acceptance by marrying into the most prestigious families of the sedentary population in the Valley.

In 1325 - alternatively 1345 - the Aztecs/Mexica founded there capital Tenochtitlán on the place that Huitzilopochtli has anticipated to them in the sight of an eagle - symbol of the Sun - perched on a cactus plant with a serpent in his beak.

The rapidly expanding powers of the Aztecs - political, territorial, economic - lasted for about two hundred years.

Their principal symbol is seen as a national emblem in the centre of the Mexican flag.

Coatlicue - «Serpent Skirt», mother of Huitzilopochtli

The miraculous conceiving of Huitzilopochtli by a feather ball from above entering the womb of his mother to be, makes Coatlicue a goddess whatever her original existence.

Thus it was told of his beginning, his coming into existence in the words of Sahagún: «/---/ from only a feather which fell his mother Coatl icue conceived. For no one came forth as his father» (FC, Book III: 5).

In some variations Coatlicue is ascribed the motherhood of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl which makes her status terrestrial. As the ruler of Culhuacan she may have supported her son's ambition to achieve the rulership of Tollan (Gillespie 1989: 148, 151, 176). This, however, might be a reconstruction based on pseudo-historical facts with the view of apotheosising a political leader, whose predecessor's wife happened to have the same name as the earth goddess.

A noteworthy coincidence to consider is the similarity of the moral admonition that Huemac gave to the messengers of Moctezuma (II) Xocoyotzin and the one given to the messengers of Moctezuma (I) Ilhuicamina by Coatlicue. She appears to them with sorrowful prophesies about the coming decline of her son's chosen people, the Aztecs. Following the text of Frances Gillmor the group of messengers was led by an old man to the top of the hill

Cihuacoatl - «woman-snake», earth goddess and patroness of midwifery, later title of the Aztec ruler's co-regent

As earth-goddess Cihuacoatl takes part in the creation of mankind. When Quetzalcoatl returns from the underworld, the realm of Mictlan, he takes the stolen bones of the previous human figures to Cihuatlampa, i. e. the abode of the earth-goddess in the West, Cihuacoatl. She grinds them on her stone mortar (metate) to a fine meal on which the gods sacrifice blood from their penises. From this dough a new human race is formed to live and shape the fifth - and final - «Sun» or era (cf. Clendinnen 1991: 173).

As patroness of childbirth, the midwives direct their speeches to the child-bearing women exhorting them to ask Cihuacoatl for help in their needs and to struggle like warriors in their efforts to give birth. As she was also the patroness of the sweathouse (temazcalli) the woman was taken there as a last resort and if dying finally left to die alone. It was believed that after death these women took over the Sun from the dead warriors in the zenith to lead it to the west.

In his documentary works Sahagún mentions several times that during the rule of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin (the Younger)

In the same book he relates however, the same saying thus:

And he repeats the augury thus:

Centuries later this aspect of Cihuacoatl merged with the well-known figure called La llorona who is heard wailing and crying for her lost child. The legend behind this phenomenon is a Mexican folktale with details from both native and European origin (see also Cihuateteo below).

At the accelerating expansion of their realm in the middle of the 15th century, the Aztecs institutionalised the charge of a co-regent as the adviser to the ruler (tlatoani). His functions were to take over the civil tasks of the ruler in wartime. He continued, however, as his chief advisor which no doubt included planning, organizing and even taking part in battles as a military leader. He was also president of the Supreme Court and he functioned actively in religious rites and official administration. And he was supervisor of the tributary organization (León-Portilla 1992: 276-77, 278).

His title cihuacoatl has given cause to much scholarly discussion. It has even been suggested that his title might emanate from a berdache institution (cf. Clendinnen 1991: 169). More likely though, in my opinion, that the ancient religious philosophy of a fusion of both sexes into one divine personality is the basis of giving the title of a female goddess and earth mother to a male politician, who furthermore very likely may have acted as the high priest of that same goddess, in this case the earth mother Cihuacoatl (cf. Gillespie 1989: 62 ff.). I also refer to Miguel León Portilla when he says

Cihuateteo - mociuaquetzque; - from «female warriors» to «Women Gods»

After death the souls of the women who died in childbirth were risen to those celestial regions from zenith to the west where they carried the Sun entrusted to them by the souls of the male warriors who died on the battlefield. They were thus equal to the men who captured an enemy and they were called mociuaquetzque giving the act of birth the same value of bravery as the death of a fighting soldier. Consequently the bodily remains of such a woman were highly estimated as a talisman for bravery and success in battle (Miller & Taube 1993: 61 ff.).

