Like the nahui-ollin the pyramid was an image or embodiment of the
fundamental all-pervading principle. Both therefore equally expressed
further meanings which I shall proceed to enumerate.
5. Four stars and also four star-groups or planets which seem to have been
associated with the cardinal points and are indicated by four discs
exhibiting two concentric circles and four glyphs placed around them.
Although at a disadvantage, not being able to substantiate my statement
here, I shall mention that, amongst the above, the Pleiades and the
planets Venus and Jupiter doubtlessly figure, the latter as two evening
and two morning stars.
6. The human lords of the four regions who respectively governed the four
divisions of the population, who were classified as the Fire, Air, Water
and Earth people, the identical classification being applied in turn to
each class and so on _ad infinitum_.
7. Rotation or a movement encircling the four quarters imagined as
“quadruple motion.” This was not confined to the Septentriones, for the
ancient Mexican astronomers had recognized what they termed the “four
movements of the Sun”—namely, its apparent rising in the east and progress
to the north; and setting in the west and progress to the south. According
to Leon y Gama, the first to describe the stone in 1832, the central
“nahui ollin” portrayed the “four movements of the sun” and recorded the
solstices and equinoxes. His opinion has since been shared by other
writers, amongst whom I cite Señor Troncoso. According to Sir Norman
Lockyer, moreover, the symbol does correctly and appropriately figure the
annual course of the sun. It must be admitted that the invention of a
figurative symbol which not only records the annual rotation of the
circumpolar star-groups but also the annual apparent course of the sun is
an achievement which has never been surpassed in primitive astronomy and
merits admiration and recognition. The record of the periodical movements
of the heavenly bodies, constitutes, at the same time naturally a register
of the four seasons.
8. Simultaneously with the division of the year into four equal parts, the
ollin (and pyramid) typified the division of the 20-day period into four
quarters as well as the four 13 year periods which constituted the epoch
of fifty-two years. As the Calendar periods will be discussed in my
monograph on the subject, I shall only mention here a fact showing how
completely the quadruplicate idea had influenced native speculation. The
Mexicans believed that four great eras had passed since the creation of
the world and designated these as the earth, air, fire and water eras.
They believed that, although humanity had always escaped utter
annihilation, the world had been almost completely destroyed by three of
the elements in succession at the end of three of these eras. At the time
of the Conquest, the Mexicans supposed themselves to be living in a fourth
age which was doomed to perish by fire.
9. According to the distinguished Mexican scholar Señor Alfredo Chavero,
the symbols in the nahui-ollin commemorated the four epochs of the world’s
history and I readily accept this as one of the many significations of the
quadruplicate figure.
Leaving the nahui-ollin for the present, let us next consider the band,
with compartments, which encloses it and exhibits the twenty symbols
hitherto only known as calendaric signs,—four of which were year- as well
as day-signs, whilst sixteen were day-signs only. Their relative positions
show that they were intended to be read from right to left.
A profusion of evidence, however, exists showing that individuals bore the
day-names as personal appellations, not only in Mexico but also in Central
America. Amongst the Quichés for instance, members of the “Royal house of
Cavek” are designated in the Popol Vuh, as three deer, nine dog, etc.
It thus follows that the twenty signs were not merely names of years and
days, but also designated the tribes and clans. The element-symbols which
marked every fifth day and the years and constitute the major signs,
likewise were the names of the four great divisions of the people, and of
their respective chieftains. On the other hand the 4×4=16 minor signs,
applied not only to days but to the 4×4=16 clans. At the same time the
element names conveyed in a general way the occupation of each of the four
divisions of people as well as their places of abode in reference to the
capital. Accordingly, the earth people would specially attend to
agriculture, mining, the manufacture of pottery, etc.; water people to
irrigation, the furnishing of drinks, fishing, etc.; the fire people to
all occupations which had to do with fire: the procuring of combustibles
for fire and lighting, cooking, the working in metals, etc.
As on the stone, the sign calli=house is in juxtaposition to the symbol
for air, it may be inferred that the air people were the builders, the
masons, the artificers, the Nahuatl name for which was “toltecatl.” As the
air symbol occupies the place of highest honor in reference to the central
face, namely, above the right hand, it is evident that the builders, or
“toltecas,” were the caste which enjoyed the highest consideration. Their
totem was the bird, the inhabitant of the air. The second rank in honor
was held by the fire people placed to the left, above. Their totem was the
ocelot.
Without going further into details for the present, I merely point out
that the identical division of the members of each community and
association with the elements, etc., was carried out throughout the state.
This method clearly established the relation and also determined the
geographical position of each class of people in reference to the whole.
The carved band on the Calendar-stone, with its twenty signs, determined
once and for all time the exact position to be taken up in all public
assemblages, in councils, sacred dances, and likewise controlled the
exposition of the products of the land in the great market-place. What is
more: each division of the people, by reason of its indissoluble union to
one element and one region, also had its own season during which it led in
ceremonial observances. So skilfully was the lunar ceremonial or religious
year devised that each sign, without any distinction, ruled a period of
thirteen days. At the same time the period fell into four divisions headed
by the four principal or element signs.
In the solar or civil year, each sign had its day, but as the computation
of years passed by, each sign in due rotation ruled during one year. It
was only when each sign had had an equal rule that the cycle completed
itself, and, in turn, became a part of a greater cycle of time. To realize
the marvellous ingenuity with which the rotation of days and consequently
the working of the entire machinery of state was carried on, it is
necessary to have before one’s eyes, a series of reconstructive tables,
such as I have prepared for my paper on the subject. For the present,
however, I trust that some idea of the harmonious organization of the
state may have been conveyed to the reader.
One important feature remains for consideration. As already mentioned, one
of the four annual midnight positions of the Bear star-groups, and
presumably a “royal star,” pertained to each cardinal-point and
consequently to each of the four divisions of people. To this statement,
which can be supported by substantial evidence, I must add that each of
the sixteen minor signs likewise designated constellations, of which there
were thus four in each region of the heaven. The twenty familiar day-signs
thus actually constituted also the native zodiac. As the region to which
each constellation pertains is clearly designated by the cardinal-point
signs, their identification is merely a matter of time. Since ten of the
signs represent animals, and these were the clan totems, it is easy to
realize how animal forms, composed of stars, came to be traced in the
heavens.
