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THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU
This book was especially republished to raise funds for these charities & many more...
33% of the publishers profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.
Herein you will find over 380 myths, legends and folklore covering The Civilisation and Myths of Mexico, Myths and Legends of the Ancient Mexicans, The Maya Race and Mythology and The Civilisation and Myths of Old Peru.
The contents are presented in seven chapters with well over 380 myths, legends and tales. There are also copious notes on topics like The Structure of their societies and religions, their gods etc. Lewis Spence even poses the question Did any of these civilisations really exist? and then sets about providing the proof that they actually did.
In 19th C. Europe it was not unusual to speak of the Americas as "continents without a history." We now know the folly of this statement was extreme, to say the least. For centuries prior to European occupation Central America was the seat of civilisations boasting a history and mythology second to none in richness and interest.
The real interest of American mediaeval history must ever circle around Mexico and Peru - her Golden Empires, her sole exemplars of civilisation; and it is to the books upon the character of these two nations that we must turn for a romantic interest as curious and as absorbing as that bound up in the histories of Egypt or Assyria.
The question of the alphabets of ancient America has perhaps been the most acute in modern-day pre-Columbian archaeology. But progress has being made in this branch of the subject, with major steps in decipherment occurring during the 1970s and 1980s. Today most texts can be read, though there are still some unknown glyphs.
Despite the recent breakthroughs in translation, as far back as 1912 Lewis Spence was able collate a wealth of information and publish this volume. Here you will find almost four hundred pages of Aztec, Nahuan, Mexican, Mayan, Toltec and Peruvian myths and legends accompanied by explanatory notes. You will also find stories and myths of the Temple of Viracocha, Lake Titicaca, Torquemada, the Pyramid of Skulls, the Mexican Valhalla, the Mayan Creation Story, the House of Ordeals, the Coming of the Incas, the Huaris, the Lost Island, the Thunder God of Peru and many more.
33% of the net profit from the sale of this book will be donated to Project Peru.
Excerpt from THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU
THE MYTH OF HUATHLACURI
After the deluge the Indians chose the bravest and richest man as leader. This period they called Purunpacha (the time without a king). On a high mountain-top appeared five large eggs, from one of which Paricaca, father of Huathiacuri, later emerged. Huathiacuri, who was so poor that he had not means to cook his food properly, learned much wisdom from his father, and the following story shows how this assisted him.
A certain man had built a most curious house, the roof being made of yellow and red birds' feathers. He was very rich, possessing many llamas, and was greatly esteemed on account of his wealth. So proud did he become that he aspired to be the creator himself; but when he became very ill and could not cure himself his divinity seemed doubtful. Just at this time Huathiacuri was travelling about, and one day he saw two foxes meet and listened to their conversation. From this he heard about the rich man and learned the cause of his illness, and forthwith he determined to go on to find him. On arriving at the curious house he met a lovely young girl, one of the rich man's daughters. She told him about her father's illness, and Huathiacuri, charmed with her, said he would cure her father if she would only give him her love. He looked so ragged and dirty that she refused, but she took him to her father and informed him that Huathiacuri said he could cure him. Her father consented to give him an opportunity to do so. Huathiacuri began his cure by telling the sick man that his wife had been unfaithful, and that there were two serpents hovering above his house to devour it, and a toad with two heads under his grinding-stone. His wife at first indignantly denied the accusation, but on Huathiacuri reminding her of some details, and the serpents and toad being discovered, she confessed her guilt. The reptiles were killed, the man recovered, and the daughter was married to Huathiacuri.
Huathiacuri's poverty and raggedness displeased the girl's brother-in-law, who suggested to the bridegroom a contest in dancing and drinking. Huathiacuri went to seek his father's advice, and the old man told him to accept the challenge and return to him. Paricaca then sent him to a mountain, where he was changed into a dead llama.
Next morning a fox and its vixen carrying a jar of chicha came, the fox having a flute of many pipes. When they saw the dead llama they laid down their things and went toward it to have a feast, but Huathiacuri then resumed his human form and gave a loud cry that frightened away the foxes, whereupon he took possession of the jar and flute. By the aid of these, which were magically endowed, he beat his brother-in-law in dancing and drinking.
Then the brother-in-law proposed a contest to prove who was the handsomer when dressed in festal attire. By the aid of Paricaca Huathiacuri found a red lion-skin, which gave him the appearance of having a rainbow round his head, and he again won.
