Klaas-Jan BAKKER - AMORC

Nowadays called the Valley of Mexico, it is to
a large part covered by modern Mexico City. In
Aztec times the outline of the five interconnected
lakes at the centre of the valley looked like
the rabbit that you see in the full moon (other
cultures may see a man in the moon). Metztliápan
or “The Lake of the Moon” is the sight you saw
as you entered the valley from the ancient city of
Teotihuácan or from the north, as did the Aztecs
when they first arrived.
His Early Life
The esoteric understanding of the invisible world
of the sacred calendar, and the cosmic forces
that adhered to time itself was obtained directly
through the divinatory books of the peoples of
Pre-Columbian Mexico, which served as portals
into the ancient Mexican calendrical system and
the cycles of time and meaning they encoded.
Thus it was that in the year Ce Tochtli, (“One
Rabbit” or 1402), on the day Ce Mazatl, (“One
Deer” 28 th April), Nezahualcóyotl Acolmíztli, the
son of King Ixtlilxóchitl of Texcóco and Queen
Matlalcíhuatl, the daughter of Huitzílhuitl, the
Aztec king, was born into a world very different
from the one we now know.
The succession to the throne of Texcóco
was thus assured. The astrologers of the royal
household rejoiced, for children born on the
day “One Deer” were said to be noble and
generous but somewhat shy. His birth year
however, compensated for the ambiguity of his
birth day, because children born in the year “One
Rabbit” generally turned out to be prosperous
and tenacious; two qualities required of a future
king.
Nezahualcóyotl’s life was not
an easy one. At the age of seven he
was sent off to the calmécac, a school
for sons of the nobility. There he was
taught how to live on frugal meals in
order to survive during times of war,
how to bathe in icy water in order to
brave the elements, and how to pierce his body
with cactus thorns in order to withstand pain and
to draw blood as an offering to the gods.
Though Nezahualcóyotl was born heir to
the Acolhuan throne, his childhood was not one
of luxury. The Texcocans were then fighting for
their very existence against the Tepanecs from the
western side of the valley. In 1418, when he was
sixteen, the Tepanecs succeeded in subjugating
Nezahualcoyotl, ruler of Texcoco (from the Codex Ixtlilxochitl,
folio 106R).
his people. While concealed in the branches of
a tree, he watched Tepanec soldiers butcher his
father.
Máxtla
The fleeing Nezahualcóyotl was warmly received
in Tenochtítlan, but it was too close to the Tepanecs,
so he went into exile outside the valley in the
Having finally attained the throne that was
his birthright, Nezahualcóyotl, the seventh
king of his line, began to display evidence of
his remarkable abilities.
cities of Huexotzínco and Tlaxcála, where he
lived with the tlamatíni or wise men, and devoted
the next eight years to study and intellectual selfadvancement.
Along with academic pursuits,
Nezahualcóyotl received instruction in duties
befitting his station. He had never forgotten the
brutal circumstances that triggered his exile and
was determined to regain his throne. To that end
The Rosicrucian Beacon -- December 2007
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