Deferring further discussion of the native zodiac I will but point out
what an intimate relation was thus established and maintained between
star-groups and human beings; and how the periodical rotation and stations
of the celestial bodies actually guided or, at all events, coincided with
the periods of human activity in various branches.
I am not, as yet, prepared to formulate a final opinion on the meaning of
the narrow band that surrounds the zodiacal belt, which is at the same
time the list of years and days and of tribes and clans, but shall merely
note that it exhibits four large and four lesser rays which designate the
quarters and half-quarters of the whole. A few words concerning the
symbolism of these rays should find place here. In Nahuatl the ray was
named “tona-mitl,” literally “the shining arrow,” “shaft of light.”
Ixtlilxochitl tells us that it was an ancient custom of his people on
taking possession of new territory “to shoot with utmost force four
arrows, in the directions of the four regions of the world.”(72) This
interesting passage shows us that the rays, _i. e._ arrows of light,
carved on the stone, conveyed the idea of possession of the four regions
and four sub-regions by the central power.
Returning to an examination of the concentric band to which the rays are
attached: It exhibits also 4×10 groups of five dots, two of which groups
are almost concealed by star-symbols on the recurved open jaws of the
serpents’ heads which meet at the bottom of the stone. Above this band and
placed exactly between the larger and lesser rays are single compartments
with five-dot groups. It has been interesting to detect the reason why two
five-dot groups were carved, as I have already pointed out, immediately
under the central head. They evidently supply the missing groups whose
places are filled up by the recurved upper jaws of the serpents, heads at
the bottom of the monolith. From the care taken to preserve a visible
record of these two groups, it is obvious that a special importance was
attached to the recording of eight five-dot groups besides the forty in
the band, making a total of 4×12=48 groups, or 10+2=12 to each quarter.
As the Mexican name for market was macuil-tianquiztli, literally the “Five
(day) market” and the Maya word for capital was homonymous with five=ho,
it is evident that these five dot groups would have conveyed the idea of
“market,” market-day and possibly market-town, to a Mexican. To a
Maya-speaking people they would have appeared to express practically the
same thought, since all capitals, large or small, were market-places and
absorbed and redistributed the product of quadruple provinces within the
radius of its jurisdiction. The inference that the five-dot groups may
have served as a topographical register of the larger and minor capitals
existing in each quarter of the state, is substantiated by more evidence
than can be produced here. I have moreover found indications that this
belt may have served as a sort of moon-calendar which was also an attempt
at an adjustment of lunar to solar periods.(73) Before, however, an
estimate can be made of the full meaning of this belt formed by the two
great serpents which encircle the entire monument, more time and labor
will have to be expended.
One point about the twin serpents is clear; they are represented as
springing from a square enclosing the symbol Acatl accompanied by 13 which
has been generally interpreted as a calendar date. It seems to me to be
more deeply significant than a mere date, especially as it appears to
designate the point of departure for the progressive movement of the two
serpents whose open jaws enclose human heads in profile which together
form one face. The upper jaws end in two recurved appendages, each
exhibiting seven star symbols. As these obviously typify night or darkness
and the open jaws seem to threaten to absorb or engulf the ray of the sun
pointing downwards, it appears as though these typified a disappearance of
light into the underworld of darkness and destruction.
The symbolical surroundings of the downward ray are in striking contrast
to its opposite, the upward ray, which reaches to the 13 Acatl sign and
points to what appears to be the place of origin or birth of the twin
serpents. It certainly seems that this all-embracing and enfolding twin
pair are designed to typify the dual forces of nature under a form which
would also express quadruplication. By what must be termed a stroke of
genius the designer of the monolith chose to represent the forms of two
serpents, relying upon the fact that Nahuatl-speaking people would see in
each serpent (=coatl) a twin (=coatl). Did he not also realize that to a
Maya each serpent (=can) would mean 4 (=can) and that the pair would
appear to embody or express the numerals 4 and also 8?
It is noteworthy that each serpent is represented with one claw and that
these two added to those contained in the central nahui-ollin complete the
four-limbed figure which was essentially the image of a complete count=the
state, the nation, the era, etc. In this monument, as elsewhere, it is
possible to follow the development of the symbolism expressed by two heads
which form but one, twin-bodies which mean four and of four limbs which
represent the digital count=20.
Under different aspects the same theme repeats itself again and again upon
the stone, which proves that the master minds who planned and wrought it
destined it to be the image of a plan based on the idea of a central and
yet all-embracing, dual, yet quadruple force or power.
The preceding rapid sketch I have given of the wide-reaching significance
of this remarkable monument will, I hope, be found to amply support and
corroborate the view I advanced in 1886, when I pointed out that the
“Calendar-stone” answered to the description given by Duran, of the
“circular elaborately carved tablets which were kept in each market-place
and were held in great veneration.” I trust that it is now clear why it
should have been frequently consulted and why the market-days were
regulated according to the carved indications upon the surface. Engraved
upon it were the Great Plan and its laws of organization and rotation. It
clearly determined, once and for all, the sequence of the days; the
relation of all classes of the population to each other and to the whole,
and set forth not only the place each group should occupy in the
market-place, but also the product or industry with which it was
associated and the periods when its contributions to the commonwealth
should be forthcoming in regular rotation. The stone was therefore not
only the tablet but the wheel of the law of the State and it can be
conjectured that its full interpretation was more or less beyond the
capacity of all but an initiated minority, consisting of the elders,
chiefs and priests.
Postponing for the present further discussion of this, the most precious
and remarkable monument which has ever been unearthed on the American
Continent, let us briefly bestow attention upon the two other monoliths
which may be said to be its companions and obviously belong to the same
period and civilization. In 1886, in the preliminary note cited above, I
advanced the view that the first of these, generally known as the
“Sacrificial stone,” was a “law-stone of a similar nature [to the
Calendar-stone] which recorded, however, the periodical collection of
certain tributes paid by subjugated tribes and others whose obligation it
was to contribute to the commonwealth of Mexico.” I pointed out that the
“frieze around the stone consists of groups, placed at intervals, of the
flint-knives (tecpatl) with conventionally carved teeth (tlantli) giving
in combination the word ‘tecpatlantli.’ This occurs in Sahagun’s Historia,
as the name given to the ‘lands of the tecpan or palace,’ and in one of
the native works I find designated the four channels into which the
produce of these lands was diverted.” I likewise noted that “the periods
indicated on it differ from those on the Calendar-stone,” which might more
appropriately be designated as the ancient Mexican wheel of the law or of
the Great Universal Plan.