The next trial was to see who could build a house the quickest and best. The brother-in-law got all his men to help, and had his house nearly finished before the other had his foundation laid. But here again Paricaca's wisdom proved of service, for Huathiacuri got animals and birds of all kinds to help him during the night, and by morning the building was finished except the roof. His brother-in-law got many llamas to come with straw for his roof, but Huathiacuri ordered an animal to stand where its loud screams frightened the llamas away, and the straw was lost. Once more Huathiacuri won the day. At last Paricaca advised Huathiacuri to end this conflict, and he asked his brother-in-law to see who could dance best in a blue shirt with white cotton round the loins. The rich man as usual appeared first, but when Huathiacuri came in he made a very loud noise and frightened him, and he began to run away. As he ran Huathiacuri turned him into a deer. His wife, who had followed him, was turned into a stone, with her head on the ground and her feet in the air, because she had given her husband such bad advice.
The four remaining eggs on the mountain-top then opened, and four falcons issued, which turned into four great warriors. These warriors performed many miracles, one of which consisted in raising a storm which swept away the rich Indian's house in a flood to the sea.
Table of Contents for THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU
| Acknowledgements |
| Illustrations and Maps |
| Preface |
| |
| CHAPTER I: The Civilisation of Mexico |
| The Civilisations of the New World |
| Evidence of Animal and Plant Life |
| Origin of American Man |
| Traditions of Intercourse with Asia |
| Legends of European Intercourse |
| The Legend of Madoc |
| American Myths of the Discovery |
| A Peruvian Prophecy |
| The Prophecy of Chilan Balam |
| The Type of Mexican Civilisation |
| The Mexican Race |
| Legends of Mexican Migration |
| The Toltec Upheaval |
| Artificial Nature of the Migration Myths |
| Myths of the Toltecs |
| Legends of Toltec Artistry |
| The House of Feathers |
| Huemac the Wicked |
| The Plagues of the Toltecs |
| King Acxitl |
| A Terrible Visitation |
| Fall of the Toltec State |
| The Chichimec Exodus |
| The Disappearance of the Toltecs |
| Did the Toltecs Exist? |
| A Persistent Tradition |
| A Nameless People |
| Toltec Art |
| Other Aboriginal Peoples |
| The Cliff-dwellers |
| The Nahua Race |
| The Aculhuaque |
| The Tecpanecs |
| The Aztecs |
| The Aztec Character |
| Legends of the Foundation of Mexico |
| Mexico at the Conquest |
| A Pyramid of Skulls |
| Nahua Architecture and Ruins |
| Cyclopean Remains |
| Teotihuacan |
| The Hill of Flowers |
| Tollan |
| Picture-Writing |
| Interpretation of the Hieroglyphs |
| Native Manuscripts |
| The Interpretative Codices |
| The Mexican "Book of the Dead" |
| The Calendar System |
| The Mexican Year |
| Lunar Reckoning |
| Groups of Years |
| The Dread of the Last Day |
| The Birth-Cycle |
| Language of the Nahua |
| Aztec Science |
| Nahua Government |
| Domestic Life |
| A Mysterious Toltec Book |
| A Native Historian |
| Nahua Topography |
| Distribution of the Nahua Tribes |
| Nahua History |
| Bloodless Battles |
| The Lake Cities |
| Tezcuco |
| The Tecpanecs |
| The Aztecs |
| The Aztecs as Allies |
| New Powers |
| |
| CHAPTER II: Mexican Mythology |
| Nahua Religion |
| Cosmology |
| The Sources of Mexican Mythology |
| The Romance of the Lost "Sahagun" |
| Torquemada |
| The Worship of One God |
| Tezcatlipoca |
| Tezcatlipoca, |
| Overthrower of the Toltecs |
| Myths of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca |
| Tezcatlipoca and the Toltecs |
| The Departure of Quetzalcoatl |
