Xochiquetzal: Mexico's Goddess of Love

Every ancient culture has one - a goddess so beautiful and alluring that mortal men fall to their knees in awe of Her; and wars are fought to gain Her hand.

To the Greeks, She was Aphrodite; to the Romans, She was Venus; in the misty dawn of Britain, She was Gwenhwyfar; and to the Norse, She was Freya. She is the Goddess of Love and Fertility and, in Aztec Mexico, Her name was Xochiquetzal.

Xochiquetzal (pronounced shOw-chee-KET-sAl) was responsible for all that is beautiful in Mexico. The white sand beaches; the towering pyramids; the breath-taking canyons, gorges and waterfalls; the glorious dawns and sunsets; the lush greenery of the jungle; the grace of the cloudy mountains; the sweeping vistas of its deserts; the mystery of its deep caves and cenotes; and the warmth of the Mexican people, all come under Her domain. If it is beautiful and Mexican, then Xochiquetzal has cast her eye upon it.

Her name translates broadly as 'sacred flower' or 'flower feather'. Xochi is Nahuatl for 'flower'; while the second part, 'quetzel', references the strikingly colored birds that still live in the highlands of western Mexico. In Nahuatl, 'quetzelli' means 'brilliant tail feather', which describes these vibrant birds very well. The goddess wore those same feathers in Her head-dress; and She was followed everywhere by an entourage of birds and butterflies.


'Xochiquetzal' by Midnightstouch
Every eight years, the Aztecs held a festival in honor of their Goddess of Love. All those attending it would wear masks replendent with feathers. They represented those birds and butterflies that would trail Xochiquetzal. Each year, this deity was the guardian of the 20 days of Xochitl. During this period, beauty and truth reigned. People would take care over their appearance; and would share compliments, but only if they were truthful. It was a great time for an ego boost!

Her holy days were times of celebration and dancing, as well as the more carnal activities. There was no judgement here. Xochiquetzal is the patron of all who love; She is the guardian of prostitutes. Every time the wild dance causes lovers to catch each other's eye, then look for the presense of Xochiquetzal. She is human desire; She is the dance; She is the romantic meal and the whispered words.


But this Aztec goddess doesn't leave when the union is made. She was also there during pregnancy and childbirth. She was the patron of young mothers everywhere.

However, this was the Aztec people, so some aspects of Her worship appear horrific to the modern sensibilities.

As the Goddess of Beauty, Xochiquetzal claimed the artisians, sculptors, craftspeople and silversmiths amongst Her people. Every seven years, this sector of society would meet to select the most beautiful young woman they could find amongst the population. She would spend a year living in luxury, as the very personification of Xochiquetzal. People would confess their darkest secrets and deepest desires to her. Her every need would be attended to; and she would wear the most wonderful clothes and precious jewels.

Then after the year was up, she would be ritually sacrificed, during the festival of Xochiquetzal. It is believed that her skin would then be flayed from her dead body and stitched into an outfit. This was worn by the chief, male artisian, while he wove his own craft. This would bring the Goddess into the beauty of his weaving and bless their community for another eight years.


Amongst the pantheon of Aztec deities, Xochiquetzal has a twin brother: the flower prince, Xochipilli. She had many lovers and husbands. The first was Tlaloc, the Rain God, as rain and beauty make all of the wonderful vegetation in Mexico. She was also famously abducted by Tezcatlipoca, a central God in Aztec religion. He created the whole world, until a jealous quarrel with Xochiquetzal's son, Quetzalcoatl, led to the destruction of it all. Fortunately for us, Quetzalcoatl then recreated the Earth, thus we have the planet to live on!

(Incidentally, when the Spanish attempted to convert the Aztecs into Christianity, they found resistance. The Aztecs, ironically, found the notion of a crucified deity to be distasteful. Those evangelizing friars only made headway when they learned about Tezcatlipoca, the sacrificed God. They were able to link Him with Jesus Christ and Xochiquetzal with Mary, His mother. Hence the Aztecs were Christianized.)

Mexico is a truly beautiful country, with some of the most exquisite arts and crafts in the world. It is certainly a setting for romance and love. Xochiquetzal may now be merged entirely with Mary, Mother of God, but, as the Mother of Quetzalcoatl, She always was. Next time a magnificient Mexican landscape opens up before you, and you are hand in hand with your lover, nod towards the nearest bird or butterfly. Xochiquetzal has you blessed.

Two Ancient Artefacts Unearthed in Mexico

This has been a great week in Mexican archaeology, as two important artefacts have been uncovered, in different locations in the country.