However, these women also called Cihuateteo (Women Gods), were much feared as they were believed to attack especially children at cross-roads at night. They also lured men to commit adultery or sexual indecencies (ibid. 62).

About these celestial but former terrestrial creatures Sahagún writes in several of his books:

There are many beliefs in omens and auguries related to space and time emanating from the cihuateteo.

In his book IV «Soothsayers and omens» Sahagún writes:

And he continues

The same warnings were pronounced also for the day One Rain.

Further omens (in tetzaujtl) Sahagún describes in Book V saying:

Finally he tells about the rest of the omens occurring at night - an omen of death (in mjquiz tetzaujtl). Also called «hunched shoulder» (itoca cujtlapanton) and they showed themselves to men only at the latrines, the dung heaps (cuiatl 'excrement') (FC, Book I: 6) -

How much and in what aspects the pre-Hispanic traditions of the cihuateteo have influenced the beliefs of later centuries in the legendary «La Llorona» (The Wailing Woman) is still an open question (Cf. i. a.: Kirtley 1960).

The encyclopaedist Santamaría declares about this dramatic figure thus:

Mayahuel - from celestial girl to deified woman and goddess of pulque

Mayahuel is the woman who found out how to transform the juice of the maguey (agave) plant into an intoxicating beverage - a drink to the joy for men and women and accepted by the gods as an equal in their pantheon.

As a goddess she is depicted mostly sitting in the middle of a maguey, sometimes with a suckling child on her lap - an image likely referring to the rich sap of the plant - the milky «honey water» (aguamiel). She is also denominated as «the woman of four hundred breasts» which relates her to the Centzon Totochtin «Fourhundred Rabbits», the gods of fermented alcoholic drink pulque (octli).

One myth out of various different versions of the traditions, relates that together with Quetzalcoatl in his appearance of the wind god Ehecatl, she runs away from her celestial home chased by the dangerous tzitzimime or star demons. Accompanied by Quetzalcoatl she hides disguised as branches of a tree. But she is found and torn to pieces by the pursuers. Quetzalcoatl buries her remains from which the first maguey grows (Miller & Taube 1993: 112)

The description of the discovery of the pulque, the fermented maguey juice, according to the British researcher's C. A. Burland's lively text - too charming to be resisted - runs as follows:

According to the more matter-of-fact description of Sahagún's informants the production of pulque was due to the collaboration between wife and husband. Thus he writes:

Tezcatzoncatl - «the god with a mirror in his hair»; from pulque god to local patron and later political leader as «El Tepozteco»

Tezcatzoncatl is one of the numerous pulque gods, the four hundred rabbits (centzontotochtli 400 = a great many). Others were Ometochtli and Tepoztecatl, however, Tezcatzoncatl is more related to human than godlike morality. «He was the wine» (Jehoatl in vctli).

He had an intensive influence on human life, not directly but symbolizing ethically the consequences of excessive drinking of pulque. In Sahagún's description he is not wandering on earth like Tezcatlipoca, but perceived by the adherents as an «awesome being» who may sway the imprudent into committing indiscretion, misbehaviour and even crimes. For he hurled people off crags, he strangled people, he drowned people, he killed them /---/ one did not speak lightly of him /---/. (FC Book I: 24)

It is obvious that Tezcatzoncatl was the main symbol of the intoxicating beverage, pulque (vctli) and a warning of its effect leading to drunkenness which was considered a vice of the highest immorality. Only old people were permitted to get drunk.

Sahagún emphasizes his warnings in an appendix to Book I:

This may be compared with his condemnation of those who continue worshipping the mountain gods - Tepictoton:

The editors of the English edition of Sahagún's work point out as an indication of «the time when Sahagún must have worked on the Appendix to Book I:

The Colonial Era - new lords and other gods for the natives

The conquistadors of the first generation were eager to gain their ends and have all that was denied them in their homeland: gold and land to make them rich, goods and products to sell and export, labourers and servants to work for them and souls to save from purgatory and hell, their own included.

The professional politicians were too few to carry out the imperial orders of evangelisation and urbanisation which meant education and integration of the indigenous. In order to protect the Indians the Spaniards were restricted to the new towns and cities. However, the Indians were not stopped visiting the new urban centres. More contingents of immigrants crossed the Atlantic including women. Soon enough a new social class emerged - the mestizos, the social scale of which amounted up to sixteen «groups» each with its descriptive denomination.

