In Central American legends, the Milky Way, many constellations, and specific stars and star systems are involved in the journey of life. The cycles of the Sun, Moon, Venus, and the darkness of night play a major role in the journey to higher ideals and understanding the purpose for being.

Sun, Venus, and the Moon: Creation and the Cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth

In the Quiché Mayan manuscript Popol Vuh, literally "Book of Counsel," we find a legendary tale that is best read as one would read a dream. In this tale the Sun and Venus go through recurring cycles of entering the Underworld to face its shadowy challenges to life and consciousness. The Sun represents the strength and weakness of the mind, and Venus the strength and weakness of the heart. Over and over they engage or are engaged by the dark forces of the Underworld. They fail, recover, and rise again to face the challenges again and again. This cycle, this pattern is an underlying truth about life in and around Earth, a life that the ancient ones knew and understood well. The tale goes like this:

The Sun (Hunhun-ahpu) and Venus (Vukub-hunhun-ahpu) are called by the Lord of Death (Vucub Caquix, "7 Macaw") who appears in the form of a macaw, a large parrot with brilliant plumage indigenous to subtropical America. He wants them to come into the realms of Darkness in the Underworld (Xibalba, the "place of awe"). When they enter the Lord of Death captures a part of the body of the Sun which must be recovered. In an attempt to retrieve it the Sun is defeated by Death and Darkness. They decapitate the Sun and hang his head on a tree. The head of the Sun calls to the Moon who, in the personage of the virgin Zquic or Xquiq represents another level or aspect of the mind. The Sun has learned from its failure and teaches the Moon that behind the face of all flesh is only a fleshless, bony skull; real life is in the mind and spirit, the essence of the being, not the face or appearance. Following this lesson the Sun impregnates the Moon with its saliva (symbolically a life-giving liquid that is magically made from within one's head not one's loins). The Moon returns to Earth pregnant with this new wisdom and gives birth to powerful twins, who are in fact the resurrections of the Sun and Venus (this time in the forms of Hunahpu and Xbalanque). The Lords of Darkness are so upset by this magic that they demand the virgin's heart on the funeral fire. After being captured by the dark forces, the Moon convinces her guards to spare her. They replace her heart offering with the heart-shaped fruit of a rubber tree. When the pretend heart is put upon the funeral fire it creates an enchanting fragrance, amazing the Lords of Darkness. With the birth of these two and the preserving of their mother's heart, the cycle begins again.

In going about their work of putting the world in order the Sun and Venus decide that order will not be achieved until they descend into the Underworld to face and overcome all the dark forces. As they attempt this they are again defeated by the Lords of Death (now called Hun Came, "Universal Death," or Vucub Came, "7 Death") and the other Lords who are called by the names of a host of illnesses, misfortunes, and evils. In the depths of the Underworld, so symbolic of the darkness of the subconscious mind's shadowy urges and fantasies, the Lords of Darkness appear to triumph again and again, only to witness the resurrection of the Sun and Venus again and again. Remember, the Sun and Venus represent the mind and heart of each godling, each human, that has to struggle through the challenges of individual development. For example, in the next cycle, the twins are called again to the Underworld, challenged to a ball game by the Lords of Darkness. As reviewed earlier, ball courts appear all over ancient Central America, recalling the primal game played between the forces of good and evil, light and dark, life and death.

During the sojourn in the Underworld to play the game, the Sun and Venus face seven trials. The 1st Trial requires that they discern the false from the real lords or forces of the Underworld (the subconscious mind), and name these forces; which they do. The next six trials deal with sleeping in various "houses of torment," or dimensions of thought that can possess one's consciousness and limit it. Of course, there is no surer way to get into the subconsciousness than by sleep and dreams, so they sleep. The first night's sleep begins the 2nd trial which is in The House of Shadows, where they are to keep a torch and a cigar lit throughout the night, yet each item must be returned the next morning in its original, whole condition. The torch represents the light of the cosmos and macrocosm, the cigar the light of the individual and microcosm. The 3rd Trial is in the House of Spears where they are to defend themselves against constant attacks from warriors with spears while preparing four vases of rare flowers without leaving the temple to gather the flowers. The spears represent the free-will assaults of others that can cause one to retreat from the challenges of life. But even in the face of such challenges, one must bring forth goodwill, as in the beauty and fragrance of flowers. Yet, these rare flowers must be gathered from within oneself, not from outside. The 4th Trial is in the House of Cold where they must conquer the icy cold in order to survive through the night. As Jesus warned (Matthew 24:12), the hearts of many will grow cold and bitter, giving up hope and faith that good will overcome evil. In this house of torment, the mind and heart had to keep the warmth of hope and faith alive throughout the night. The 5th Trial is in the House of the Jaguar where they must elude the beast in the dark night in order to live to the next morning. The Jaguar is a complex influence in ancient Yucatan. It's night cries recall a beastly, deadly nature latent in all humans, a nature that could spring out of the darkness of one's mind at anytime and rend the outer self and others to pieces. Subduing this dark, beastly nature is important to survival and ultimate victory over the dark forces. The 6th Trial is in the House of Fire where they have to endure the furnace of the fire. Fire is a symbol of the greatest of tests, "the test as by fire." In this trial our mind and heart endure the greatest form of purification. Fire also represents rage and fury, which must be mellowed if one is to cooperate with others and the Whole. And finally, the 7th Trial is in the House of Bats where they have to enter a subterranean labyrinth with many strange and odious creatures of destruction and find their way through to the next morning. In this house we meet the shadows in the dark corners of our mind and heart. Each must be faced and tempered. Through cleverness and enlisting the cooperation of creatures and forces within each of these houses of torment, the Sun and Venus survive them all except for the very last, the House of the Bats. Here the Sun, the Mind, loses its head. Fortunately, Venus, the Heart, makes it through untouched. Celebrating their triumph over the Sun, the Lords of the Underworld place the Sun's newly decapitated head in the ball court. However, Venus, as the caring Heart, evokes the gods, fashions a temporary head for the Sun, and then (as god of war) takes command of the field and eventually conquers the Lords of Darkness, sacrificing most of them by "limiting their power and lowering their rank." The dominion of Death and Darkness is no longer absolute, and humanity can now survive their trials.