The first was in the Maya ruins of Tonina, Chiapas. The 5 foot (1.5 meter) figurines depict cross-legged warriors, with their hand tied behind their backs. They are carved from limestone blocks and date from 695 CE. Fortunately, much of the guesswork about their purpose is removed, as the statues include inscriptions. They show prisoners, who are destined to become offerings to deity, alongside fire and incense, on the field of battle.

These findings have provided intriguing evidence that the city of Copan allied with the Maya tribes of Palenque at this time. It is a fact that has been long suspected by historians, as a lot of circumstantial information exists pointing to such a partnership. The aim of these series of battles was control of the powerful Tonina area. It was a prize that was important enough for human sacrifices to be made.

Tonina today exists as ruins. It has a series of pyramids, rising in terraces above a central plaza. The site includes a ballcourt and 100s of carved monuments. The famous stucco sculptures are here. There are also several mysteries; like why a design of statue exists here, dating from the 9th century CE, which hadn't previously been in evidence since the much earlier Olmec people reigned supreme.

Tonina is the central of a huge archaeological project, seeking to shed more light on this vital period in Maya history. This was the Late Classic, when the last widely marked Long Count of their calendar ended. The date is etched into many of the monuments here.

During this time, the Maya people lived in staunchly independent city states; however, the seeds of political and economic unity, across the Maya world as a whole, had been cast. It was also an era of warfare, as each tribe battled for supremacy in the widening social structure; hence the appearance of the statues of the warrior-prisoner sacrificial victims.

However, experts have cautioned against leaping to the conclusion that Copan tribes were involved in the fight for Tonina. The inscriptions, on the newly discovered figurines reference the inauguration of a new ballcourt in the city. They may turn to have nothing to do with these critical wars after all.

The Tonina complex is open to the public. The nearest modern town is Ocosingo, in the state of Chiapas. As well as the impressive structures, there is also a site museum providing a context to its history. A large selection of artefacts, uncovered in Tonina, are on display here.

This week's second artefact discovery is Aztec in origin. It is a sixty tonne monolith, depicting a currently unidentified rain god, which was dug up further west, in the state of Morelos.

Construction workers were preparing land for a shopping center, beside a main highway leading out of Cuautla City, when their diggers uncovered the stone. Work immediately ceased, as the archaeologists moved in to complete the unearthing; and to take steps to preserve the carved artefact for future study. It has been found in the general vicinity of the historical Aztec site of Xochicalco, so may well have been linked to the people there.

Early speculation is that the deity shown, in carved markings on the stone, is a god of corn and water. Amidst the large number of hieroglyphics, there are a lot of symbols relating to agriculture and rain accompanying His image. The known Aztec god, Tlaloc, accompanies the unidentified god on the stone. Tlaloc has been associated with many things. He is the God of rain, fire, fertility, crops, agricultural, storms, thunder and lightning, leprosy and the south.

Raul Gonzalez, an archaeologist called to the monolith, reports, "These signs on the rock are fundamentally associated with agriculture and water. We think it's highly probable that it was used during rituals to ask for rain and it was placed in a position facing Popocatepetl."

Popocatepetl is one of Mexico's active volcanoes. Standing at 17,802 ft (5,426 m) high, it is clearly visible from Mexico City to the north. The popular tourist town of Puebla nestles just below its eastern slopes. This violent volcano has a long history of major eruptions; 15 of them have occurred during the past 500 years, with the latest at the beginning of last month. In 2000, tens of thousands of people were evacuated from residences within its range, as a huge eruption was signalled.

The third and last time it truly blew its top was in 800 CE. This event would have seen a massive Plinian eruption; resulting in an unstoppable pyroclastic lava flow, which would have filled the basins below for miles around.

It is thought that the creation of the monolith, facing Popocatepetl, happened just a century before. The great-grandchildren, of those carving and raising it, would have witnessed that cataclysmic explosion. It seems fitting that their monument as been uncovered, just as the volcano has been building up its greatest displays in 1,200 years. If it transpires that the unknown deity is an Aztec god of volcano appeasement, then the discovery is also lucky. We might just need Him again!

The gigantic Aztec monolith is currently roped off, in situ, though it is clearly visible from the main highway connecting Cuautla and Xochicalco. It's too soon to be certain what the future holds for its care, though the land developers are naturally still hoping for their shopping center on the site.

If the monolith is moved, then it is likely that will be to the the UNESCO listed World Heritage site of Xochicalco. The same people, after all, almost certainty created both it and the structures there, often during the same period of time. This remarkable place of impressive Aztec history is open to the public.

Whatever happens to the artefact, it is sure to increase our knowledge of the ancient Aztec people, as those hieroglyphics start to be translated in their entirety.

Chalma and the Dark Lord of the Cave

Around the mountains, the pilgrims snaked. Their incense filled the air around them with thick, scented clouds, issuing out from burners. Their clothes and hair were colorful with the season's flowers. Once night fell, they lit their flaming torches and carried them high. It took days to reach the sacred spring, along the spiral ways, but this was the last rite before arriving at their destination.


