Atlantis Risen - Aztlan, the Lost Aztec Homeland...

You will be amazed by the real and

You will be amazed by the real and very riveting history of the Conquest of Mexico and what it reveals that the world does not even know about. This is the last chapter of this finished book I am going to post. You can purchace the book in its entirety or by the chapter. This is the definitive work on Atlantis, I promise you!

AtlantisRisen- Aztlan

As expressly pointed out in the first chapter, Atlantis was comprised of multiple islands, it was, in fact a chain that existed in the Atlantic Ocean. On their periphery lay the Azores and Canaries on the eastern side; and the islands of the western Atlantic, like the Caribbean isles.

Therefore the migration pattern went in both directions, those on the eastern flank headed to the Canary Islands, North Africa, Iberia and the Atlantic coast of western Europe. Those on the western flank headed to the Gulf of Mexico and eastern coastal regions as well.

Mysteries, in the end, are trumped by facts and the latter used to demystify them. But sometimes those are difficult to establish and rarely, even if nailed down, the mystery persists. The Aztecs managed that feat, the city of Tenochtitlan was constructed on the artificial island they made by hand.

When the Spaniards laid on the Aztec capitol, they were shocked. The city was more sophisticated than those they knew in Europe… That remains a mystery in spite of our knowledge of the facts.

But the greater mystery is the fact that their new capitol city was built to commemorate their lost, ancient homeland, Aztlan. This chapter is largely focused on the expedition led by Hernan Cortez and his conquest of the Aztec empire. And an amazing history, is the conquest of Mexico, one that borders on the incredible and impossible, as we shall see as this riveting slice of history unfolds!

The main underlying theme is what this history revealed to the world, that yet remains largely unknown. The first king of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capitol city, began his reign in 1370. Twenty years later the construction of the Templo Mayor (main temple) began.

Then in 1395 the second king of the city Hultzilhutitzul began his 22-year reign. By this time the Mexica had climbed up the ladder to a prominent position among the local tribes. During the period they formed an alliance Tepeneca. However, that fell apart when the later assassinated the 3rd Aztec ruler. They went to war with the Tepenacas in 1427, which lasted for three years.

The Aztecs were victorious over their rivals who had dominated the valley for some time. The underdog who had been forced to live on scrub land when they arrived became the top dogs.

A year later they formed an alliance with Acolhua, which establishment of the Triple Alliance between the Mexica, the Acolhua in the city Texcoco and the Tepaneca of Tlacopan. However, the city suffered through both famine and drought in the mid-1400s. Then in 1450 the Montezuma I began his reign.

It got of to an ill-fated start as the city experienced massive flooding then a famine, in back to back years. In 1487 the Templo Mayor, the 6th version, was rededicated. Five years later, Christopher Columbus's landed at Santa Domingo (1492).

Now, we must recall that during the period from 1402 until Columbus arrives, Spain was involved fighting the Guanche on the Canary Islands. That was covered in the first volume of this series. In retrospect, it appears that those islands acted as a test and proving ground for the Spanish crown’s imperial ambitions.

In 1502 the ill-fated Moctezuma II, the ninth king of Tenochtitlan, assumed the throne. His reign was soon marred by intense floods in 1510. While the king of the Mexica was preoccupied with his people’s problems, Hernan Cortez was in Spain dreaming of adventures and conquests. In truth, not that much is known about his early life.

However, in 1504 He finally left Spain for Hispaniola (Cuba) and became a colonist. Then in 1506, Cortés took part in his first military adventure, as part of Spain’s conquest of Hispaniola and Cuba. Destiny was setting the stage that would spell doomsday for Montezuma and the Aztec Empire.

Odd that it should be delivered by a man who was basically a soldier of fortune. For his service on the islands Cortez was awarded a large estate and Indian slaves. These details are virtually unknown by most people even those that think they know about the Conquest of Mexico.

For all his character. flaws, Cortez was an astute man of action. In Cuba, he quickly became a man of substance with an encomienda to provide Indian labor for his mines and cattle. With increasing wealth came increasing political power. By 1518 a variety of fortuitous circumstances thrust Cortés into the position of being Captain-General of an expedition that was to sail in October. 1518, but was advised to move fast before Velázquez changed his mind.

‘The previous year the Aztecs had been horrified when a comet streaked through the skies overhead. To the priests, the people and Montezuma, this was an ill-omen that forecast dark events in their future. This is when the real history starts to imitate a work of paranormal, historical fiction.

That was by no means all that was going on that set the priests, people and their leader on edge. 1518 was the most auspicious year for it was the point in time when their calendars converged. That meant that the god Quetzacoatl, who had departed to the east long ago, said he would return.

The Aztecs priests were warning that the recent floods and then the appearance of a comet were warnings that the prophecy was coming true. Meanwhile the cagey “Captain” Cortéz was using his experience as an administrator, and the knowledge gained from prior, failed expeditions, along with his potent powers of persuasion to organize his expedition to Mexico.

Through astute political maneuvering he was able to gather six ships and 300 men, within a month. The man behind the expedition exploded and decided to pull the plug on Cortez for taking matters into his own hands. Undaunted, the wily Cortés quickly gathered more men and ships in other Cuban ports.

