Prophecies of the Toltecs
and Mayas
When Hernando Cortez came to Mexico he found a great civilization of
Indians, the
Aztecs. Although they constantly waged war to take captives for bloody
sacrifices, Cortez was impressed that their way of life was as orderly and convenient,
and
their standard of living" was nearly the same as in Spain. They had
received their
culture from the Toltec Indians, whom they had conquered a few centuries
before,
and from the ancient prophet-ruler of the Toltecs, Quetzalcoatl (the
Feathered
Serpent, as he was called). Just as the Spaniards made a slaughter of the
Indians
in the name of Christ, whose Message was of love, so had the Aztecs fallen
away
from the similar teachings of Quetzalcoatl.
Quetzalcoatl's message of love and wisdom is reflected in the following
advice of
an Aztec noble to his sons:
"Take great pains to make yourselves friends of God who is in all parts,
and is
invisible and impalpable, and it is meet that you give Him all your heart
and
body, and look that you be not proud in your heart, nor yet despair, nor
be
cowardly of spirit; but that you be humble in your heart and have hope in
God. Be
at peace with all, shame yourselves before none and to none be
disrespectful;
respect all, esteem all, defy no one, for no reason affront any person."
Toltec Prophecy of Return of Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl was described as a white man, with a beard, who wore long
robes, and
who gave a message of love, forbidding the blood sacrifice, teaching of
the One
Supreme God, and giving the Toltecs many material things of their culture,
such as
the calendar. He left the Toltecs because of the enmity and persecution of
powerful religious leaders, but promised one day to return, as he had
left, from
the East, over the ocean. This "return" as has been explained in "Warriors
of the
Rainbow" (Warriors of the Rainbow, by William Willoya and Vinson Brown,
Naturegraph Publishers), is by no means necessarily a return of the same
physical
Being, but can mean far more logically the return of the same Spiritual
Message
coming from another Great Prophet.
Quetzalcoatl has been described by Dr. Herbert Joseph Spinden as "perhaps
the most
remarkable figure in ancient American history". He established not only a
religion, but taught the people all manner of arts, sciences and useful
social
customs. Not all histories can agree on when Quetzalcoatl lived or even if
he ever
lived, though most tend to agree that he did exist. He has been called St.
Thomas
and even Jesus Christ himself. As to when he lived, there is not much
agreement
either, some saying he lived in the 12th century, others that he lived at
the same
time as Christ. Many historians, however, agree with Dr. H.J.Spinden, who
states
the Quetzalcoatl established the Toltec Era on August 6, 1168 A.D. and
that most
Mexican year counts begin with that date. A Toltec "era" was 52 years
long, and
calendar dates were based on cycles of 52 years. The Toltec and Aztec
years were
of the same length as our years, while those of the Mayas, as is explained
later,
were shorter than our years by 5 days.
A. Hyatt and Ruth Verrill, in their book on America's Ancient
Civilizations, tell
us that most myths agree that Quetzalcoatl not only said he would return
from the
East but that before he returned bearded white men would come who would
conquer
the Indians and enforce on them a different religion. However, he said
that when
he returned all the ancient glory of the Indians would return.
But what of the return of Quetzalcoatl? Various Writings say he spoke of a
new
religion coming in the 13th era. He would return, bringing a reign of
peace, and
the "advent of a new spiritual order". He would return as he had left,
from the
East, across the sea. He would be bearded, Caucasian and wear long robes.
He said
he would come in the year of his birth, but the only date we are given is
the year
of his spiritual birth, which is the birth of the Toltec Era, as described
by H.J.
Spinden, or 1168 A.D. The return in the 13th Toltec Era, as foretold in
the
prophecies, would not be earlier than 1844 A.D.
Prophecy of the return of Quetzalquatl in the 13th Toltec Era (thirteenth
52 year
cycle)
0 Toltec Era............. 1168 AD
1st Toltec Era...........1220 AD
2nd Toltec Era......... 1272 AD
3rd Toltec Era...........1324 AD
4th Toltec Era.......... 1376 AD
5th Toltec Era...........1428 AD
6th Toltec Era...........1480 AD
7th Toltec Era...........1532 AD
8th Toltec Era...........1584 AD
9th Toltec Era...........1636 AD
10th Toltec Era.........1688 AD
11th Toltec Era.........1740 AD
12th Toltec Era.........1792 AD
13th Toltec Era.........1844 to 1896
It may be more than an amazing coincidence that 1844 was the year when
millions of
Christians all over the world were expecting the imminent return of
Christ. The
Millerites in American, for example, from whom are descended the present
day 7th
Day Adventists, were sure, because of the prophecies in Daniel 8:13-14 and
in
Matthew 24:15, that this event would happen in 1844. When nothing happened
that
year in the physically glorious form they imagined it would, they were
much cast
down and disappointed.
It is extraordinary that few or any people had the wisdom to look back
into
history and see that Jesus Christ had not come in the way the People of
His time
expected. The people in the Holy Land in 1 A.D. all expected a great
Messiah, but
they thought He would arrive with great glory. However, the Messiah came
with
spiritual glory to test them, not in the physical glory they expected. The
First
Century of the Christian Era was like the dawn when the first light
reaches only
the mountain top so that only a few see and recognize the Sun of Truth
rising
above the horizon. Let us look then carefully to the year 1844 and see if
we
cannot find that a great spiritual Being same to men in that year, but was
not
seen by most of them because He did not come with the Physical glory
expected. If
so, then He fulfilled both the Biblical prophecies and those of the
Toltecs and
Aztecs.
