Mexico: Popocatéptl's Eruptions Are "Part of the Countryside" Say Neighbors Living On Volcano's Flanks

Popocatéptl's increased activity has put the volcano in the local news. One expert said that his behavior now is similar to what occurred before his last eruption in 1994. So here's the latest information based on my translation of a CNN Mexico article that appeared today. Links are to stories that CNN reporter Elvia Cruz filed, and I translated, last year at this time.

Popocatéptl Venting Ash Viewed from Puebla (Photo: Elvia Cruz)

CNN Mexico: Elvia Cruz

Santiago Xalizintla, Puebla - For José Cortés Agustín, listening to the roar of the volcano Popocatépetl is common. Observing the launch of incandescent material at night, "is part of the beautiful landscape" of his community, Santiago Xalitzintla, a town located less than twelve kilometers [7.5 miles] from the crater.

This Sunday as authorities prepared to evacuate residents near Don Goyo, as the volcano is also known, if it becomes necessary, the 75-year-old continued his normal activities.

"I would rather die here (in Xalitzintla) than leave. It frightens those from the city. The fear does not exist over there, he (Popocatépetl) would not hurt us. He gives us beautiful images so there is no reason to be frightened. No one can predict the day of his eruption (...) They say on the news that there is to be an alert, but his tremors and thunder are part of his business and also of those who live near him," he tells CNN México.

This weekend the Civil Protection "alert" went from Yellow-Phase 2 to Yellow-Phase 3, which means explosions of growing intensity with possibilities of pyroclastic flows--a mixture of gases and hot solids--of moderate range, according to the National Commission for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED).

In the predawn hours of Sunday morning, the government of the state of Puebla, in the center of Mexico, implemented the Popocatépetl Operation Plan, which means outfitting shelters, the deployment of at least 2,000 emergency crew to the communities closest to the volcano to be prepared in case they have to evacuate the residents.

The volcano is located on the border of the states of Puebla, Mexico and Morelos.

According to the official report, the three communities closest to the crater that would have to be evacuated are San Pedro Benito Juárez, Atlixco, San Nicolás de los Ranchos and Santago Xalitzintla, where more than 11,000 people live.

"We are prepared for everything"

Nestor Torres, who has spent twenty years teaching in the Benito Juárez Elementary School in the village of Santiago Xalitzintla, agrees with José: living on the slopes of Popocatépetl, "does not present a problem".

The 48-year old teacher believes that now the people of this town are "more prepared" in case they have to evacuate.

"The families know that when the bells ring, they have to gather on the plaza in order to be taken to shelters. What must be recognized is that there are stubborn people who would not accept leaving their homes."

Nestor recalls the last time Popocatépetl erupted in December 1994.

"At that time, we were definitely frightened. My students weren't sure what to do, and neither was I. I just remember that the Army came and took us to a hostel. Everyone was scared. The people said that the end of the world had arrived. Fortunately, there were no losses to mourn. Now, we are all very used to Popo's noises", he told CNNMéxico.

He adds that the tremors caused by Don Goyo, shake "very strongly" the windows of the classrooms where he teaches, but that does not interrupt classes.

"At school we are prepared for any contingency. In case of expulsion of lava, ash, stones, the children know how to evacuate and get to the hostel at the high part of Xalitzintla," Araceli Jiménez, teacher responsible for civil protection at Benito Juárez Elementary School.

The high activity that Popocatépetl has sustained since last Tuesday should not be minimized either by the authorities or by the population, says volcanologist, Alejandro Rivera Domínguez.

Right now the volcano presents "a stage of interior pressure followed by forming a dome"; thus, he expects that the expulsion of ash, incandescent material and light stones would continued in the next few hours, or even weeks, says the specialist.

"There is a serious danger that small dense clouds of hot ash and might reach populated areas, so it is important to be vigilant," he says.

The Tradition of Don Goyo

According to the tiempero, Antonio Analco, Popocatépetl has told him that he will not erupt. The tiempero is the person chosen ... to talk with the volcano. He had his last "encounter" with Don Goyo on May 3, when the volcano told him that there will not be major danger.

"He also told me that so much movement bothers him. He doesn't like it that you are afraid. So much commotion by the government and the journalists make him nervous," he says.

The 68-year old man has the belief that Don Goyo will inform him through "a dream" at what point "he will seriously wake up" but "not right now that he only throws ash and lava."

In order to ask the volcano "not to misbehave", Analco says that in the first three days of May, a group of people from Xalitzintla repeated the ritual they did a year ago: they brought a charro suit, band music, mole with turkey meat, bread, fruit, bottles of tequila and candles.

"It is true that we are used to living with him, and every year we ask him that our life together may continue to be healthy," says the tiempero. Spanish original

Jenny's Postscript

The tiempero Antonio Analco may be on to something. According to volcanologist Hugo Delgado Granados and other experts from the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), so long as the volcano continues to spew gases, "there will not be serious problems" [reported today in the weekly magazine Proceso, 05/13/2013].

Still Curious?

Here are several Jenny's posts that discuss the impact of volcanoes and other natural phenomena on the culture of Mexico:

• Geography: Ground of Mexican Culture and History;
• Mexico's Volcanoes and Mesoamerican Mythology;
• Cuicuilco, Volcanoes and the Fragility of Life in Mesoamerica;
• Mesoamerican Culture: The Human Bond with Nature.

Tlaxcala State: Cacaxtla Presents Cultural Puzzle

As an online magazine for the culturally curious, Jenny's Journal builds on our ongoing exploration of Mexico's multi-faceted, multi-leveled  culture. It helps that cultural puzzles fascinate us.

Cultural puzzles don't appear with a picture of the completed puzzle displayed on the box lid. Half the time, we don't realize we're working on a puzzle until it is more or less solved. Instead what we get are bits and pieces that seem out of place...facts and events that just don't quite seem to fit together...or, alternatively, tidbits that pique our curiosity and tease us to undertake additional investigation.

During our recent trip to Tlaxcala State, for example, our goal was to explore the world-class murals located at Cacaxtla (kah-KAHSH-tlah). However, on the way, yet another cultural puzzle presented itself. Why does the old title "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum...." come to mind?