Through these trials the Sun and Moon become Father and Mother of Humanity, and Venus is now the helper who understands the struggles of humans.

In his book Lacandon Dream Symbolism: Dream Symbolism and Interpretation Among the Lacandon Mayas of Chiapas, Mexico, Robert D. Bruce explains how the Sun and Venus lived the heavenly cycle in all its various dimensions and challenges as a preparation for humanity, and that each human's life is a repetition of the same cycle, reflected in the cycle of a day. Man, like the Sun, rises in the morning of his or her life (dawn) to the height of one's power (noon), then is called to descend to the realm of Death and Darkness, and cannot escape that destiny, dying like the Sun at dusk. Then, ever seeking to rise again, one's mind begins the journey through the night world or underworld, rising to another dawn, wiser and stronger for having made the journey through the whole cycle. According to ancient legends, the journey and its struggles are also reflected in the movement of constellations, specific stars, and planets through the heavens and the ages of the Sun's passage through the ecliptic. Strikingly similar cycles are found in the manuscripts and on the walls of tombs and temples in Ancient Egypt, Persia, India, and China.

The Role of Bird-Serpent
In the Nahua manuscript known as The Legend of the Suns (Leyenda de los Soles) the god Quetzalcoatl invents and molds humans (the god's name is Gucumatz in Quiché-Mayan and Kukulcan in Yukatec-Mayan). Quetzalcoatl (pronounced, ket-sel-ko'-tel) is a fascinating god. Its name in Nahua (the language of the Aztec and Toltec) refers to the quetzalli, a specific bird of magnificent emerald green, blue, and scarlet plumage and coatl, literally meaning serpent. In the Quiché-Mayan language guc refers to this same beautiful bird and matz to the serpent, thus the god's name is Gucumatz. In Yucatec-Maya, kuc is the word for "feather," and can means serpent. However, Kukulcan may be a misspelling by the Spanish of Cuculcan. If so, cuc means "wave," cucul means wave-like or back-and-forth motion, a motion the quetzel bird makes as it flies, again identifying the god with this specific bird. The quetzel bird (pharomachrus mocinna) is about a foot long but with two more feet of tale feathers. It is the national bird of Guatemala (land of Quiché-Mayans) and is found in both South and Central America. Quetzalcoatl is often interpreted as "feathered-serpent" or "plumed-serpent," an idea that may come from spelling Cuculcan as Kukulcan, and because the statues and depictions of this god give the impression of a feathered serpent. Ancient mystical legends around the world contain images and tales of a "bird-serpent" or "winged-serpent" and, in some cases, of a bird carrying a serpent. In mysticism the bird can be a symbol of wisdom; with its higher-flying, higher-perspective mind. A bird flying above the ground would have a better perspective of the world than those who live only on its surface. In ancient Egypt, the messiah god Horus is presented by a falcon or hawk. Horus is depicted in the same way that Ra is, but with a new, wiser view than the original god. On the other hand, the serpent is often a symbol for the knowledge and power of the mind, occasionally misused knowledge and power, even evil. When the mind is raised with wisdom, then good growth, good change can occur. Therefore, the ability to lift one's mind (serpent) up to wisdom (bird) may be the deeper meaning behind the bird-serpent or winged-serpent symbols found in the ancient world. In deep trance Cayce interprets these two key icons as mind and wisdom. Therefore, henceforth we will use "Wise Mind" as a meaningful name for this important, active god in Central America, a name that each initiate in these ancient times would have known and understood.

Interestingly, the Nahua term quetzal may also be interpreted to mean "twin," another worldwide concept found in ancient legends. Twins in the form of intertwined serpents or struggling siblings is a powerful symbol for two aspects of consciousness.