However well planned from Madrid and Sevilla the control of the socio-economic situations in the colonies was insufficient, to say the least. Such were the circumstances that came to model the society for the proximate three hundred years.

To illustrate the Colonial times I have only a few subjectively selected examples based entirely on the work of the French scholar Serge Gruzinski «Man-Gods in the Mexican Highlands. Indian Power and Colonial Society, 1520-1800» Engl. version Stanford University Press, Calif. 1989. From his book I have chosen five figures from different epochs and with different social backgrounds and life stories.

Andrés Mixcoatl, a baptised Indian whom I would present shortly as a «rainmaker who became a god». Or in his own words at the interrogation before the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, September 14, 1537:

In Gruzinski's summarising words as follows: Texcoco, 1532: baptism of Andrés; Tepehualco, 1533: Andrés becomes a god; Tepetlaoztoc, 1534: Andrés is a god (ibid. 37).

Martín Ocelotl - a contemporary of Andrés Mixcoatl but with quite a different background. He became a Christian already in 1525 (Gruzinski 1989: 56). He was probably born in Chiautla, his father was a merchant and his mother had a reputation as a «sorceress» (ibid. 39). Besides his own profession as a merchant he soon extended his activities to include those of a healer and a prophet (ibid. 40). He also seems to have had a fairly good knowledge of pre-Hispanic life and thinking. Together with his preaching mostly on famine and such catastrophic events (ibid. 40), his «apocalyptic anticlericalism» as Gruzinski puts it (ibid. 42) added to his legendary reputation. He was arrested by the Inquisition in February 1537 and brought to trial in Spain where nothing is heard about his destiny there.

His contemporary Andrés Mixcoatl prophesied as follows although referring first and foremost to himself:

So with all his gifts Martín Ocelotl was reduced to a «messenger» by his «colleague» and successor Andrés Mixcoatl. Fusing, however, more or less consciously with his «master» into what might be seen and condemned as «a bluff - a deception» - «for the servant, for the faithful, for Andrés himself, there was nothing contradictory in the merging of Ocelotl and Mixcoatl into a single, identical man-god» (ibid. 43).

Without further comments I personally agree. All the more so considering similar processes of fusion in pre-Hispanic times e. g. that of Quetzalcoatl, the god and his namesake and terrestrial manifestation Quetzalcoatl Topiltzin, governor and high priest at Tollan.

Gregorio Juan

At the interrogation, February 19, 1660 Gregorio Juan presents himself as «a native of the village of San Agustín in the parish of Xicotepec. I lived with [my parents] until I was /---/ fourteen years old. Then I ran away from my father /---/» (Gruzinski 1989: 64).

Gregorio became influenced by an Indian with the name of Pedro. He tried to initiate him in his own activities presenting him to his «god» who appeared in a tent in the form of a child «whose skin was dark blue, his face white, and his hair saffron yellow» (ibid. 65).

When Gregorio declared that he respected the priests because they were the ones who confessed, baptised and celebrated Mass, the child replied:

Some time later Gregorio called for the child who gave him the prepared water «for me to care for a child named Pedro /---/ The father had asked me to look after his son, whom he had brought to my parents' house. There the potion was prepared and given to the child. Matheo, his father, had known about me because I already had a reputation in the village for looking after the sick» (ibid. 67).

Now this version if compared with those of the authorities, (ibid. 72) and the statements of the neighbours (ibid. 75) merged into what Gruzinski calls «The Many Faces of Gregorio» (ibid. 79-84) and «An Old-Fashioned Man-God» (ibid. 83).

There is no doubt that Gregorio had therapeutic gifts. Together with catastrophic situation in those days when many deadly sicknesses threatened the native population, especially children, his image of a healer and a shaman was built up and reinforced.

Juan Coatl

Juan Coatl was an Otomí Indian with a Spanish name and a Nahuatl denomination added in a testimony given by a Spaniard in a trial of «idolatrous Indians» in 1665 (Gruzinski 1989: 92).