For a number of reasons we decided not to drive in Mexico, relying instead on public transportation and taxis. With admirable frequency, our drivers have proved to be rich sources of cultural information. As our taxi neared the site and began its ascent up the side of the extinct volcano, the number of cars and walkers along the side of the road increased exponentially. Puzzle piece #1 had appeared: traffic jam.

Casually, our driver mentioned that our visit (September 29) coincided with the fiesta of the patron saint of the pueblo of San Miguel del Milagro (Saint Michael of the Miracle). The heavy traffic—think slowly creeping parking lot—suddenly made sense. Not much to do but settle back to enjoy the hustle, bustle of fiesta in Mexico.

Once we'd inched past a sharp turn that split off in a "Y" toward the parish church, traffic thinned noticeably. To our delight, the entrance to the Archaeological Zone was no more than another fifty yards (45 meters). Leaving car and driver, we began the trek toward the pyramid, which we could see about a kilometer away.

While we were walking back to the entrance after touring the pyramid, more pieces of the cultural puzzle appeared. We came upon two young men, sitting on a small boulder at the side of the road. We greeted them with the usual greeting, Buenas tardes. Moments later, a procession came into view.

Procession of San Miguel del Milagro
on its way to the top of the Cacaxtla Pyramid.
Photo: Reed (click to enlarge)

Behind us, one of the young men who'd been seated on the boulder rose and blew on a conch shell he'd  taken out of his gym bag. At the sound of that ages old plaintive call, the cultural light bulb came on.

The conch shell is an ancient Mesoamerican
instrument used during religious ceremonies to
summon both the people and their gods.

Reed reminded us that September 21 is the Autumnal Equinox. The puzzle quickened. It struck us that a connection between the fiesta of San Miguel del Milagro, the Equinox, and the Mesoamerican pyramids was highly probable, but unearthing the connection required additional research.

When we got home, we got on the Internet and discovered via Wikipedia that September 29 is the day the sun appears to rise directly behind the crater of the Malinche volcano as seen from both the Xochitécatl and Cacaxtla pyramids. Significantly, the ancient peoples had named their sacred volcano to the East, Matlacuéitl. She was wife of Tlaloc (god of rain), Matlauéitl was the goddess of vegetation.

Tlaxcala, this land along the banks of the Atoyac (Balsas) River, is one of the first maize-growing regions in Mexico. Undoubtedly, it was the river valley's agricultural productivity that prompted construction of ceremonial centers first at Xochitécatl, then at Cacaxtla. 

The older pyramid at Xochitécatl (Pyramid of the Flowers) was oriented in such a way that on September 29, from the pyramid's highest level, the sun would be observed to rise directly from the crater of the Matlacuéitl volcano; that is, from the mouth of the goddess of vegetation.

GoogleEarth view looking East to Malinche (Matlacuéitl).
Xochitécatl is in the foreground; Cacaxtla is next in a
straight line to Malinche's crater. The pueblo of
San Miguel del Milagro is just past Cacaxtla.
Image: GoogleEarth via Reed (click to enlarge)

Built at a later date, the Cacaxtla Pyramid was nonetheless also sited due East from Xochitécatl along the same volcanic block. Today a footpath winds across open land, inviting passage between the two pyramids.

Cacaxtla Pyramid viewed from the highest level of the
Xochitécatl Pyramid. The shed roof covers Cacaxtla's
entire platform—essential protection for the murals and
other architectural features.
Note agricultural fields and footpath in the foreground;
pueblo of San Miguel de Milagro in the background.
Photo: Wikipedia

Like the older pyramid, the pyramid at Cacaxtla commands a view of the sun rising from the crater of the sacred volcano to the East. As they passed us, people in the procession told us they were on their way to the top of Cacaxtla Pyramid, thus providing us with another essential piece of the puzzle.

Seasonal pilgrimage to sacred natural sites is an ancient Mesoamerican tradition. When the Spanish arrived, Spanish Catholic priests did not challenge traditional practices. Instead, they tirelessly and ingeniously sought ways to overlay ancient sacred sites with Christian rites and rituals.

One way was to build Christian churches on ancient sites—such as the Christian church that sits atop the Great Pyramid at Cholula.

Church atop Great Pyramid at Cholula.
From a distance, the pyramid looks like a hill,
but it was constructed entirely by hand.
The Great Pyramid at Cholula was visible from
Cacaxtla looking to the South.
Photo: Wikipedia

At Cacaxtla, the pueblo's parish church of Saint Michael of the Miracle was constructed less than two kilometers from the Pyramid; moreover, the feast day of the pueblo's patron saint was matched to the day on which early peoples observed the sunrise over Malinche, the sacred volcano. 

As we listened to the plaintive call of the conch shell that has sounded for millenia across these lands, we were once again reminded that the ancient practices have not died. Not at all.

Still Curious?

Related posts from Jenny's Journal:

• Tlaxcala State: Xochitécatl - "Kingdom of the Flowers";
• Travel Journal: A Most Mexican Day in Veracruz describes the adventure we embarked on as we set out in a taxi to visit waterfalls just outside Papantla, Veracruz;
• Mexican Traditions: Pilgrimage (Peregrinación) describes the syncretistic layering of Catholic Christian religious rites over ancient Mesoamerican sacred practices. 

Wikipipedia entry on Cacaxtla.

Tlaxcala State: Xochitécatl - "Kingdom of the Flowers"

Recently we took a weekend get-away trip to Tlaxcala State or, as Reed put it, "We went to Mexico."

Tlaxcala State is very small — the Mexican equivalent of Rhode Island — less than two hours by bus east of Mexico City. The colonial city of Tlaxcala is also the State capital. Our hotel was close enough to the main plaza that we heard the drum and bugle corps that played for the flag-raising in the morning and its lowering in the evening.

Two archaeological sites in Tlaxcala are remarkable for different reasons: Xochitécatl (so-chi-TEH-caht) is one of the oldest settlements in Mexico; Cacaxtla is justifiably famous for its murals, discovered in 1975. This post discusses Xochitécatl; the next post will describe our multi-leveled visit to Cacaxtla.

Xochitécatl

Located in the Tlaxcala municipality of Nativitas, Xochitécatl occupies a dominant position on the summit of a 4 km (almost 3 mile) wide extinct volcano that forms a range of hills rising approximately 200 meters (656 feet) above the floor of the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley. This so-called Atlachino-Nativitas-Xochitecatl block is located in the center of the valley, due West of the sacred volcano Malintzin.

