Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán was not only a container of religious symbolism… It was itself a religious symbol.Teotihuacán was also known as Tollan, Place of Cattail Reeds. Verified from Maya inscriptions, this ancient metropolis was called the Place of Reeds. The term Tollan refers to much more than a historical city or empire – it is an emblematic place and sphere of civilization. Authors of the colonial period compared the importance of its cultural legacy and memory to the role of ancient Rome for Europe. The people associated with the realm of Tollan were called Toltecs (from Toltecatl, ‘person from Tollan’) speakers of the Nahuatl language.
In other words, its inhabitants were known as Toltecs, the Nahuatl name for Master Craftsmen. This City of the Gods was the birthplace of the myth and religion of Quetzalcóatl, the birthplace of the Nahuatl culture; and to call its people, by their time-honored and indisputable name, Toltecs. For the Toltecs, Quetzalcóatl was the spiritual originator of the tlamatinime, the wise men who were the priests and preservers of divine knowledge. He was the personification of wisdom and their ancient symbol of wisdom.
If we explore Teotihuacán’s title as the place where humans become deified, we may clearly recognize that Quetzalcóatl’s religion was based on overcoming our dualistic consciousness by awakening to unity (oneness)—the merging of spirit and matter. This is the same message we bring today.
Today scholars know that Teotihuacán is actually much older and much more important than any of those early investigators could have guessed. According to latest research, the year 7210 BCE is the likely date Teotihuacán was first designed. Keep in mind, designed not built. Like any big city, Teotihuacán was built in stages. So, the question reminds, what was the date when all of the structures of Teotihuacán, as we know it today, were finished?
Their original strategy/design was to recreate an imago mundi by dividing the terrain into four quadrants, which they achieved through two major avenues: Avenue of the Dead (North-South axis) aligns with geographic north, as determined by the sun’s path. The intersecting East-West Avenue was defined by the San Juan River, whose course they diverted to conform to their desired southeast orientation!
Future research discovered that in 7210 BCE, a date nearing the New Moon, the sun and the moon aligned; they had the same azimuth as Avenida de los Muertos, Avenue of the Dead. The New Moon doesn’t shine, it is dead, and hence it could be the origin of the Avenue’s name.
The data showed the site’s axis of symmetry was designed to point to the beginning of a New Moon; therefore, the avenue could be called Avenida de la Luna Muerte, Avenue of the Dead Moon, i.e., killed by the sun or just obscured by it in the sky.
The Avenue of the Dead (Moon) is also known as the Belly of the Serpent. The serpent and moon both share common symbolism: transformation and renewal. Furthermore, the Pyramid of New Moon sits in the north at the end of Avenida de la Luna Muerte. Or would it be the beginning of the avenue?
The deity of the north is Black Tezcatlipoca.North as a cardinal point was the equivalent in the Mesoamerican mind of the nadir position of the sun, which in turn symbolized the subterranean realm of the spirit. The sun in the underworld.
There is an important fact: From the Pyramid of the New Moon, the avenue gradually descends or slopes down until it terminates in front of Quetzalcóatl’s Ciudadela (Citadel). This descend replicates Quetzalcóatl’s journey to the underworld, an essential journey to “birth” the new sun. Quetzalcóatl, with the help of Cihuacóatl, the Goddess of the New Moon birthed humanity from the bones of the ancestors—the birth of the Fifth Sun.
Quetzalcóatl’s Ciudadela (Citadel)
There are two larger pyramids and one smaller one at Teotihuacán. The smaller one, called The Pyramid of Quetzalcóatl or the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent is now considered to be the most important of the three.
Quetzalcóatl’s Temple-Pyramid is enclosed in the Ciudadela, which consists of fifteen stepped platforms surrounding an enormous sunken plaza. It sits in the east and faces the Great Compound in the west, both known as the Southern Complex. Quetzalcóatl’s Temple-Pyramid and its surrounding walled precinct was the ceremonial heart of Teotihuacán.
The Sacred Road of an Initiate
What is the character of person converted into an Hombre-Dios/Mujera-Dios: “in the first act, it is the mortal penetrated by the awareness of his celestial origin and the anguish of his duality; in the second, the intrepid pilgrim who goes to the underworld to seize the secret of his nature; and in the third, owner at the end of his inner unity, he is transfigured into a planet.” In other words, a star, a Quetzalcóatl.
Another translation of the Nahuatl word, Teotihuacán, is “the place of those who have the road of the gods.” In other words, wise ones who know the “sacred road” to become an Hombre-Dios/Mujera-Dios—a Quetzalcóatl. I bring this “sacred road” to all who strive to become a Quetzalcóatl.