Aztec Stone of the Five "Suns" or Worlds

The Aztec carving, usually called the Calendar Stone but more accurately called the Sun Stone, depicts, at its center, the Five Suns or worlds created in sequence by the gods of Mexica mythology. According to this myth, it took the gods five tries to succeed in producing creatures who could talk and thereby offer praise to their creators.

The whole stone is designed as a series of concentric rings. The outer ring is composed of two fire serpents, whose heads can be seen at the bottom. Their tails are at the top, with a date for creation in-between. Serpents symbolize the primal caos from which the gods create an ordered world and human beings to inhabit it.

Inside the serpent circle is a solar disc with rays marking the four cardinal directions of the created world, together with four intermediate points. Inside this is a circle of the twenty day signs for the divinatory calendar of 260 days, which is created by combining the twenty day names with thirteen numbers in rotation. The dates of this calendar were used to divine the fate of individuals, based on their birth date, and whether any particular day was auspicious or dangerous for actions to be taken. 

Within this circle, signs for four suns or successive eras of creation surround the Fifth Sun, that of the Aztec era. The outline around the five, together with two circles at the sides, form the sign of "ollin," representing "motion" or "cycle of time." The five worlds are named by the forces that brought them to an end:

1. Jaguar
2. Wind
3. Fire
4. Water
5. Sun

Shopping Town: U.S. Culture Seen through a Mexican Lens

Returning recently to the U.S. from Mexico and staying at a hotel in a suburb of Chicago, I was struck at a visceral level by the dramatic contrasts between that world and the world where I now live in Mexico. That is, I not only saw but felt the differences in my body. I was acutely aware of how the humanly constructed environment, el medio ambiente, communicates the primary cultural values of a society and shapes our experience, actions, values and world-view.

Cultural Environment

Our cultural environment is not something separate from us. It is like the air we breathe, we aborb it; it becomes indistinguishable from our very selves. The relationship is symbiotic, mutually self-sustaining. This post is an effort to illustrate, through one example, some of the differences in cultural environment betwen Mexico and the U.S., and communicate how they shape who we are. I use photos from both worlds, both cultures, to convey the contrasting experiences.

Mexico is rooted in two what may be called "classical" cultures, the Mesoamerican culture that developed in the center of what is now the Americas over more than three thousand years, and the Spanish culture that developed in Europe on a foundation of millenial-old Mediterranean cultures. While there are great differences between the two, traditional Mexican culture is a fusion of the two.

Cultural Space and Time: History

The most basic elements of cultural environment are those that define where we are in cultural time and space, that is, our location in a particular history. In Mexico, both its indigenous and Hispanic cultures have organized cultural space around a clearly defined centro, defined by structures that embody the religious and political powers at the heart of the culture. In Mesoamerican culture, these centros are public gathering spaces dominated by pirámides. In the Hispanic culture of colonial Mexico, el Centro is a public plaza ususally bounded by the town's principal Catholic iglesia and the offices of el gobierno. In such a space, you always know where you are, both physically and culturally.

Pirámides de los Purépecha 
 Ihautzio, Michoacán, México

Plaza Vasco de Quiroga o Plaza Grande

Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México

En los Estados Unidos, es otra cosa. In suburban United States, the only centro is the shopping center. In fact, in the suburban town I was visiting, one of several shopping centers is called, "Shoppingtown." 

Shoppingtown would like you to believe that you are in the center of some ideal small town, but in no particular time or place. It´s main street is decorated with various cultural symbols that refer to a number of historical places and times. 

 

A French fountain with Egyptian sphinx-like lions       A sundial with Greek symbols of the zodiac                           

Other historical cultural referents include nineteenth century style steet lamps and columns imitating those of the Egyptian Temple of Dendur. The "town" also sponsors a summer classical music festival in its "town square."