Thirteen years of painstaking research have only served to strengthen me
in my interpretation of the “Sacrificial-stone.” The frieze around it
exhibits sixteen groups, each consisting of the repeated representation of
a warrior characterized by having one foot only. In each case he is
figured as seizing by the hair a different individual, who bows his head
and offers the weapon he holds in his right hand to his victor. Amongst
the sixteen subjugated personages are two women and above each are
hieroglyphs expressing the names of well-known localities, some of which
are mentioned in native chronicles as having been conquered in historical
times by Mexican rulers.
In my account of the Plan of the Ancient City of Mexico, I shall
illustrate these hieroglyphs, locate the places to which they refer and
further discuss this monument. Meanwhile I shall but state that it
undoubtedly belongs to the same category of monuments as the tablets in
the “Temple of the Sun” at Palenque; the bas-relief at Ixkun and that in
the house of the “Tennis-court” at Chichen-Itza where warriors in a
procession render homage to a seated personage, by presenting their
spear-throwers to him in precisely the same manner as shown on the Mexican
Tribute-Stone.
The upper surface of this exhibits the same division into eight parts,
marked by four large and four smaller rays, pointing to the quarters and
half-quarters. Observation shows that of the sixteen localities four were
assigned to each quarter and it is evident that the monument determined
the time and the order in which the tribute for each was paid and
collected at the capital. The one-footed man again graphically symbolizes
axial rotation and conveys the idea of a central ruler who in turn seizes
and exerts control upon 4×4 tribal chiefs. The monument establishes,
moreover, the interesting fact that amongst the subjugated communities
were two gynocracies, represented by women who, instead of spear-throwers,
present their weaving shuttle to the victor.
We shall next consider a monument whose uncouth and ugly form embodies a
deep and nobly planned conception of the “divine twin,” or “divine Four,”
that so completely dominated the minds of the native philosophers.
Let us now carefully examine the monolith now preserved in the National
Museum of Mexico (fig. 57). Leon y Gama, having observed that what
appeared to be the foundation of the statue was carved and that massive
projections existed under its so-called arms, logically concluded that the
original design had been to support the figure from the sides, so that its
base was lifted from the ground and the figure upon it exposed to view
from underneath. His inference is borne out by the carving on the base
which belongs to the same category as the image of Mictlan-tecuhtli, and
represents a semi-human body, of quadriform shape soaring downward.
[Illustration.]
Figure 57.
The centre (fig. 51) exhibits on a square the five-dot figure, and the
square, in turn, is enclosed in a circle; the whole symbolism relating to
the now well-worn theme of the centre and four quarters and the union of
the earth=the square and the heaven=the circle. It clearly exhibits a
skull attached to each limb, typifying the four quarters or the clans and
their chiefs, whilst the hands hold the larger heads, emblematic of
supreme dual rulership. It is interesting to find that the above carving,
under the feet of the sculptured figure, embodies the entire meaning of
the statue, which is but a variation of the native philosophical theme of
“Divine Twain” or Quetzalcoatl. Two serpents’ heads surmount a semi-human
body and meeting form the semblance of two single faces turned to the
front and back of the statue. By this ingenious device the unity, yet
duality of the divine twin is graphically rendered and one-half of each
countenance is represented as belonging to each serpent. These are thus
shown to be indissolubly linked together, yet distinct. Their single, yet
dual head has four eyes, eight fangs and two forked tongues. The figure
and skirt composed of intertwined rattlesnakes, constitute feminine
attributes given to the symbolical figure of the “twin-lord and
twin-lady,” the “father and mother of all.” Instead of hands the arms
terminate in serpents’ heads and the huge feet in great claws.
Between these, in the front and at the back, a rattlesnake’s body and head
appear. The belt consists of a large snake whose head and tail hang down
in front, as the ends of a bow. A skull is attached to the front and
another to the back of the belt. In the latter case it surmounts a
fan-shaped, curiously plaited ornamental appendage partly decorated with
feathers. Forming a sort of necklace in front are four hands, _i. e._
4×5=20 and two conventionalized hearts. At the back there are two hands
and two hearts and an intricate knot which fastens the necklace, the real
meaning of which is far from what it may appear to be. It probably
signified the same as the painted hearts and hands on ceremonial garments
of which Sahagun tells us that “they meant that the people who wore them
lifted their hearts and hands to the Creator to implore for rain and
food.” At the same time, the arrangement in front clearly reveals the
sculptor’s allusion to the head, two hearts, four hands and twenty
fingers, which symbolize these familiar numerical divisions. An indication
that this symbolical statue was probably designed and executed by the same
master who made the circular stone of the Great Plan, is furnished by the
calendar sign 13 Acatl, which is carved under the skull at the back of the
figure.
Deferring an investigation of the significance of this date, I shall now
draw attention to what is to me the most interesting and important feature
of the whole image. The view of the top of the two heads, as may be seen
by the accompanying reproduction from a photograph (fig. 58) exhibits, at
their line of union, a small square with diagonal cross-lines. The
position of this symbol which resembles the top view of a pyramid and
forms, as it were, the apex of the statue, every detail of which is deeply
symbolical, clearly reveals the sanctity and importance attached to this
graphic image of the Centre, the union of four in one or _vice versa_, the
theme on which the native mind played numberless and endless variations.
A reflection, again forced upon one in studying the monumental composite
image of the dual and quadruple forces of nature, is that it must have
been as intelligible to a Maya as to a Mexican, and conveyed the
conception of Kukulcan to the one and Quetzalcoatl to the other. Several
facts point, however, to the greater probability that the original
conception of the monument must have arisen amongst Maya-speaking people.
[Illustration.]
Figure 58.