Struggling Twins or Siblings
There are two distinct parts in every human being; one dominant, projecting into the physical world, and the other lying just behind daily consciousness. Even though most modern humans are not readily conscious of the twin aspects of consciousness, they often experience them and interact with them. For example, we have all at one time or another awakened with a dream that was so dynamic we wanted to remember it, perhaps write it in a journal, but as we came closer to consciousness we noticed that the bladder was full and went to empty it. Upon returning to the bedside to write down the dream we realized that we had completely lost the content of this significant dream. We remember having dreamed but not the dream. How is this possible? It is possible because our outer self, our daily conscious mind, does not dream the dream. Dreams come from the deeper self, the deeper consciousness. And we are very familiar with this inner self because, while dreaming, each of us clearly feels that our normal, personal self is dreaming. We say, "I'm dreaming" or "I had a dream." This deeper self is so natural to us, such an integral part of ourselves, that we don't even sense that it is a different portion of our being until we move into the outer self and lose the dream completely. What we call today the subconscious mind is the inner twin to our outer self. Moving through the thin veil of consciousness to stimulate the physical body to empty the bladder is so subtle a shift of consciousness from inner to outer self that we normally do not sense it. As we engage the somatic nervous system to move the physical body, we completely engage the outer mind, the outer physical self, losing conscious connection with the inner mind, the inner self. Even so, when we were in the dreaming mind, we felt that we were in our personal self; a normal, natural part of our being. We know our inner selves but the veil between the two is so delicate that we do not normally notice our shifting between the two, and the veil is so opaque that we cannot normally see back through it once on the other side of it. We need to work to make this veil more transparent and our sensitivities more acute to subtle shifts in consciousness. In this way we can connect our inner self with our outer self, and become whole again. This type of work was being conducted in the temples of Mu, Atlantis, and eventually in Yucatan, when these changes were still new and not so firmly established as they are today. The minds of heaven were fast becoming focused on the world and its challenges. This created another self, an earthly self.

Many of the spiritual teachings throughout the ages contain this two-part self in curious tales of two siblings or twins. One pursues the world, the other lingers behind, staying close to the parents or the original home. In some of these legends, the worldly one kills the other. Sometimes, it only seems as though the other is killed. In ancient Egypt we find tales of Osiris and his brother Set, in Mayan culture the legend of two godly brothers against two earthly brothers, in the Old Testament we find Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, and in the New Testament Jesus tells the parable of two brothers, a prodigal son and his brother who stays home and helps their parents. The tales contain the elements of deep truth about ourselves. Let's review them:

In the creation legend of the Quiché Maya as recorded in the manuscript Popol Vuh, both the heavenly self and the earthly self are depicted as twin brothers. In the beginning one named 7 Macaw comes to life in the world. He has a self-exalting nature, magnifying and glorifying himself. 7 Macaw claims a place in the Cosmos for himself that he does not deserve. He acts and talks like a god but he is not. Therefore, two real gods, twins from "the Heart of Heaven," come to destroy him. Here the tale repeats the struggle in a series of battles. In one of the series, the twins are named Blowgunner (representing the breath of God) and Jaguar Deer (the fleeting magic of God), decide that the self-glorifying 7 Macaw must die because he has neither a heritage nor a legacy with the Heart of Heaven. But 7 Macaw gives birth to two sons who continue in the ways of their father. These two brothers are symbolically named Alligator (one who attacks from beneath the surface) and Two-his-leg (one who stands upright and stomps mountains underfoot). They are just like their bragging father, taking upon themselves undeserved glory and attacking life for self-satisfaction, self-gratification. Now the godly hero twins plot to destroy them all, father and brothers. 7 Macaw is destroyed when the godly twins draw his pride from him, for all he was was pride. Alligator is destroyed by magic made by the godly twins. Two-his-leg is destroyed when he eats a bird cooked by the godly twins. The bird is symbolic of a higher, lighter influence that can fly above the earth and its mountains. Ingesting this influence took Two-his-leg's strength from him, leaving him unable to stomp mountains.

In the Egyptian legend of Osiris and Set we have twin brothers who come out of the heavens into the world together. They marry twin sisters, Isis and Nephthys. Osiris proves to be good, just, loving, and cooperative with all life. But Set seeks to exalt himself and satisfy his desires. Set becomes so jealous of the praise his brother receives from the people of the world that he kills him, cutting him into pieces. Osiris, upset by the terrible deed his brother has done to him, rejects the world as fundamentally evil and leaves it to those who pursue it. Osiris chooses to remain in the Netherworld between the outer world and the heavens and will weigh the heart of any who attempt to pass from the world to the heavens. Eventually, his brother Set is subdued by the Egyptian's version of a messiah, Horus, the immaculately-conceived son of Osiris' widow, the goddess Isis.