Living within Many Mexicos

My wife, Jane, and I have been living in Mexico for nearly two years. We actively seek to experience and understand as much as possible about Mexico, its people, their culture and the challenges they face. We also want to communicate our developing understanding to friends in the United States. We are convinced that improved understanding of Mexico by U.S. citizens is important in order for there to be the best possible resolution of the many compleja y complicada issues that exist between these increasingly closely linked countries. This blog is one medium for our communication.

Mexico is a complex country, with many levels of history, from the Mesoamerican to the modern. This history lives on in the multifaceted social and cultural dynamics of Mexico today. I have been thinking about how I might best organize this complexity in order to talk about it. It occurred to me that the symbolism of the monolithic Aztec or Mexica Calendar Stone or Sun Stone might provide a vehicle to represent the many dimensions of Mexican life.

Five "Suns" or Worlds

The Aztec carving, usually called the Calendar Stone but more accurately called the Sun Stone, depicts, at its center, the Five Suns or worlds created in sequence by the gods of Mexica mythology. According to this myth, it took the gods five tries to succeed in producing creatures who could talk and thereby offer praise to their creators.

The whole stone is designed as a series of concentric rings. The outer ring is composed of two fire serpents, whose heads can be seen at the bottom. Their tails are at the top, with a date for creation in-between. Serpents symbolize the primal caos from which the gods create an ordered world and human beings to inhabit it.

Inside the serpent circle is a solar disc with rays marking the four cardinal directions of the created world, together with four intermediate points. Inside this is a circle of the twenty day signs for the divinatory calendar of 260 days, which is created by combining the twenty day names with thirteen numbers in rotation. The dates of this calendar were used to divine the fate of individuals, based on their birth date, and whether any particular day was auspicious or dangerous for actions to be taken. 

Within this circle, signs for four suns or successive eras of creation surround the Fifth Sun, that of the Aztec era. The outline around the five, together with two circles at the sides, form the sign of "ollin," representing "motion" or "cycle of time." The five worlds are named by the forces that brought them to an end:

1. Jaguar
2. Wind
3. Fire
4. Water
5. Sun

The World of Mexico as Composed of Five "Suns"

Mexican history is very alive in daily life. It occurred to me that the various eras of this history, and thus their continuing presence and impact in Mexico today, could be grouped into five mundos, worlds, all set within, and shaped by, the encircling "two serpents" of the medio ambiente, i. e. the Mexican environment: landscape and climate.

El medio ambiente - The foundation and setting for the development of any country is its environment. Mexico's paisaje, landscape, is dramatically varied, often rugged, at times severe and challenging. Mountains predominate, dividing the country into distinct and -- until recent times -- isolated segments. Desert, semi-arid high plains and humid, costal, tropical jungle complete the setting. There are no navigable rivers and only a small percentage of arable land.

As Mexico lies within or near the tropic latitudes, its climate is temperate to hot year-round, depending on altitude, with distinct wet (summer) and dry (winter) seasons. The sun is a very intense presence overhead much of the time. We live at an altitude of 7000 feet, in the temperate Eje Volcánico, the axis of volcanic mountains that stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic across the middle of Mexico. Extinct volcanos surround our town, Pátzcuaro. (See my post on the Geography of Mexico)

Los Cinco Mundos - the Five Worlds

Four eras or "worlds" precede - and continue to be manifested in - present-day Mexican life and identity. They are the eras of the Indigenous, Colonial Nueva España, la Lucha and PRI. I call the present era Global Mexico.

Pueblos indigenas - The millenia-old, corn-based Mesoamerican civilization is the historical and cultural root of Mexico. It´s descendientes still live in the rural pueblos (pueblo means "people" as well as "village.") with customs that display their ancient origens. Its architectural remains are part of the landscape, never far away. Pátzcuaro, meaning "the doorway to paradise", was one of the cities of the Purépecha nation. The Purépecha were contemporaries of the Aztecs who repelled the latter when they tried to conquer this area.

