Grid of the Gods by Joseph P. Farrell, Scott D. de Hart Page B
Authors: Joseph P. Farrell, Scott D. de Hart
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observe a number of peculiar parallels between Quetzlcoatlt and, of all people, the Egyptian god Osiris. Like Osiris, Quetzlcoatl was buried in a sarcophagus, whence he was resurrected to ascend into heaven to become a star. 5
But how, with such commonality, did the Aztecs derive the practice of human sacrifice? Laurette Sejourne, drawing on the vast legacy of Aztec culture left behind, concluded in 1956 that the whole apparatus and practice of human sacrifice was a badly understood metaphor, a metaphor of a ritual of initiation that had been taken literally by the Aztecs. Thus, for the “cutting out of the heart,” a metaphor for the soul’s “cutting out” from the body at death,, the “flailing of the heart” was a metaphor for spiritual detachment from the physical body and senses, and so on. All of these metaphors for spiritual processes were, argued Sejourne, massively misunderstood by the Aztecs, and became part of the ritual of sacrifice.
If this be the case, then it was a metaphor massively misunderstood by the Mayans and Incas as well. Moreover, Sejourne is not entirely correct, for the Aztec’s own statements indicate that if there was misunderstanding involved, then it was not original to them , but rather , a misunderstanding deliberately inculcated as an old order was overturned, and a new one ushered in to replace it. Once again, thechronological progression was from sacrifices of plants and flowers and grains, the original order of the civilizing god Quetzlcoatl, and a later order of bloody human sacrifices.
Curiously, their practice of sacrifice also has something to do with the Flood, for just as we saw in the previous chapter, Noah made bloody sacrifice after the Flood. The Flood, in Aztec cosmology, is in turn connected to their doctrine of the Five Suns, or if one prefer, the Five World Ages. Each of these ages is a “sun” and is ended by various catastrophes, and each requires the re- establishment of life and of humanity. 6
The first sun ended with all life literally consuming itself. This was followed by the destruction of the sun itself. 7 The second sun age ended in a destruction by wind , when all life and even the sun itself was destroyed by a massive wind. 8 The third sun age was ended in a rain of fire. 9 The fourth sun age ended with the Flood, 10 ushering in this, the final and fifth sun age.
At this juncture, according to the Aztec creation and history, the Codex Chimalpopoca , the Sun refused to move for four days:
Then the gods say, “Why doesn’t he move?” Then they send the blade falcon, who goes and tells the sun that it has come to question him. It tells him, “The gods are saying, ‘Ask him why he doesn’t move.’”
Then the sun said, “Why? Because I’m asking for their blood their color, their precious substance.”
…
Then all the gods get together: Titlacahuan, Nuitzilopochtli, and the women Xochiquetzal, Yapalliicue, Nochpalliicue. And there in Teotihucan they all died a scarificial death. So then the sun went into the sky. 11
In other words, the celestial machinery was so broken it had stopped, and could only be restarted by the sacrifice of the gods themselves — notably at Teotihuacan. In so far as the Aztec’s cosmology was concerned, sacrifice was intimately connected to the physics . But again, why?
2. Curious Statements, The Human Payment, and Two Elites a. Unusual Ritual Parallels
As one reads more deeply into the Codex Chimalpopoca , the mystery only deepens. For example, shortly before the account of the fall of Tollan, the Aztecs’ version of Tula, Thule, or the land across the sea from whence they came, there is an account of the dedication of a temple of the King Ce Acatl in a ritual of blood sacrifice that, to some, will sound very familiar:
Now, Ce Acatl’s uncles, who are of the four hundred Mixcoa, absolutely hated his father, and they killed him.
And when they had killed him,
But how, with such commonality, did the Aztecs derive the practice of human sacrifice? Laurette Sejourne, drawing on the vast legacy of Aztec culture left behind, concluded in 1956 that the whole apparatus and practice of human sacrifice was a badly understood metaphor, a metaphor of a ritual of initiation that had been taken literally by the Aztecs. Thus, for the “cutting out of the heart,” a metaphor for the soul’s “cutting out” from the body at death,, the “flailing of the heart” was a metaphor for spiritual detachment from the physical body and senses, and so on. All of these metaphors for spiritual processes were, argued Sejourne, massively misunderstood by the Aztecs, and became part of the ritual of sacrifice.
If this be the case, then it was a metaphor massively misunderstood by the Mayans and Incas as well. Moreover, Sejourne is not entirely correct, for the Aztec’s own statements indicate that if there was misunderstanding involved, then it was not original to them , but rather , a misunderstanding deliberately inculcated as an old order was overturned, and a new one ushered in to replace it. Once again, thechronological progression was from sacrifices of plants and flowers and grains, the original order of the civilizing god Quetzlcoatl, and a later order of bloody human sacrifices.
Curiously, their practice of sacrifice also has something to do with the Flood, for just as we saw in the previous chapter, Noah made bloody sacrifice after the Flood. The Flood, in Aztec cosmology, is in turn connected to their doctrine of the Five Suns, or if one prefer, the Five World Ages. Each of these ages is a “sun” and is ended by various catastrophes, and each requires the re- establishment of life and of humanity. 6
The first sun ended with all life literally consuming itself. This was followed by the destruction of the sun itself. 7 The second sun age ended in a destruction by wind , when all life and even the sun itself was destroyed by a massive wind. 8 The third sun age was ended in a rain of fire. 9 The fourth sun age ended with the Flood, 10 ushering in this, the final and fifth sun age.
At this juncture, according to the Aztec creation and history, the Codex Chimalpopoca , the Sun refused to move for four days:
Then the gods say, “Why doesn’t he move?” Then they send the blade falcon, who goes and tells the sun that it has come to question him. It tells him, “The gods are saying, ‘Ask him why he doesn’t move.’”
Then the sun said, “Why? Because I’m asking for their blood their color, their precious substance.”
…
Then all the gods get together: Titlacahuan, Nuitzilopochtli, and the women Xochiquetzal, Yapalliicue, Nochpalliicue. And there in Teotihucan they all died a scarificial death. So then the sun went into the sky. 11
In other words, the celestial machinery was so broken it had stopped, and could only be restarted by the sacrifice of the gods themselves — notably at Teotihuacan. In so far as the Aztec’s cosmology was concerned, sacrifice was intimately connected to the physics . But again, why?
2. Curious Statements, The Human Payment, and Two Elites a. Unusual Ritual Parallels
As one reads more deeply into the Codex Chimalpopoca , the mystery only deepens. For example, shortly before the account of the fall of Tollan, the Aztecs’ version of Tula, Thule, or the land across the sea from whence they came, there is an account of the dedication of a temple of the King Ce Acatl in a ritual of blood sacrifice that, to some, will sound very familiar:
Now, Ce Acatl’s uncles, who are of the four hundred Mixcoa, absolutely hated his father, and they killed him.
And when they had killed him,
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