The divided square, simulating a pyramid and so obviously a symbol of
four=can, carved on the head of a serpent=can, throws an interesting light
upon the probable derivation of the affix=can, which occurs in certain
names of localities in Mexico, and in some cases distinctly stands for
“mountain.” It is a fact which has already been cited in Señor Antonio
Penafiel’s useful work on the Geographical names of Mexico that, in the
pictographic hieroglyphs of localities the affix can signifies a town,
being synonymous with the _tepec_, _i. e._ tepetl, the Nahuatl name for
mountain or town. One of many similar instances, which could be produced,
is illustrated in his fig. XXIII, 1, where _can_ obviously stands for the
mountain which is represented as twisted or bent over (colhua), in the
hieroglyph for Colhuacan. The hieroglyphs for the towns Acayocan and
Tenayocan, furnish a similar employment of the mountain to express the
sound can. The sense of the affix _can_, meaning a town, only becomes
clear when we interpret it as the name of the artificial mountain with
four sides, the pyramid, which was the symbol of four=the Maya _can_, and
was the emblem of a central capital. This is convincingly proven by the
Codex Mendoza for instance, in which it is shown that the Mexican mode of
recording the conquest of a tribe was to paint their hieroglyphic name and
a picture of the destruction of the pyramid temple which had stood in the
centre of their capital. In other words, the conquered town ceased to be a
centre of rule—its captive chieftain was taken to the capital, where the
horrible rite of sacrifice performed upon him and the tearing out of his
heart likewise symbolized the destruction of the independent life of the
tribe or integral whole he represented in his person. It was thus brought
home to the conquered people that they had ceased to exist as an
independent body, and the distribution of the chieftain’s flesh to the
ritualistic cannibals graphically symbolized its absorption into the great
central state. It is necessary to emphasize here that these horrible rites
were of comparatively recent origin and had been invented by the Mexicans
for the purpose of intimidating their vassals, after a prolonged period of
wars and bloodshed, which menaced the very existence of the integral
state. The presence in Mexico of numerous names of towns, ending in can,
seems to indicate the influence, in ancient times, of the Maya-speaking
civilization to which the origin of the pyramid must be assigned. The
association of the latter with the word _can_ is strikingly illustrated in
the name of Teotihua-Can, where stand the ruins of two of the largest and
most imposing pyramids of ancient America. The base of the larger of the
two has been estimated at about 700 feet square, it being impossible to
take an exact measurement owing to the mass of accumulated débris which
covers the lower part of the structure.
The base of the second pyramid measures about 475 feet square. The sides
of both pyramids rose at an angle of about 45 degrees and were in each
case interrupted by four terraces. This double application of a quadruple
division merits special attention, as it produced besides the four great
4×4 lesser sections, the sacred centre of the terraces, which crowned each
structure. Historical tradition relates that the larger pyramid, known as
the “Enclosure of the Sun (=Tonatiuh-I-Tzacual),” originally bore on its
summit a colossal image of the sun, covered with plates of gold, whilst
the other, the “Enclosure of the Moon” exhibited a similar image, covered
with silver. The distinguished and reliable historian Orozco y Berra
quotes this tradition adding that the soldiers of Cortés despoiled the
images of their precious metals and that the Bishop Zumarraga ordered a
further destruction of all monuments at Teotihuacan.
The tradition which records the existence of a silver and of a gold image,
cannot be dismissed as unfounded, because it meets with a certain amount
of corroboration by other data. In the first case the so-called “battered
goddess,” a mutilated stone image, which was found in the courtyard at the
base of the “Pyramid of the Moon,” looks as though it may have been the
very monument which was once plated with silver. Traces of concentric
bands of ornamentation seem to indicate that its round face had originally
occupied the centre of a sculptured disc, in which case this must have had
a diameter of about twelve feet. In Peru, as already stated, a silver
image of the moon, associated with the female sovereign, was the
complement to the golden effigy of the sun, associated with the Inca.
Even if data had not already been produced which establishes the existence
of two religious cults in ancient Mexico, the respective symbols of which
were the sun and the moon, the presence of two pyramids at Teotihuacan
would suggest the existence of a division of some sort. The origin of
these great and imposing structures is shrouded in mystery, but it is
generally conceded that they must have been built long before the
comparatively modern inhabitants of the valley of Mexico, the wandering
Aztecs, had taken up their abode in the midst of the salt lagoons. The
erection of two pyramids, however, proves that their builders had already
practised the cult of the middle of heaven and earth, or Above and Below,
and of the Four Quarters for so long a time, that there had been a
separation of religions and government into two almost independent parts,
each complete in itself. In the light of the testimony produced it is safe
to infer that for an indefinite time the rival cults developed side by
side until dissension and consequent disintegration followed. The Mexican
state was the outcome of a later effort to reorganize and rebuild an
integral whole on the ancient plan, the knowledge of which had been
preserved and handed down. As time went on it was inevitable that the same
causes which had caused the more ancient and greater state to crumble
away, should be actively at work on the second.
It has already been shown that two religions existed in Montezuma’s time
the respective embodiments of which were Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca.
It is an interesting fact, related by Bernal Diaz, that the idols of both
stood together in one tower at the summit of the great temple and were
alike, “because they were brothers.” At the same time whilst
Tezcatlipoca’s image was decorated with obsidian (=tezcatl)
Huitzilopochtli’s was encrusted with turquoises. It is curious to note how
closely the old soldier’s description of these idols answers to that of
the great dualistic statue which has been discussed in the preceding
pages. His account contains the following details: “In this hall were what
resembled two altars with very richly [ornamented or carved] platforms on
the top of the roof or ceiling. On each altar was a statue, as of a giant,
very tall in body and very stout. The first, which represented
Huitzilopochtli, had a very wide, deformed or monstrous face and forehead,
and terrifying eyes ... around his neck were faces of Indians and what
were hearts. These were of gold whilst the former were of silver inlaid
with blue mosaic-work. The entire body was covered with mosaic-work, gold
and beads and misshapen pearls, all fastened to it with a kind of cement
or glue. Encircling the body were what were like huge serpents made of
gold and mosaic.... The idol was of Tezcatlipoca, and its eyes were made
of shining black stone [obsidian] called Tezcat. The statues were alike
because they were said to be brothers. Tezcatlipoca was the lord of the
Underworld ... and around his body were figures like small devils with
tails like serpents.”(74) But for the fact that Bernal Diaz mentions a
plurality of faces in Huitzilopochtli’s necklace, whereas our monument
exhibits but one skull, in front, his description strikingly coincides
with the monolith now existing. Considering that thirty years had elapsed
before he wrote this description allowance must be made for this and other
slight lapses. On the other hand, dual statues, exactly alike, but with
differently colored ornamentation, are precisely what we should expect to
find on the summit of the great pyramid-temple of Mexico. With our present
knowledge and comprehension of native symbolism, moreover, we see that two
statues, each of which figured twin-serpents, would best express the
native idea of the dual and quadruple principles and elements. What is
more, two dual statues, each surmounted by a square, diagonally crossed,
like a pyramid, would correspond, in symbolism, to the two great pyramids
of Teotihuacan and carry out, on a small scale, the idea of a dual
government.