Note: The Tlaxcalteca people named this volcano Matlacuéitl, wife of Tlaloc (god of rain) and goddess of vegetation; the Spanish renamed the volcano Malintzín in honor of the indigenous woman who was their translator.

Xochitecatl has clear views across the surrounding valleys to the neighboring volcanoes of La Malinche (East), and Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl (West), and to the Great Pyramid at Cholula (South). The Atoyac and Zahuapan rivers flow close to the site. The Atoyac is better known as the Balsas River, a major river in south-central Mexico that flows through the states of Puebla, Morelos, Guerrero, and Mexico before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Mangrove Point, adjacent to the port of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán.

The Balsas River Valley is one of the oldest maize-growing sites in Mexico, dating from around 9,200 BCE—over 10,000 years ago! Am I alone in feeling a bit stunned to realize that humans have worked these lands for over 10,000 years?

The surrounding countryside is terraced for better cultivation of crops; the terraces look as if they have been there forever...reminding me of a warm, sunny afternoon on the Island of Crete sitting on a hillock watching a farmer and his burro make their way across farm fields, as he and his ancestors have been doing for millenia....

As one of the oldest settlements in the Tlaxcala-Puebla Valley, Xochitécatl is a legacy of the ancient agricultural settlements in the valley of Puebla-Tlaxcala. The oldest settlements took place between 1,600 and 1,200 BCE (Before Common Era). These dates mean that settlement of Xochitécatl occurred even before the settlement at Cuicuilco in the Valley of Mexico (1,200-800 BCE).

Between 1,100 and 800 BCE, the valley's human population increased significantly — most likely as a result of the area's high agricultural productivity. Archaeological evidence of Olmec presence at Xochitécatl dates to this period; this is important because Olmec culture is widely regarded as the ‘mother’ Mesoamerican culture. Xochitécatl's early date also lends credence to evidence of cultural influences from Teotihuacán (Valley of Mexico), Cholula (near Puebla) and El Tajín (Totonaca people on the Gulf Coast).

Xochitécatl: What, Where, Why

Xochitécatl is the focal point of a region distinguished by high agricultural productivity. But high crop yields could not be taken for granted. Bountiful crops depended on the benevolence of natural forces, above all, on seasonal rainfall. Early peoples were acutely aware of their vulnerability before la naturaleza (natural forces) — rainfall, certainly, but also the damaging effects of volcanic eruptions and the potentially lethal effects of hurricanes and violent storms.

Given their acute vulnerability, how might early peoples have sought to 'mediate' or even 'regulate' the  forces of nature? This comment by George Kubler, renowned art historian and specialist in Mesoamerican culture (1984), is the best I've come upon:

"[The people engaged in] collective endeavors to guarantee the continuity of the creation of the universe against catastrophic dissolution in an unstable world."

The combination of these factors — the summit of an extinct volcano, whose altitude extended into sacred celestial space, located in the center of a fertile valley not only ringed by sacred volcanoes but due West of Matlacuéitl (Goddess of Vegetation) — likely explains why the site was chosen for development as a ceremonial center. Intriguingly, the archaeological evidence suggests that Xochitécatl was used solely as a ceremonial center and not as a settlement.

Given the critical importance of agriculture for early settlers, it is not surprising that the ceremonial center that rose up at Xochitécatl honored Tlazolteotl, Goddess of Fertility who is also associated with Ollín, the essential life-force.

The ceremonial center at Xochitécatl covers 12 hectares (almost 30 acres). Its development began in earnest around 800 BCE with construction of the Spiral Building, the Serpent Building, and the Pyramid of Flowers. As elsewhere in Mesoamerica, the architects at Xochitécatl expanded original buildings over time. The Pyramid of the Flowers, which is the largest of the buildings at Xochitécatl, acquired its monumental proportions around the third century BCE.

Pyramid of Flowers

The site selection gives clear evidence of the builders' intentionality:

At the Spring Equinox, when the sun passes directly over the Equator — or, as the ancients would say, “the sun is born and dies” —, the sun rises from the mouth of Matlacuéitl-Malintzín volcano to the East and is centered on a stone lintel set atop the Pyramid of Flowers by its builders in a dramatic demonstration of their sophisticated understanding of astronomy, the “celestial mechanics”.

Vernal Equinox at Xochitécatl
Photo: Wikipedia

Pyramid of Flowers with lintel above.
Note basin at base of the staircase.
Photo: Reed

In size, the base of the Pyramid of the Flowers (100 x 140 meters; 328 x 459 feet) is comparable to the base of the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan. A staircase ascends the pyramid; at its base stand two large monolithic basins, one measuring 1.7 meters (5' 6") in diameter; it is thought they were filled with water for purification.

Looking down on basins from top of staircase, Pyramid of the Flowers.
The outline of the Volcanoes Platform is visible beyond the tree,
and way at the back is the Spiral Building with its white cross.

Xochitécatl means "Place of the Flower Lineage". Associated with beauty, pleasure and the arts, flowers were richly symbolic in ancient Mesoamerica. I might add that they remain a vital, essential  component of Mexican culture. There is even a flower stall in the small, local market a block from us.

Two Mesoamerican gods have special connections with flowers:

• Xochipillo: “Flower Prince”, whose generative powers are linked to the Maize God; 
• Xochiquetzal: “Flower Quetzal”, epitomized young female sexual power; she presided over childbirth and pregnancy and served as guardian of young mothers; in these ways she was related to Tlazolteotl.

More than 2,000 clay figurines and 15 stone sculptures representing both humans and animals have been uncovered on the stairway leading to the upper part of the pyramid. Deposited as offerings, many of the figures represent the life cycle of women, including childbirth, motherhood, infant care, old age and death.

Goddess
Photo: Reed

These figures not only praise women for their procreative and maternal activities but may recognize women as rulers.

Richly dressed woman; note the quincunx depicted on her skirt. 
Ends of the 'X' represent the four cardinal directions; circle in the
center represents the World Axis that links Earthly Plane with the
Underworld and the Heavens.
Photo: Reed

Some figurines show mothers carrying their children in their arms or upon their backs. Others represent women with an opening in the abdomen sheltering richly dressed babies.

