Reflections on Sustainability: "Water Is Life"

Written last May, this post brings together themes I've been mulling over for several months. It's taken a little time for me to get my head and heart around what seems to me to be the only message at this time. I plan to publish other posts soon centering on the same theme: the Health of Our Planet, Our Spaceship, Mother Earth, and what we can learn from Her Original Peoples—in Mexico, yes, of course; but also in the Western Hemisphere, and around the world.

Personal History Tells Bigger Story

I was born in Chicago six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. As a Reserve Army Officer, my father was called up and stationed in California. My mother and I joined him there. When the war ended, my Dad—a civil engineer—looked around and concluded, "A lot of people here need water and sewage treatment plants." Given that water was his specialty, he decided to stay. He wasn't alone.

In 1940, California's population was 6.95 million. At the war's end (1945), it had swelled to 9.3 million. When I graduated from high school (1959), it was 15.47 million; at my college graduation (1963), it was 17.67 million. By 1970, it had risen to 19.97 million. In just thirty years (1940-1970), California's population had nearly tripled.

But that wasn't anywhere near the end of the Golden State's explosive growth. By 2014, it stood at 38.8 million—that's nearly double what it had been in 1970! One thing was absolutely certain: Everyone needed water.

Over the course of his 30-plus year, post-WWII civil engineering career, my father put in if not the majority, then a significant share of the water and sewage treatment plants up, down and across California. In retirement, he told me that across the years he had watched the water tables consistently drop: "I've never seen them restored. 'They' are going to have to fix that."

Given California's epic four-year drought, it appears the time has come for 'them' to take action. Governor Jerry Brown's executive order mandating a 25 percent decrease in urban water usage may have been historic. Yet Robert Reich asks a good question (Facebook, 4/4/2015):

Why did Governor Jerry Brown exempt Big Oil and Big Agriculture from his order this week to cut water consumption by 25 percent? Big Oil uses more than 2 million gallons of fresh water a day in California for fracking, acidizing, and steam injections – nearly 70 million gallons last year alone. Meanwhile, California’s farmers consume 80 percent of the water used in the state but generate only 2 percent of the state’s economic activity.

Oddly, the Governor’s order focuses on urban water use, which makes up less than a quarter of the water consumed here. California could save the same amount of water by requiring its farmers to increase water efficiency by 5 percent. And in this seismically-challenged state, there’s no reason to continue allowing water-intensive fracking, which has been shown to increase the likelihood of earthquakes (just look at Oklahoma).

Mexico's Original Peoples Knew It First: Water Is Life

The seventh anniversary of our arrival in Mexico to stay came up last July. For the first three years, we had the good fortune to have lived in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. The people of this pueblo mágico gave us an unparalleled opportunity to become acquainted with the guiding cosmovision, myths and traditions of Mexico's original peoples.

Early posts in Jenny's Journal told stories about what we were learning and experiencing. One of the earliest on this theme is: Mesoamerican Culture: The Human Bond with Nature (8/22/2011). Two years later: The Enduring Power of Mexico's Natural Forces (9/19/2013). Both cite the oft-repeated Mexican dicho, saying, El agua es vida—Water is Life.

If I were to sum up our experience, I would say: Living in partnership with the earth; e.g., Mexico's Volcanoes & Mesoamerican Mythology (1/11/2012). One of my all-time favorite posts focuses precisely on that theme: "I Am the Earth."

The longer we live here, the more it becomes clear that familiarity with this ancient cosmovision lends cultural texture to much of what we encounter in Mexico. For example, toward the end of his formal announcement of a Zapatista conference scheduled for last May 3, 2015, Zapatista Subcomandante Galeano (nee Subcomandante Marcos) wrote:

Conference Begins on May 3. Why May 3? 

In our villages, May 3 is the day of planting, fertility, harvest. It is the day of the seed, the day of Santa Cruz, Holy Cross. In the pueblos, villages it is customary to plant a cross where the river begins, at the gully or spring that gives life to the settlement. This is how the place is shown to be sacred. It is sacred because the water gives life. 