Bathing in the waters, drinking them; cleansed inside and out and holy now. They thrice walked around the ancient Ahuehuete tree, hung through with offerings, flowers, fruit and little bags containing umbilical cords. They were ready to enter the sanctuary. The Dark Lord of the Cave was waiting.

Oxtoteotl is an Aztec deity. He's the God of War; the Destiny of the Night; the Dark Lord. His shrine is the back of a cave, which takes days of a snaking, spiral pathway through the mountains to reach. There is evidence of human sacrifice in His worship. He was one of the most popular Gods of the Aztec age. Pilgrims came from great distances to visit His shrine, above the modern-day town of Chalma, in Mexico State. He could heal; and He could protect.

In 1537, Augustian monks appeared in the area. They watched the thousands of pilgrims making their progress up the mountain-side. The religion was strong here, but two of their number, Brother Sebastian de Tolentino and Brother Nicolas Perea, were determined to smash it. This was their calling. This is where Christ should be.

They spread out amongst those gathered, evangelizing and talking about the 'Spanish God'. They visited the sanctuary and surveyed the dark, cylindrical shape of the Oxtoteotl stone. They saw the people dancing before him. The Augustian were appalled. For three days, they walked about the pilgrim paths, encouraging people to tear down the statue and convert to Christ. People laughed in their faces.


It was at night when Brother Sebastian de Tolentino and Brother Nicolas Perea climbed the mountain to the sanctuary for the second time. Their intent was clear. They were going to pull down the icon themselves. They would prove, with their bare hands, that their God was stronger and that nothing would happen, if they descrecated the centuries old sacred cave.

They arrived to find it devoid of worshippers, but a miracle had occurred! In place of Oxtoteotl now stood a statue of the crucified Christ, with his skin burnt a dark black. The floor was littered with the fractured remains of the Aztec icon, smashed to smithereens. No-one claimed responsibility. No-one had seen the statue being conveyed up the steep paths. God must have done it. The friars reported that, as the first Aztec pilgrims arrived, they all fell to their knees in 'apostolic piety'. The holy brothers wasted no time in converting them to Catholicism.


(There is another version, which says that the friars sculpted the Oxtoteotl stone into a representation of Christ on the cross. It's black because the Aztec stone was obsidian black.)

In the years that followed, the mouth of the cave was enlarged and a shrine dedicated to St Michael was established there. The people still visited in the same way, climbing the paths with incense and flowers; bathing in the spring and encircling the Ahuehuete tree.


Inside the cave, they danced to the dark Christ now that Oxtoteotl had gone. They left their offerings and were cleansed of their sins. They petitioned for healing and protection. The Augustian monks set up a monastery to cater to their needs.

Over a hundred years later, in 1683, a huge church was built upon the canyon floor. The image of Christ was brought down from the sanctuary and placed into it. El Convento Real y Sanctuaria de Nuestro Señor Jesus Christo y San Miguel de los Cuevas de Chalma (The Royal Monastery and Sanctuary of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Saint Michael of the Caves of Chalma) stands there still.




It is the second most visited site of Catholic pilgrimage in Mexico (the first is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City). Mexico state tourist board estimates that over 2 million people per year make the trip to Chalma. 50,000 people per day is the norm. Most are Mexicans, but some people fly in from countries all over the world.

The town has a plentiful number of lodgings and restaurants, as a result of the demand from pilgrims. Amongst the attractions are the church; the 17th century monastery; the cave up in the mountains; and many organized events, including parades and open-air ceremonies, in addition to regular services held inside the church.


There is also a high emphasis on public safety and crowd control. Patrols watch from both ground and in the air, with regular sightings of helicopters. Experts on crowd control train their apprentices here.

A river of people. We are immersed in a river of people. The sanctuary of Chalma is situated at the bottom of a canyon in the heart of this village. The passageway down into that canyon is narrow, lined with hundreds of vendors selling food and trinkets and crucifixes.

A river of people. A river of beautiful brown faces. A river that murmurs with language not our own. Are we pilgrims... or are we just tourists today?

... If you are new here, this is a sanctuary full of people who love you even if you are a stranger - just as my friend and I were loved and cared for by a river of strangers in Mexico. You are God's Beloved.

'Chalma Pilgrimage: Baptism in Foreign Waters' by Rev Karen Christensen

The crowds become part of the spiritual wholeness. Time within them passes without incident.