Woman Carrying Fetus
Photo: Reed

The figurines are richly detailed, giving a glimpse of daily attire in prehispanic times. Some of the women represented are wearing pleated skirts or skirts decorated with geometric designs such as lines, stripes, circles and dots; some figurines wear blouses (quezquemetl) which are similarly decorated. Some of the women wear colored bows in their hair while others are adorned with four- or five-petaled flowers.

Richly patterned dress
Photo: Reed

Serpents as Symbols

It is no exaggeration to say that everything in Mesoamerican culture carried symbolic meaning. One commentator wrote that Mesoamerican religious thought represented a "spiritualization of natural forces" — an idea that sets the context for understanding the sculpture found deposited in the larger basin (described earlier) at the foot of the staircase to the Pyramid of Flowers: a mythological serpent des-gorging a human face from its open jaws.

Anthropologist Mary Miller observes that, in religious terms, serpents may have been the most important fauna of Mesoamerica. Two features of serpentine behavior led Mesoamerican people to regard snakes as vehicles of rebirth and transformation:

1. Snakes swallow their prey whole, decomposition occurs within their bodies; and 2. Snakes shed their skins.

The serpent's upturned snout dis-gorging a human-like face is an ancient means by which a deity or ancestor shows himself to humanity. It is an ancient image grounded in notions of rebirth and transformation intimately linked to the Mesoamerican cyclic (in distinct contrast to the Westerner's linear) view of time.

In sum, serpents are a complex symbol that represented three fundamental notions in Mesoamerican religious thought:

• The serpent is water, or the bearer of water: vitally important for a bountiful harvest; hence, the traditional indigenous saying, “El agua es vida" (Water is life); 
• The serpent’s mouth opens to a cave: symbol of the source of fertility and riches; and 
• The serpent is the sky: symbol of sacredness because man cannot penetrate the sky as he could the earth and underworld, e.g., via caves. 

Serpent Building

This building dates from around 700 BCE and measures 80 x 50 meters (262 x 164 feet). A monolithic stone basin measuring 1.3 meters (4 feet) across and 60 cm (24 inches) high is located at the top of the structure. A mutilated stela was deposited inside, bearing the carving of a snake's fangs and forked tongue—hence the building's name.

Serpent Building

To the north of this basin were found two stone sculptures: one of a man dressed as a jaguar and the other of a man with pronounced forehead and lips holding a scepter or staff in his right hand (bastón, or ruler's staff).

Originally the Serpent Building was a square structure whose only means of access was a stairway on the north side. Later the building was expanded to the east with the addition of another platform. At the same time the north stairway was blocked off and a new stairway was built using tepetate (brittle volcanic rock) covered with mud.

Spiral Building

This circular, stepped pyramid lies on the western side of the ceremonial center and was built around 700 BCE. Due to its location on the hillside, the western side of the pyramid has more levels than the eastern side. No trace of internal structures was found during excavation; the structure's interior consists of volcanic ash.

Spiral Pyramid
Photo: Reed

The building has no stairway giving access to the top; it was ascended by following the spiral form of the structure itself. It is worth noting that the spiral is also a symbol of Ollín, the essential Life-Force, which we've already identified as being associated with the Goddess of Fertility. Hence, those who entered this sacred space literally traced the wind's spiral, the spiral of Ollín, the essential Life-Force....

A Christian cross was placed on top of the structure in 1632 CE, about ninety years after the Spanish arrived; a simple wooden cross remains in place to this day. Two burials were found in the structure, which was probably a temple to Ehécatl, God of Wind—an aspect of Quetzalcóatl, the plumed serpent, viewed as bringer of the rains (Tlaloc, God of Rain). A circular temple dedicated to Ehécatl is  found at Tlatelolco.

Platform of the Volcanoes

Oriented North-South, this structure rests in the middle of the central plaza. The building measures 50 meters along its north-south axis; it is 35 meters wide. Construction began in the Middle Preclassic period, and the building was reused during the Classic Period, thus producing two phases of architecture and construction.

Platform of the Volcanoes

During the 1960's, more than two hundred figurines representing the female form were recovered from the platform by German archaeologist Bodo Spranz. Of particular interest was a figurine identified as the Goddess of Fertility, Tlazolteotl.

Xochitécatl's Decline

For nearly nine hundred years (750 BCE–100 CE), Xochitécatl was the most important ceremonial center of the valley's dispersed population, but it was abandoned by its inhabitants about 100-150 CE, when Popocatépetl erupted.

Although Xochitécatl is relatively far from the volcano, its eruption nonetheless precipitated environmental changes in the western part of the Tlaxcala-Puebla Valley with adverse affects on human activity. The likely immediate negative effect was on the valley’s crops, whose surpluses had originally contributed to Xochitécatl’s rise as a ceremonial center.

The people were slow to leave their ceremonial center but Xochitécatl had been abandoned by 200 CE, during the heyday of Teotihuacan and Monte Albán. When the ceremonial center was constructed at Cacaxtla (less than a mile away), Xochitécatl was brought back into use from 500–950 CE.

Reflections

A Mexican observer recently wrote,

"Mexico is a country of a mostly urban population with a rural mentality."

I take it to mean that in the hearts of the people of Mexico, it is the customs, traditions and, above all, the legends and myths of the agricultural, maize-growing countryside that give them heart. A traditional saying is, "Sin maís, no hay país" (Without corn, there is no country).

Octavio Paz famously wrote about the fatalism of the people of Mexico, but it's my experience that the people of Mexico show less a fatalistic attitude (assuming the worst) than a realistic recognition that as human beings, we remain — despite modern advances — vulnerable to forces beyond our control. It's a valuable reminder of an ancient truth.

Still Curious?

