Spirit
Toltecayotl Spirituality
The spiritual practices of Anahuac are built upon two premises. First, a recognition of the existence of a force or energy which underlies all things, and of which all being is composed. In the Toltecayotl tradition, this being is called Teotl, or Ometeotl, “Dual Divinity.” Because all things are one thing, and all being is but an expression of the divine force of Ometeotl, the second premise follows from the first. The Teteo or “Gods” do not exist as individuals, but are rather manifestations of the divine force of Ometeotl. They emerge from the body of Ometeotl, and are one in Them. Likewise, They are one with the thing They control. Thus, the “God” of corn does not rule over the corn, or exist apart from the corn, but is rather the corn, itself. Therefore, when you bite into an ear of corn, you bite into the body of a Teotl, and tear His flesh with your teeth. Centeotl, Our Lord the Maize, gives Himself up in sacrifice every time an ear of corn is consumed, for the sake of the men and women who eat Him. Because the Teteo die in sacrifice for us, we too are expected to sacrifice for Them. We exist in a cycle of reciprocity with Them, whereby we incur a “debt,” an imbalance, through the many gifts They give us with Their very lives. To live is to consume the lives of other living beings, to walk on the back of Our Mother the Earth who endlessly gives up Her fruits for us, and to have our way lit by Our Father the Sun who every night dies in the West for our sake. We are asked to be always conscious of the many gifts that make our lives possible, and to repay our debt through offerings, ceremony, and sacrifice.
Ometeotl created all being from Their own body, and all being is Their flesh. They created the Teteo or “Gods” to give form to being. It is said that at the beginning of time, Ometeotl cast the Teteo from Tamoanchan, the Twelfth Heaven, and as They fell material being crystallized on Their immaterial forms. Therefore all things that exist contain at their core a “soul,” a divine center that is the Teteo. All things possess “soul” and spirit, not just people, or living things, but all things, for all things are one in Ometeotl.
Yet, Ometeotl does not exist as a conscious being. They cannot see nor appreciate that which They have created. Therefore They created humanity, and gave us the gift of ego, of the self-conscious “I.” Because we possess ego we possess consciousness of self. Our consciousness of self creates a paradox whereby we look at the world and feel it is different from us, beautiful, a symphony of wonders, even though it and we are one in the truth of Ometeotl. Ometeotl cannot look at the world They have created, just as the eye cannot see itself. So They created us, for our eyes are Their eyes, and our wonder is Their wonder. We are the wondering eyes of our own creator, given to us by the gift of ego.
We were created in order to allow the Teteo to wonder at Their own creation. But, we are also created in order to give Them offerings and sacrifice. We are not the first race of humanity created, but rather the fifth. Before us came other people, other races, but they were imperfect creations, who could not wonder, and who did not remember their debt to the Teteo, and did not make them offerings and sacrifices. And so they were destroyed. The world exists in balance with us. We were formed in order to manipulate the world. Our ancestors were tasked with farming the fields, with burning the forests to make them healthy, with hunting and thereby culling the beasts of the mountains in order to bring balance to nature. We are not apart from that balance, or apart from nature, but are rather an integral part of the system which the Teteo created. Through ceremony and the traditions of Anahuac, we integrate ourselves to nature, for we are one with nature. To be indigenous is to live as though the well-being of nature matters. It is to live in balance with Tlaltecuhtli, Our Mother the Earth. It is to tend the garden She has given us, and in tending it, to heal ourselves and our communities. To return to our indigenous selves is to remember the gifts we have been given by the Teteo, and it is to remember that the plants, trees, and animals who are our teachers and our sisters and brothers die for our sake, and we must therefore honor them for their sacrifice. In returning to the spirituality of our ancestors in Anahuac, we move towards healing five centuries of colonial rule, and reuniting ourselves in the loving embrace of Tlaltecuhtli.