Prophecies of Chilam-Balam of the Itza-Maya
That there may have been two, not one, appearances of Prophets near the
13th
Toltec Era is shown by the prophecies of the Itza-Maya. The Mayan people,
so far
as records show, were the first civilized people of Central America. They
built
great cities and two great flowerings of their civilization appeared, the
first,
or Old Empire, around 200 to 850 A.D., the second, or New Empire, from
around 1000
to 1350 A.D. The stimulus for the civilization of the New Empire was
largely due
to the coming of Nahuatl-speaking people from central Mexico called the
Itzas, who
were either related to or descended from the Toltecs and had with them the
new
religion of Quetzalcoatl (translated into Mayan as Kukulkan).
The Itza-Maya had fallen away from this religion to a considerable degree
by the
sixteenth century, which probably was the main cause of the breakup of
their
civilization at that time. But that the Maya recognized the "divine
source" of the
Itza religion, even though it was now little followed, can be seen from a
quotation which refers to their holy things being derived from Kukulkan
(or
Quetzalcoatl).
The Mayas had a calendar with cycles of 260 years. Since their years were
only 360
days long, one of their cycles is approximately equal to 256 of our years.
They
called a year a "tun" and 20 years made a "katun". A Katun was named after
the
last day in it, which would be a day "Ahau", preceded by a number. A
particular
katun, like "Katun 5 Ahau" would thus recur every 256 years.
Somewhere around the year 1500 A.D. there appeared among the Itza-Maya a
famous
seer or prophet by the name of Chilam Balam who foretold the coming of the
white
men and even gave details of the diseases and war they would bring and
gave the
dates of great disasters that actually came true according to his
calculations on
the Mayan calendar. It is the translations of his book of prophecies,
called the
"Book of the Jaguar Priest", made by Spanish-educated Mayan Indians into
Latin
script, but in the Maya Language, that we see today. The oldest and
apparently
most authentic of these translations is called the Book of Chilam Balam of
Tizimin, and it has the extraordinary prophecies that we are going to
quote here.
It is quite evident that Chilam Balam was not only warning the Indians of
the bad
days they would suffer under white rule, but also giving them hope that
one day
their ancient glory would come back when a new religion would come that
would
bring all the world into harmony.
Thus we find Chilam Balam lamenting over the loss of the priests who keep
the
calendar:
"How can the generations of the sons of the Itza tell us the days of the
prophecies and the days of the tun? How can we celebrate the rites of Lord
5 Ahau
in the twelfth tun, when he comes in benign holiness. . . in Katun 5 Ahau,
in the
twelfth tun?"
This coming of a great Spiritual Being (probably thought of as the return
of
Kukulkan or Quetzalcoatl) was given great emphasis by Chilam Balam. The
Katun 5
Ahau next arrived in 1594 according to the book on September 30. But the
book
speaks of the Indians being oppressed by the white people after 1594 so
that the
coming of a Great Prophet must be considered to occur at the next turn of
the
Katun Wheel, which would mean in another 256 years or late in 1850 A.D.
The
twelfth tun would appear in part of both 1862 and 1863, which would be the
date of
the coming of a Great Prophet "in benign holiness". To clinch this
prophecy Chilam
Balam gives another sign by which the coming of One or more who will unite
the
world shall be known. Thus he says:
"Would that he might return (to) the west, uniting with us in
commiseration over
our present unhappy plight! This is the fulfillment of the prophecies of
Katun 5
Ahau: the pottery jars shall be shattered into dust, when Run 19 arrives!
At that
time there will be imprisonment among the lords, when the prophecies have
come
true. There will be vigils in the overburdened katun. So be it. "It is very interesting that imprisonment is spoken of here. Many
Christians were imprisoned for their Faith, especially during the first two centuries A.D.
The
19th tun of the 5th Katun began in December, 1868. It would thus seem
evident that
if we found a Prophet who proclaimed a world-uniting religion in 1862 or
in 1863
and was imprisoned for this in 1868 or 1869, then this would be a proof
that this
prophecy literally came true. This would also agree in approximate time
with the
Toltec prophecy of the return of Quetzalcoatl in the 13th Toltec Era. But
the
implication is that there would be a coming of two great Prophets one
right after
the other!
The book also refers to two bearded ones from the East:
"One goes forth as ambassador. Another awakens Itzamna Kauil (God of the
Heavens)
in the west."
Also, on the same page, it says: "The temple receives its guests, the bearded ones from the lands of the
Sun (the
east). They are bringers of a sign from our Father God: blessings in
abundance!"
There will apparently be at least two important Lords who manifest
themselves at
this time, one as an ambassador, preparing the way, the other appearing as
the one
who gives the world-uniting Message. It speaks further of the sign, the
blessings
in abundance:
"Yes this sign is your assurance that they come from heaven. These
sacramental
objects of yours, O Itza, these holy things of yours, derive from Kukulkan.
Find
your holiness in truth and penitence. Find holiness with the people of God
. .
(obliterated). . in the world of Hunab Ku, The One Supreme God. He comes
to you
from heaven in the drops of rain. It is good, what I say unto you
assembled here,
O Itza. Let the earth awaken when they tread upon it, and attend, in
another katun
later on. Sufficient unto themselves are my words, for I am Chilam Balam
the
Jaguar Priest. I repeat my words of divine truth:
"I say that the divisions of the earth shall all be one!"