But there is a tragic reason why Chalma has become so adept at ensuring the safety of its millions of visitors. On February 13th, 1991, a Holy Week ritual involved the signs from the ashes, smoke lifted from a ceremonial flame inside the church. As it took place, the news reached those outside that they were missing it. There was a sudden stampede of humanity into the limited space inside. Twenty people died and forty more were seriously injured, mostly due to compression force, as the crowd surged. It is a scene that Chalma authorities never want to see repeated here again. Security has been stepped up ever since, so that no God will receive another human sacrifice here.

Holy Week, Easter, Lent and the feast day of the Christ of Chalma (July 1st) are the times when most pilgrims are in the sanctuaries. The most devout will visit it three times during their lives. The area is so famous that it's a common saying, in Mexico, that something can't be done until someone has 'danced at Chalma'.


Each time, they leave with their petitions heard and their sins cleansed. They have walked the ways and danced to the Dark Lord of the Cave, be He Oxtoteotl or, more often now, the black skinned Christ Himself. They take the sacred holiness home with them. They are truly blessed, in this place of power.

May 10th: Mother's Day in Mexico

Today is Día de las Madres (Day of the Mothers) in Mexico. Visitors to our country may spot small children acting in plays and presenting their thrilled mothers with handmade gifts. Every school and playgroup will have covered this one.

Meanwhile the older children, teenagers and adults will be rushing into shops to buy bouquets of flowers and a card. (Displays of cards with legends like 'Feliz Día de las Madres' or 'Feliz Día Mamá' are everywhere.) Some lucky mothers might even be getting something larger.

This is, after all, a day to honor and show appreciation to the woman who birthed and raised you.


The origins of Mother's Day are steeped in antiquity; though the modern form is something new. It is thought that the seeds of this day weren't with biological mothers, but with the celestial ones. Before the coming of Christianity, many world religions had a Mother Goddess. This was the day to honor Her.

In Mexico, this might have been a day to worship Malinalxochitl, the primal Aztec Mother Goddess, Queen of Men and Beasts, and her sister, Toci, Mother of the Gods; or Mictecaciuatl, Mother Goddess of Mexico; or Tlazolteotl, the Maya goddess, who gave birth to the sun.

The coming of Christianity removed all of that, though it did bring with it traditions of their own. Until 1660, there had been a day, throughout Christendom, where everyone returned to their 'Mother Church', ie the church where they had been baptized. This was bedecked with flowers and donations were given. In 1660, a decree widened the honor of this day to include earthly mothers. For the first time in history, the woman who carried you in her womb could expect a bunch of flowers for her effort, on a certain day of the year.


None of this actually caught on in Mexico. It wasn't until 1922, when a young journalist, inspired by celebrations in the USA and Europe, initiated the event. Rafael Alducín had founded the Excélsior newspaper just five years before. (This remains the second largest selling newspaper in Mexico today.) He wrote an article for it which suggested a national day to honor mothers.

Alducín was born in Puebla, but moved to Mexico City to further his education and gain employment. He had travelled to the USA, as a dealer in tires, and had been exposed to Mother's Day there.

It had been estabilished for a few decades in the USA, as a way to reunite siblings separated by the Civil War. They had been encouraged to all visit their mother on the same day.

Later, after he was married to Consuelo Thomalen, Alducín travelled on business into Europe. He was in Germany, when he saw Mother's Day celebrations similar to those he had already witnessed in the USA.

Once back in Mexico, he mused upon suggesting such a day for his native country. He also looked around to see if anything like this was already being proposed.

Some cities in the North, influenced by the USA, had started to honor the day in tandem with their neighbours. Meanwhile, El Hogan - a women's magazine - and La Asociation de las Damas Catolicas (The Association of Catholic Women) were encouraging it, as a way to maintain tradition values in the home.

Alducín decided that there was an appetite for a Mexican Mother's Day, so he wrote his editorial naming May 10th as the date. It can only be assumed that his own mamá, Isabel Bedoya Rossainz y Huerta, was very proud of him.


Día de las Madres is always on May 10th, in Mexico, regardless of what day of the week that falls. As well as the flowers, gifts and cards, everyone traditionally visits their mother on this day. Some arrive the night before, in order to be fresh and ready for a huge family reunion.

In many ways, the atmosphere can be akin to the American Thanksgiving, with a substantial meal and everyone making a big effort to be there for it. Though, of course, the thanks is due towards the center of the party - their mother. ¡Feliz Día de las Madres!

Chocolate: Quetzalcoátl's Gift to Mexico and the World

With the approach to Easter, many people are out there buying up chocolate eggs or chocolate bunnies. Beyond the religious aspect, Easter means chocolate in homes throughout the world. But have you ever wondered where it came from? The clue is that it was once considered a gift from the god, Quetzalcoátl, and only the Atzec ruling classes and priests were allowed to consume it. It was not a candy for mere mortals. Yes, chocolate comes from Mexico.