Espiritualidad de la tradición Toltecáyotl
Las prácticas rituales del Anáhuac se yerguen sobre dos premisas. La primera es el reconocimiento de una fuerza o energía presente en todos los seres y que forma parte de todo cuanto existe. En la tradición de la Toltecáyotl, esta fuerza es llamada Téotl u Ometéotl, Deidad Dual. Puesto que todas las cosas son una sola y todos los seres son expresiones de la divina potencia de Ometéotl, la segunda premisa deriva de la primera: los Teteo o “Dioses” no existen como individuos, sino que son manifestaciones de Ometéotl. Surgen del cuerpo de Ometéotl y se unifican en Elle. Similarmente, los Teteo son una sola cosa con Sus criaturas. De esta manera, el “Dios” del Maíz no es simplemente regente del maíz y no vive separado del maíz: es el maíz. Así, al morder una mazorca, mordemos el cuerpo de un Téotl, desgarrando Su carne con los dientes. Centéotl, Nuestro Señor Maíz, se entrega en sacrificio cada vez que el maíz se consume. Ya que los Teteo mueren por nuestra causa, se espera de nuestra parte un sacrificio en respuesta. Existimos en un ciclo de reciprocidad, cayendo en “deuda”, en desequilibrio, por el consumo de los dones que nos otorgan a través del sacrificio. Vivir es alimentarse de otros seres vivos; caminar sobre el lomo de Nuestra Madre Tierra, dadora interminable de frutos; recibir la luz de Nuestro Padre Sol, quien muere a diario en el Poniente. Debemos estar siempre conscientes de los muchos factores que hacen posible la vida y saldar nuestra deuda con ceremonias, ofrendas y sacrificios.
Ometéotl creó todo lo que existe a partir de Su propio cuerpo, todo está hecho de Su carne. Creó a los Teteo o “Dioses” para que dieran forma al mundo. Se dice que en el comienzo del tiempo, Ometéotl desterró a los Teteo de Tamoanchan, el Decimosegundo Cielo. Al caer, Sus cuerpos etéreos se cristalizaron, adquiriendo materia. Es por esto que todas las cosas contienen en su núcleo un “alma”, un centro divino que es un Téotl. Todo, no solamente los seres vivos, posee “alma” y espíritu, pues todo en Ometéotl encuentra unidad.
Ometéotl no es, sin embargo, un ser consciente. No puede verse a Sí misme ni apreciar Su creación. Creó por ello a la humanidad y nos dio el ego, el “yo”. Tener ego es tener conciencia de la propia existencia y es origen de una paradoja: percibimos al mundo como un ente separado de nosotros, bello y maravilloso, a pesar de formar parte de él. Como el ojo que no puede mirarse, así Ometéotl no puede verse a Sí misme. Éste es el motivo por el que nos creó, para que nuestros ojos fueran Sus ojos y nuestro asombro Su asombro. Somos la vista de Nuestra Creadora y Nuestro Creador, quienes nos dieron el ego.
El propósito de nuestra existencia es permitir que los Teteo contemplen Su propia creación. También vivimos para darles ofrendas y sacrificios. Antes de nuestra época, cuatro humanidades fueron creadas, convirtiéndonos en la quinta. Las creaciones precedentes eran imperfectas, no se conmovían y no recordaban su deuda con los Teteo, olvidándose de darles ofrendas y sacrificios. Fueron, por tanto, destruidas. Nuestra creación existe en balance con el mundo. A nuestros ancestros se les dio la tarea de cultivar los campos, de quemar los bosques para sanarlos, de cazar trayendo equilibrio a la fauna silvestre. No podemos existir fuera de este equilibrio, fuera de la naturaleza: formamos parte del gran sistema que los Teteo crearon. A través de la ceremonia y las tradiciones del Anáhuac, nos unimos a la naturaleza. Ser una persona originaria es vivir tomando como prioridad el bienestar de la naturaleza; es vivir en armonía con Tlaltecuhtli, Nuestra Madre Tierra; es cuidar del jardín, trayéndonos este mismo cuidado. Regresar a la identidad originaria es reconocer los dones que nos fueron dados por los Teteo, recordando que las plantas, los árboles y los animales, maestras y maestros, hermanas y hermanos, mueren por nuestro beneficio y por ello les debemos honras y agradecimientos por su sacrificio. Acercarnos a la espiritualidad de nuestros ancestros del Anáhuac es aproximarnos a curar cinco siglos de colonialismo y reunirnos en los amorosos brazos de Tlaltecuhtli.