In the biblical story of Cain and Abel we have the two offspring of the fallen Adam and Eve. In Hebrew, the name Cain literally means "acquired one" and Abel means "a breath." Their names give an insight into their symbolic roles. "Cain" has been acquired in the pursuit of earthly desires. He is the outer ego-centric self. "Abel" denotes the breath that was received from the Lord in the Garden. Cain becomes a tiller of the soil, while Abel becomes a shepherd, a "keeper of flocks." In this we see the further distancing of Cain from the Lord, following in the curse of his father Adam: "cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:17-19). When the two brothers bring their offerings before God, Abel's is pleasing to God, while Cain's is not. This causes Cain to become angry and his countenance falls. Yet, when the Lord sees Cain's anger and low countenance, He instructs him, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, then sin is crouching at your door; its desire is to have you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:7).

In another Bible story we find twins Jacob and Esau who are very different in their interests and pursuits. Jacob lingers around the tents and talks about life and people's needs. Esau hunts and adventures in pursuit of life's many pleasures, gratifying his appetites. In a defining moment, Esau's desire to satisfy his hunger causes him to give away his inheritance to Jacob for a pot of lentil soup. Jacob becomes the heir to all their family's wealth. The story spins on the premise that even though Jacob came out of the womb first, his twin brother Esau stuck his foot out first making him the eldest son and inheritor of his father's kingdom. But it was not to be so. Fate and Esau's own nature played a role in passing the kingdom onto Jacob.

These stories have meaning for us because they reflect a deep truth about us. We are two. If we read Genesis carefully we will see that there were two creations. In the first (Gen. 1:26-27) we were created in the image of God, which is spirit &endash; "God is Spirit," John 4:23-24. In the second creation we were made of flesh (Gen. 2:5-7), from the dust of the earth. Hence, there are two parts to us, one godly and the other human. Here are those passages from Genesis:
Gen. 1:26-27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (our original androgyny)
Gen. 2:4-8
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens &endash; and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground &endash; the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

In the Mayan Popol Vuh, people (the outer twin) were made to provide nourishment for the gods (the inner twin) in the form of prayers and sacrifices. It is, after all, the godly portion that will live beyond death, and this portion is nourished by prayers, good deeds, and sacrifice of earthly pleasures that possess the mind after death of the physical body.

Returning to Quetzalcoatl (Wise Mind), the Popol Vuh records that before anything was created "only the sky alone is there; the face of the earth is not clear. Only the sea alone is pooled under all the sky. There is nothing else. It is all at rest, not a single thing stirs." Coiled within the still water is Wise Mind, with green and blue feathers this serpent lies still. In the sky above is the Heart of Heaven, who appears as three forms of lightning. Out of the stillness the Heart of Heaven and Wise Mind begin speaking to one another. Their words form the creation. As they discuss the creation it appears. The first dawn, the people, the food, the mountains and the earth, magically rise from the deep, silent, sea of consciousness as the Heart of Heaven and Wise Mind conceive them in their discussion.

In looking at the eccentric shapes found at many Mayan sites, one could easily associate the disk-shaped objects with the Heart of Heaven and the jagged-shaped pieces with the Wise Mind. Certainly the Mayans gave these two gods characteristics and roles that reflect the interplay between inner and outer, female and male, unseen and seen, formless and form. The two common eccentrics found at their sites reflect these dual forces. They are the yin and yang of Maya.

Into Matter, Ready or Not
All of these fascinating stories refer to a time in the mind, in the heavens, long before the story of matter and flesh. The beginning of the journey into matter and the cycles through physical reality are recorded in the Akasha as an unintended side-trip for the godlings that turned into an extended sojourn.

Before incarnating, many of the free-will godlings had already become so self-centered, self-motivated that they lost their spiritual purpose and began seeking self-gratification and self-exaltation. They pushed their way into matter without regard for the consequences. Since there were no humanoid bodies, they attempted to experience three-dimensional life through the senses of the existing animals and plants. Entangling their minds with these forms in the process. From this very ancient time came our mythological legends of creatures that were part man and part animal. A fundamental principle of creation was that each life-form should give seed to itself, to its own kind: dogs should produce dogs, fruit trees should produce fruit trees, and so on, but the godlings had pushed their minds into these life-forms, creating mixed creatures. This careless entrance into matter produced semi-human beings with feathers, scales, fur, claws, hooves, and tails. Their minds, though still powerful, were possessed with animal features: satyr and faun (human and goat), centaur (human and horse), sphinx (human and lion), merman and mermaid (human and fish), minotaur, (human and bull), gorgon (human and snake), geryon (human and cow), chimera (human mixed with lion, goat, and serpent) , and so on. These creatures were known for their vanity, idle fancy, lust, drunkenness, and cruelty. Virgil's depiction of the Gates of Hell touched on this in his poem in Aeneas: "Of various forms, unnumbered specters more; centaurs and double shapes besiege the door; before the passage horrid Hydra stands and Briareus with all his hundred hands; Gorgons, Geryon with his triple frame; and vain Chimera vomits empty flame." In addition to beastly mixtures there were grotesque giants: titans, cyclopes, and gigantes (huge beings with the heads of men and the bodies of serpents). Even entire forests were enchanted by spirits, godling minds trapped in tree forms. It is important to understand that these were not so much physical as they were mental. That's difficult to comprehend given that life today is predominantly physical. But at this ancient time life existed more in energy or thought than in matter. Thought forms existed before physical forms, and the contamination first occurred in the mind. We like to call this "mythology." Odd blends of gods, humans, and animals are mythology. They are imaginative tales of the origin and nature of the world told by primitive people. Yet these myths exist in all of the world's societies (Africa, Asia, India, Persia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Europe, Scandinavia, the Americas, and the Pacific) and are considered by each to be sacred. Myths are in pre-scientific legends of the past.

