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Toltec/Aztec Prophecy

AMERICAN INDIAN NEWS TICKER!!!

Toltecs - 1519  

In the sixteenth century, the sweeping Valley of Mexico was the seat

of the powerful Aztec Empire. Formed nearly a century earlier by the

Triple Alliance of the Mexica, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, (Toltecs) the

Aztec domain quickly extended across much of central Mexico.

Many nations welcomed allegiance to the powerful Aztec, but others

were forced into it by bloody conquest. Feelings ran high among the

Aztecs' enemies, chafing under heavy tributes, at the same time that

the Spanish unwittingly were putting in an appearance along the

shore. As it happened, Cortez made landfall in the coastal nation of

Tlaxcala, (Toltec) said to be the most formidable opponent of the

Aztec, and one of the regions farthest from its control.

Aztec prophecies foretold the empire's destiny. Belief in a cyclical

revolution of time portended the day when the conquerors inevitably

would become the conquered and the mighty Toltec predecessors in the

Valley of Mexico would return to reclaim their kingdom. This was to

occur in the year One Reed - the year in which kings would fall.

Cortez landed in Mexico on April 22nd, 1519: in the calendrical year

One Reed.

Beyond the massive military of the Aztec empire was a world filled

with beauty. Watered causeways led into the capital city of

Tenocht'itlan, whose graceful temples rose in architectural grandeur.

Gardens resplendent with flowers, aviaries aflutter with the plumage

of royal birds, and open markets filled with exotic perfumes, teaks,

fruits, and vegetables graced the city. There were universities and

military schools, musicians and artists, shopkeepers and gem cutters.

Poets and philosophers sang the praises of their world. Truly, this

was Mexico.

"Extended lies the city, lies Mexico,

spreading circles of emerald light,

radiating splendor like a quetzal plume...

O author of life, your house is here! ...

Your song is heard on earth; it spreads among the people.

Behold Mexico ... " - Aztec poem.

Within the same year, driven on by greed, and their lust for gold,

and directed by the Aztecs' enemies, the Spanish advance to attack

the city.

Terror grips Tenocht'itlan. Moctezuma is paralyzed with fear, a

pitiable figure. Palsied into inaction, he can do little but hold his

head and give vent to grief. Inside the houses, the people live

dying, weighed down by the oppressive knowledge that the world as

they know it has come to an end. And then, as they wait, the army

appears on the horizon.

"Shocked, terrified, Moctezuma himself wept in the distress he felt

for his city. Everyone was in terror; everyone was astonished,

afflicted. Many huddled in groups, wept in foreboding for their own

fates and those of their friends. Others, dejected, hung their heads.

Some groups exchanged tearful greetings; others tried mutual

encouragement. Fathers would run their hands over their small boys'

hair and, smoothing it, say, 'Woe, my beloved sons! How can what we

fear be happening in your time?' Mothers, too: 'My beloved sons, how

can you live through what is in store for you?'"

- Aztec chronicler.

"We were astounded .... the majestic towers and houses, all of

massive stone and rising out of the waters, were like enchanted

castles we had read of in books. Indeed, some of our men even asked

if what we saw was not a dream."

- Bernal Diaz, Spanish Army.

"Do the former rulers know what is happening in their absence? O

that any of them might see, might wonder at what has befallen me - at

what I am seeing now that they have gone. For I cannot be dreaming."

- Moctezuma, Aztec.

Toltecs - 1520

The Spanish occupy Tenocht'itlan. Inside the palace, the army

breaks through a sealed doorway, bursting into a room filled with

golden treasure. The sight turns them mad with greed, and they

determine to have Tenocht'itlan for their own. Moctezuma is seized

and held prisoner inside the Imperial Palace. Cort'ez assumes his

tribute over neighboring states, glutting himself with Aztec wealth.

In April, at the height of the Aztecs' most sacred religious

celebration, the Spaniards attack. Aztecs fall dead and dying in all

directions. Humiliated and dejected, the once-powerful Moctezuma is

dragged before his people in chains and, from the summit of the

Imperial Palace, is ordered to command his army not to resist.

