Native Mesoamerican spirituality: Ancient myths, discourses, stories, doctrines, hymns, poems from the Aztec, Yucatec, Quiche-Maya and other sacred traditions

The Classics of Western Spirituality

by Miguel León-Portilla

Book by

Genres: Religion, Philosophy, History, Spirituality, Mythology, Archaeology

300 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1980

About the author

Miguel León-Portilla was a Mexican anthropologist and historian. He was one of the most reputable and commonly cited authorities on Aztec culture and literature in the pre-Columbian and colonial eras among Mexican academia. Many of his works have been translated to English and are widely read.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of pre-Colombian texts, written primarily in Nahuath, Yucatec, and Quiche-Maya, is some of the wonderful, but unfortunately rare, literature preserved and not lost to history. There is much to study and reference in the collection, and for readers unexposed to pre-Colombian spirituality, it will seem quite different. That said, there is much to recognize as well, and the literature itself is quite beautiful. My two favorite selections are as follows:

From the Poetry of Nezahualcoyotl:

The Giver of Life enrages us,
He intoxicates us here.
No one is at His side
to be famous, to rule on Earth.

From the Poem of Tlaltecatzin:

The flowering chocolate drink is foaming,
Tobacco flowers are passed round,
If my heart tastes them,
I will be intoxicated…
Listen, I am alone and tormented,
May I not go to the place of the fleshless…
Alone I must go, my own self shall become lost…
I will go alone,
My heart covered with flowers…
Thus let it be,
But let it be without violence!
Overall, this is a great introduction, as well as reference, to this literature and the cultures from which it came.

See my other reviews here!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of of those anthologies that I am most grateful for, and I don't mean "most grateful" as an expression but as a specific place in every book that I have ever encountered. I don't know why the Florentine Codex isn't a fat paperback available in airports. The Quetzacoatl story, yes even rendered here in already-archaic prose by Spanish Friar Bernardino de Sahagaun from multiple "sources" (call them storytellers, wise sages, keepers of tradition, a council, but don't flatten them into sources), is one of the most haunting and beautiful stories you will ever encounter. Imagine if the Torah was preserved in three or four known copies and all of them were destroyed by an invading army. One among the invader's sought to hear your telling of it and record it. This isn't even touching how much or little the story itself had been possibly bastardized through Aztec and Mixtec voices. All we have is this, and it is uniquely enchanting to read. I have read the narrative so many times. I've put aside my desire to be enchanted while reading it, and it still captures you. I've written my own versions, reducing the purple tone. There is of course the telling of a story by a people accustomed to making record in pictoglyphs; it shows. It's instructive to hear that perspective in print, so that anyone interested in simple language, aspiring writers for example, will benefit from studying the account of Quetzacoatl and the Florentine Codex.

Collecting The Florentine Codex in English is expensive. This is a great introduction to the mind of the Mexica, who themselves co-opted culture and traditions millennia preceding them.

[Elizabeth Vilchis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for his translation of the anales and codices. I have been a fan of Miguel Leon-Portilla since I picked up Broken Spears, years ago. This book is fantastic. I've also read the poetry of Nezahualcoyotl, in a different work. Yet, Leon-Portilla provided in this publication, an unmatched set of footnotes and references for it, as well as for everything else he referenced. May he rest in a profound peace and sense of pride, knowing he give a voice to those who had been silenced.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great primary resources on mesoamerican thoughts and ideas of spirituality, on the omniscient being, and other songs.

[James Millikan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part 5, “Anonymous Religious Poetry,” and part 6, “The Poetry of Nezahualcoyotl and Other Priests and Sages Known to Us,” make this a five-star book.