A Maya chief refuses chocolate to a commoner
Chocolate is a Spanish rendering of the Atzec word xocolātl, meaning sour (xococ) drink (ātl). An alternative theory is that the word was Mayan. Here it would come from hot (chokol) drink (ātl). As either interpretation highlights, chocolate was always used as a beverage in Mexico. It was only after the Spanish took it into Europe, that it became more commonly seen as a solid block.

The legend goes that, in 1519, Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquistador, was granted an audience with the Atzec Emperor Moctezuma. This took place in Tenochtitlán, which is the modern day, Mexico City. Cortés and his men entered to find Moctezuma sipping xocolātl from a cup. As honored guests, the group were all served xocolātl. It was reported that the drink had 'a very exciting nature'. Forget the gold! They had just discovered chocolate! Thus Mexico's secret was out and its Fate was sealed.


Chocolate literally does grow on trees in Mexico. At least the cacao beans do, which are then ground up and treated to create chocolate. Cacao trees have been cultivated since around 1400 BCE. The Olmec appear to be the first to have created their sacred bitter drink from its ground beans. The Maya were next, with archealogical evidence showing that they were drinking chocolate from about 400 CE. Cups have been found, with a chocolate residue, dating from this period. Digs, at their historical settlement sites, have shown cacao trees being grown in their backyards.

The Atzec people saw chocolate as a divine drink. It was a gift from the feathered-serpent god, Quetzalcoátl, who had fetched the cacao beans from the Garden of Life.

As such a holy thing, chocolate was initially reserved only for the most ceremonial occasions. It was ritually prepared and drunk only within sacred areas.

Over the years, this was relaxed so that the higher echelons of society could imbibe it. However, it never lost its association with deity; so much so that, it was later at the center of a Christian scandal. The Catholic Church was brought into Mexico by the Spanish. It eventually become strong enough to start to eradicate the items and practices of the religions it had usurped. One bone of contention was that converts would bring chocolate drinks into Mass. The congregation were using it to honor the Catholic God, not Quetzalcoátl, but it made no odds. It was deemed as breaking the fast, in a Pagan way, and so the Church hierarchy banned chocolate outright.


Cacao tree with pods full of beans
This did not go down well. As each Catholic priest prohibited chocolate, then the congregation would up and leave, moving onto more lenient institutions. It was a battle of wills that eventually resulted in the Bishop of Chiapas threatening excommunication to anyone drinking chocolate. (He was killed, shortly afterwards, after he drank a cup of poisoned chocolate. It was handed to him by the same group of noble women, who he had just banned from drinking the very same.)

Finally, in 1662, Pope Alexander VII had to personally intervene. He ruled, "Liquidum non frangit jejunum!" (For those with rusty Latin, that basically says that liquids do not constitute breaking the fast.) In short, the Mexicans could drink all of the hot chocolate that they wished and still be regarded as fasting. The church's chocolate ban was lifted!

Of course, now the Catholic Church is firmly on the side of chocolate. In Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral, there is a 16th century sculpture of Jesus Christ. It is called El Señor del Cacao (The Lord of Cacao).


El Señor del Cacao
The error has now been firmly corrected. It was not Quetzalcoátl who gave chocolate to the world, via Mexico; it was Christ Himself.

Chocolate became popular, on a global scale, after a group of Mexican nuns thought to add vanilla and sugar to the chocolate mix. Overnight, it stopped being a sour drink and started becoming very sweet instead.

It is also a major ingredient in the Mexican national dish: Mole Poblano; as well as a stable of drinks, such as champurrado, and dips, to be used with churros.

Chocolate is still widely produced in Mexico, with cacao plantations stretching for miles. The World Cocoa Foundation estimates that 50 million jobs, internationally, rely upon cacao trees and the chocolate industry. Forget Willy Wonka. The real chocolate factories are scattered all over Mexico. Nestlé, Hersheys and Barry Callebaut are amongst the companies that create their confectionery here, before exporting them into shops near you. Chocolate is also created, straight from the tree, in many Mexican homes.

Mezcal

Ask anyone to name a Mexican alcoholic drink and the answer will come back, "¡Tequila!" Ask for a second and the response is most likely to be, "¡Mezcal!"


The two tipples have many similarities, not least that they are both exported around the world, as Mexico's contribution to drinks cabinets globally. (The Prague Post, in the Czech Republic, is currently featuring a Mezcal based cocktail recipe: 'From the Bartender: Mezcalihna'.) The USA and Japan remain the biggest buyers of Mezcal from Mexico.

Tequila and Mezcal are also both distilled from the agave plant. In fact, the name Mezcal is derived from the Nahuatl words, 'Melt' and 'Ixcalli', which translate as 'oven-cooked agave'. In this way, tequila is a form of Mezcal too, though it tends to be considered separately. This is where the drinks start to diverge. Tequila is made from blue agave and it is twice fermented. Mezcal is made from maguey agave and it is only fermented once.