Purépecha pyramids sit a couple of miles from our house. Daily, I ride the combi vans to town with Purépecha men and women, at times in traditional dress,  who travel from the nearby pueblos to el Centro and el mercado, to sell their vegetables, tortillas and other products, as they have for centuries. The Purépecha are still proud that they defeated those chilangos from Mexico City.

Colonia de Nueva España - The Spanish conquered the Aztecs nearly five hundred years ago. Their colonia, Nueva España, lasted three hundred years. The colonial herencia of Spanish language, Catholic religion, architecture, social customs and political tradition surround us daily. Pátzcuaro was named a cuidad de Nueva España by King and Holy Roman Emperor Carlos V 475 years ago. It is a nationally designated Pueblo Mágico because of its colonial buildings, which surround the beautiful Plaza Grande, itself designed with the approval of the Spanish king. Catholic churches are ubiquitous, each with its patron saint fiesta. Y estóy aprendiendo hablar español poco mejor cada día.

La Lucha - Mexico´s nineteenth and early twentieth century history is one of violent battles to forge a nation in the modern world. The era begins with the War for Independencia (1810-1821), continues with many rebellions, then defeat at the hands of the United States (1845-46), the civil War of Reform (1857-60), the French Intervention (1862-67) and the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. The era comes to a brutal and drawn-out end with the Revolución, a civil war that began in 1910 and lasted into the 1920's.

These struggles still reverberate. Militant themes run strong, permeating political rhetoric, días de acciones cívicas and the naming of cities, plazas, streets and schools after the numerous héores of these struggles. For example, the smaller of the two main plazas in Pátzcuaro, commonly called Plaza Chica, is officially named in honor of Gertrudis Bocanegra. She was a criolla (a person of Spanish blood born in Nueva España) who supported the battle for Independencia from Spain. She lost both husband and son in the war and then was fusilada, shot by firing squad, in the Plaza Grande for her continuing financial support of the rebels.

This year, 2010, is the 200th anniversary of war for Independencia and the 100th anniversary of the Revolución; so there are many events in commemoration. A huge sign has been erected across the highway in front of our house, welcoming visitors to Pátzcuaro and marking the two anniversaries.

La era del PRI - El Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) ruled Mexico for seventy years after the Revolución. It maintained its one-party domination of government and political discourse through corporativismo, the co-opting of all possible political forces by dispensing patronage and guaranteed economic benefits (renta), la corrupción, and through coercion and violence.

As indicated by its name, the Institutional Revolutionary Party maintained a radical vocabulary and a policy of nationalist economic development. PRI kept the country virtually closed to imports in order to develop its own industrial and commercial base. The expropriation of foreign-owned oil production by President Lázaro Cárdenas in the 1930's is still an emotional high-point for Mexican's much-sought sense of sovereignty over their world.

PRI's control ended in 2000 with the election to the presidency of Vicente Fox of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN). In 2006, he was followed by Felipe Calderón, also of PAN. There is a strong belief among Mexicans that PRI will re-take the presidency in 2012. Its heritage of authoritarian, secretive decision making, corruption and resulting distrust among la gente, the people, is still very strong. Mexican democracy is very much a work-in-progress.

México global - As a result of increasing international indebtedness, peso devaluations and inflation in the 1980's and 90's -- in part, outcomes of PRI´s nationalist development policy -- the Mexican government found that it had to open its economy to the world. The World Bank required this for Mexico to receive debt relief. PRI President Carlos Salinas actively pursued trade treaties, the largest of which was NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the U.S. and Canada, which went into effect in 1994. Mexico now has trade treaties with more countries than any other in the world.

This globalization process has greatly transformed Mexico. US companies and their products, from Wal-Mart to Pepsi, are everywhere. The Mexican economy is now highly dependent on income from the United States: from exports of oil and manufactured goods, remittances (money sent home by migrants to the U.S.), and tourism. Government-owned enterprises have been sold to private owners, many of them U.S. companies. The railroad that runs past our house is the Kansas City Southern. Cell phones, computers and the internet are commonplace, as are US style clothing (made in China), fast-food, music, movies, TV and imported corn. English is the required second language in higher education.