The Akasha contains the great story of a pre-evolutionary fall from heaven of great beings, angel-like beings made in the image of God. Prior to the evolution of matter there was an involution into matter from formless energy, or from mind and spirit. Hindu teachings of transmigration were founded upon these ancient legends. And though transmigration does not occur today, it once did. Beings we would consider to be humanoid were incarnating in non-human forms. But this was all about to change. A human form or body was needed and through a series of prototypes, one was developed.

According to the akashic records, the first place godlings incarnated in large numbers was not in Africa, that came much later when we were more deeply into matter. The first place was in Mu about 12 million years ago, or what is often referred to as Lemuria, an ancient continent in the Pacific Ocean. The minds of the godlings had been entering the realm of Earth since about 4.6 billion years ago, but much of this time was in the realm of the mind. True incarnation into carnal forms did not begin until Mu. Here's where human evolutionary theory and akashic tales part company. According to evolutionary theory, humans were still wandering around in primitive forms only a few thousand years ago. Cro-Magnon man (Homo-sapiens) was active in Europe and the Middle East about 40,000 years ago. The first city wasn't built until Jericho, about 10,000 B.C. Egypt and China didn't begin their spectacular cultures until 3,000 B.C. However, scientists have found humanoid or, as they call them, "hominid" remains dating back millions of years.

During the latter stages of the involution into matter the godlings were highly attuned to the forces of the Universe and Nature, capable of amazing feats of creativity and building. According to the akashic records the megalithic structures we find around the world from antiquity were indeed built by these godlings. It was a time of power that we can only imagine. For example, today there are just two cranes in the world that can lift the stones in the Great Pyramid of Giza. In order to build it we would have to perfectly lay 63 of these huge stones each day for 100 years (no days off) &endash; not likely. Everything old is not primitive, yet where are the physical remains of these powerful beings? The Akasha records that the tools of the ancient builders were not as physical as ours, their "bodies" not dense; therefore, no remains are in the layers of Earth to be discovered. Another curious indicator that ancient times may not have been as we believe is that even the physical evolutionary records reveal unexplainable jumps in development. For example, the time for evolution from monkey-men to Cro-Magnon is millions of years, but the time for evolution from Cro-Magnon to Queen Hatshepsut ruling over the glories of golden Egypt is only 37,000 years. Her granite obelisk in the temple at Karnak weighs approximately 100 tons and is carved with a level of skill that would be hard to find today. In fact, raising her obelisk is impossible today. And there are many similar megalithic structures around the world. According to the akashic records, the descending godlings used their powerful minds and intuitive understanding of the forces of the cosmos and Nature to build and survive. They projected themselves into this world using thought-form rather than matter, yet they could influence matter and its evolution. Their minds affected the breeding of animals, especially monkeys. They created what Cayce called, "things" to labor for them, zombie-like creatures of physical form, some were actually humanoid. However, the forces of Nature occasionally reacted with such force and violence to their disturbing presence that dramatic cataclysms occurred in the Earth, so dramatic that the godlings would withdraw or be forced out of Earth, leaving life here to evolve untouched by them for long periods. During these times of turmoil and change the Things were left to their own evolution following the laws of Nature. They wandered the Earth, evolving along with the plant and animal life. These zombie-like creatures had primitive minds, no souls, and were used by the godlings as we today use domestic animals. They bred and multiplied.

The godlings always returned. Each return was like a new creation or era. Cayce sees almost the same record in the Akasha as the Central American legends of the four major creations or ages.

The Four Ancient Creations within a Fifth
A belief in multiple creations is found in most of the ancient legends around the world. These ancient legends tell of several attempts to create carnal, humanoid beings that were well-acclimated to the dimensions of Earth yet remained aware of the gods and honored them by magnifying good rather than giving strength and power to the forces of darkness, death, and evil.