According to the summary of the inquiry by the tribunal of Puebla «he goes up to the Sierra or the mountain of Tlaxcala, there /---/ he has a cave beside the spring /---/; two crosses mark the spot. At the entrance of the cave he lights candles, and inside he keeps idols, included a painted canvas representing an Indian woman with Indian youths at her feet, adoring her; another canvas delineating a figure with indigenous features, wearing a tilma [a male mantle] with a stick in his hand; [and] two other paintings, one representing four snakes, and the other a coiled serpent /---/. She is their Virgin. They must not believe in the God of the Spaniards or in the Blessed Virgin. /---/ [The Indians] confessed, too, that when the parish priest came to the village Juan reprimanded the children and adults who went to see him: why go to the priest, since he was more than the priest, he spoke with the gods and provided for them what they needed? And he repeated that they should not believe in God but in their idols» (Gruzinski 1989: 93).

Juan Coatl had promised a Spaniard to give him «a good deal of gold and silver - provided I kept a 'fast' consisting in staying away from women for two days before the Ascension /---/» However, Juan Coatl did not keep his promise as he explained some time after when meeting again that the Spaniard «had not kept his fasting promise».

After some time Juan Coatl appeared to the Spaniard in his sleep, telling him to take a message to the people of Huamantla and San Juan that «he was no longer angry with them for having revealed his story: a heavy downpour that same day would be a sign. And if the Indian is to be believed, there really was a downpour» (ibid. 92-93).

Juan committed suicide in the prison of the bishopric of Puebla. The Ecclesiastic authorities declared that they had foreseen «the despair which is to be feared in that sort of subject and above all in a figure so perverted by evil spells» (Gruzinski 1989: 92-93).

In the contemporary descriptions one easily finds similarities in events and details between the pre-Hispanic pantheon, e. g. the rain- and fire gods Mixcoatl Camaxtli, and Christian holy figures such as the Virgin Mary, maybe also Joseph considering he is wearing a tilma, the garment of the Aztec macehual 'common man'; and furthermore the appearance of Juan called «protector» telling the adherents what to do - and so on.

The quintessence of the traditions as testemonial reflections of his importance as a leading figure, will be that Juan Coatl had many adherents who believed in him, whether man or god.

A final striking parallel - the patron god of the Otomis in pre-Toltec times was remembered by his Nahuatl name Otonteuhtli and he was considered to have been «hombre divinizado» - deified man. (Paso y Troncoso 1898: 191 ff.)

Antonio Pérez

Antonio Pérez was also called the «Shepherd» because he once kept sheep. He could be classified as a «healer» and a preacher or an «improvised sacristan» (Gruzinski 1989: 113).

At an interrogation, in September 1761, he tells that he once «accompanied a Dominican father whose name he did not know nor where he came from. It could well be that he was the devil». The Dominican, however, condemned him for his heavy drinking and then he

It may seem a paradox that this same man is said to have declared to one of his followers: I am God, and it is I who feed the worlds (ibid. 105).

However, by some he was perceived as a god: He had God in his body /---/ he had God in his chest.

To confirm this declaration he proclaimed that «the saints were bad, /---/ they were not helping us, while he received help from the Virgin, from his god who was the Ear of Corn, and from the Three Corns, who were the Most Holy Trinity» (Gruzinski: 122).

To summarise Antonio Pérez's character and programme I borrow the words of Serge Gruzinski when he adduces

For this era I turn exclusively to the areas of the Mayan peoples foremost of historical reasons - however self-contradictory my approach might seem. While Mexicans fought for their independence against the Spaniards and won, the Mayan twenty years later fought intensively for their independence against the Mexicans. I am referring to the so-called La guerra de Castas (Caste War) 1817 - which was to become the most apotheosised military event of that century.

I have selected just a few outstanding personalities whom I feel urgent to include in my survey. They are prominent chiefs or caudillos, caciques: Jacinto Pat, Cecilio Chi and Manuel Antonio Ay.

The claims of the Mayas, besides land and independence opposed both by ladinos and officials, was equal taxation and contributions to the Church. Those were higher for them than for the ladinos as «they were considered more in need of religion!» (Rugeley 1997: 43; 53)

Jacinto Pat - a rebellion first winning, finally assassinated.

He was a resident of Tihosuco referred to «more than any other village - the cradle of the Caste War» (Rugeley 1997: 22). Its fame as such, however, was competed by the village of Tepich, and others.

He was a member of a family whose reputation for many years was that of utmost importance, thus a prominent figure in the Mayan elite. He started the rebellion in 1847 in co-operation with other prominent Mayas, including Cecilio Chi from Tepich. He led the southern half of the revolutionary armies and he was appointed «Gouveneur» for the Indians of Yucatán - a controversial nomination though. As such he signed the peace treaty in 1848, an arrangement that, however, soon collapsed. (Mossbrucker 1993: 43, 45, 53) Afterwards the unity of the rebels dissolved. Running short of supplies - gunpowder, salt, meat, clothes, etc. - Pat retreated to the Belizean frontier hoping to find new equipment. There he was assassinated «evidently under the direction of his lieutenant Venancio Pec» (Rugeley 1997: 35).