Related Jenny's posts:

• Tlaxcala State: Cacaxtla Presents Cultural Puzzle describes our adventure as we fit the cultural pieces together—history of the archaeological site, a current happening, chats and, oh yes, a bit of investigative digging;
• Cuicuilco, Volcanoes and the Fragility of Life in Mesoamerica describes the transition from nomadic hunter-foragers to settled agriculturalists; Cuicuilco honored the god of fire, and it was the eruption of Ixtle, a nearby volcano, that buried their settlement in lava;
• Teotihuacan: The Shape of Space and Time explains the essential role of the quincunx in Mesoamerican thought;
• El Tajín I: Beauty and Mystery relates our trip to Veracruz;
• Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco recounts our travels through these Mexican States, including the park of Olmec statues in Tabasco (Section IV); 
• Mesoamerican Worldview: Nature and Spirit describes how the Mesoamerican creation myths served as building blocks for the Mesoamerican worldview;
• Mexico's Volcanoes and Mesoamerican Mythology explores this vital, essential relationship;
• Geography: Ground of Mexico Culture and History—take it from me, the key to understanding Mexico begins here;

Best Reads: Mexico Traditions and Customs is literally that—what we've read and what we're reading now.

• Mary Miller and Karl A. Taub, An Illustrated Dictionary of The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya is high on our list.
• Tracking the Ancestry of Corn Back 9,000 Years, Sean B. Carroll, New York Times, May 24, 2010. Fascinating science and persistence by Nobel winner George W. Beadle establishes teosinte plant growing in the Balsas River valley of southern Mexico as corn's 'cradle'. 

Reed's Photo Albums:

• Xochitécatl and Cacaxtla;
• Olmecs of Tabasco State, photos of sculptures rescued from La Venta site before Pemex drilled wells to make it an oil field.

Wikepedia Xochitécatl: This entry is impressive; it is exceptionally well-written, well-researched; sources are cited.

Finally, here's the GoogleEarth view (click to enlarge) of Xochitécatl, which shows:

• Pyramid of the Flowers: at right, under yellow stick pin;
• Serpent Building: lower left-center;
• Platform of the Volcanoes: directly in front of Pyramid of the Flowers;
• Spiral Building: in front of Pyramid of the Flowers, almost at left margin.

Volcano Update 4: We Just Watched Popocatéptl Blow His Top!

About half an hour ago, Reed and I were sitting in the living room enjoying a glass of wine with cheese and crackers when all of a sudden, Reed exclaimed,

"Oh, my god!  Look at that! Popo is blowing his top! A minute ago, there was nothing, and now look!"

Popocatéptl 'exhalation' or eruption
August 6, 2012, at about 6:00 PM Central Time
Photo: Reed

We literally watched over the next five or ten minutes as the plume continued to rise straight up.

CENAPRED is the government agency that monitors Mexico's volcanoes and issues daily bulletins. When I checked just a few minutes ago, nothing had yet appeared.

You heard it here first!  How's this for an answer to that great question, "But what do you and Reed do in Mexico?" Let me put it this way: We're never bored!

Update: 10:00 PM

CENAPRED just issued its 8:00 PM Report, which emphasized that 'el coloso' registered nine 'exhalations' during the last twelve hours, adding that the one that occurred at 5:58 PM was of 'Considerable' intensity, such that CENAPRED warned of possible ash fall in several pueblos -- all downwind of us in Coyoacán.

This is the photo that accompanied the 8:00 PM Report. It was taken at the beginning of the 'exhalation'. Reed's photo (above) was taken a few minutes later from a different angle. Wild, no?

'Exhalation' from Popocatéptl at 5:58 PM
Photo: CENAPRED stationary camera

El Tiempero, 'The One Who Sees and Speaks Nicely with Popocatéptl'

This first-person profile of 'El Tiempero', the one who sees and speaks with the volcano Popocatéptl, is remarkable for the window it opens on Mexico's traditions, myths and legends. Reed has said, "Myths arise when man encounters the forces of nature."   

I have tried hard to preserve the flavor of the original Spanish which, at times, approaches the biblical. Popocatéptl has many nicknames, 'Popo'  is one, but he is most commonly referred to as Don 'Goyo' — the nickname for Gregorio. Click on the original Excelsior article for great photos and a videoclip.

Excelsior: SANTIAGO XALITZINTLA, Puebla, April 23 - The face of Antonio Analco betrays annoyance at the sight of outsiders wandering around his community, just because Don Goyo is "making a little noise."

A man with white hair under a hat he seldom removes and skin burned by the sun, he has spent more than six decades at the feet of the volcano Popocatépetl, listening to him purr, observing the winds and clouds. He says he doesn't understand why there is such alarm by exhalations and ashes, "if nothing is going to happen here."

Don Antonio Analco, El Tiempero, from the pueblo of Santiago Xalitzintla, a mere 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the volcano's crater. 

In the community he is known as El Tiempero, the one who can see and talk with Don Goyo, as did his father, Pedro Analco, his grandfather, Encarnación Analco, and his father and grandfather before him. His voice is the one that will announce to the people (those closest to the volcano) the moment when they will have to leave their lands, their fields and their work tools to take refuge in foreign territory.

"I am the only one who can speak with the volcano. Sometimes in dreams, and other times when he appears to me on the mountain. He has told me that I might be calm, not to alarm ourselves like the strangers who have come to our land. When 'The Creator' notifies him [Don Goyo] that the hour has come for him to get up [erupt], then the volcano will tell me in a dream. 

"He will tell me to go out with my people, to take my wife, children and animals and leave these lands. I already told those who came frightened from other pueblos that nothing is going to happen, that the bells did not ring, and that it will not be necessary to go out to the shelters," he says.

Don Toño chats with this reporter with the same calmness with which the women cross in front of his shop and greet him. Down the sidewalk skinny dogs roam with children trailing them. The music of a band, hired by the father of a teenage girl to celebrate her quinceañera (fifteenth birthday), makes it seem that Saturday might be a holiday.

Any little boy of Santiago Xalitzintla who might cross the path of a stranger knows where Don Antonio lives. Don Antonio Analco, the one who speaks with the volcano. Among little boys there is still curiosity about men with video cameras on their shoulders and institutional trucks prowling around City Hall. But in adults there is weariness and distrust. They do not understand how the National Center for Disaster Prevention — "with all its little machines" — can figure out if Don Goyo will stand up [erupt]. They know that it takes two: Antonio Analco and the volcano itself.

"In 1994 there were eruptions," recalls El Tiempero, "many police came and took many people by force. When I found out, I went to the officers and asked them very annoyed, 'Has Don Goyo appeared to you in dreams? Do you know what size it is? Would you say something? And then?' And they returned my people to me."

