Codex Borbonicus: The primordial male and female creative forces, personified as Ometecuhtli-Omecihuatl

Many agrarian and militaristic states have responded in similar ways to the fundamental economic and ideological necessities that confront them. Their responses stem from the particular ways in which they comprehend the universe around them. People depend on nature, and, in their endeavors as productive beings, they actively transform the natural world. At the same time, they also construct a pantheon of gods to whom they ascribe the creative power of all that exists. It is these gods who …

In the silence of the night, hundreds of candles burn by the graves and the rows of baskets that have been laid out with white cloths covering the offerings of holiday bread; everything about is sprinkled with orange marigold petals (see fig. 1). Small wooden altars also stand by the low mounds, each decked with bread, dried ears of maize, and the bright pungent flowers. The village women sit in vigil, wrapped in dark shawls and the red or black folds of their woolen skirts. Their only movements …