Milking a Maguey Plant
The maguey agave plant is huge. It can stand up to 2m (6.6ft) tall, with thick, spreading leaves reaching out another 4m (13ft). When it is in flower, the petals stretch a further 8m (26ft). With such a towering structure, even the younger plants can dwarf a human being. It's an impressive sight and it has attracted its legends and folklore too.

Maguey is often referred to as the Divine Plant; in great part because it was born from the remains of the Goddess Mayahuel. The story comes to us from the Atzec people, who honored her as one of their most important deities. There are carvings of Her in the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). She is associated with truth, fertility, nourishment, inner journeys and, of course, the agave plant.

Mayahuel lived in the sky, with her Tzitzimitl grandmother. The all female, warrior Tzitzimimeh were seen as stars, particularly those only apparent around the sun, during a solar eclipse. This was also when they were most dangerous.

Ordinarily, the Tzitzimimeh were the protectoresses of women; but they also created all mankind. Particles of stardust reached the Earth and formed themselves into humanity. (Interestingly enough, it is now scientific fact that life on Earth is possible because of the elements forged in the stars.)

However, when there was a solar eclipse, the Tzitzimimeh could descend to Earth and devour human beings.

Mayahuel grew up amongst them, but She, Herself, was not Tzitzimitl. Yet, from Her home in the starry paradise of Tamoanchan, She could watch all that happened below and all who lived there. She could also see the Gods and Goddesses. In particular, She spotted the feathered serpent God, Quetzalcoatl. Mayahuel fell in love. At the very next solar eclipse, as the doors of Tamoanchan opened to emit the Tzitzimimeh on their deadly pillage, Mayahuel rushed out too.

The lovers met and ran away together, determined to live out all eternity in each other's arms. But no-one had asked the permission of the Tzitzimimeh and they saw everything. The couple transformed themselves into trees, side by side, to escape notice. It was too late. They had been seen. The star deities swooped down and tore Mayahuel limb from limb.

Quetzalcoatl tearfully took her remains and buried them in the ground. Immediately something began to push back through the soil. It was the first, mighty maguey plant, with a glorious flower reaching back towards the skies. Mayahuel lived again, anchored into the ground from Her roots, and filled with the divine love of Quetzalcoatl.


Mayahuel by Ehecatzin
Mayahuel is a dark goddess now. She saw all from the stars and She is the beloved of a God. She can see inside our very souls and give us visions to access our spiritual journeys. It is said that She grew 400 breasts to nourish rabbits with Her milk. The first drink made from the sap of the maguey was pulque. It was the ritual draft used in Atzec ceremonies, inducing wild hallucinations and the ecstatic dance.

This same milk is now distilled to create Mezcal. Despite common misconception, it does not contain mescaline nor any other hallucinogenic substance. It's produced in an entirely different way to pulque.

While on the subject of misconceptions about Mezcal, let's deal with the worm. For a start, it's not a worm. It's the lavae form of a moth. Hypopta agavis is the correct name for this moth, which lives, feeds and breeds in the manguey plant. This is usually at the distress of farmers, as the presense of the moth means that there is an infestation and the crop is ruined.


A worm in the Mezcal!!11!!!!1!!
During the 1940s, some bright spark in Oaxaca apparently had the gift of the gab. Who knows how the lavae got into the Mezcal? Perhaps it fell in during the bottling process. Perhaps someone tried to sabotege the sale. Perhaps it was someone's idea of a joke. Maybe it was even a warning. However it happened, the lavae was in this batch of Mezcal, which was already of lower quality than normal, because of the infestation. Yet he managed to sell it. Bravo the salesman!

Except now no-one can sell Oaxaca Mezcal without a lavae in it, because the urban myth is that the 'worm' adds to the flavour and proves that it's fit to drink. The distillers have to collect tubs of the insects, from infested farms, in order to drop a lavae into bottles of their own high-grade Mezcal. It has long since become one of the most successful marketing ploys ever. It doesn't add to the flavour. It doesn't do anyting. It's killed, scrubbed, sanitized, sterilized and dropped into alcohol. There it stays, mostly for the shock value and people daring each other to eat it.

The Oaxava Annual International Mescal Fair takes place in July. This year's arrangements haven't been made public yet, but they will be announced on official website. It regularly attracts over 50,000 visitors; and it is an excellent place to be introduced to the country's finest Mezcal. ¡Salud!

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

It was December 9, 1531, when Juan Diego first saw Her. By December 12th, the last of Her appearances, even the Bishop was convinced. They were meetings that would change the spiritual face, not only of Mexico, but the whole of the Americas. Some might argue that it bolstered Catholicism itself, right in the midst of its darkest hour. Five centuries later, practically the entire of Mexico were out on the streets yesterday, celebrating the fact that it had happened at all.