Valuable and reliable evidence, showing to what an extent the Mexicans
regarded their government as dual and quadruple, can be gleaned from the
records of the presents sent by Montezuma to Cortés, under the impression
that the bearded Spaniards were the descendants of the ancient founders of
their civilization. The native ruler sent the complete ceremonial dress of
the four lords of the four regions denoting by that act of homage that he
acknowledged Cortés as his equal, _i. e._ the supreme central lord who
united the four-fold power in his person. “He likewise sent him a large
wheel of pure gold, covered with designs and with the image of a monster
in its centre.” Its weight was estimated at 3,800 “pesas” and it was
considered “the finest and best of all the presents.” It was accompanied
by “a large wheel of silver,” weighing forty-eight marcos. By the light of
our present knowledge it may be that both “wheels” were images of the
Great Plan and that whilst the gold one set forth the constitution and
organization of the Upper division of the State and possibly conveyed the
statistics of its members, the silver wheel was a record of the Lower
division. The gift of these tablets must have been intended as an act of
subservience and an acknowledgment of Cortés as the lord of the Above and
Below, as well as of the Four Quarters. The utter lack of understanding
for the symbolism of these gifts on the part of the recipient, can
scarcely have escaped the notice of Montezuma’s messengers and must have
sorely puzzled their unfortunate master.
The existence in Mexico at the time of the Conquest, of a dual state,
suggests the possibility that, in some way, the pyramids of Teotihuacan
continued to be connected with the opposite and rival cults of the Sun and
the Nocturnal Heaven, although their origin was shrouded in the past. It
is known that their site was venerated: besides, the name Teotihuacan,
which Orozco y Berra translated as “the place of the masters as keepers of
the gods” or “the place where the gods were adored,” most probably really
meant “the divine four-sided mountains or pyramids” or, possibly, “the
sacred pyramids of the lords.”
Until an extensive, carefully-planned and systematical exploration has
been carried out at Teotihuacan, it is impossible to form any definite
conclusions concerning its past history. Cherishing the hope that such an
exploration may yet be made during my lifetime, I shall merely make a few
remarks concerning the ruins, which I visited many years ago. Approaching
them from the south one enters a broad straight road, several miles in
length and about 250 feet wide, which is bordered at each side by a series
of irregular mounds, probably covering ruined structures. This imposing
road leads directly into the vast courtyard which stretches across the
base of the great pyramid of the Moon. As the City of Mexico lies to the
south of Teotihuacan it is significant to find that this road leads from
that direction to a vast pyramid situated at the north, which was,
according to the ancient Mexicans, the region of the Underworld, darkness
and death. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the ancient
native name which still clings to the roadway is “the path of the dead.”
The presence, moreover, of innumerable small clay heads which are,
undoubtedly, portraits or effigies of persons represented as dead, points
to the alternative that Teotihuacan may have been the necropolis of an
ancient civilization or that it was, even at the time of the Conquest, the
place where a register of deaths was kept by the priest-rulers, by means
of small clay effigies.
Considering the native idea, it seems more than probable that all matters
pertaining to the dead should be relegated to the northern region and the
fact that the road from the south leads to a pyramid which tradition
associates with the moon, the symbol of the nocturnal cult of the “Below,”
lends color to these views.
There is a temptation to imagine that possibly after the adoption of two
distinct cults of which the second pyramid seems to furnish
incontrovertible proof, a further divergence ensued resulting in the
ultimate abandonment of the capital by the votaries of the Sun, the male
principle and the Above. As the native civilizations were based on such a
plan that dissension and disorganization inevitably led to utter downfall
and ruin, it is easy to see that a gynocracy and the cult of the earth and
underworld should gradually become extinct. At the zenith of its power,
however, it may safely be inferred, that Teotihuacan was a great centre
where astronomical observation and agriculture flourished, these being the
natural outcome of the cult of mother-earth and the nocturnal heaven.
Whilst all conjecture must necessarily be hypothetical, it is a comfort to
reflect that, locked in the ruins themselves, lies guarded the past
history of Teotihuacan, which was shrouded in a mist of uncertainty even
at the time of the Conquest.
The pyramids themselves, however, openly reveal the fact, that their
builders possessed a knowledge of the great plan, and that, at some time,
a single central pyramid not being sufficient, two, of unequal sizes,
arose to bear lasting testimony not only of past greatness, but of
long-forgotten rivalry and dissension. Finally, there is one thing
certain, namely, that the building of the pyramids at Teotihuacan must
have been preceded by an extremely long period during which the native
ideas, of which they were the expression and image, had developed and
taken definite shape. If Teotihuacan yields evidence of an advanced stage
in the history of the intellectual development of the native race, it also
marks the beginning of the disintegration of the state of which it was the
central capital. On the other hand, at Cholula, also situated in the high
plateau of Mexico, to the east of its present capital stands, in ruined
solitary grandeur, the largest pyramid on the American continent, whose
base is twice as large as that of the pyramid of Cheops in Egypt.
The name of the ancient capital of which it formed the nucleus was Tullan
Cholollan Tlachiuhaltepec.(75) Boturini (_op. cit._ p. 113) cites an old
native manuscript on which a picture of the pyramid of Cholula was painted
with the note that, in ancient times, it was named Tultecatl Chalchihuatl
On Azia Ecatepec, which he translates as “the monument or precious jade
stone of the Toltecs, which rears itself in the region of the air.” As
eca-tepec literally means air-mountain, Boturini’s translation may seem
somewhat exaggerated; on the other hand, the Spaniards, who knew the
Nahuatl language best, repeatedly state that its words were so replete
with significance that it would sometimes require several Spanish
sentences to set forth the meaning of a single native word. Boturini, who
had exceptional opportunities for obtaining information, adds to the above
the following translation of a Nahuatl inscription which had been written
by the native scribe below the drawing which unfortunately is now lost.
