Question for November 2008

Is it possibly true, that Cortes marched into Tenochtitlan on horseback, decided to not get off in plain sight, to promote the myth that he and horse were one GOD?

there will always be those who know more than us
and
there will always be those who know less than us
i.e.,
but we don’t know who knows what or how based on a statement
so we have to be patient
and forgiving with ourselves
in order to be patient with others
but letters after our name does not denote intelligence
other than that a requirement was fulfilled
e.g.,
diplomas state “you have fulfilled the requirements”
diplomas do not state
this is what you were taught
or
this is what you have learned
i.e.,
knowledge is much more than just the accumulation of information
may we take a breath to respond,
instead of react to every situation
and/or
difference of opinion we come across
because as human beings
we are each human beings
and
INDIGENOUS TO THIS PLANET

AQUI Y AHORA
HERE and NOW
and
NOWHERE ELSE
just like LIFE
THANKS to MEXICOLORE and all they continue to do
to make this information accessible

VIVA LA VIDA

Dr. Matthew Restall’s book ‘The Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest’ touches on this subject. I read the book many years ago and am going by memory. I recall that in the book, Dr. Restall explains that this supposed legend was a fabrication by the Spanish priests. They initially claimed that the Mexica believed Cortez to be Huitzilopochtli, the God of War. But other Spanish men that participated in the conquest shut them down because it wasn’t true. But over time the priests changed the story to the one we know today: that Cortes was believed to be the returning Quetzalcoatl. As history shows, they were able to get away with this made up story. And it really angers me how prevalent this lie is.

As far as I know, the Spanish never claimed that any other Meso-American Nations mistook Cortes to be a prophesied returning god Quetzalcoatl. The Meso-Americans more or less had a shared pantheon. I imagine that they shared the same mythologies of these diety’s similar to how the Romans and Greeks did with their gods and mythologies, albeit with some regional differences. And a god promising to return is no small matter. Ask any Christian. Such a promise by Quetzalcoatl would not have been dropped from the mythology. They would have all been expecting his return. But it’s suspicious that only Moctezuma and the Mexica mistook Cortes with Quetzalcoatl. Especially after Spaniards had already arrived to Mexico’s shores two years prior to Cortes. This first group of Spaniards were not exalted as being gods and given a god’s rightful place on top of a throne. Instead they were either killed or enslaved.

Another topic that I have not seen addressed before is that the Spanish, by promoting the Cortes as Quetzalcoatl story, inadvertently portrayed the Meso-American’s religion and “superstitions” as being superior to their Catholic/Christian religion. Supposedly, the Mexica saw “omens” and “signs” that announced the arrival of Quetzalcoatl and the downfall of their nation. According to the Spanish chroniclers, these “omens” had Moctezuma cowering in a corner. They made him lose his spine and possibly his mind. But the key here is that these “signs” were not part of the mythology. The myths did not tell the Meso-Americans to look for those specific signs or events to know the hour of Quetzalcoatl’s arrival. If I were to believe the Spanish accounts, that means that the Mexica religion gave them the ability to obtain knowledge from beyond time and space. Their religion allowed them to “accurately” see far into the future by interpreting events in real-time. In comparison, the Catholic nor any other Christian sect has that type of power. And if the Mexica were able to see the coming events before they happened, then I imagine that they would have been able to see that Cortes was not a god long before his arrival using the power of their religion. But let’s entertain that they might have believed that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl. I’m certain that their first whiff of Cortes would have dispelled any such notion.

I am reading all the sources I can find. Several Mestizo codices mention the Cortes as God narrative, namely the Florentine Codex,written 50-70 years after the conquest by Indigenous scribes under the eye of the European Sahagun. It is such an ever present theme it is hard to overcome it as at least a little “true.” Separately, is the prophecy of a return from the West of a god or ancestor true or is that entire thing made up?

Indeed, Mexicolore, you are right, the spaniards distorted the truth to make the natives look weak and to justify their cruelty.

The trefoil, in its form known as the Fleur-de-lis (“flower of the lily”), has long been a symbol of European monarchy and the sacred symbol of the Holy Trinity. Although perhaps best known through its association with French royalty, the symbol itself is of far greater antiquity, and occurs in the most ancient art of both the Old and New Worlds. In both hemispheres the Fleur de lis symbol is associated with divine rulership, linked to mythological deities in the guise of a serpent, feline, and bird, associated with a Tree of Life, and a trinity of creator gods. In Mesoamerica, as in the Old World, the royal line of the king was considered to be of divine origin, linked to the Tree of Life. Descendents of the Mesoamerican god-king Quetzalcoatl, and thus all Mesoamerican kings or rulers, were also identified with the trefoil, or Fleur de lis symbol. http://www.mushroomstone.com/thefleurdelissymbol.htm

http://www.mushroomstone.com/thefleurdelissymbol.htm....The purpose of this publication is to present previously unrecognized aspects of pre-Columbian art and iconography that shine a revealing light on a central riddle of New World history: how it was possible in 1519 for a small band of 450 Spanish conquistadors under the command of Hernán Cortés to conquer the vast and powerful Aztec empire. As I discovered, the answer appears to lie in a surprising confluence of religious ideas recognized in both the Old and New Worlds and symbolized by the trefoil design we know as the Fleur-de-Lis. That stated, while the similarities in appearance and meaning of the Fleur de lis symbol in pre-Columbian art and iconography may be entirely coincidental, logic would argue for consideration of the possibility of ancient transoceanic contact with the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus--a subject rife with contention.

Cortez had spent some time in America before he met Moctezuma for the first time. During this time Moctezuma spied on these white men to find out who they really were. When Cortez and Moctezuma first met Cortez was in no way treated like a god, Moctezumas guards did not even let Cortez shake his hand. Of course Moctezuma did not see Cortez as a god. your article is spot on, very good that you did not romanticize history.

Your article is intensely nationalistic and biased. I have a degree in Mesoamerican Studies, and you’re frankly wrong; there’s ample evidence to suggest that many (including Moctezuma, who’s name you can’t even spell correctly) INITIALLY considered Cortes’ arrival to be, at the very least, a herald of the end times, per their eschatology. This of course was quickly undone by Cortes’ disgust for their religion and single-minded lust for gold, ending in the forced expulsion of the Spaniards from Tenochitlan and the death of the still-passive Moctezuma at the hands of an Aztec mob.
Nobody’s trying to attack Mexico, so please do some real research before you start presenting highly nationalistic revisionist viewpoints as the Solid Gold Truth.