May 3 is the day of asking for water for planting and a good harvest. On that day, the villagers go to give offerings where the waters are born. Or rather, as they speak to the water, they give it their flowers, they give it the bowl of atole (corn-based beverage), their incense, their salt-free pozole (chicken-corn soup). In other villages, they give a little drink, but alcohol is prohibited in Zapatista villages, so they offer a soda to the water. The pozole offered to the water is without salt, so the water doesn't dry up. During this ceremony of offering, they play music and everyone begins to dance—men, women, children, young people, old people—everyone!

When the offering ends, the socializing begins. The comida (food) they brought is shared: atole, chicken, beans, pumpkin. All the food is eaten communally at the very source of the life-giving water. When the meal ends, the people return to their houses. And now for pure joy, they continue the dance in the village and, still together as a community, they eat and have coffee with bread.

So there it is:

Zapatista vision infused with traditional Maya myth and custom overlaid with a patina of Roman Catholic Christianity: Holy Cross.

In distinct contrast to the so-called 'modern' approach taken in California by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown.

Qué te vaya bien ... May it go well with you.

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. 

Mexico Culture: Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of Mexico

When we first arrived in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, a little over three years ago, a new Mexican friend commented, "There are many levels of Mexican culture, and each level is rich." Her words have stayed with me—illuminating my ability to 'see' and urging me on as I struggle to understand.

Reed and I have developed quite an attachment to the grand Montezuma Cypress trees that grow here in Coyoacán.  In an earlier Blog, I wrote about these trees—sacred in Mesoamerican culture and powerfully alive today in Mexican cultural consciousness.

So naturally this stately Montezuma Cypress tree growing in the middle of the street just around the corner from our new apartment caught my eye.  Its distinctive bark reminds me of the Redwoods in Northern California, my childhood home.

 Growing in a protected space in the middle of Escocia Street is a specimen of the
national tree of Mexico, the Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum).

Only in Mexico, I thought, would they protect the tree by requiring traffic to make its way around it!  When I walked around the tree, I came upon this shrine.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of Mexico,
at the foot of the Cross bearing her Suffering Son.
The pole at the top holds a light bulb for night-time illumination. 

My first reaction was, "What on earth?" followed quickly by the questions, "What, and why?" 

The shrine invites investigation precisely because it attaches the Virgin of Guadelupe to the ancient sacred tree.  Understanding why requires a little historical context.

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the ruling Aztecs (Mexica) did not require the people they conquered to renounce their gods or traditional customs. In fact, the Aztecs often incorporated the gods of those they conquered into a separate pantheon reserved for the gods of subject peoples.

The Spanish were different. Hernán Cortés and his men considered religious conversion to be one of their main tasks in the New World. In 1521 Roman Catholic priests accompanied Cortés and his army when they destroyed Tenochtitlán, capital city of the Aztecs.

Those first priests were followed closely by missionaries. As amazed as these men of the cloth were by the science, culture and religion of the indigenous peoples, they were equally horrified by some of their deities and ancient rites.

The Spanish offered Catholicism as the only true religion. They destroyed ancient temples and prohibited the practice of traditional rituals. In a final humiliation, the Spanish required the indigenous people to use the foundations and stones of the destroyed temples to construct Catholic churches.

Tonantzín: Manifestation of the Earth Mother

One of the temples destroyed during the early years was that of the goddess Tonantzin, located on Tepeyac Hill. Tonantzin is believed to be a manifestation of the Earth Mother, known as Coatlicue, the mother of all living things, who was conceived by immaculate and miraculous means. She was also the one to decide the length of life. To the Mexica, the earth was both mother and tomb, the giver of life and the receiver of human remains as they decomposed to rejoin the Life Force.

This profound connection to the earth was brought home to me when my Purhépecha friend, in speaking of the death of her grandmother, announced, "Yo soy la tierra" (I am the earth). She then went on to say that as sad as she was to lose her beloved grandmother,

"I felt it was only right that the child return to the mother."