Juan Diego wasn't his birth name. That was Cuauhtlatoatzin. He had been born into the Nahua tribe, in a village just to the north of modern-day Mexico City, on the eve of a period of tumultuous change. He married, but doesn't appear to have been blessed with children. He farmed his own land and, as a sideline, wove mats. Then, in 1521, the Spanish arrived.

The couple witnessed the rampage of Hernán Cortés through their country. They survived the conquest and, moreover, were counted amongst the few that welcomed their conquistadors. In particular, the pair were convinced by the evangelism of the Franciscan monks, who travelled with Cortés. In 1524, they were baptized into the Catholic faith. They were in the minority then, as very few Mexicans were interested in following suit. Cuauhtlatoatzin was fifty years old. It was now that he became Juan Diego. His wife took the baptism name Maria Lucia.

It was a Saturday, when Juan Diego set off on his usual weekend walk around Tepeyac Hill to the church. He was nearly 60 now and widowed. The air may have seem mild to the younger, more spritely villagers, but it poked coldly at his bones. He had a tilmàtli (a short cape, woven from cactus fibre) draped around his shoulders.

The hill itself had a Pagan past. It had been dedicated, by his own people, to the Goddess Tonantzin; She, who guided those in war or childbirth, and whose name meant 'seven flowers' after the crops that She oversaw. Perhaps Diego remembered those stories; maybe he didn't. But when the young girl called to him from its slopes, he knew immediately that She wasn't human. He was looking at someone divine. She was only about fourteen years old, but she called him 'my little son'.

Juan Diego trekked up the hill towards Her. He recalled the singing of birds and saw the light around her. She was dressed as an Atzec princess, with skin as dark as his own. She spoke to him in his native Nahuatl, but She called him Juan Diego.

She was no Pagan goddess. He knew that in the very soul of him; it was confirmed when Her message was for the Franciscan Bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga. She was the Mother of God Herself.

Juan Diego found the strength in his bones, the air in his lungs and the speed in his legs. He hurtled down the hill feeling like a young man, intent on seeking out the Bishop. He located him in the church, where the message was gushed out. The Virgin Mary was on Tepeyac Hill. She wanted a shrine there, built in Her honor. She had a promise in return and this had been memorized, word for word.

"I will demonstrate, I will exhibit, I will give all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your merciful mother, the merciful mother of all of you who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who seek me, of those who have confidence in me. Here I will hear their weeping, their sorrow and will remedy and alleviate all their multiple sufferings, necessities and misfortunes."

Zumárraga obviously thought that he had a madman on his hands. Well, you would, wouldn't you? Someone rushing in, telling you that they've seen the Mother of All, and that She wanted something building for Her. Especially when the Lady in question sounded very much like the Aztec Mother Goddess, for whom the hill was dedicated. It all sounded like a bit of a ruse.

But Diego was one of the Bishop's few converts. He couldn't just kick him out without some humouring words. Zumárraga told Diego to go back and get a sign that this was true.

Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac Hill and found the Lady still there. He explained that the Bishop needed a sign. She smiled back at him, still in Her aspect as a teenage girl. She told him to request again, of the Bishop, that Her shrine be built. Diego didn't feel worthy. He begged Her to send someone else. She was adamant that Diego conveyed her message.

The next day, Sunday 10th December, Diego tried again. The Bishop repeated his comment that he needed a sign, to prove that She was who She said She was. Diego set off to the hill. She was waiting for him. This time, She promised that there would be a sign. It would be something to convince even the most sceptical heart and it would begin the following day.

The next day, Juan Diego waited anxiously, but the news which came wasn't glorious at all. His uncle, Juan Diego Bernardino, lay suddenly ill and dying. He was very close to the old man. When Diego had been orphaned, as a child, Bernardino had taken him in and raised him as his own. Diego rushed to his uncle's side, but the prognosis looked bad. Diego tended to him all through the night.

By the early hours of the 12th, it was obvious that it wasn't healers, but a priest that was needed now. Someone had to come and administer the last rites. Diego volunteered to fetch Bishop Zumárraga. But halfway around the hill, in the murky light of 4am, Diego heard the Lady calling his name. Perhaps there was hope. She answered directly to a higher power. He raced to speak with Her.



With her opening words, She assured him that his uncle would survive his fever. Then She asked Diego to gather up flowers growing on the hill. This was December, there were no flowers up there. Diego frowned, then looked around. There were flowers. There were hundreds of them. He hurried to pick an armful of them to present to Her. The Lady just smiled reassuringly and bade him remove his tilmàtli. As he draped the cloak over his arms, She arranged seven of the finest blooms inside it.