In Nahua (Aztec and Toltec), Maya, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Otomi legends there are normally four creations, "world ages," or "suns." We find the same number among the Navaho and Pueblo of North America and the Quechua in Peru. The age we currently live in is the fifth world age and is the sum of the previous four ages, resulting in the concept of five in four, as carved in the magnificent Aztec Sun Stone currently on exhibit in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It is a 25-ton, basalt, circular monolith, almost 12 feet in diameter, called the Cuauhxicalli or "Eagle Bowl." It illustrates both mythological and astronomical messages. On this magnificent stone the sign that names the present "sun" or age, called Movement (Nahui Olin), is composed of the signs that name the previous four suns or ages which, interestingly, correspond to the four elements (earth, water, fire, and air). The order of these ages is in question and varies from record-to-record, but the Akasha would dictate that these go in clockwise order around the Sun Stone beginning in the upper right. Therefore, the order of the suns or ages is: 1) Jaguar Age (Nahui Ocelot), 2) Water Age (Nahui Atl), 3) Fiery Rain Age (Nahui Quiahuitl), and 4) Wind Age (Nahui Ehecatl). In each age humans assumed a different form: In the first age they were giants who became like wood; in the second, like fish; in the third, like birds; and in the fourth, like apes. The fifth age is indicated in the very center of the circle by the face of the Sun god (Tonatiuh) and the four other ages in a process of movement or change, and is the final age. The Mayan calendar indicates that the fifth age ends December 23, 2012 A.D. After the fifth age the legend indicates that the original state prior to the creations returns. Whether this is gradual or cataclysmic is unclear in the legend but the Akasha indicates gradual, as Cayce reads it.

These ages are enclosed in the unending ring of the Twenty Signs or "day-names," each composed of thirteen numbers, resulting in a calendar of 260 days (13 x 20 = 260), matching Venus' journey with the Sun through the sky. The Twenty Signs run counterclockwise on the Sun Stone, and two huge serpents encompass the outer rim, meeting at the bottom of the circle. Out of the mouths of the two serpents appear the face of the Sun god (right serpent) and the Fire god (left serpent). The four points of compass directions (north, east, south, and west) and the four seasons of the year (spring, summer, fall, and winter) are also indicated by pyramid-like cones that represent beams of sun- and moon-light. Very similar designs can be found in other ancient cultures, showing the ages, zodiac, seasons, and compass points.

When we combine the Aztec and Maya versions of the creation story through the four ages or suns, we have the following. Again, it is helpful to read these as one would a dream.

1st. The Age of Jaguar (Element: Earth)
In the Jaguar Age the people were giants, with great power, but became like wood. The wooden people were stiff-necked and heartless, no longer listening to the gods and not seeking the light of the gods. Therefore, the gods caused the light of the Sun to be eclipsed, and in the resulting darkness jaguars and other beasts of the world ate up the wooden people. So repulsive were the wooden people that even things like grinding stones and cooking pans attacked them, saying: "We have been shattered by you every day, every day, night and day, all the time; crunch, crunch, scrape, scrape, on our faces you went." This same tale is found in the Quechua myth from Peru but with slightly different animals.

Seeing this terrible situation the Wise Mind became the morning and evening star, Venus. Its illumination would reduce the darkness of the Jaguar Age. To soften the darkness, Wise Mind, as Venus, heralds the coming of the Sun in the morning for 260 days and lingers after the setting Sun in the evening for 260 days. In Genesis 1:14-15, we find a correlating reference to this, "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and it was so." This extra light, and the other lights of the night (the moon and stars) cured the curse of the Jaguar Age.

The wooden people were destroyed but the Popol Vuh says that their descendants are the monkeys.

2nd. The Age of Water (Element: water)
In the Age of Water the people were made of mud (Aztec) or clay (Maya). They were created to be conscious, aware of the thirteen heavens, nine levels of earth, and nine realms of the underworld, and to nourish the gods (symbolic of the godly portion of themselves) with prayers and offerings. However, the people lost their consciousness, blending so completely into the watery world that they turned into fish. This was unacceptable; they were to be fully conscious people, not fish lost in one dimension of life. This is not literal but, like a dream, it is the imagery and symbolism of the deeper levels of the mind. The story is trying to convey the essence of an event that was only barely physical yet so important to gaining an understanding of our origins. The water represents a less dense aspect of matter into which the descending godlings moved. Once in it they so merged with it that they became lost. For all intents and purposes they were like fish in the sea, unaware of the worlds beyond the water. The Mayan Popol Vuh talks about this being a time of the creation of animals, who could not praise and worship the gods because they could not speak: "They just squawked, they just chattered, they just howled. It wasn't apparent what language they spoke, each one gave a different cry." For the companions of the Creator of the cosmos, this was an intolerable condition and could not be allowed to go on eternally.

In an attempt to correct this confusion the celestial water merged with the waters below to create a great flood that cleansed the world of fish-like people. But the flood made things worse. Wise Mind saw that the horizon was lost due to the flood waters, and because of this no one could determine which direction to go or where they were. Therefore, Wise Mind separated the waters above from the waters below by again becoming the planet Venus. The legend says that Venus "wounds the sources of water," keeping the rain-gods from bringing the flood again. Now the waters above are separated from the waters below. This same tale is recorded in Genesis 1:6-8, "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day."
3rd. The Age of Fiery Rain (Element: fire)