Living within the Five Mexicos

Moving forward in this blog, My Mexican World, I will use this model of the five worlds of Mexico to analyze and communicate my experiences. I will look at each present-day experience to identify and explore how it manifests one or more of these worlds:

• Los Indigena
• Colonial Nueva España
• La Lucha
• El PRI
• México Global

World Views: a Necessity of Life

Questions

How am I to know the world of Mexico?

In the same way that we come to know any world.

First, we have to experience a world.

And to experience a new world, we have to let go of our familiar world.

We have to venture forth and explore the unknown.

Nevertheless, we cannot come to know a new world simply through the accumulation of observations or facts.

We have to find relationships between the diverse observations and facts. To understand a world, we must ask:

What are the connections?

What is the structure that joins the parts into a whole?

What are the themes that link events into a history?

The answer: world views

In order to understand and inhabit a world, we need organizing principles. We need concepts, schemas or frameworks with which we can organize our experiences into a coherent whole. Using such frameworks, we locate or place ourselves in the world. Such frameworks provide our sense of meaning. We are able to see our surroundings as a world, a whole, a cosmos in place of chaos. Such frameworks are world views that provide a mental map of our natural and social world. Through our world view, we link ourselves to our world and function in it. This is how we make sense of our life. Meaning is composed of these relationships.

The Maya World Tree Rooted in the nine levels of the underworld, this tree, the ceiba, supports the thirteen levels of the heavens and defines the four cardinal directions of the Earth-Sky, that is The World.

The origin of world views

A primary theme in the creation myths of many mythologies of the world is an awareness that human beings are creatures, mortals to whom the powers of the universe give life and from whom they take it away. This awareness gives us humans anxiety about the vulnerability of our lives. It is the anxiety of self-awareness. In the Jewish and Christian tradition, the emergence of this awareness is portrayed in the story of Adam and Eve. The serpent tempts Adam and Eve to challenge their dependence on God and make themselves into knowing beings. So they eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, or better translated, the Tree of Awareness. In doing so, they make themselves aware of their vulnerability, their mortality. Then, they want to eat the fruit of the Tree of Eternal Life. God prohibits this, because if human beings were to possess eternal life, there would be nothing to restrict their powers. We would be the same as the gods, all-powerful and immortal. So God ejected Adam and Eve from the Garden. We have to work and bear children in order to continue our kind. Strikingly similar to this story, in the Maya myth of creation, the Popol Vuh, after several attempts by the gods to create creatures who would properly honor them, they succeed in making human beings. However, these human can see too far into the universe. They can know too much, so the gods cloud their vision, enabling them only to see the present.

Two views: creature or author

Our anxiety over our mortality, our awareness that our fate is in the hands of the powers of the universe and that we are dependent on them, provokes the formation of two possible world views, that of the creature and that of the author.

Both points of view begin with the awareness that we are beings separate from those powers.

The two views are distinct from each other, serving two independent purposes, providing different types of meaning. They ought not to be confounded. How we as humans sustain both world views presents a challenge which is evident throughout human history and culture.

The two world views are composed of four contrasting components:

• stance - relation to the powers of the universe, which establishes the meaning or purpose of life
• mind set - mental system and means by which experience is processed and organized into meaning
• truth - the character of meaning and the processes by which it is found, verified and confirmed
• message - means by which meaning is communicated to others.

