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Ancient Aztec WisdomFor many, this modern world is one of accelerating chaos - a hurried hectic menu-maze of ever-expanding choices demanding our attention and decision. The simple age when, to get lost in the night sky, was to contemplate our role in the infinite, is no more. Modern humanity is confronted daily with questions of far deeper profundity and complexity: "Which 'ringer type' should I select for my cell phone?" "Do I want that supersized?" "Will advances in technology really unseat the Detroit dynasties with little people-scooters that stand up on their own?" "Does college football need a playoff system?" "Is it moral to splice dog genes with cat genes to engineer a human companion that is both loyal and can be trained to use a human toilet?" And the big one, "What do I want the Internet to be?" Some brief diversion or respite from these modern questions can be found in the study of civilizations which have long become ancient, but it requires our imagination. The beliefs of ancient civilizations may often seem to us childlike, absurd or even barbaric. The Aztecs for example, sacrificed humans, nobility and commoners alike, every morning during the shrouded hours before dawn to insure the rising of each new Sun. One incision was made near the lower rib cage with a surgically sharp stone, and the heart removed in hand, still beating. This practice was not an offering intended to placate the gods of superstition. Nor was it a "just-in-case" insurance policy. The sacred ceremony and ritual was a small but pivotal cog in the much larger cosmic machine; a discrete but vital moment-event connected fluidly to a much larger process; the firing of a piston. The fuel? Worthy and valuable human flesh and blood and light. High octane preferred. Champion athletes were sacrificed to the gods, criminals were simply executed. Twenty thousand human sacrifices were conducted in three days atop the blood-soaked Pirámide del Sol of Teotihuacan. Difficult to fathom. In fact, we are incapable of even a proximate comprehension of this ancient consciousness until we are able to abandon our own highly evolved and well-reasoned beliefs, exist in the place and time of the ancients, and experience their reality. The Aztecs believed so totally, so completely, that the successful continued operation of the universe required their input and participation and cooperation, that they sacrificed human beings every morning, nobility and commoners alike, to insure the Sun's return. How much responsibility do we take for our reality? Other social aspects of the Aztec civilization are recorded in the Codex Mendoza, essentially, a pictographic report to the King of Spain of his freshly acquired Aztec resources. The Codex primarily quantifies the value of the King's acquisition, through taxation schedules of the various sub-territories, but it also describes the culture of the King's new subjects: On ChildrearingThe Aztecs recognized what many child development researchers have concluded in modern times - that the cognitive development of children undergoes distinct stages and children must be addressed accordingly. This knowledge enabled the Aztecs to construct a rigorous system for the discipline of its youth, part of which is found in the following schedule of punishments:7 years - Bind child's hands and feet. Stab child several times with the razor sharp needles of the maguey cactus. 12 years - Bind child's hands and feet. Stab child many times with the razor sharp needles of the maguey cactus. Beat child with club. 15 years - Bind child's hands and feet. Hold child's face over a fire of burning chile peppers, eyelids held open. On Corporal Punishment in SchoolsAt the age of fifteen, boys were required to attend either military academy or priest school. The Codex records one account of a boy in the military academy who was caught living with the "wrong" kind of woman. He was beaten to the edge of death. Another account tells of a boy attending priest school who wandered off for three days without permission. Upon returning, his entire body was stabbed with the razor sharp needles of the maguey cactus. Girls at the age of fifteen also attended school. They studied sewing, weaving and religious rituals.On MatrimonyBrides were delivered to men at their homes. If a bride so delivered pleased the man, he could invite her into his home and they would later be married. If she did not please him, he sent her away. If she was not delivered in thirty minutes or less, the bride was free (not really).On Public Intoxication and EldercareThe Aztec punishment for public intoxication was severe. Commoners caught stumbling drunk through the streets had their heads shaved, followed by a healthy beating. Nobility caught publicly under the influence were executed. Senior citizens were encouraged to be drunk. It appears that, after a dutiful life of hard work in loyal service to the empire, senior citizens had earned the privilege of being very drunk, very often, and very much in public.Maybe this brief foray into the Aztec world can expand the vision of our own world, however slightly. Maybe the Aztec ways can be immediately and directly applied to our modern lives. Maybe they can't. Maybe they offer one more grain of awareness to help guide us through our modern labyrinth. Maybe their understanding will invite more discipline into our lives. Maybe their understanding will bring relaxation. Maybe the Aztec ways can remind us how to raise the Sun each day. |