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HI, Time Travellers ! |
Well..... I went way back in time...... I'm going to interview the Great QUETZALCOATL |
Oh...Oh...Here he comes! To maintain his anonymity, he asked that I only use a likeness of him! Wow! Look at his Royal Dress! What a fashion statement.... it just reeks of royalty! |
Quetzalocatal, My name is HRH Commander Princess Baby Girl. I want to thank you for granting me this exclusive interview. |
In fact, no. I come from another galaxy. My Planet is called Puppy World and we, that is my brothers and I, are time travellers. We're exploring Planet Earth and all the wonderous peoples and history. My specialty is the arts and your civilisation is just full of wonderful things! I know your time is limited, so shall we get started? |
What were your greatest accomplishments? |
I taught men science and the calendar which, by the way, you are sitting in front of, and also devised ceremonies. I discovered corn, and all good aspects of civilization. Most of all, I loved music. Music had a very important function in our Mexica ritual,and there were places dedicated to musical education, called CUICACALLI (house of chant). In other buildings like the MIXCOACALLI, besides keeping the chanting and dancing implements, the ones who played the TEPONAXTLE gathered. In the MECATLAN it was where one learned how to play all musical instruments, but especially the wind ones. I had priests who specialised in composing and supervising the chants: the EPOACUACUILLI TEPICTOTON would compose chants for the temples and private homes; the TLAPIZCATZIN looked after and corrected the chants dedicated to us Gods. All our musicians had a very high status. |
In what way? I've never heard of him |
Wow! Your history is fascinating.I could stay here forever to learn about your history. As you know, my brothers are also here, and they are also exploring your civilisation. You have so much to tell!..... |
I know Princess, but now I must go . I ask you one favour. |
Of course, Quetzalcoatl. |
Goodbye for now, Quetzalcoatl. With those parting words the great god Quetzalcoatl faded into the mists. In keeping with my promise to him. I present you with a fantastic voyage into the land of the Aztecs with original Aztec music. Enjoy! It really is fascinating! |
The pleasure is mine, Princess....though I must say I didn't expect so interesting a person. You're not from this Planet, are you? |
Well, Huehuecoyotl or Old Man Coyote, was a shape-shifting god of merriment and magic. Although he was an incorrigible trickster, and often played pranks that could turn cruel, he bestowed special gifts of song, dance, stories, and poetry. In our Coyote Kiva, Huehuecoyotl is celebrated as the icon of poets, the Ancient Voice that speaks for those in silence. A Spirit Voice that wailed for justice in a broken world, the Sacred Belly Voice that roared with laughter at human folly, and the Embracing Voice that whispered love songs to the night. As I said, he was quite a character. |
Where am I going now? Well that will be a surprise! Where are my brothers? Who knows? Guess you'll have to enter their time portal! Good Luck and Happy Time Travel! |
I'm winging my way back to the mysterious and magial world of the ancient Aztecs! |
Where am I? |
Why, of course. Where shall we begin? |
First, I just have to ask you..What does your name stand for? |
I'm known as Creator God,Quetzal Bird, Feathered Serpent,god of wind, light, and Venus. As you may of noticed, I wear around my neck a "Wind Jewel" made from a conch and on my head a jaguar bonnet or sometimes a small cap. And from the sharp bone that protrudes from my headgear flows the blood that nourishes my nahualli, the Quetzal bird. |
Our most important instruments were two drums, and the TEPONAXTLE, that accompanied practically all our dances. We also had a great variety of flutes. We used other insruments like the sea shell, which was an important ritual instrument, and several kinds of rattles, copper bells, and bone scrapers. |
TEZCATLIPOCA, one of our dark gods was a magician, a shape shifter and a god of mysterious powers. He was also my spiritual opponent. While I was benevolent and good, he was always tempting others to the dark side. Yet he also liked music, especially the flute. His living image played it constantly and just before dying he would break the flutes he had used while representing the god. Of course HUEHUECOYOTL (old coyote), was our god of music. Now he was quite a character. |
Please play some of our music, and let the people of Planet Earth remember us for the great things we did. Our sculptures, music, poetry, our educational system, our calendar. Yes, I know from looking down at Planet Earth as it is today, many only remember us for our human sacrifices, but we offered so much more! We were a great civilisation and contributed much. The people of Planet Earth must always remember that studying the past helps them progress in the future. Now my dear Princess, I must go, but you are always welcome to return, we have much to discuss and learn from each other. |
This article excerpted from an article on WikipediaŽ This article is distributed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License and the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License |
