Page 509 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

and illumining mirror. Moreover, as lord of the appears, in the Aztec epic of creation, at the NOTES
everywhere, he is depicted presiding over one dawn of our present age, restoring life to the 1. Francisco Lopez de Gomara, La Conquista de Mexico
or another of the four cosmic quadrants of the bones of humans who existed in previous (Madrid, 1986), 461.
4
world. As lord of the everywhen, he is present cosmic ages. 2. This is the conclusion reached by Henry B. Nichol-
Central
Mexico/' in
in the first and last pages of the Codex Fejer- The codices and texts, including the hymns son in " Religion in Pre-Hispanic Indians, ed. Robert
Middle
American
Handbook
of
vdry-Mayer (cat. 356), the book of destinies, and poems, provide the evidence. She-He can Wauchope (Austin, 1971), 10:408-430.
as Tonalamatl consulted by the long-distance also appear as the god of the celestial waters, 3. One collection of huehuehtlahtolli is included in
merchants (pochtecas). There he appears sur- Tlaloc, and as the lady of the terrestrial waters, Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, Florentine Codex,
rounded by the different cycles of time: the Chalchiuhtlicue, or as Mictlantecuhtli and Mic- General History of the Things of New Spain, 12
days and the destinies. 5 tecacihuatl, lord and lady of the place 4. books (Salt Lake City, 1950-1969), book 6. Novotny
Borgia, commentary by Karl Anton
Codex
Lord of the everywhere and of the every- of the dead, or as Cinteotl, Xilonen, god and (Graz, 1976), 21.
when, one and double at once: Tezcatlipoca- goddess of maize, or as Ehecatl and Mictlante- 5. This pre-Hispanic book has been published in
Tezcatlanextia, smoking and illumining mirror, cuhtli, wind-life and death, their backs joined as facsimile under the title Tonalamatl de los Pochtecas
receives the same titles, Ipalnemoani, he by if they were one person in Codex Vaticanus (Codex Fejervdry-Mayer), commentary by Miguel
whom there is life, and Tloqueh Nahuaqueh, 3 773 / or as Tlaltecuhtli, androgynous deity of Leon-Portilla (Mexico City, 1985).
lord of the everywhere and everywhen, which the earth. 8 6. Sahagun 1950-1969, book 6, fol. 148 v.
Codex
Vaticanus 3773, introduction
by Ferdinand
7.
refers to the ultimate reality. In the thought As Ipalnemoani, Ometeotl, who is Tezcatli- Anders (Graz, 1972), 75.
of the Aztec sages and priests he, the one and poca, is fervently invoked by the Aztecs with 8. A more detailed and documented presentation of
double at once, is Ometeotl the dual god, whose the name of Huitzilopochtli. The Aztec tutelary the multiple manifestations of the divine dual reality
ultimate abode is Omeyocan, the place of dual- god Huitzilopochtli indeed has the attributes of is found in Miguel Leon-Portilla, Aztec Thought
ity. Several texts in the Florentine Codex (Bib- Tezcatlipoca—he is his Aztec alter ego. And it is and Culture, A Study of the Ancient Nahuatl Mind
(Norman, 1982),
90-103.
lioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence) and in he who causes the day to exist. So it is pro- 9. Angel Ma. Garibay has published a translation,
other indigenous sources speak of him. claimed in a sacred hymn: accompanied by a commentary, of these hymns
The dual god Ometeotl is Ometecuhtli, Ome- in Veinte Himnos Sacros de los Nahuas (Mexico,
cihuatl, dual lord and dual lady, mother and Huitzilopochtli, the young warrior! 1958), 31.
father of whatever exists: Tonantzin, Totahtzin, He who acts above, moving along his way.
our revered mother, our revered father, who Not in vain did I take the raiment of
through a portentous coition give origin to all yellow plumage,
reality. Thus She-He the supreme, the dual god for it is I who makes the Sun appear.
depicted in the codices beyond the thirteen The portentous One,
heavens, was invoked as the ultimate source of Who inhabits the region of clouds...
life, in the words of an Aztec midwife. After The Sun spreads out...
cutting the umbilical cord she washed the new- come adhere to us. 9
born and, while so doing, invoked in this
manner: Huitzilopochtli and Coatlicue, she of the ser-
pent skirt, Tezcatlipoca and Tezcatlanextia,
Lord, Our Master, Omecihuatl, Ometecuhtli, dual lady and dual
She of the jade skirt, lord, are all manifestations of the supreme dual
He who shines like a sun of jade, god, Ometeotl.
a baby has been born, Indeed, as in today's Mexico, where the
sent by Our Mother, Our Father, Virgin and Jesus are often invoked with many
Dual Lady, Dual Lord, different names—Virgin of Guadalupe, Reme-
She-He who dwells dios, Pilar, Perpetuo Socorro, Salud, Senor de
in the place of Duality. 6
Chalma, de los Milagros, Jesus Nazareno — she,
In popular religious belief all the gods are Her- Tonantzin, and he, Totahtzin, in pre-Hispanic
His children. But the Nahuatl texts and the times were called and worshipped everywhere
ancient codices also reveal that, in the thought and everywhen, differently arrayed, but embody-
of the sages, the teteo, appearing in pairs or at ing the same ultimate and divine, dual reality.
times even androgynous, are regarded as just as The question "The Aztec gods—how many?"
many presences of the supreme dual god. She- can in this manner be answered. The ancient
He is the mirror who illumines the world and texts of the native tradition give us ample evi-
produces the smoke that obscures reality at the dence to accept the answer that these plural
end of a cosmic age. She-He, as several texts gods can be interpreted as various manifesta-
declare, is Quetzalcoatl, a name meaning feath- tions of a dual reality. Is not the ultimate reality
ered serpent and also precious twin, manifesta- our mother, our father, who give life every-
tion of the wisdom of the supreme Ometeotl, where and everywhen, indeed a beautiful form
dual god. Cihuacoatl, feminine twin, our of approaching the mystery— that which is
mother, is Quetzalcoatrs counterpart. She-He beyond the wind and the night?

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