Against orders, in an open act of mutiny, the small fleet Cortez had assembled set sail in Feb., 1519. He was bound for the Yucatan. They made several stops and acquired more men and supplies. Finally, accompanied by 11 ships, 500 men (including seasoned slaves), 13 horses, and a small number of cannon,

Cortéz landed on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mayan territory. As fortune would have it, there he encountered Geronimo de Aguilar, a Franciscan priest who had survived a a shipwreck off of the coast. But the Maya made him a prisoner. . Aguilar was held in captivity by the Maya, for a time, but he eventually escaped.

During his captivity he had learned the Chontal Maya language and was able to translate for Cortéz. The gods were smiling on this bold soldier of fortune, indeed. Did Cortez have any idea what he was getting himself and his crew into? No. Could they possibly take on and defeat the Aztecs with 500 men and a handful of horses? No.

The Aztecs could have shredded them with their bare hands. Then how did they pull it off? The answer to that question is very strange and borders on the supernatural. Yet the the events are well-documented and the account given here is proven, historical fact.

Of course, by the time that Cortez neared the shores of the Yucatan the Maya spotted the ships. They dispatched runners to Tenochtitlan to inform Montezuma. To the priests and to the king, this news was the final confirmation they had feared. Quetzacoatl was returning to claim his ownership of the city, land and the throne.

There is probably no greater irony in history than that of Hernan Cortez being mistaken for a returning Aztec god. In fact, he was… as we shall see…

True to form Cortez and his men fearlessly advanced and in March, he planted the flag and claimed the land for God, King and Spain. However in the gulf coast region he encountered natives who resisted any further advances of the conquistadors. But the latter prevailed when a showdown eventually erupted..

As a tribute the defeated native tribes gave Cortez twenty young indigenous women, and the Conquistadors converted them all to Christianity. One of them would become a central figure in this historical drama, La Malinche. To this day the name is synonymous with betrayal, treachery and being a national traitor in Mexico.

She became the Captain’s mistress and later, the mother of his son Martín. Malinche was an invaluable asset because she knew both the Nahuatl and Chontal Maya languages. Her skills as a translator enabled Cortés to fully communicate with the Aztecs through Aguilar.

In March he he met some of the tributaries of the Aztecs and asked them to arrange a meeting with Moctezuma II, However, Moctezuma turned down the meeting at first. But Cortés was a bold, determined and fearless man. Leaving a hundred men in Veracruz, Cortés marched on Tenochtitlan in mid-August 1519, along with 600 soldiers, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons, and hundreds of indigenous carriers and warriors }

At this point in time, 1519, the Aztecs ruled over several million local tribes, who spoke a variety of languages. Their empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf coast and from central Mexico to the present-day Republic of Guatemala. Now, I noted that several signs of ill omen had appeared to the Aztecs prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. However, there were more according to the native version of the history. The first, was a strange light in the sky.

The second was far worse: An important temple, in the Capitol City, mysteriously burst into flames. It was said that the temple simply burst into flames, and burned down of its own accord. The name of this sacred temple, Tlacateccan meant the House of Authority. This spooked Montezuma and his advisors.

This and other ill omens had a very chilling effect upon the people. The third bad omen occurred when another temple was struck by lightning. The native writers wrote: “the people say, ‘The temple was struck by a blow from the sun.’”

It is very clear that by the time Cortez was set on meeting Montezuma in Tenochtitlan, the population was unnerved. Not just the ordinary citizens, the priests and the King himself. The ill omens had started 10 years earlier. They kept on coming and there were ten the priests recorded, in all.

They got stranger and more dangerous as the years unfolded and approached 1519, the fateful Year 1 Reed.. In the last one, deformed men appeared in the streets but when they were taken to Montezuma they vanished like ghosts when he saw them.

By the time the Spaniards hit the beach in the Yucatan the entire population of Tenochtitlan was traumatized. The gods were not looking upon them with favor. Now, their principle deity was returning to reclaim what was rightfully his! It may sound like the plot of a fictional history but I assure you, it is not…

That, in sum, is the history as told by indigenous chroniclers. They go on to say that Montezuma was anxiously consulting with his magicians and seers throughout the period. However, they could not tell him exactly what ill-fate was approaching, only that the future looked dark..

Then one day a common man came with the news that “towers of small mountains were floating on the waves of the sea.” A second report confirmed the first adding, they bore a strange people “who have light-skin much lighter than ours. They all have long beards.”

This was worse news than the omens had been as far as Montezuma was concerned. It convinced him that these strangers really might be Quetzacoatl and his retinue returning, as the prophecies predicted. The conventional history we are given is always from the Spaniards point of view. I am giving the Aztec version of events.

However, the conquistador version is almost impossible to understand and make sense of, without knowing what was going on with the Aztecs. How could they, and their allied Triple Alliance allow 600 invaders to conquer the strong Aztec, military empire? The very proposition sounds absurd.

We almost have to think how people in Europe would have reacted 500 years ago if it appeared that Jesus had returned. If all the signs and portends and reports lined up with the prophecies. And they all pointed to the Lord having returned to take His earthly throne.

