Last week, I went on a tour of Xochicalco, a premier archaeological site in the western part of Morelos. It was fascinating to have a glimpse into a world that I had never heard of and couldn’t even imagine living in. The most fascinating aspect of the tour I thought was all of the different gods of the people of Mesoamerica in that time (a close second was our tour guide and one of my professors, Charlie Goff, aka. The Human Encyclopedia).
The ancient people of Xochicalco had gods for everything planets, animals, plants, human conditions, etc. However, what stuck in my head after the tour was the idea that these ancient peoples had gods for time. Days, weeks, months, years, you name it, there was a god for it. These gods would correspond with calendars that were constantly being modified. Lets say we’re friends living in ancient Mesoamerica, happily making sacrifices to the God of Saturday once a week and merrily going about our business. Then, the priests and leaders of the city decide that there was a mistake made in the current calendar and the whole city as been living one day behind what needs to be aligned with the gods. Here you are making sacrifices to the God of Saturday for the last month, when REALLY you should have been making sacrifices to the God of Sunday. And you better hope that the God of Sunday hasn’t faded away due to starvation, because, well, we all saw what happened to Teotihuacan!
It was all very interesting, but it made me wonder about the whole concept of Time. We create it, abide by it, and before we know it, we’re controlled by it (raise your hand if you‘ve said, “I can‘t, I don‘t have time”). In a way, we design our own demise. As I was sitting on the edge of a pyramid, overlooking the beautiful mountains of western Morelos, I couldn’t help but wonder how something so unnatural became natural. Even in 700 A.D., people were creating their own phantoms…everyday of the “week”.
Check back soon for pictures!
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