Tonantzín, or Little Mother, patron of childbirth, had a devout following. The Aztecs mourned their goddess and felt threatened and endangered by the profanation and razing of her temple by the Spaniards. This history sets the context for the appearance of the Virgin of Guadelupe to the Aztec peasant Juan Diego.

Juan Diego's Vision

According to tradition, on December 9, 1531, ten years after the fall of Tenochtitlán, Juan Diego, a Náhuatl peasant who had been baptized, saw a vision of a young woman while he was on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City. Juan Diego went to the Archbishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, to tell him of his vision. The archbishop asked for miraculous proof.

Three days later Juan Diego returned to the hill. The Virgin appeared again and, in Náhuatl, told Juan Diego to gather some flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill. It was winter when no flowers bloomed, but on the hilltop Diego found flowers (traditionally, they are roses), and the Virgin herself arranged them in his tilma, or peasant cloak.

When Juan Diego opened the cloak before the Archbishop on December 12, the flowers fell to the floor, and in their place was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, miraculously imprinted on the fabric.

This depiction of the Virgin of Guadalupe is on permanent display in the
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico City)—the most-visited pilgrimage
site in the Western Hemisphere. The Virgin stands on the half-moon,
which represents the female principle in Mesoamerican cosmology. The cherub
below the moon is widely believed to be Saint Michael, patron saint of Mexico.

The Virgin of Tepeyac, as she is also known, is morena (brown-skinned) and spoke to Juan Diego in Náhuatl. Numerous scholars have pointed out the similarities in sound and attributes between Guadalupe and Coatlicue. It is also thought that the Spanish Bishop may have given her a more familiar name. Supporting this hypothesis is a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe near the Guadalupe mountains in Extremadura, Spain—native land of many of the Spanish soldiers and missionaries.

According to Friar Bernardo de Sahagún, one of the main Spanish missionaries and historians of the period, the indigenous continued to call her Tonantzín until around 1560, when the Spaniards baptized her with the sole name of Guadalupe.

Virgin of Guadalupe Embraces All of Mexico

A Mexican friend relayed an intriguing legend: it is thought that when the indigenous artisans carved the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, they embedded within the wood-carved figure, a caña de maís (corn paste) figure of the ancient goddess. So, queried my friend,

"The question is, 'when the indigenous people kneel in prayer to the Virgin, are they praying to Mary or to the ancient goddess'?"

This legend gives insight into how it might have happened that Spanish Catholic images and beliefs were, in many instances, laid over ancient indigenous beliefs. In this sense, it can be said that colonial art embodies the syncretism that resulted from this process.

Just before we moved to Mexico, Reed and I visited an exhibition of Catholic vestments and religious objects made by indigenous artisans throughout the Spanish colonies during the colonial period. Their interpretations of Spanish Catholic images and vestments using traditional materials and techniques were breathtakingly beautiful. A bishop's cloak and miter fashioned from bird feathers remains vivid in our minds.

This historical background deepens our understanding of the shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe on the Montezuma Cypress near our apartment. The Virgin with her strong associations to the ancient goddess Tonantzin resting on the Montezuma Cypress, itself symbolic of the Life-Force that supported ancient Mesoamerican culture, is a powerful statement about the ongoing vitality of Mesoamerican culture in modern Mexico.

Without question, the widely-reported appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the recently-baptized Náhuatl peasant Juan Diego was a powerful unifying factor between the Spanish-Catholic and pre-Hispanic strains. The conquered indigenous identified the dark Virgin who spoke in Náhuatl with the goddess Tonantzín and celebrated her with indigenous rites within the framework of the Catholic Church. This incident was perhaps the most important single event to hasten the conversion of the Mexican indigenous peoples to Catholicism.

Over time, however, the Virgin of Guadalupe was also embraced by the Spanish criollos (Spanish born in Nueva España—Mexico—rather than in Spain). The Virgin´s personal appearance on Mexican soil was seen as establishing a direct relationship between the land, the criollos and the Mother of God.

The Virgin had adopted the Mexican people (el pueblo) as her own; in turn, el pueblo adopted her as the Mother of Mexico. All of Mexico, el pueblo mexicano, could—and still does—adore her.