The man closes his little shop and accompanies this reporter on a walk. Twelve miles from the village, black smoke is observed leaving from the mouth of the volcano. The sound of the exhalation is similar to the sound an airplane makes if it passes close. It puts to work the camera crew that arrived last week from the Federal District. El Tiempero looks at them and smiles:

"Do they have more years than I? Do they know more about volcanoes?"

He also says that he was given his relationship with the volcano when he was in the womb.

"As a child I had dreams that I did not understand. Until one day I was bringing some cows to the mountain when an enormous man with snow-white hair appeared to me. He told me that his name was Gregory Chino Popocatépetl, that I was very small but that when I grew older I would have a wife and children, and that my destiny would be to communicate with him in order to serve as a messenger to my people."

He states that recently [the man] appeared. He asked if I was scared.

"I said 'no', and then he told me that I was to tell my people that they might be calm. I have told everyone, but those coming from Mexico City arrived with fear in the head."

And if the bells of the church ring? The question must be repeated several times in the ear of Juan Castro, of eighty and many yesterdays, holding a cane that he never puts down.

Sitting at the kiosk in Santiago Xalitzintla, Juan Castro mentions that he knew Pedro Analco, Antonio's father,

"a solid gold Tiempero. I knew him to speak nicely with Don Goyo. Like the time when a drought was wilting the corn, and we got together so Don Pedro might ask the volcano for favors. He asked us to come back with tequila, pulque, cigarettes and food, and we went up to Popocatépetl to make an offering. We hadn't yet made it down the mountain when a rain saved the crops. Or the other, when a cloud full of hail threatened our corn yet the ominous threat disappeared. Only those who speak with the volcano can do this."

Under the Ritual

Inhabitants of pueblos near Popocatépetl report that since ancient times, an old man who personifies the volcano and calls himself Gregory Chino Popocatépetl, usually appears in the area.

In a loving manner, he is called Don Goyo and, in agreement with residents of the area, it is he who appoints The Tiempero, who every year leads the birthday celebrations for Don Goyo, to whom are brought various gifts, such as food and drink, especially a gourd full of pulque.

This festival is held every March 12, which is the fiesta day of St. Gregory the Great. The ritual is also part of a ceremony in preparation for the formal request for rain, which is held on May 2.

Because of this year's volcanic activity, the gifts and offerings for Popocatepetl have been exceptionally bountiful.

On the Slopes

Santiago Xalitzintla is part of the municipality of San Nicolás de los Ranchos and is the town closest to the crater of Popocatépetl, twelve kilometers (a little over seven miles) away. Spanish original

Still Curious?

CNN Mexico ran a delightful article about the villagers' annual spring pilgrimage to a cave on the volcano's slopes in order to request the rains needed for good harvests and for protection against crop-destroying hailstorms. Given 'Popo's' increasing restiveness, this year the villagers' petitions carry special urgency: Maintaining tradition, villagers present offerings to calm Popocatéptl.

The interplay between human life and natural forces begins here: Geography: Ground of Mexico Culture and History. (All-time Reader Rank #2)

Cuicuilco is the site of perhaps the first ceremonial center in the Valley of Mexico; when the volcano Xitle erupted, Cuicuilco was buried:  Cuicuilco, Volcanoes and the Fragility of Life in Mesoamerica.

Poetry, science and mythology—this post is a Top-Ten All-time Reader Favorite: Mexico's Volcanoes and Mesoamerican Mythology.

We find the bond with nature right in our Coyoacán (Mexico City) neighborhood: Mesoamerican Culture: The Bond with Nature.

And: Mesoamerican Worldview: Nature and Spirit.

Still more....

Blogspot continues to update this template. On the right side of the screen are Tabs that open when you pass your cursor over them. The Topics tab lists all topics. Click to open all posts relating to a topic. Click on 'natural world', for example, for posts similar to those listed above.

Maintaining Tradition, Villagers Present Offerings to Calm Popocatépetl

Today is the Fiesta of Cruz Verde. Regardless of the fiesta's religious significance, it is also undoubtedly a traditional a May Day festival of renewal celebrating the mid-point of spring—falling, as it does, midway between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice.  

From the pueblo of Xalitzintla on the slopes of the volcano Popocatéptl, the people make an annual pilgrimage to a cave on the volcano's slopes in order to ask for rains to provide a good harvest and for protection against the hail that can damage houses and destroy crops. Caves are traditional symbols of fertility and wealth. Tlaloc (god of water) was believed to live in a cave. 

As Popocatéptl has become increasingly active, the villagers have modified their petition. To her credit, the reporter allows the people to narrate the event. The original CNN story in Spanish has a series of memorable photographs.

CNN Mexico:  Elvia Cruz

PUEBLA - A charro suit [elaborate, traditonal cowboy attire], band music, a pot of turkey meat with mole, bread, fruit and two bottles of tequila are part of the offering brought to the volcano by residents of Santiago Xalitzintla, a village on the slopes of Popocatépetl. The villagers brought the offering to the volcano to "calm" his increasing restiveness since April 13.

Turkey meat with mole to calm Popocatéptl

Led by Antonio Analco, the tiempero (person able to speak nicely to the volcano known as Don Goyo), community elders left at 5:00 AM on Wednesday from the town square. Riding in two buses they arrived at  the Pass of Cortés, which is the main access road to the volcano's slopes. 

They parked the buses and walked for nearly three hours until they arrived at the 'umbilicus' of the volcano, a cave located two kilometers from the Colossus, on the side facing Puebla. About 80 people, mostly adults, participated in the ceremony, according to the count taken by Gregorio Fuentes, mayor of Santiago Xalitzintla.

The people of this community, located in the municipality of San Nicolás de los Ranchos, in the western part of Puebla state, believe that by bringing him a little food and music, Popo becomes "content".

"All he (Popocatepetl) needs is a little company, so we decided to go. Usually we celebrate his birthday on March 12th—at the fiesta of St. Gregory the Great—and we take advantage of the occasion to ask him for a good rainy season for the crops. But this time we also asked him to calm down, that he not frighten our people, although most everyone is already accustomed to his noise," explained Analco.

The volcano became active again on Wednesday after almost a week of calm, reported the National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED).

The alert remains at Yellow-Phase 3, which means that travel within a 12 kilometer (7.5 miles) radius of the crater is prohibited, and that shelters and evacuation routes and facilities remain ready.