“Nobles and Lords: Here you have your documents, the mirror of your past,
the history of your ancestors who, out of fear for a deluge, constructed
this place of refuge or asylum for the possibility of the recurrence of
such a calamity.”
After citing the opinions of various authors concerning the origin of the
pyramid, Orozco y Berra concludes that “there is no certainty about its
age, but instinctively it is supposed to be extremely ancient and to
pertain to pre-historic times. According to my judgment the people who
constructed it belonged to the same civilization as the builders of
Teotihuacan and possibly were their contemporaries. Cholollan was also a
venerated sanctuary, in which the religious idea predominated” (_op. cit._
p. 363). “At the time of the Conquest a temple stood on the summit of the
pyramid and contained an image of Quetzalcoatl (the Divine Twain, the
Creator, the Father and Mother of all) as well as an aerolite, shaped like
a frog which had fallen from heaven, wrapped in a ball of flame.” In the
Vatican MS. of Padre Rios there is another version of the tradition that
the pyramid had been erected by giants after a deluge, which had destroyed
everything, ... and that before it was finished, fire fell upon it causing
the death of its builders and the abandonment of the work.
Allusion has already been made, in the preceding pages, to the native
traditions according to which, “there had been three memorable epochs in
the history of mankind, which lasted for centuries and were abruptly
terminated, each time by a mighty convulsion of nature. The majority of
human beings perished in each of these, but a remnant survived and thus
the race was preserved.”
The periodical festival of thanksgiving, which was still observed at the
time of the Conquest by the native races, abundantly testifies to the
reality of their belief in these great catastrophes and the preservation
of their ancestors from utter extermination. It was doubtless in order to
make their past history conform with the quadruple organization of all
epochs of their native Calendar that the native sages assigned their
successive destructions to the separate agencies of fire, water and air,
in the form of violent tempests and cyclones. From descriptions contained
in the Mexican Codex Chimalpopoca and in the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of
the Quichés, it will be seen that the phenomena described are such as
would naturally accompany a volcanic outbreak on a great scale.
Considering that, in Mexico alone, there are no less than nine monster
volcanoes, of which two are not yet extinct, and that in Guatemala, in
historical times, whole cities have been destroyed by earthquakes and
volcanic action, it is not at all astonishing to find traditions of great
catastrophes amongst the inhabitants of these regions.
No one can look upon the grand snow-clad peaks of the great volcanoes,
which surround the high central plateau of Mexico, without realizing that
mighty upheavals and disturbances, such as the world has seldom seen, must
have attended the formation of the huge craters next to which Vesuvius
seems but a hillock. A volcanic outbreak amongst these elevated peaks,
which range from 15,000 to 19,000 feet above the sea-level, would
obviously be accompanied by great inundations caused by the melting of the
masses of snow which crown their heights. The valley of Mexico in which
the large lagoons lie, as in a basin without an outlet, and the plains
which surround Cholula and stretch to the base of the volcanoes must
repeatedly have been the scene of ruin and desolation, lasting for many
centuries. As the Abbé Bourbourg justly remarks: “The majority of the
edifices in the City of Mexico are built of volcanic tufa, said to have
been formed by the small volcanoes which lie at the southeast of the
valley of Mexico. At various periods of antiquity great masses of lava
have descended into this valley, in which one extensive ancient lava-field
is now known as the ‘Pedregal de San Augustin.’ ” Another great flow of
lava has actually been traced from its apparent source, the now extinct
volcano of Ajusco, at the south of the valley of Mexico, to Acapulco, on
the Pacific coast.
The Mexican chronicles describe as follows the destruction of the earth by
fire: “... there came a rain of fire: all that existed was burnt and a
rain composed of sand-stone fell. It is said that whilst the sand-stone we
now see was being formed the tet-zontli [_i. e._ volcanic tufa], boiled
with great noise. Then the red mountains also lifted themselves up ... the
sun consumed itself [was darkened], all houses were destroyed and all the
lords or chiefs perished....”
The same author relates how, after the repeated destruction by water,
obscurity reigned for twenty-five years. This cataclysm is also described
in the sacred book of the Quichés as follows: “Then ... the waters became
swollen by the mere will of the Heart of Heaven and there came a great
inundation from above and descended upon the people ... they were deluged
and then a thick resinous substance fell from the sky. The face of the
earth was obscured and a dark rain commenced and fell during the day and
during the night ... there was great sound of fire overhead. Then the
people ran pushing each other and filled with despair: they endeavoured to
mount upon the houses and these, falling in, threw them again to earth.
They wished to climb the trees, but these swayed and cast the people from
them; they tried to enter caves, but these shut themselves before
them....” It was after this universal ruin and destruction that, according
to native tradition, the pyramid of Cholula was erected, as a place of
refuge for the remnant of the native race which had escaped destruction
and returned to the scene of desolation, lured by the richness of the
fertile soil, just as the Italian peasants return to their vineyards on
Vesuvius after each eruption. All things considered there seems to be no
ground for rejecting the native tradition which affirms that the great
pyramid of Cholula was erected as a place of refuge from inundations,
especially as no more plausible explanation of the origin of the pyramid
can be imagined. Any primitive people, inhabiting fertile plains which
abounded in game and fish, and food-plants, but were exposed to frequent
inundations, could not fail to recognize the advantages of an elevated
piece of ground as a place of safety. It is easy to imagine the
intermediate stages in the transition from this simple recognition to the
final determination to build a compact, high and spacious elevation,
within the reach of all inhabitants of a settlement, on which these could
not only find refuge from the dangers of floods and volcanic disturbances,
but also store their harvest, and possibly some form of raft or boat which
they might employ as a last means of escape.
Irrefutable proof that the maize had been cultivated from remote antiquity
in this region, and had even become identified with it, is furnished by
the fact that the name of the small republic of Tlaxcalla, which lies in
the neighboring foot-hills, signifies bread, and that its hieroglyphic
sign consists of two hands holding a tortilla, or maize-cake.
It is well known that botanists have not yet succeeded in identifying,
amongst the native grasses of America, the ancestor of the cultivated
maize-plant. They assert, however, that the development of what is now the
world’s largest cereal, from a wild native species, must have required
incalculable time.
