Blavatsky H.P. - A Land of Mystery: Difference between revisions

Two distinct styles of architecture are found in these relics of Lake Titicaca. Those of the Island of Coati, for instance, bear every feature in common with the ruins of Tiahuanaco; so do the vast blocks of stone elaborately sculptured, some of which, according to the report of the surveyors, in 1846, measure: “3 feet in length by 18 feet in width, and 6 feet in thickness”; while on some of the islands of the Lake Titicaca there are monuments of great extent, “but of true Peruvian type, apparently the remains of temples destroyed on the arrival of the Spaniards.” The famous sanctuary, with the human figure in it, belongs to the former. Its doorway 10 feet high, 13 feet broad, with an opening 6 feet 4 inches, by 3 feet 2 inches, is cut from a single stone. “Its east front has a cornice, in the centre of which is a human figure of strange form, crowned with rays, interspersed with serpents with crested heads. On each side of this figure are three rows of square compartments, filled with human and other figures, of apparently symbolic design . . .” Were this temple in India, it would undoubtedly be attributed to Siva; but it is at the antipodes, where neither the foot of a Shaiva nor one of the Naga tribe has ever penetrated to the knowledge of man, though the Mexican Indians have their Nagual, or chief sorcerer and serpent worshipper. “The ruins stand on an eminence, which, from the watermarks around it, seems to have been formerly an island in Lake Titicaca; but the level of the lake is now 135 feet lower, and its shores 12 miles distant. This fact, in {{Page aside|319}} conjunction with others, warrants the belief that these remains antedate any others known in America.”<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[New American Cyclopaedia, art. on “Tiahuanaco.” [This applies to all the passages quoted in the above paragraph.—Compiler.]}}</ref> Hence, all these relics are unanimously ascribed to the same “unknown and mysterious people who preceded the Peruvians, as the Tulhuatecas or Toltecs did the Aztecs. It seems to have been the seat of the highest and most ancient civilization of South America and of a people who have left the most gigantic monuments of their power and skill.” And these monuments are all either Dracontias—temples sacred to the Snake, or temples dedicated to the Sun.

It is interesting to hear what the earliest writers—the historians who saw them during the first conquest—say even of some of the most modern of these buildings, of the great temple of Mexico, among others. It consisted of an immense square area “surrounded by a wall of stone and lime, eight feet thick, with battlements, ornamented with many stone figures in the form of serpents,” says one. Cortez shows that 500 houses might be easily placed within its enclosure. It was paved with polished stones, so smooth, that “the horses of the Spaniards could not move over them without slipping,” writes Bernal Díaz del Castillo. In connection with this, we must remember that it was not the Spaniards who conquered the Mexicans, but their horses. As there never {{Page aside|320}} was a horse seen before by this people in America, until the Europeans landed it on the coast, the natives, though excessively brave, “were so awestruck at the sight of horses and the roar of the artillery,” that they took the Spaniards to be of divine origin and sent them human beings as sacrifices. This superstitious panic is sufficient to account for the fact that a handful of men could so easily conquer incalculable thousands of warriors.

According to F. López de Gómara, the four walls of the enclosure of the temple corresponded with the cardinal points. “In the centre of this gigantic area arose the great temple, an immense pyramidal structure of 5 stages, faced with stone, 300 feet square at the base and 120 feet in height, truncated, with a level summit, upon which were situated two towers, the shrines of the divinities to whom it was consecrated”—Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli. It was here that the sacrifices were performed, and the eternal fire maintained. F. J. Clavijero tells us, that “besides this great pyramid . . . there were forty other similar structures of smaller size, consecrated to separate divinities. One was called Tezcacalli, ‘House of the Shining Mirrors,’ . . . sacred to Tezcatlipoca, the God of Light, the Soul of the World, the Vivifier, the Spiritual Sun.” The dwellings of priests, who, according to Zarate, amounted to 5,000, were near by, as well as the seminaries and the schools.

<center>(Page One of the Document)</center>

<center>(Page Two of the Document)</center>

striking analogies exist between the monuments of the old continents and those of the Toltecs who . . . built several of these colossal structures, truncated pyramids, divided by layers, like the temple of Belus at Babylon! Where did they take the model of these edifices?”—he exclaims.<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[Quoted passages associated with the names of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, López de Gómara, F. J. Clavijero, Zarate, de Solís and Humboldt, are from the article on “American Antiquities,” in the New American Cyclopaedia (1873-76). Humboldt’s remarks are from his Researches concerning the Institutions and Monuments of the Ancient Inhabitants of America, tr. from the French by H. M. Williams, London, 1814.—Compiler.]}}</ref>

The eminent naturalist might have also enquired where the Mexicans got all their Christian virtues from, being but poor pagans. The code of the Aztecs, says Prescott “evinces a profound respect for the great principles of morality, and as clear a perception of these principles as is to be found in the most cultivated nations.” Some of these are very curious inasmuch as they show such a similarity to some of the Gospel ethics, “He, who looks too curiously on a woman, commits adultery with his eyes,” says one of them. “Keep peace with all; bear injuries with humility; God, who sees, will avenge you,” declares another. Recognizing but one Supreme Power in Nature, they addressed it as the deity “by whom we live, Omnipresent, that knoweth all thoughts, and giveth all gifts, without whom man is as nothing; invisible, incorporeal . . . of perfect perfection and purity, under whose wings we find repose and a sure defence.” And, in naming their children, says Lord Kingsborough, they used a ceremony strongly resembling the Christian rite of baptism, “the lips and bosom of the infant were sprinkled with water, and the Lord was implored to permit the holy drops to wash away the sin that was given to it before the foundation of the world; so that the child might be born anew.”<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[The quoted passages in this paragraph are from Wm. H. Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Mexico, etc. (chap. III, pp. 19-21), wherein they are quoted from Bernardino de Sahagun’s Historia General de las cosas de Nueva España (lib. vi, cap. 37), published by Lord Kingsborough, which explains the mention of his name in the test.—Compiler.]}}</ref> “Their laws were perfect; justice, contentment {{Page aside|322}} and peace reigned in the kingdom of these benighted heathens,” when the brigands and the Jesuits of Cortez landed at Tabasco. A century of murders, robbery, and forced conversion, were sufficient to transform this quiet, inoffensive and wise people into what they are now. They have fully benefited by dogmatic Christianity. And he, who ever went to Mexico, knows what that means. The country is full of bloodthirsty Christian fanatics, thieves, rogues, drunkards, debauchees, murderers, and the greatest liars the world has ever produced! Peace and glory to your ashes, O Cortez and Torquemada! In this case at least, will you never be permitted to boast of the enlightenment your Christianity has poured out on the poor, and once virtuous heathens!

{{HPB-CW-comment|[The Theosophist, Vol. I, No. 9, June, 1880, pp. 224-227]}}