But the villagers of Xalitzintla set aside the recommendation not to approach the colossus and walked to within two kilometers (1.25 miles) of the crater.

"We come because we trust him. I talked to him (volcano) on Tuesday night, a day before our visit, and he told me everything was fine. Look, he just 'exhales' but he  doesn't do anything. He will not do anything to us because he knows that we love him, and we will bring his offering that he might be content," said the tiempero.

"[The tiemperos] have been chosen by the volcano and by the water spirits to control the rain and hail; in order to bring rain when needed and move away storms that damage crops and people," explained Analco, who is the tiempero in Santiago Xalitzintla.

Gregorio Fuentes, mayor of the community, said they left a black Charro "bridegroom" suit for Don Goyo, "that he might have a change, we know that he is fussy about his appearance and that he likes to appear well-dressed."

The mayor said that on May 3 they will also visit the Volcano Iztaccíhuatl next to Popocatépetl. This extinct volcano, at an altitude of 5,222 meters [17,132 feet], is also known as Woman Asleep or White Woman. According to Aztec legend, the two volcanoes are lovers.

In addition to this love story, the people of the region believe that another two mountains—located on the same mountain range and visible from outside Xalitzintla—are lovers: the volcanoes La Malinche [indigenous woman given to Hernán Cortés] and Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak in Mexico [5,636 meters (18,491 feet)].

"She [Iztaccíhuatl] is the bride of Don Goyo, but since she is always asleep, he goes with La Malinche, who also has an affair with the Pico de Orizaba. In ancient times, Pico and Popo threw incandescent stones because of La Malinche, but Izta never realized it, because she was always asleep," related the tiempero. Spanish original

Still Curious?

Excelsior, another Mexican newspaper, profiled El Tiempero, which I also translated. Once again, the reporter let the people tell their story. The result provides insight into an important segment of Mexican culture: El Tiempero, the one who sees and speaks nicely with Popocatéptl.

Last year we were in Pátzcuaro for the Fiesta of Cruz Verde. 

Volcano Update 3: Popocatéptl Blows His Top

Milenio: Mexico City, April 28 • President Felipe Calderón reported that at 6:00 AM this morning,  Popocatépetl registered an eruption accompanied by incandescent material that traveled a thousand meters (slightly more than half a mile) to the east. 

Popo blowing his top

After the event, the volcano returned to a "stable, low level of activity." 

Meanwhile, the government of Puebla began distributing leaflets describing emergency evacuation procedures to inhabitants of the municipality of San Nicolas de los Ranchos, located on the volcano's slopes. 

"During our tour of San Nicolas de los Ranchos we heard the worries of the neighbors," tweeted the secretary of state of Puebla, Fernando Manzanilla. Spanish original

CENAPRED saw it coming....

Last night CENAPRED posted this incredible photo, including stars...
A reader wrote that Popo's activities remind her of The Little Prince with his 'three volcanoes that he cleaned every day'  

Milenio. Mexico, April 27 PM • Popocatépetl volcano is relatively calm with a slight emission of water vapor and gas to the southeast. The alert remains at Yellow-Phase 3, reported the National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED). 

The agency said that in recent hours, the giant had nine low-intensity exhalations accompanied by emissions of water vapor, gas and small amounts of ash. 

In its 7:00 am report, CENAPRED indicated that the largest exhalations occurred Thursday night and early Friday morning. The agency also predicted the likelihood of explosive activity at a 'high to intermediate' scale. 

It envisages the growth of domes and possible expulsion of lava, explosions of increasing intensity and notorious ash fall on towns near the volcano. It recommended that inhabitants of the communities surrounding Popocatépetl avoid crossing the buffer zone of 12 kilometers, maintain controlled traffic between Santiago and San Pedro Nexapa Xalitzintla via Paso de Cortés and be aware of the operations of the Civil Protection authorities.  Spanish original

Volcanoes: Destructive and Creative Forces 

I'd not thought about volcanoes as other than destructive forces of nature until I read this description on the CENAPRED web site. The author is reflecting on why humans have settled close to volcanoes. One possibility is that there might have been an absence of evidence suggesting that a volcano had the potential to become active.

Volcanoes can remain inactive for extremely long periods of time—centuries, if not millenia—so when one again becomes active following an extremely long period of inactivity, which is what happened with Popocatéptl in 1994, human settlements are taken by surprise.

But the scientists suggest that this isn't the primary reason for human settlement on land close to volcanoes (my translation).

In contrast with other natural phenomena of destructive character, volcanic activity is one of the factors that has made our planet habitable. Among the positive effects of volcanic action, we can say that it has been a fundamental factor (among others) for the beginning of life on our planet. The volcanic release of gases from the planet's interior modified the atmosphere in ways that made possible life for beings whose metabolisms are based on carbon.

Volcanic products have always been essential for the formation of great quantities of fertile soil on great swathes of Earth. The restoration and remineralization of soil that occur with volcanic deposits is particularly evident throughout the densely populated volcanic areas that encircle our planet.  CENAPRED - Frequently Asked Questions about Popocatéptl

I recall that farmers in Michoacán within a 22-mile radius of the volcano Paricutín were unable to grow crops for the nine years that Paricutín was actively erupting, but farmers slightly farther away reported exceptionally bountiful crop yields during those same years, when the ash fell lightly on their fields.

So that concludes Jenny's Volcano Update for today!  I'm assuming you get the idea—we're never bored!

Volcano Update 2: More on Popocatéptl

Milenio. Puebla • The director of the National Center of Prevention of Disasters (CENAPRED), Roberto Quaas Weppen, announced an increase in activity of the volcano Popocatépetl. He emphasized that there is no immediate emergency, but observed that the heightened activity underscores the need for people to continue to stay alert. 

The director reported that yesterday morning the volcano registered almost two hours of high 'spasmotic tremors' that caused emission of higher density gas and ash 'exhalations', which flowed mostly to the sector south of the volcano.

In his press conference, the director noted that a dome of about one million cubic meters (1,307,971 cubic yards) of material has formed about 100 meters inside Popocatéptl's crater. Spanish original

Recently we had a very clear and cold (9 C;  48 F) night. In the morning, we wakened to one of those wondrously clear days that renew the spirit.

"Our" volcanoes, Popocatéptl and Iztaccíhuatl, were visible in sharp relief against the rosy, predawn sky.

Yes, this really is the view from the floor-to-ceiling window in  our living room.
 Iztaccíhuatl rests to the left with her head nearly at the left border; an extinct volcano forms her breast.
 Popocatéptl, the Smoking Mountain, is to the right.
LEFT CLICK to enlarge. The flat tops of two other extinct volcanoes are visible on the ridge line between Iztacc and Popo. One is at the left, just to the right of Iztacc's feet. The other is pretty much right smack in the middle of the enlarged photo. 

"Wow," Reed called out from the living room, "Popo is really smoking." And so he was!

At dawn Popocatéptl's gas and ash plume was blowing south.
(Left click to enlarge)
Note the distinctive flat-top craters of the other volcano discernible on the ridge line. Someday when we have time, we want to count exactly how many extinct volcanoes we can see from our apartment!
Photos: Reed

Don Goyo's 'Exhalations'

Popo emits gases and volcanic ash. The gases are toxic in the immediate vicinity of the volcano, but the volcano's altitude of 5,426 m (17,802 ft) and the altitude here in Mexico City—2,240 m (7,350 ft)—means that volcanic gases spewing forth 10,000 ft above the Valley of Mexico have sufficient time and space to dissipate. The net result is they don't present health risks.  

An 'eruption' is the emission of diverse hot material from the volcano, including gasses and rocks of various sizes. Volcanic ash is formed by pulverized volcanic rocks. Popo's eruptions to date have taken the following forms:

• Gas and vapor;
• Ash;
• Growth of a body of lava in the volcano's crater. 

Characteristic of Popocatéptl's activity are emissions that are mixtures of water vapor, gases and occasionally ash. These emissions are termed 'exhalations'.  They are usually of short (five minutes or less) duration and light, but occasionally take the form of explosions that launch larger volcanic fragments from the volcano's crater.

Rather Remarkable

We don't own a car, so we use taxis. Recently I've been asking our drivers what they think of Popocatéptl's activity. I have to admit that their responses are remarkably blase.  Yesterday the driver who brought me back from the supermarket responded with a dour growl, "Earthquakes are worse."

But I have to admit that for these two gabachos (Yanks), it's pretty exciting living beside a volcano—let alone a volcano with as much charisma as Popocatéptl—Popo, don Goyo, el Coloso (The Giant), Serafín, Don Gregorio!

We're even coming to understand why the original people who still live, as they always have, in pueblos on the flanks of the volcano are alert, but calm. They are accustomed to the periodic exhalations of el Coloso (The Giant).  Stay tuned!

Still Curious?

Jenny's Posts relating Popocatéptl's activity since April 16, 2012:

• Volcano Alert: Popocatéptl Increasingly Active
• Volcano Update: Don Goyo is still breathing....
• Volcano Update 3: Popo Blew His Top....

Jenny's Posts explore the historic impact of Volcanic Activity on Mexico's People:

• Cuicuilco (Valley of Mexico)
• Volcanic Activity and Mesoamerican Mythology
• Mexico's Fascinating Geography: Where it all begins....
• In Mexico a Volcano Rumbles, But Few Flinch:  Damien Cave is the New York Times Mexico correspondent. His articles shows how much he enjoys Mexico. For this article Damien ventured out to the pueblos on the flanks of Popocatéptl and spoke with inhabitants, whose point of view is unique!  Unfortunately, Damien is misinformed about the so-called Maya 'prophecy' that the world is to come to an end on December 21, 2012—but not to worry, here's Jenny's earlier post describing the archaeology and the history behind the Maya 'prophecy'.  

Volcano Update: 'Don Goyo' is still breathing....

Reed says we have 'Rear Orchestra' seats for monitoring Popocatéptl's activity. Of course, we're not alone.

CENAPRED (National Center for Prevention of Disasters), run by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), monitors the kinds of natural events that seem to abound in Mexico: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and cyclones, and the heavy rains that can cause flooding.

At first I thought CENAPRED is misnamed, but then I realized that their task is to provide the information that enables civil protection agencies and the general public to prepare itself to 'weather' extreme natural events. Popocatéptl, for example, is the most scrupulously monitored volcano in the world.

Multiple cameras photograph the volcano every 60 seconds. Here's a particularly dramatic shot captured in the early in the predawn hours of today by one of CENAPRED's cameras:

Popocatéptl lights up
Photo: CENAPRED

On a flight to D.F. from Florida last weekend, U.S. businessmen on their way to Mexico City anxiously queried Reed, "We've heard a volcano is about to erupt; is there any danger?"

The answer is, no, not really—at least, not for us here in Coyoacán. Nearly 40 miles from the volcano, most of Mexico City is upwind from 'Don Goyo' as he is familiarly and affectionately known locally, which means that the probability of ash blowing this way is minimal.

The colonial city of Puebla, however, is downwind from 'Popo'—yet another of the volcano's nicknames—and has been on the receiving end of falling ash.

But people know how to protect themselves—wear masks over nose and mouth to prevent inhaling the tiny particles; sweep roofs regularly to prevent the ash build-up sufficient to cause roofs to collapse; don't use water to flush ash—wet ash takes on the weight of cement!  And dispose of ash in plastic bags—ash clogs drains. Yes—ash falls are potentially a very big deal!

Regular news reports warn against becoming over-confident and urge the citizenry to stay alert for changes. Yesterday one report stated that a lava dome is forming in Popocatéptl that sooner or later  will erupt, but no one can predict when or—and I found this fascinating—how.

Every once in awhile folks in the U.S. ask us what we do in Mexico. Our usual answer is that we walk out our front door and...life happens...Mexican style!

But now our answer is a little different. After at least ten days of being pretty darned socked in, two days ago the air...and the skies...cleared, and we have been treated to ever-changing views of our two volcanoes:  Popocatéptl (active) and Iztaccíhuatl (extinct).

Yesterday afternoon, Reed spent the better part of an hour—or more!—capturing on film Popocatéptl's plume at dusk.

Popocatéptl's Plume at Dusk, Monday April 23, 2012
Photo: Reed

The CENAPRED web site is well-organized, attractive—including a list of Frequently Asked Questions that give important information in highly readable, easy-to-understand Spanish. The last point is "Seek out reliable information—neither believe nor repeat rumors."

Stay tuned!