| Tezcatlipoca as Doomster |
| The Teotleco Festival |
| The Toxcatl Festival |
| Huitzilopochth, the War God |
| The War God as Fertiliser |
| Tlaloc, the Rain God |
| Sacrifices to Tlaloc |
| Quetzalcoatl |
| The Man of the Sun |
| Various Forms of Quetzalcoatl |
| Quetzalcoatl's Northern Origin |
| The Worship of Quetzalcoatl |
| The Maize-Gods of Mezico |
| The Sacrifice of the Dancer |
| An Antiquarian Mare's-Nest |
| The Offering to Centeotl |
| Importance of the Food-Gods |
| Xipe |
| Nanaliuatl, or Nanauatzin |
| Xolotl |
| The Fire-God |
| Mictlan |
| Worship of the Planet Venus |
| Sun-Worship |
| Sustaining the Sun |
| A Mexican Valhalla |
| The Feast of Totec |
| Tepeyollotl |
| Macuilxochitl, or Xochipilli |
| Father and Mother Gods |
| The Pulque-Gods |
| The Goddesses of Mexico: Metztli |
| Tlazolteotl |
| Chalchihuitlicue |
| Mixcoatl |
| Camaxtli |
| Ixtlilton |
| Omacatl |
| Opochtli |
| Yacatecutli |
| The Aztec Priesthood |
| Priestly Revenues |
| Education |
| Orders of the Priesthood |
| An Exacting Ritual |
| |
| CHAPTER III: Myths and Legends of the Ancient |
| Mexicans |
| The Mexican Idea of the Creation |
| Ixtlilxochitl's Legend of the Creation |
| Creation-Story of the Mixtecs |
| Zapotec Creation Myth |
| The Mexican Noah |
| The Myth of the Seven Caverns |
| The Sacrificed Princess |
| The Fugitive Prince |
| Maxtla the Fierce |
| A Romantic Escape |
| A Thrilling Pursuit |
| The Defeat of Maxtla |
| The Solon of Anahuac |
| Nezahualcoyotl's Theology |
| The Poet Prince |
| The Queen with a Hundred Lovers |
| The Golden Age of Tezcuco |
| A Fairy Villa |
| Disillusionment |
| The Noble Tlascalan |
| The Haunting Mothers |
| The Return of Papantzin |
| Papantzin's Story |
| |
| CHAPTER IV: The Maya Race and Mythology |
| The Maya |
| Were the Maya Toltecs? |
| The Maya Kingdom |
| The Maya Dialects |
| Whence came the Maya? |
| Civilisation of the Maya |
| The Zapotecs |
| The Huasteca |
| The Type of Maya Civilisation |
| Maya History |
| The Nucleus of Maya Power |
| Early Race Movements |
| The Settlement of Yucatan |
| The Septs of Yucatan |
| The Cocomes |
| Flight of the Tutul Xius |
| The Revolution In Mayapan |
| Hunac Eel |
| The Last of the Cocomes |
| The Maya Peoples of Guatemala |
| The Maya Tulan |
| Doubtful Dynasties |
| The Coming of the Spaniards |
| The Riddle of Ancient Maya Writing |
| The Maya Manuscripts |
| The System of the Writing |
| Clever Elucidations |
| Methods of Study |
| The Maya Numeral System |
| Mythology of the Maya |
| Quetzalcoatl among the Maya |
| An Alphabet of Gods |
| Difficulties of Comparison |
| The Conflict between |
| Light and Darkness |
| The Calendar |
| Traditional Knowledge of the Gods |
| Maya Polytheism |
| The Bat-God |
| Modern Research |
| God A |
| God B |
| God C |
| God D |
| God E, The Maize-God |
| God F |
| God G, The Sun-God |
| God H |
| Goddess I |
| God K, "The God with the Ornamented Nose" |
| God L, The Old Black God |
| God M, The Travellers' God |
| God N, The God of Unlucky Days |
| Goddess O |
| God P, The Frog,God |
| Maya Architecture |
| Methods of Building |
| No Knowledge of the Arch |
| Pyramidal Structures |
| Definiteness of Design |
| Architectural Districts |
| Fascination of the Subject |
| Mysterious Palenque |
| An Architectural Curiosity |
| The Temple of Inscriptions |
| Aké and Itzamal |
| The House of Darkness |
| The Palace of Owls |
| Itzamna's Fane |
| Bearded Gods |
| A Colossal Head |
| Chichen-Itza |
| The Nunnery |
| The "Writing in the Dark" |
| Kabah |
| Uxmal |
| The Dwarf's House |
| The Legend of the Dwarf |
| The Mound of Sacrifice |
| The Phantom City |
| The Horse-God |
| Copan |
| Mitla |
| A Place of Sepulture |
| An Old Description of Mitla |
| Human Sacrifice at Mitla |
