The Birth of Witzilopochtli
By: Kurly Tlapoyawa
Witzilopochtli is represented
physically by the cosmic and
energetic power of the sun. Our people would celebrate the "Birth
of Witzilopochtli" every year on the winter solstice. The "Birth
of
the newborn sun" if you will. Our people would have massive
celebrations in honor of Witzilopochtli, starting nine days before
the winter solstice. Feasts, parades, Dance, etc. filled these
days.
So what did the Spaniards do?
Well, they couldnt stop our people
from doing this, so they co-opted it - adding an Xtian twist of
course. They moved the celebration to Dec. 25th, in order to
coincide with the Christ-mass. They took the nine days of
celebration before this day and called it a Novena. They replaced
the nine days of celebration to Witzilopochtli with a recreation
of the Jesus/Mary/Joseph fable and called it "Las Posadas."
So here
we have yet another Mexican Catholic tradition which is directly
rooted in the pre-Kuauhtemok heritage of our people.
Part of this tradition was the
shattering of candy-filled decorated
clay pots. These were gifts to Witzilopochtli, the new born sun.
You would get blindfolded, and have to swing a stick at the pots,
which were attached to a string.
So once again, the Xtians co-opted
our traditions. They called the
clay pot a Pignata (Italian for Clay jar). They put seven points on
the jar (ever see those Pinatas that look like sputnick?) and
invented an Xtian symbolism for the game:
The pignata represented Satan
- the pointed cones were the seven
deadly sins. The blindfold represented blind faith. The meaning?
You had to have blind faith in the lord if you were to vanquish
Satan and recieve all the hidden gifts which God had in store for
you.
And there you have it.
War Club - Riotstage
Hear more War Cub music @
Mexica Uprising MySpace
Add Mexica Uprising to your
friends list to get updates, news,
enter contests, and get free revolutionary contraband.
Featured Link:
Academia Semillas del Pueblo
"If Brown (vs. Board of Education) was just about letting Black people into a White school, well we don’t care about that anymore. We don’t necessarily want to go to White schools. What we want to do is teach ourselves, teach our children the way we have of teaching. We don’t want to drink from a White water fountain...We don’t need a White water fountain. So the whole issue of segregation and the whole issue of the Civil Rights Movement is all within the box of White culture and White supremacy. We should not still be fighting for what they have. We are not interested in what they have because we have so much more and because the world is so much larger. And ultimately the White way, the American way, the neo liberal, capitalist way of life will eventually lead to our own destruction. And so it isn’t about an argument of joining neo liberalism, it’s about us being able, as human beings, to surpass the barrier."
- Marcos Aguilar (Principal, Academia Semillas del Pueblo)
Grow
a Mexica Garden
12/31/06
The
Aztecs: Their History,
Manners, and Customs by:
Lucien Biart
12/29/06
6 New Music Videos
Including
Dead Prez, Quinto Sol,
and Warclub
12/29/06
Kalpulli
"Mixcoatl" mp3 album
download Now Available
for Purchase
9/12/06
Che/Marcos/Zapata
T-shirt
Now Available for Purchase
7/31/06
M-1
"Til We Get There"
Music Video
7/31/06
Native
Guns "Champion"
Live Video
7/31/06
Sub-Comandante
Marcos
T-shirt Now Available for Purchase
7/26/06
11 New Music Videos Including
Dead Prez, Native Guns,
El Vuh, and Olmeca
7/10/06
Howard Zinn's
A People's
History of the United States
7/02/06
The
Tamil Tigers
7/02/06
The Sandinista
Revolution
6/26/06
The Cuban
Revolution
6/26/06
Che Guevara/Emiliano
Zapata
T-shirts Now in Stock
6/25/06
Free Online Books
4/01/06
"Decolonize"
and "Sub-verses"
from Aztlan Underground
Now Available for Purchase
4/01/06
Zapatista
"Ya Basta" T-shirt
Now Available for Purchase
3/19/06
An
Analytical Dictionary
of Nahuatl by Frances
Kartutten Download
3/19/06
Tattoo
Designs
2/8/06