Diego took them to Bishop Zumárraga. He was no doubt roused from his bed to receive them, but the Lady had ordered that no-one but the Bishop himself was to open the folded tilmàtli. The Bishop stood before Diego, but didn't appear moved to take the package. Diego opened it for him, releasing a corner, so that the flowers cascaded to the floor of the church. Inside, in a perfect representation imprinted into the fabric, was an image of the Lady Herself.

Bishop Zumárraga fell to his knees.

On the other side of the hill, in a deathbed room, Bernardino was also on his knees. He had felt the mortal illness lift from him. His veins cooling from the fever. He had found a Lady, resplendent in light, standing in his room. "Tell them," She said, "I am the Ever Virgin, Holy Mary of Guadalupe." Then She was gone.



News of the incident spread like wildfire through the native peoples of Mexico. Within the next handful of years, 8 million of them had converted to the Spanish religion, Catholicism. This was at a time when, in Europe, many were defecting to Protestantism. The influx of new adherrents to the old faith is credited, by some, with saving it.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated throughout Mexico and the Americas, on December 12th, each year.

Ancient Mexican Sea Deities

Visitors come from all over the world to explore the oceans of Mexico. From ancient and modern traders and business people; through invaders and pirates; to tourists and, of course, the local people. They have all witnessed the changeable moods of the sea. The calm serenity, that is there most of the time, to the occasional weight of tropical storms and hurricanes. They have sailed and fished and fed from its bounty. During all of this, particularly in the latter, these people have appealed to the divine entities, whom they believed ruled over these beautiful waters.

These days, the local fishing communities are most likely to be appealing to Mother Mary, or Our Lady Of Guadalupe. Those from other nations will bring their own gods or goddesses. For our ancestors, their prayers were heard by the ancient Mexican sea deities.

Chalchiuhtlicue

The Lady of the Waters, Chalchiuhtlicue, is an Atzec goddess.

Her name translates as 'jade skirt', but she was known by several names: Matalcueyeh, Xoxouhqui Ihuipil, Xoxouhqui Icue, Chalchiuh Tlatonac and Etzalqualiztli. Most of those relate to her skirt, which is variously described as blue, jade or green. The last moniker, Etzalqualiztli, means 'Lady Precious Green'.

Her icons and shrines have been found next to sources of water, streams, aquaducts, irrigation systems, lakes and cenotes, as well as the oceans themselves. She is shown wearing a skirt of blue or green, often with blue and white paper ornaments, and a shawl adorned with tassels. She also has tassels dangling down either side of her face. These are attached to an ornate head-dress, rendered from several broad braids. She is eternally youthful and very beautiful, as well as noble in status.

The Aztecs associated the sea with childbirth, so it is that Chalchiuhtlicue was evoked during labour. Newborn babies were sprinkled with water and greeted as the goddess. Four days later, they would be bathed again and blessed under the auspices of the goddess, Chalchiuhtlicue.

Chalchiuhtlicue is married to the rain god, Tlaloc. It was after he was slighted by the great father diety, Quetzalcoatl, that Chalchiuhtlicue flew into one of her rare rages. She caused such violent tempests that the whole world was flooded.

The region of Veracruz, alongside the Gulf of Mexico, was once known as Chalchiuhcueyecatl, ie 'the waters of the goddess, Chalchiuhtlicue'. Therefore, anyone worried today about the situation in the Gulf of Mexico might do well to appeal to this ancient lady, alongside their usual prayers.

Ix Chel

Grandmother, Ix Chel, is a Maya goddess.

She's been called 'Lady of the Seas'. Her temples and shrines tended to be around water or upon islands. She famously had her shrine on Isla Mujeres desecrated by the first Spanish visitors to Mexico. That story, along with Ix Chel's own, has been told in a previous blog.

She is the ancient deity for the Mexican Caribbean Sea.

Mama Cocha

Sea Mother, Mama Cocha, is an Inca goddess. She was also known as Mama Qocha.

Mama Cocha had dominion over all of the oceans and waters. She is a kindly, motherly divine lady, who protects fishermen and sailors. They would petition her for a large catch and calm waters. Mama Cocha would set about preventing storms and making sure there were plenty of fish around the fishermen's lures and nets.

As the goddess of both the waters and the rain, she could control the weather. She was most often evoked around the Pacific shores.

Her husband is Viracocha, the creator of the universe, sun, moon and stars. He also created civilization, walking amongst his people disguised as a beggar, in order to teach them certain skills. Mama Cocha and Viracocha were the parents of other Inca deities.

Comic book readers may recognize her from the Marvel publication, 'Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica'. Mama Cocha appeared in issue one. She also lends her name to a Peruvian home for abandoned children, Mama Cocha, in Los Organos.