But the Aztec know that Moctezuma no longer belongs to himself.

They elect his brother Cuitlahuac leader. Days later, Moctezuma is

found dead. The Spaniards claim that the Aztec have killed him, but

his loyal subjects disagree. Moctezuma was strangled inside his own

palace.

"...They charged the crowd with their iron lances and hacked us

with their iron swords. They slashed the backs of some.... They

hacked at the shoulders of others, splitting their bodies

open....The blood of the young warriors ran like water; it gathered

in pools....And the Spaniards began to hunt them out of the

administrative buildings, dragging out and killing anyone they could

find...even starting to take these buildings to pieces as they

searched."

- Aztec chronicler.

La Noche Triste

The Aztec under Cuitlahuac mount a spirited resistance. The

Spaniards are pinned inside the Imperial Palace, where they are

besieged for many weeks. Two months after the massacre, desperate

for food and water, they attempt to steal away in the middle of a

rainy night; but their lust for gold is too great and the loot

weighs down. As they escape across the aqueducts leading out of the

city, they sink beneath the water like falling stones. Two-thirds of

the Spanish army never live to reach the outskirts of the city. The

Spaniards forever after recall the event as "The Sad Night." But the

Aztecs can only wonder.

"That night, at midnight, the enemy came out, crowded together, the

Spaniards in the lead, the Tlaxcallans following....Screened by a

fine drizzle, a fine sprinkle of rain, they were able undetected to

cross the canals...just as they were crossing, a woman drawing water

saw them. 'Mexicans! Come, all of you....They are already leaving!

They are already getting out!' Then a watcher at the top of the

temple...also shouted, and his cries pervaded the entire city."

- Aztec chronicler.

"The canal was filled, crammed with them. Those who came along

behind walked over...on corpses....It was as if a mountain of men

had been laid down; they had pressed against one another, smothered

one another...."

- Aztec chronicler.

Less than a year later, the army returns. But now, the Aztec are

crippled from European illnesses that have ravaged their capital.

Cuitlahuac is dead of smallpox; Cuauht'emoc is successor. For

seventy-five days, Tenocht'itlan withstands the siege. As they

advance, the Spaniards raze the city, tearing down the beautiful

architecture, and filling in the canals. The glory and triumph of

the Aztec wither under the trampling feet of the invaders. Inside

the royal aviaries, hot orange fire spurts, deliberately set. The

innocent birds fly frantically against the cages as the smell of

fire fills the air. The Aztec are much like these birds, trapped

within the confines of their besieged city. In the streets of

Tenocht'itlan, hundreds of thousands of gaunt and starving Aztec

citizens die. They have astounded the Spaniards by their undaunted

resistance, but finally Cuauht'emoc is forced to surrender. Later,

he is executed.

"Ah, captain, I have done everything within my power to defend my

kingdom and deliver it from your hands. But ass fortune has not

favored me, take my life; it will be most fitting; and in so doing

you will bring an end to the Mexican kingdom, for already you have

ruined and destroyed my city and my people."

- Cuauht'emoc, Aztec.

"Fighting continued, both sides took captives, on both sides there

were deaths...great became the suffering of the common folk. There

was hunger. Many died of famine....The people ate anything -

lizards, barn swallows, corn leaves, saltgrass....Never had such

suffering been seen....The enemy pressed about us like a wall...they

herded us....the brave warriors were still hopelessly resisting."

- Aztec chronicler.

"Great was the stench of the dead....your grandfather died, and

with them died the son of the king and his brothers and kinsmen. So

it was that we became orphans, O my sons! So we became when we were

young. All of us were thus. We were born to die!"

- Aztec chronicler.

"Finally the battle just quietly ended. Silence reigned. Nothing

happened. The enemy left. All was quiet, and nothing more took

place. Night fell, and the next day nothing happened, either. No one

spoke aloud; the people were were crushed....So ended the war."

- Aztec chronicler.

"Proudly stands the city of Mexico -

Tenocht'itlan,

Here no one fears to die in war...

Keep this in mind, O princes...

Who could attack Tenocht'itlan?

Who could shake the foundation of heaven?"

- Aztec poem.

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