As late as 1899 several stories and legends were circulating about Jacinto Pat's earlier life, but most of doubtful historical value. However, this legendary figure speaks for himself and there is an impressive statue in a park of Tihosuco (ibid. 29) which bears witness of the high esteem to posterity.

Cecilio Chi

Cecilio Chi was not a permanent resident of Tepich until 1847 having lived some years around 1832 in Tihosuco.

His background differed considerably from that of the contemporary leader Jacinto Pat. His geographical mobility put him socially into contact with a much wider socio-political network, while Pat related his activities towards the Yucatecan creoles (Rugeley 1997: 39).

They were both imprisoned in 1839 just when Chi had been nominated batab of Tepich, which indicates a middle position in the ranking Mayan society (Rugeley 1997: 45).

About Cecilio Chi there are many traditional stories told and circulating - more apocryphic than historical, though. Thus it was said that

Manuel Antonio Ay

Manuel Antonio Ay is from a later part of the Caste War.

As a witness to his importance and his place in the people's memory one may draw the attention to the words on the commemorating monument in his home town Chichimila: (Rugeley 1997: 51)

There are many spectacular personalities whom for want of a specific term I will describe as «apocryphal historical protagonists». They are the main actors of the dramatised life cycle of prominent figures, factual or fictitious. The stories they appear in are a conglomeration of selected details about these protagonists from their coming into existence (conception and/or birth), their adventurous lives and their cultural and/or political achievements. Over the centuries such stories have been transformed, often magnified according to the socio-political claims of the adherents whether their aims are the benefit of the group and community of their own fulfilment of power.

Tepoztecatl

In the same way as the politicians of Aztec rulers changed the history of their predecessors or glorified their accomplishments when convenient, so a local community or village lays claims to historical grounds for their important ancestors.

Even in the 1940's Tepoztecatl stands out as an imperishable character in the village's collective mind. His origin may be traced as far back as «Olmec times» although he was more divine than human in those days. After the breakdown of the political hegemony of the Toltecs and the fall of their capital Tula/Tollan, the Aztecs also integrated the 400 pulque gods into their own pantheon, naming here only those prominent enough to have their names remembered: Ometochtli and Tepoztecatl (Lewis 1963: 276).

After the Conquest, Tepoztecatl, then an authoritative cacique in Tepoztlán, was strongly influenced by the Spanish dominance and converted to Catholicism. The local god Ometochtli whose image was destroyed by the priests, vanished. The former «King Tepoztecatl» was baptised on the 18th of September, and renamed according to the Catholic calendar, Natividad. However, he was to be better known - and remembered - as El Tepozteco (Lewis 1963: 255).

During the Independence era the State and the Church joined forces to control life on all social levels. The Church organized religious activities in cofradías (brotherhoods) while workmen - inter alia - formed gremios in accordance with their distinctive interests and aims. Thus a socio-political setting was created which left little official room for historical or deified heroes.

The revolution changed the situation and at times the image of El Tepozteco alternating with Natividad would show up again. The presumably defeated Ometochtli lured in the background fused with the Aztec god of wind now and then evoking great fear among the local population. Natividad seems to have merged with Tepoztecatl, now El Tepozteco, who was regarded as the son of the Virgin Mary (Lewis 1963: 256).

On the 8th of September the Feast of the Virgin of Natividad is organized. The ceremonies for the Virgin are performed inside the church, while the dances and the traditional speech in honour of her son, El Tepozteco, are held outdoor (Lewis 1963: 461).

As a legendary «deified» figure, there are many tales and stories told about El Tepozteco and his fabulous achievements:

From Milpa Alta another and somewhat different version is told:

There is says that Tepoztecatl/El Tepozteco was miraculously conceived in that his mother got pregnant while washing her clothes in the river near a «cave inhabited by the winds», however, nobody knew that. Her parents got very angry with her, but one night her father dreamed that a young

Sometimes El Tepozteco is seen as a parallel of contrast to the devil /el pingo/. It is to the devil that the Tepoztecans attribute all evil that befalls them. However, he cannot cause drought, which is conceived as being God's punishment effected through El Tepozteco.