In the third age people are made like birds, more like turkey birds than high-flying birds. They could walk on the earth and fly a little. In the Popol Vuh this age ultimately causes our Heavenly Twins (Sun and Venus) to determine that the Earth will never be an inhabitable place until evil and darkness are defeated, and to decide to enter the Underworld and defeat darkness. Xibalba is the legendary underworld or netherworld for the Maya, Mictlan for the Aztec. As presented earlier, it is representative of the uncentered, unenlightened mind where all manner of darkness and death abide. It is considered by the Maya to be a "watery place." As we have seen, the Heavenly Twins go into the Underworld and there experience many trials, tests, and challenges. They die but rise from it again and again, continuing to face every challenge that is brought against them by the Lords of the Underworld, representing the forces within the minds of the godlings who are struggling with the challenges of independent consciousness and free will. Ultimately, they subdue the forces of evil and darkness, taking away the power of the Lords of darkness, death, and evil. Now the Earth is finally ready for a more perfect creation: the Maize People. This portion of the Yucatan creation story corresponds almost exactly to the Akasha's creation story of the first Eden in Atlantis &endash; a story we will get to in a moment.

In the Popol Vuh Wise Mind created maize people from yellow and white maize (corn) with the help of the aged goddess Xmucane (Maya) or Cihuacoatl (Aztec: literally, woman serpent). In this story the corn is identified with the bones of the fish people, which Wise Mind retrieved from the Underworld. The serpent goddess Xmucane grinds the bones or corn into meal that she then places in a sacred bowl, around which the gods gather and shed drops of their blood in order to turn the meal into a substance that can make maize people. These maize people become god-like, able to see visions, read thoughts, perceive the secret of the four world-ages and know instantaneously what is happening anywhere in space. Wise Mind and the Heart of Heaven realize that these maize people are too perfect and will establish an eternal home in matter on the Earth, never seeking the heavens of pure energy and consciousness again. In order to preserve the heavens as the true realm and the gods as the true nature of humanity, the gods decide to "chip the eyes of the maize people," causing them to lose some of their vision and thereby deprive them of establishing an eternal kingdom in matter on Earth. This loss of vision humbled the maize-people. Now they needed to seek deeper understanding, to seek the light of truth in their darkness. Powerful beings who lose power is a theme found in many ancient legends; even the Bible recounts that "The Nephilim were in the earth in those days" and God repented having created them. (Genesis 6:1-4)

To compensate for this loss of vision and power, the gods create beautiful wives for the maize people. This corresponds with the creation of the feminine and the Atlantean story of the creation of Lilith, which we will cover in detail in a moment.

In their darkness the first tribes of the maize-people journey to the place of the Seven Caves and Seven Canyons (Tulan Zuiva) &endash; a possible metaphor for entering the physical body with its seven hidden chakras or lotuses. There they received their patron gods, including Tohil, a patron god of the Quiché and the source of fire, the element of this age. When the people finally leave the Seven Canyons, they no longer speak one language and now travel in five different groups and directions, exactly as the Akasha describes the original five races, five nations, and five senses separating and going to specific locations on the Earth (more on this in a moment).

The Fiery Rain Age ended by volcanic fire and ash.

4th. The Age of Wind (Element: air)
The fourth age was the age of the Wind with its hurricane, when people became like apes, simians. It would be an age of strong winds against which the people would have to hold on tightly. Therefore, their hands were made for powerful gripping, hence the prehensile thumb. Rather quickly the age proves no better than the three before it. It ends by devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, and wind storms. Once everything is swept away, the four ages are ready for the process of movement and change, and the fifth age begins.

5th. The Age of Movement
For the Aztecs, this age begins in the city of Teotihuacan, literally "the place of those who became gods," considered the place where current time began. Here the gods came together in a great meeting to determine who would be the new sun to light the new age. They are faced with two choices, represented by two gods who volunteer for the mission: Tecuciztecatl and Nanahuatzin. The first god is showy, proud, and offers the finest raiments of quetzal plumes and golden balls, with awls of jade tipped with red coral, and incense of the rarest fragrance. The second god is sickly, and offers bundles of reeds, maguey spines dipped in his own blood, and for incense burns scabs picked from his body. The gods prepare a great fire to test which of these two choices will make the best sun. As the test proceeds it turns out that the showy choice cannot withstand the heat of the fire and retreats, but the second lowly choice jumps straight into the white hot fire and is consumed immediately. So taken by the bravery of this act, the retreating showy god returns and follows the lowly one into the fire. So taken by these brave acts the eagle and the jaguar also jump into the fire. The company of gods waits to see where these gods will reappear. Slowly the sky reddens and the new sun appears, red hot in the eastern sky. Shortly thereafter the moon also appears in the eastern sky. Worried that the two lights will make the Earth too bright, the gods dim the moon's light.

These two choices are symbolic of the way of self-glorification, self-exaltation versus humility, meekness, and sacrifice. It is decided that the latter will guide all people to the deeper truth and higher achievements.