It must be admitted that no factor could possibly have more speedily
impressed upon primitive men the benefits of concerted action and of
organization and communal life than the occasional recurrence of a great
and imminent peril which was shared by all alike, and for which there was
but one visible means of escape. It is equally clear that, once a
concerted and united undertaking had been determined upon, some sort of
plan and organization must have naturally evolved itself. The mere
building of such a gigantic structure as the pyramid of Cholula, which may
well have absorbed the energies of several generations of men, or, at all
events that of innumerable workmen, could well have been an abiding and
most powerful factor in establishing their social organization. Its
erection must indeed have marked an epoch in the lives of the inhabitants
of this region, because, during many years it created a bond of common
interest which, of itself, might well have laid the foundation of a
permanent communal life, in which responsibility and labor were equally
distributed. The mere necessity to expend an equal amount of material and
labor upon the building of each side of the pyramid, would naturally lead
to the formation of pathways traced by the feet of the carriers of earth
and stone from different directions, and ultimately to a division of the
workers into four bands, each associated with a different cardinal point.
Practice would demand that each band should be under leadership, and be
divided into those who collected and carried material, and those who
placed it in position, at each side of the pyramid. The necessity for
general supervision and directorship, extending over the four bands of
workers alike, would, of itself, create central rulership upon which would
devolve the duty of enforcing an equal division of labor, which would
create, in turn, some form of systematic routine and rotation. It can thus
be understood how, by slow degrees, each side of the pyramid would become
permanently identified with a cardinal point; and associated with a
division of workmen under its leader and a fixed period of time. It may
likewise be seen how a separate caste would slowly develop itself,
consisting of the trained architects and builders, the descendants of the
first organizers of human labor, and systematical rulers of men.(76)
It may thus be seen how the realization of frequent danger, the necessity
to provide an escape and insure the safety of the race, aided by
experience, might lead to the conception of a vast pyramid, the mere
building of which would create and establish the fundamental principles of
organization and government.
The simultaneous development of the ideas suggested by Polaris would
inevitably lead to a comparison and association of the terrestrial centre
of communal activity with the polar axis, and to the conception of an
earthly government in which human affairs were adjusted so as to be in
seeming harmony with the movements of celestial bodies. The blending of
the conclusions attained by the astronomer-priests, and the practical
system adopted by the master builders, could not fail ultimately to cause
the pyramid to appear as the sacred visible sign or image of the single,
central power and quadruple government which extended its rule throughout
heaven and earth. I venture to point out that, if carefully analyzed, the
pyramid seems to be but a later development of precisely the same ideas
which are expressed by the swastika.
Pausing now to review preceding data we find it demonstrated that the
geographical position of Tullan Cholollan and its pyramid designates it as
an ancient seat of civilization where the native scheme of organization
may have evolved itself, and the source whence the native traditions
concerning successive destructive cataclysms and convulsions of nature may
have spread.
What is more, the peculiar conditions existing at Tullan Cholollan,
situated in the heart of a volcanic region, would amply explain the
traditional destruction and abandonment of the most ancient centre of
native civilization and the spread throughout the continent of the
identical scheme of government, etc., it being most natural that each band
of fugitives, on finding what appeared to be a favorably situated region,
should settle there and carry out the inherited plan of organization,
etc., which would naturally become slightly modified under altered
conditions. Fresh colonies on the pattern of the ruined metropolis and
integral state would successively be founded far and wide and as examples
of such I venture to designate Tulantzinco, literally the title Tullan,
and possibly Teotihuacan, where the native civilization seems to have
undergone its more advanced stages of evolution, and to have risen in
power, developed divergent cults with separate languages (the Maya and the
Nahuatl) and instituted the two religions and dual rulership which
eventually led to dissension and the dissolution of the integral state at
a period anterior to historical times.
The assumption that the most ancient centre of native civilization lay in
a volcanic region affords a plausible explanation of how an inordinate
value would naturally be placed on stability, _per se_, and the feelings
of veneration for Polaris and a passionate longing for a place of
terrestrial and celestial rest would become strongly developed. Indeed, it
is only possible to understand the reason why various American tribes
wandered about in ardent and earnest search for the stable middle of the
earth, when it is assumed that they must have been driven from their
former place of residence by volcanic disturbances which made a firm piece
of ground under foot seem to be the most desirable of all earthly
benefits. I venture to assert that this search and the ideal of stability
would not have been suggested so forcibly to people who had never
experienced a long succession of more or less terrible earthquakes.
Although widely different opinions concerning the identification of the
ancient Tullan are held by American archæologists they will all
doubtlessly admit that at Cholollan we have, in the first case, a locality
to which the natives assign the name of Tollan, and a pyramid, the largest
on the American continent, which testifies that, in prehistoric times,
this place was inhabited for a prolonged period, by a numerous and
organized community.
The fertility of the surrounding plains now known as the Campiña de Puebla
and the ancient name of Tlaxcalla yield evidence that, from time
immemorial, this district was associated with maize cultivation.
The vicinity of the giant volcanoes of Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl and
Orizaba(77) sufficiently demonstrate that they must repeatedly have been
the scene of violent disturbances which would fully account for the
tradition of successive cataclysms which destroyed a vast state and almost
annihilated the native race.
The foregoing unassailable facts undoubtedly justify the conclusion that
the giant pyramid of Cholula marks the site of the great and ancient
Tollan whose destruction was the theme of the plaintive native songs of
lamentation even at the time of the Spanish Conquest. That the natives
have ever regarded Cholula as a place of particular sanctity is shown by
the following statement by Fray Geronimo Roman y Zamorra (1569-1575)
(Republicas de Indias, ed. Suarez, Madrid, 1888): “It was Colola or
Cholola, which was the ancient metropolis or head of all the native
religion, so much so that all the great chiefs or lords had their own
chapels and dwelling houses there because they used to perform pilgrimages
to its great temple this being the most revered [in the _land_].”
It is also reasonable to infer that the region of the high plateau and
valley of Mexico, possibly before the formation of the great lagoons, was
the cradle of ancient American civilization, where, during countless
centuries, the native race literally and figuratively cultivated its own
maize and simultaneously developed the set of ideas which formed the basis
of its intellectual evolution.
