At the end of April we spent a week in Tepoztlan, a town in the state of Morelos not far from Cuernavaca. Tepoztlan is a very pretty little town nestled in a valley between two mountain ranges. It has largely been maintained in a traditional way. No McDonalds, no Dominoes Pizza or developments here. It is a big weekend tourist destination for Mexico City, being only a hour away. It has a very alternative feel, you can buy crystals here, there is an Indian store where you can buy things from India and a photo shop where you can get a picture taken of your aura. There are a number of very nice B & B's with attendant spa's.
At the top of one of the mountains to the north of the town is an ancient Aztec temple. It actually predates the Aztecs and it is a serious hike to get there. I was told that it was an hour hike, but it took me an hour and 15 minutes and it was a hike straight up the mountain. The valley of Tepoztlan lies at a mile of altitude, so it's around another 2,000 feet of altitude or 7,000 feet at the top.
On the way we were greeted by a number of Coatimundis or Coatis or Tejón as they are known here. They are very tame and comfortable around humans. Like Racoons they can be a pest and raid human habitations for food. They are quite intelligent. There were signs at the top of the mountain saying not to feed the Coatis because they were becoming too dependent on human food. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was too late. The last climb up to the temple was very steep, through a gap in the rocks that had a special stairway built. Formerly it had two logs with cross bars forming a ladder to climb the last part.
The Temple of Tepostécatl was occupied with the Tepostlan valley in the 13th century A.D. by the Xochimilcas, a people who settled this area and who were in constant war with the Aztecs and were eventually conquered by them. The temple then became an Aztec temple around 1438 A.D. The temple was built to the god Tepostécatl the patron god of the people of the Tepotzlan valley. 
Tepostécatl is one of the deities related to the Maguey plant and Pulque. His calendar name was Ome Tochtli, 2 Rabbit. The Rabbit was a moon being in Meso-American cosmogony, so this made Pulque gods moon beings. This heavenly connection with a heavenly body that dies and is reborn endlessly comes from the fact that Pulque gods embodied nature's on-going cycle of birth and death. This is the reason they are celebrated at the end of harvest time.
According to legend, Tepostécatl was born to a princes who fell in love with a bird or the god Ehécatl. The parents wanted to get rid of the child so they left him in a nest. Instead of being devoured, he was fed by ants on drops of honey. He then was left between the leaves of the Maguey plant where he was fed on the Maguey syrup. He was finally sent downstream in a wooden box (sound familiar) where he was found by an elderly couple who raised him and taught him all he knew.
Comments