Free Deity by Theresa Danley

decapitated by the winning team.”
    Lori
winced in disgust. “That doesn’t sound peaceful.”
    “Human
sacrifice was not seen as violent, but essential in keeping all cycles of life
and creation constant. At both Tula and Chichen Itza, the heads of
the losing teams were strung on skull racks, as recorded at both sites.”
    “So
what does the ball game have to do with the Atlanteans?” Lori asked.
    Chac
smiled. “That’s where my own theory comes in. I don’t believe the Atlanteans
were warriors but ball players who were celebrated much like professional
athletes are today. The winners of the game were held in high esteem. Even the
Maya creation myth celebrates The Twins who defeated the Lords of the
underworld in a ball game.”
    “So
if the losing team’s heads were displayed on skull racks, then surely the
winning players were honored in columns of stone,” Lori thought out loud.
    She
considered Chac’s interpretation and had to admit her favor toward it. In fact,
as much as she tried to resist it, all the evidence he illustrated did suggest
a strong Toltec influence in Chichen
Itza. But was Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl himself the instigator
of the remarkable similarities to Tula?
    “Despite the Toltec features of these ruins, how can you
determine this was all done by one man rather than a migratory group of
Toltecs?” she asked. “I suspect Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl wasn’t the only
individual exiled from Tula.
His followers must have suffered a similar fate. Maybe it was they who migrated
to Yucatan and found a home in Chichen Itza.”
    Chac
shrugged. “That is possible,” he agreed. “However, if it is one man’s influence
you’re looking for, you won’t find it in the architecture alone. For that, you
must consider Chichen Itza’s
cosmology.”

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Cosmologies Of Precession

 
    Chac
turned away from the crowds milling around the ruins below. He was growing
uncomfortable standing there in plain view atop the temple. Although the INAH
had prohibited the public from climbing the temples and pyramids for fear that
the influx of 2012 visitors would accelerate the damage to Chichen Itza’s prized ruins, Chac knew enough
about human nature to know that once he and Lori were spotted, others would
feel justified in joining them. They needed to get off the Temple of the Warriors, but not before he
made one last illustration for his studious companion.
    He
turned and faced the large serpent columns towering over the chacmool behind
them. “See these columns?” he asked. “Just like the shadow-play on the
Castillo, the tails of these serpents point skyward. More specifically, they
point to one specific point in the sky—the space directly overhead.”
    “The
zenith,” Lori clarified.
    “That’s
right,” Chac said, impressed. Could it be this bright young lady was versed in
archaeoastronomy too? “But there is one specific feature in the sky that the
serpent tails are intended to point to. The tzab.”
    “The tzab?”
    “In
the Yucatec language it means ‘ serpent rattle ’ but it
also refers to the Pleiades. Are you familiar with the zenith cosmology of the
Toltecs?”
    Lori
indicated that she was. The Toltecs had been keen on the movements of the Pleiades.
To them the star cluster was the tail rattle to the Milky Way, the flying
serpent in the sky. Special ceremonies were held every fifty-two years when the
Pleiades crossed the zenith, but no crossing was as highly anticipated as the
one that had occurred only six months ago. May 20, 2012 saw the Pleiades not
only crossing the zenith, but meeting the sun and the moon there as well. Chac
recalled the solar eclipse that hung directly over Chichen Itza’s Castillo that
day, but he was further impressed that Lori knew the Pleiades had been there
too—the confirmation of the Feathered Serpent’s long-awaited ascent to his
throne. According to the ancient Toltecs, Chac and Lori were already living in
a new age - the