Trecena Of The Jaguar

According to the Aztec calendar, yesterday (11-11-11) was the first day of the 13-day week, or trecena ruled by the ocelotl or jaguar, under whose auspices the next twelve days fall.

This trecena, from Yesterday (1 Jaguar) to Nov. 23 (13 Death) is ruled by Quetzalcoatl, the peace-loving redeemer-god of Mesoamerican myth. The historical Mayan king Ce Acatl Topiltzin, who according to Maya historians ruled the city of Tollan in the 10th century, was also called Quetzalcoatl and is famous for banning human sacrifice. But historical accounts of Topiltzin's days seem to collapse into the myths of Quetzalcoatl, who disappeared across the sea to the east, on a raft of serpents.  How much of Topiltzin's story is myth and how much is historical fact is, like the story of the Trojan War, difficult to sort. 

Here is an image of the gods Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent) and Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror), who are sometimes twins, sometimes two sides of the same person, sometimes enemies, sometimes opposite sides of the same principle. Tezcatlipoca, the night, is symbolized by the jaguar. Quetzalcoatl is often represented as an eagle, symbol of the daytime. Yet the trecena of the jaguar, which began yesterday, is ruled by Quetzalcoatl. Today, incedentally, is the day of the Eagle. Mirror images multiplying to infinity.

The inquisitive mind wants to understand what is before it, but without context, what do we have but the strange and beautiful images and the stories themselves, which are nothing but mysteries, alien artifacts from our own world, our own collective dream?