In this connection it is interesting to reflect that, as clearly shown by
ceremonial usages which existed throughout our continent and survive to
the present day amongst the Pueblo Indians, it is to the fostering care,
forethought and labor of countless generations of women, the “Corn Maidens
and Mothers,” that America owes the priceless legacy of a food-plant which
has already sustained untold millions of lives. Thus, whilst the ancient
“Daughters of the Earth” have given their country a gift which will last
for all time, the pyramids, temples and cities, reared by the “Sons of
Heaven,” have fallen into ruin, and the great edifice of human thought
that they reared, their complex social organization, government and
calendar now lie superseded under the dust of time.
At this point of investigation the question naturally arises, Whence came
the founders of the native civilization, who established themselves and
peopled the central region of Mexico and doubtlessly dwelt there for a
prolonged period prior to the first of the traditional cataclysms which
nearly proved destructive to their race?
It is obvious that, before this interesting question can be satisfactorily
discussed, a minute analysis and investigation should be made of all other
ancient civilizations of the world in which the swastika was employed as a
sacred symbol. A comparative research on such a scale could only be
effectively carried out with the active coöperation of orientalists,
archæologists and philologists in all departments of research. Taking, as
an index, the presence in old centres of civilization of the most ancient
sacred symbol of the world, the swastika, the aim of the joint
investigation should be to trace how far it was accompanied, in each
country, by pole-star worship and the set of ideas, symbols and words to
which it is so indissolubly linked in ancient America and China. By this
means only can a final conclusion be reached as to whether this symbol
spread over the earth from one original centre of civilization, or whether
it suggested itself to primitive observers of Septentriones in various
localities and at different times, as the natural outcome of
star-observation. If the swastika and the septentrional set of ideas
spread from one centre then we should expect to find them accompanied by
traces of a common language. I shall have contributed my share to the
joint investigation when, in addition to the preceding data, I present the
following list of Maya and Mexican names intimately associated with the
native symbols and set of ideas. In presenting them I once more draw
attention to the resemblance of sound in words which obviously influenced
the choice of certain symbols just as, for instance, loose-skinned oranges
are now given as presents at New Year in China, because their native name
has exactly the same sound as the word meaning “good fortune.” The use,
especially on porcelain, of the bat=fuh, to signify “happiness,” also fuh,
and of the sonorous stone “King” to emblematize “prosperity,”(78) are
other instances which shed much light upon the origin of primitive
symbolism in China and elsewhere.
Symbols And Names Connected With Middle Or Centre.
_Maya._
Ho, or Ti-hoo=name of ancient capital of Yucatan.
Ho-m, or ho-mul=artificial mound or pyramid.
Ho-mtanil=belly.
Ho-bnel=entrails.
Ho=five, symbolized by hand=kab, also by five-dot group.
Ci-hom=sacred tree, the leaves of which were scattered in the temple
court-yard at the baptism of children (Landa).
Ho-l=head (symbol).
Ho-och=vase in general.
Cuxabel=heart or life, _cf._ ah-cuch-cab=heart of the state, title of lord
or chieftain.
Nic, or nic-té=flower, usually represented as consisting of five parts,
_i. e._, the centre and four petals.
Tem=the square altar.
Names Of Symbols Connected With Four Quarters, Above And Below.
_Maya._
Can=four, serpent.
{Caan=sky, cord.
{Canalil=adj. grandeur, elevation.
{Canal=on top of, on; also yellow.
{Canal-cun-zaal=to exalt, elevate, aggrandize, praise.
{Cananil=necessity, need.
{Canaan=adj. necessary, needed.
Ché=tree.
Zin-ché=cross, literally tree of life or of power.
Zin-il=powerful, _cf._ zihnal=original, primitive.
Zihzabal=creation.
Zian=the beginning, origin, generation.
Zihil=to commence, or be born.
Zinan=scorpion, symbol.
Name And Symbol Of North.
_Maya._
Am=spider.
Aman=the north.
Star-Names.
_Maya._
Ek=star, black.
Ek-chuah=name of the patron divinity of travellers and traders, _i. e._,
the pole-star.
_cf._ Ikal, native word adopted by Spanish missionaries to denote “a
spirit.”
I have already pointed out how a minute comparison of the equivalent
Mexican symbols and their names shows that the latter often seem to be
mere translations from the Maya and that the same identity of sound does
not always exist between the Nahuatl symbol, its name and true
significance. On the other hand in the much-used Mexican symbol for the
centre and four quarters, the flower, pronounced ho-chitl, but written
xo-chitl, the archaic Maya syllable ho, so intimately connected with the
centre, recurs. It also appears in the name of the constellation Ursa
Minor, xo-necuilli, in the word xoch-ayotl=tortoise, employed as a symbol,
and in the name xolotl=something double or dual, sometimes employed as a
synonym of coatl=twin, serpent. The hand=maitl was employed to express the
numeral five=macuilli. It is particularly interesting to note that in
order to express the word tlachi-ual-tepetl or “artificial mound” (the
Maya hom) in Nahuatl, the scribes had to paint a mountain surmounted by an
eye, a symbol also employed to designate stars=the eyes of night. The
Nahuatl for tree=quahuitl is almost homonymous with quaitl=head and both
were employed as symbols of the centre.
The following Nahuatl words claim special attention. The first is teotl,
which was adopted as the equivalent of the Greek Theos by the Spanish
missionaries, but which appears to have been originally used in the sense
of a “Divinity,” or “divine lord,” and was also applied to all lords or
rulers. The second is the verb yoli or yolinia=to live and yollotl=heart.
A special interest attaches itself, however, to the noun yauatl=circle and
the verb yaualoa=to go around in a circle many times, because there is
good ground for identifying, as the Ursa Major, the star-god mentioned as
Youal-tecuhtli by Sahagun. As youalli means night, the title literally
signifies “the lord of the night,” while yaual=tecuhtli would mean the
lord of the circle or wheel, the most appropriate name for Ursa Major. The
actual representation, in the “Lyfe of the Indians,” of the “Lord of
Night,” within a wheel or circle composed of his own footsteps, so
strikingly corroborates this view, that further comment appears
unnecessary (fig. 59).
[Illustration.]
Figure 59.
In conclusion the exact meaning of the most important native symbols is
here recapitulated so as to facilitate comparative research.