Page 105 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

Children of the Fifth Sun

Like the many different peoples and cultures that had preceded them in
Mexico, the Aztecs believed that the universe operated in great cycles.
The priests stated as a matter of simple fact that there had been four
such cycles, or ‘Suns’, since the creation of the human race. At the time
of the conquest, it was the Fifth Sun that prevailed. And it is within that
same Fifth Sun, or epoch, that humankind still lives today. This account is
taken from a rare collection of Aztec documents known as the Vaticano-
Latin Codex:

First Sun, Matlactli Atl: duration 4008 years. Those who lived then ate water maize
called atzitzintli. In this age lived the giants ... The First Sun was destroyed by
water in the sign Matlactli Atl (Ten Water). It was called Apachiohualiztli (flood,
deluge), the art of sorcery of the permanent rain. Men were turned into fish. Some
say that only one couple escaped, protected by an old tree living near the water.
Others say that there were seven couples who hid in a cave until the flood was
over and the waters had gone down. They repopulated the earth and were
worshipped as gods in their nations ...

Second Sun, Ehecoatl: duration 4010 years. Those who lived then ate wild fruit
known as acotzintli. This Sun was destroyed by Ehecoatl (Wind Serpent) and men
were turned into monkeys ... One man and one woman, standing on a rock, were
saved from destruction ...

Third Sun, Tleyquiyahuillo: duration 4081 years. Men, the descendants of the
couple who were saved from the Second Sun, ate a fruit called tzincoacoc. This
Third Sun was destroyed by fire ...

Fourth Sun, Tzontlilic: duration 5026 years ... Men died of starvation after a deluge
of blood and fire ...9
Another ‘cultural document’ of the Aztecs that has survived the ravages
of the conquest is the ‘Sun Stone’ of Axayacatl, the sixth emperor of the
royal dynasty. This huge monolith was hewn out of solid basalt in AD
1479. It weighs 24.5 tons and consists of a series of concentrically
inscribed circles, each bearing intricate symbolic statements. As in the
codex, these statements focus attention on the belief that the world has
already passed through four epochs, or Suns. The first and most remote
of these is represented by Ocelotonatiuh, the jaguar god: ‘During that
Sun lived the giants that had been created by the gods but were finally
attacked and devoured by jaguars.’ The Second Sun is represented by the
serpent head of Ehecoatl, the god of the air: ‘During that period the
human race was destroyed by high winds and hurricanes and men were
converted into monkeys.’ The symbol of the Third Sun is a head of rain
and celestial fire: ‘In this epoch everything was destroyed by a rain of fire
from the sky and the forming of lava. All the houses were burnt. Men

9 From the Vaticano-Latin Codex 3738, cited in Adela Fernandez, Pre-Hispanic Gods of
Mexico, Panorama Editorial, Mexico City, 1992, pp. 21-2.

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