The World View of the Creature From this point of view we recognize that we are creatures, that our life and death are ultimately dependent on the powers of the universe. Therefore, we seek to maintain or re-establish relationship or kinship with those powers, to reconcile with them.	The World View of the Author From this point of view, we recognize that we have powers of our own. We seek to take control of our own lives, to be the authors of our futures. We assert ourselves and aim to master the world as much as possible.
Abraham prepares to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, because God has commanded him to do so. An angel intervenes when God sees that Abraham has complete faith.	Prometheus steals fire from the gods to give to humans

Stance

Our stance as creatures is dependent in relation to the powers. We are aware of our vulnerability face to face with the powers of creation and destruction, life and death, order and chaos. In this stance we have:	Our stance as authors is independent. We are aware of our own existence as separate beings, on our own in the world. In this stance we have:
an attitude of faith - a feeling of awe, trust and reverence when contemplating the powers of the universe,	an attitude of challenge - a sense of free will, an ability to initiate our own actions when comtemplating the powers of the universe,
a goal of relationship - a desire to maintain harmonious, secure relations with the powers,	a goal of control – a desire to have command of our life,
a role of disciple- a follower and devotee, organizing our life around maintaining unity with the powers.	a role of master - the soverign of our self and our world.

Mind

Our mind as creatures operates affectively. We use that part of our brain and mind that processes and interprets experiences directly, immediately, without thought, in order to evaluate them as good or bad, beneficial or dangerous for ourself. In this mental state we operate:	Our mind as authors operates intellectually. We use that part of our brain and mind that processes and interprets experiences through reflection and rational analysis in order to evaluate and manage them. In this mental state we operate:
through the medium of feelings - our evaluations are communicated to our awareness through positive and negative emotions,	through the medium of thoughts – words, sentences and calculations are used to describe and reflect on our observations,
subconsciously- the processes are not directly available to consciousness,	consciously - the processes occur in consciousness,
analogically - we construct the meaning of perceptions and experiences by comparison and contrast of their sensory and emotional characteristics and organize them by associations into similar and contrasting entities.	logically - we construct the meaning of perceptions and experiences through abstract, logical relationships.

Truth

The truth for us as creatures is subjective. Confidence in the truth of our world view is founded on our personal and communal participation in an experience of the powers of the universe. Truth is:	The truth for us as authors is objective. Confidence in the truth of our world view is founded on our observation of phenomena as separate from ourselves as observers. Truth is:
encountered directly - truth is revealed or intuited	discovered indirectly through trial and error,
verified by the authority of the originator or his disciples	verified through testing ideas against practical outcomes,
confirmed by consensus	confirmed by results– the practical consequences of one's actions determine the truth.

Message

We communicate the message of the creature's world view metaphorically. The meaning of intangible, subjective personal and communal experience is necessarily communicated indirectly through metaphors, in which an image or word signifying one thing is used to stand for something else by analogy. "Save that you are educated in metaphor, you are not safe to be let loose in the world.” Robert Frost. Representation is by:	We communicate the message of the author's world view literally. Meaning is defined directly by describing phenomena. Representation is by:
symbols - images that convey the meaning of one experience by analogy to another,	signs – descriptive words, numbers and diagrams,
allegories – stories using symbolic characters and actions to represent life as a drama of struggle between the powers of creation and destruction in the world, rituals –symbolic patterns of action	facts – affirmations of what is proven,
mythology – the whole system of allegories and rituals that embody the world view of the creature.	knowledge – the whole of what has been learned.

Summary:

The world view of the creature comprises:

• a dependent stance of faith that seeks relationship with the powers of the universe maintained through discipleship
• the affective mind that functions through feelings, subconsciously and analogically
• a subjective truth encountered directly through revelation or intuition, verified by authority and confirmed by consensus
• metaphorical message communicated through symbols, allegories, rituals and mythology.

The world view of the author comprises:

• an independent stance of challenge that seeks control and mastery of the powers of the universe
• the intellectual mind that functions through thoughts, consciously and logically reasoning
• an objective truth discovered indirectly by investigation, verified by trial and error and confirmed by results
• literal message communicated through signs, facts and knowledge.

The world view of the creature is formalized in tradition and religion.

The world view of the author is formalized in science and technology.

My Question: Where will these two points of view appear in the world of Mexico?