| Living Sacrifices |
| The Cavern of Death |
| Palace of the High-Priest |
| Furniture of the Temples |
| |
| CHAPTER V: Myths of the Maya |
| Mythology of the Maya |
| The Lost "Popol Vuh" |
| Genuine Character of the Work |
| Likeness to other Pseudo-Histories |
| The Creation Story |
| Vukub-Cakix, the Great Macaw |
| The Earth-Giants |
| The Undoing of Zipacna |
| The Discomfiture of Cabrakan |
| The Second Book |
| A Challenge from Hades |
| The Fooling of the Brethren |
| The Princess Xquiq |
| The Birth of Hun-Apu and Xbalanque |
| The Divine Children |
| The Magic Tools |
| The Second Challenge |
| The Tricksters Tricked |
| The Houses of the Ordeals |
| The Reality of Myth |
| The Xibalbans |
| The Third Book |
| The Granting of Fire |
| The Kiche Babel |
| The Last Days of the First Men |
| Death of the First Men |
| American Migrations |
| Cosmogony of the "Popol Vuh" |
| Antiquity of the "Popol Vuh" |
| The Father-Mother Gods |
| Gucumatz |
| Hurakan |
| Hun-Apu and Xbalanque |
| Vukub-Cakix and his Sons |
| Metrical Origin of the "Popol Vuh" |
| Pseudo-History of the Kiche |
| Queen Móo |
| The Funeral Chamber |
| The Frescoes |
| The Soothsayers |
| The Royal Bride |
| Moo's Refusal |
| The Rejected Suitor |
| Aac's Fierce Wooing |
| Prince Cob |
| The Murder of Cob |
| The Widowhood of Móo |
| The Manuscript Troano |
| |
| CHAPTER VI: The Civilisation of Old Peru |
| Old Peru |
| The Country |
| The Andeans |
| A Strange Site |
| Sacsahuaman and Ollantay |
| The Dramatic Legend of Ollantay |
| The Love Story of Curi-Coyllur |
| Mother and Child |
| The Races of Peru |
| The Coming of the Incas |
| The Quichua-Aymara |
| The Four Peoples |
| The Coming of Manco Ccapac |
| The Peruvian Creation-Story |
| Local Creation-Myths |
| The Character of Inca Civilisation |
| An Absolute Theocracy |
| A Golden Temple |
| The Great Altar |
| Planetary Temples |
| The Mummies of Peru |
| Laws and Customs |
| The Peruvian Calendar |
| The Festivals |
| The Llama |
| Architecture of the Incas |
| Unsurpassed Workmanship |
| The Temple of Viracocha |
| Titicaca |
| Coati |
| Mysterious Chimu |
| The Palace |
| The Civilisation of Chimu |
| Pachacamac |
| Irrigation Works |
| A Singular Discovery |
| The Chibchas |
| A Severe Legal Code |
| A Strange Mnemonic System |
| Practical Use of the Quipos |
| The Incas as Craftsmen |
| Pottery |
| Historical Sketch of the Incan Peruvians |
| The Inca Monarchs |
| The First Incas |
| Viracocha the Great |
| The Plain of Blood |
| The Conquest of Middle Peru |
| Fusion of Races |
| Two Branches of the Incas |
| The Laws of Pachacutic |
| Tupac-Yupanqui |
| "The Gibbet" |
| Huaina Ccapac |
| The Inca Civil War |
| A Dramatic Situation |
| A Worthless Despotism |
| |
| CHAPTER VII: The Mythology of Peru |
| The Religion of Ancient Peru |
| Totemism |
| Paccariscas |
| Worship of Stones |
| Huacas |
| The Mamas |
| The Huamantantac |
| Huaris |
| Huillcas |
| The Oracles of the Andes |
| Lake-Worship in Peru |
| The Lost Island |
| The Thunder God of Peru |
| The Great God Pachacamac |
| Peruvian Creation-Stories |
| Pachayachachic |
| Ideas of Creation |
| Pacari Tampu |
| Worship of the Sea |
| Viracocha |
| Sun-Worship in Peru |
| The Sun's Possessions |
| Inca Occupation of Titicaca |
| Pilgrimages to Titicaca |
| Sacrifices to the New Sun |
| The Citoc Raymi |
| Human Sacrifice in Peru |
| Methods of Medicine-Men |
| Death by Suffocation |
| The Obsequies of a Chief |
| Peruvian Myths |
| The Vision of Yupanqui |
| The Bird Bride |
| Thonapa |
| A Myth of Manco Ccapac Inca |
| Coniraya Viracocha |
| The Llama's Warning |
| The Myth of Huathlacuri |
| Paricaca |
| |
| Conclusion |
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