In the 1920's there was a drought in Tepoztlán and surrounding area and the crops were severely threatened. One day

A story with an equally spectacular effect is told twenty years later after that Mexico had declared war on the Axis and obligatory military service was established:

The Tepoztecan children are taught about El Tepozteco thus:

From our tumultuous century what personality could be more appropriate than the outstanding figure of Emiliano Zapata - with one curtailment though in that most probably he would have deprecated deification. Remembered, yes, even commemorated, but no more. He would have appreciated Siqueiro's painting of the revolutionary leader on his white horse, and he would have liked the equestrian statue on his grave in Cuauhtla where from horseback he seems to be listening to what the peasant at his feet has to say.

The son of a peasant he became more a horseman himself but never forgot what he had seen of serfdom and exploitation of the landless and the poor farmers on the immense estates in his home province, Morelos. Influenced by the anarchistic trends of that time and by texts such as the journal «Regeneración» published by Ricardo Flores Magón (cf. Avrich 1988: 108) - Zapata was not illiterate - he fought for «land and liberty» leading his peasant army of around 30.000 men when most, first against the dictator Díaz, and then against traitors and usurpators who did not live up to the motto for his revolutionary program presented in the Plan of Ayala «Libertad, Justicia y Ley», 25th of November 1911. (Silva Herzog 1960, I: 240-45; cf. Blanco Moheno 1973 (1970): 116 ff.)

Emiliano Zapata was not the prime politician who saw the revolution in a wider perspective than the situation in Morelos and the problems of the peasants. Thus Eric Wolf, the anthropologist, describes the reasons most plausible for his shortcomings:

The revolution degraded more and more into a civil war. Trapped in an ambush on his way to a meeting with the carrancistas, Emiliano Zapata was assassinated in 1919 (Womack 1977: 320-24).

Summarising Zapata's life and achievements Wolf quotes Robert Quick from his book on the Mexican Revolution (Bloomington 1960: 292-93):

The Mexican anthropologist and linguist Fernando Horcasitas publishes in his «Nahuatl Chronicle of Díaz and Zapata» what one of the few living eyewitnesses told him about what happened when Zapata was killed:

The Zapatistas had set up their camp near the mountain El Cerro del Jilguero. They were surrounded there by the troops of the Carrancistas

Zapata is memorised in innumerable legends, traditions, songs and sayings. He was the first to coin the motto «Men of the south, it is better to die standing than live down on your knees». His main revolutionary goal was «Land to the landless» (Bamford Parkes 1940: 350). The semicircular wall that protects the ruins of his home in Anenecuilco bears the famous words «The land belongs to him, who works it!» There I was told by an old guide that the Mexican government, i.e. the PRI in reality, wants to move Zapata's body from his grave in Cuautla in order to solemnly bury him under the Revolutionary Monument in Mexico City but the family refused. Not until the goal of the Mexican Revolution is fulfilled, its greatest hero will remain where he is now.

Since 1994 a liberation movement in Chiapas, Mexico, continues what one could call the silenced struggle for the subdued landless Maya Indians in the very spirit of Zapata. As recruits of the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional/EZLN the participants quite logically call themselves «zapatistas». Their leader is «Subcomandante Marcos» - idealised by some, maybe even idolised by others.

Ending finally my long though far from complete list of outstanding figures in Mexico I find no personage finer than Nezahualcoyotl, the famous ruler of the Acolhuas in Texcoco 1402-1472: known as a progressive politician, a lawmaker, an ingenious channel constructor, a city planner and builder, a philosopher more than a religious believer and a poet, whose justified fame was intensified during the Revolution. Urban districts, educational institutions, cultural centres, streets and squares were named all over Mexico after him and quite rightly too. However, he would have opposed all attention of false religious ceremonialisation and be appalled by the thought of any kind of deification. Indeed the most congenial respect the Mexicans could pay him would be not to divinise him!

On the other hand I think he would have appreciated what I saw and was told in 1963 having climbed to the top of his beloved summer residence of Tezcotzinco (Hellbom 1976: 83). According to the tradition he had a roofless room there dedicated to what one would call «pantheistic contemplation/meditation». There on the very top of the hill just having passed a faded stone face of the rain god Tlaloc I suddenly saw three white crosses. They had been put up there, so I was told, by a very sick man in gratitude of being cured during the night - but nobody knows how. His words of dedication were plainly painted in red as follows: