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.