In the Aztec tale, the new sun and moon are stationary in the sky. This isn't good because it does not reflect the cycles of growth through trials, tests, failures and resurrections that all the gods have come to know as requirements to overcome darkness, death, and evil. Movement must begin. But, the new sun (now called, Tanotiuh) demands that the company of the gods shed their blood also before movement begins. He insists that all must help this great effort. After initial resistance, the gods finally comply with the sun's demand and begin to sacrifice themselves to join in the long journey of life through matter. One by one Wise Mind cuts the hearts out of each god with a sacred knife. From this legend one finds the source of the distorted understanding that led many ancient Central American priests into the brutal, bloody practice of cutting hearts out of human bodies. They had lost so much attunement to the higher, finer understanding that they could no longer perceive the metaphorical meaning behind the legends. The symbolism of this heart-removing act among the gods matches the Old Testament of circumcising the hearts so they are more compatible with the Heart of Heaven or God. Here are a few examples:

"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked," Deuteronomy 10:16. This is reminiscent of the wooden people in the Jaguar Age who became stiffnecked and no longer listened to God.

"And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live," Deuteronomy 30:6.

"Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings," Jeremiah 4:4.

Unfortunately, the later priests were so out of touch with the deeper truths and inner sources of insight that they could not understand this.

Family gods, Bloodletting, and Death
As individuation continued, and awareness of the Oneness became more difficult, the people turned increasingly to themselves and to those among them that appeared powerful or simply more dominating. Before long, the one god was replaced by many gods and goddesses. But the descent continued until even the gods were of no help. Then, one's dead ancestors became a source of worship. It was believed that discarnates were nearer heaven than incarnates, so seeking their attention, guidance, and help became important. Altars to family or community gods were built. Early on, discarnate souls did prove to be helpful, often speaking to their incarnate loved ones during ecstatic ceremonies designed to create altered states of consciousness among the incarnates. However, the deeper one descended into matter, the more one needed physical help and protection. It became increasingly difficult for discarnates to provide this help. But, due to the distortion of the deeper truths, many attempted to gain the gods' attention by sacrificing grains, animals, even humans on the altars. A variation on this was the idea that the soul of a recently killed person could rise up into the heavens and get help for the people behind in Earth. Initially, enemies were the best candidates for sacrifice. But eventually, as the gods proved more difficult to contact, the priests began to teach that sacrificing a loved one, a virgin, or a young one, would get the greater response from the discarnate, family gods &endash; so reminiscent of Abraham attempting to sacrifice his son Isaac to gain God's favor. Some ancient ceremonies were actually designed to take a pumping heart out of a sacrificial person, keeping them semi-alive in this world while they were becoming semi-alive in the next world. Some victims actually offered themselves, believing that they could help their families. Even among the less violent tribes, blood was believed to be magical, with a "smell" that not only attracted animals but the gods in the borderland or netherworld to this world. In these communities the priests and priestesses would cut themselves or those seeking help, tripping their blood upon the altar to attract discarnates of their family or tribe. If anyone received help in this way, then the spot upon which it happened became a sacred, honored by all and returned to many times in an effort to repeat the experience. Since blood had been a part of the ceremony, then much more blood would be shed trying to recreate the experience. In some cases, so much blood was shed that channels were built to carry it away, making room for more.

This happened with most ancient people, not just those in Yucatan. Even the Judeo-Christian religions have their legacy in blood sacrifice; from Abraham offering his son Isaac to the blood of Jesus Christ offered up for the sins of the world.

According to Cayce's reading of the Akashic records, members of the Lost Tribes of Israel actually landed in Yucatan, bring their blood sacrifice ceremonies with them and influencing the religious ceremonies in Yucatan. Some of these migrating Hebrews eventually ended up joining the Mound Builders in North America. Cayce also reads that many who migrated to Yucatan refused to accept blood sacrifice and migrated northward to escape these aberrations of true spiritual ceremonies. Some of these headed to Chaco Canyon, others up the Mississippi Valley. Some where powerful leaders who simply abandoned their positions of authority to live humbly among the earth and trees of North America.

Death is another issue of some importance. Early on there was no death. These were immortal minds that descended from the heavens. They did not become mortal humans until much later. The beginning of death as we know it today was a major change, as you can imagine. In order to die, a mind has to so lose awareness of its connection with the Source of Life that it actually believed that it was dead, even when there was no way to kill a mind. This is easier to do if the mind completely identifies with matter. In other words, identify with the physical body, losing awareness of the spark. And this is what happened. However, Cayce states that there is no reason for a physical organism to age and die. With proper assimilation of nutrients and eliminations of drosses and toxins, a physical organism should continue to regenerate, rejuvenate, and live; that is if the élan vital, the kundalini, the life force runs through it. As soon as the mind loses contact with the Life Force, then the body slowly deteriorates, until it gives up the soul or ghost, and the mind and soul depart.

Once death became a part of life all kinds of problems and concerns developed. Ceremonies were developed to prepare for death, to take care of the corpse after death, and even to contact the deceased soul-mind in the worlds beyond. Two excellent examples of ceremonies preparing one to die to this world, then enter the borderland or netherworld, and successfully traverse it to the heavens above are found in the Book of the Dead, one Tibetan, another Egyptian. Both of these ancient texts outline the journey through various gates and realms of the Underworld up to the Heavens.