That is probably the best metaphor to the situation the Aztecs were in, psychologicallsy and spiritually. That was the mind-set in Tenochtitlan in 1519. Historians do not note that Montezuma was in a virtual state of panic. The native chroniclers say that he consulted his seers and demanded that they tell him what evil was about to fall on them all.

What a fascinating and bizarre story, the actual history of the conquest of Mexico turns out to be. No fiction writer could equal the suspense, drama and unexpected plot twists.

The seers could not envision anything in specifics, however. They told their king that frustrating fact.

This infuriated Montezuma, he had them taken into custody, that was how furious he was with them. Later he called them back and they reported that it was a mystery, that their fate, which was coming soon, was already sealed…Grim news, indeed.

Oblivious to all that was going on in Tenochtitlan, Cotez pressed forward. While on the way to the capital to meet Montezuma, he forged alliances with several indigenous tribes that held grievances against the Aztecs.

They had exacted heavy tributes from them for years. If the gods were against Montezuma; they were surely favoring the Spaniards every move, against all odds. Montezuma finally sent messengers to meet with the oncoming foreign difniaries. He told them that they were to invite the guests to meet with him in Tenochtitlan.

Meanwhile he prepared to receive Cortez believing he was the returning Quetzacoatl; at the same time Cortez and his soldiers were marching toward the Aztec capital. After the events take place Cortez wrote a letter to the King of Spain. In it he describes what transpired as he arrives in the capitol city:

“..There came to meet me at this place [on a causeway] nearly a thousand of the principal inhabitants of the great city, and as soon as they had come within speaking distance, each one, as he approached me, performed a salutation, by placing his hand upon the ground and kissing it…

Connected with the city is a wooden bridge ten paces wide, where the causeway is open to allow the water free ingress and egress, as it rises and falls; and also for the security of the city, as they can remove the long and wide beams of which the bridge is formed…”

The opening paragraph shows with what great respect the Aztecs received Cortez and his men. The second, gives us an idea of the features of Tenochtitlan. We shall return to descriptions of the city after reciting the encounter given by both sides When they finally meet, Montezuma receives Cortez with the following formal address:

Aztec Account: “Our lord, you are weary. The journey has tired you, but now you have arrived on the earth. You have come to your city, Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit under its canopy. “The kings who have gone before, your representatives, guarded it and preserved it for your coming....

Do the kings know the destiny of those they left behind, their posterity? If only they are watching! If only they can see what I see! No, it is not a dream. I am not walking in my sleep. I am not seeing you in my dreams.... I have seen you at last! I have met you face to face! I was in agony for five days, for ten days, with my eyes fixed on the Region of the Mystery. And now you have come out of the clouds and mists to sit on your throne again. This was foretold by the kings who governed your city, and now it has taken place.

The above is the Aztec version of the meeting. It is obvious that Montezuma did indeed believe Cortez was the returning god Quetzacoatl. He even says that the Aztec capitol is his city. Malinche translated the speech to Cortez.

Now here is the letter that Cortez sent describing Montezuma’s speech to his Lord, the King back in Spain.

Cortez Account: “It is now a long time since, by means of written records, we learned from our ancestors that neither myself nor any of those who inhabit this region were descended from its original inhabitants, but from strangers who emigrated hither from a very distant land; and we have also learned that a prince, whose vassals they all were, conducted our people into these parts, and then returned to his native land.

He afterwards came again to this country, after the lapse of much time, and found that his people had intermarried with the native inhabitants, by whom they had many children, and had built towns in which they resided; and when he desired them to return with him.

I hope you read that very carefully. In it is the truth about ancient history and Atlantis. Those are the words of the last king of a pyramid-building civilization. Both versions agree as to the general thematic content.

Montezuma said that his ancestors had come from a distant land and a prince led them and then departed. What do modern historians make out of it? Nothing, in truth.

But it is the Aztec history. Well sadly, that is so much rubbish to western scholars. Oh sure, they study and pay lip service to it but do not believe a word. Instead they re-invent their own history and enforce it.

Here we return to further examine Tenochtitlan as I said we would above. Again the following description is from a documented and recorded letter Cortez sent to the King of Spain:

“In order, most potent Sire, to convey to your Majesty a just conception of the great extent of this noble city of Tenochtitlan, and of the many rare and wonderful objects it contains, of the government and dominions of Moctezuma, the sovereign; of the religious rites and customs that prevail, and the order that exists in this as well as other cities appertaining to his realm: it would require the labor of many accomplished writers, and much time for the completion of the task…”

Not exactly the same impression that people have been given of the “savage”, uncivilized Aztecs over the past 5 centuries. Those beasts who cut out the hearts of sacrificial victims and tossed them down the stairs of their blood-stained pyramids.

That probably did happen but not to the extent that people have been given to believe. And it was not the focus of Aztec society. Of course the Spaniards, and subsequent historians, ignore at the same savagery that the Spaniards were exacting of the natives.

Slaughtering and/or enslaving the Gaunche on the Canary Islands, first, then moving on the Mexico to conduct themselves in the same manner.. So, did all that make the Spaniards god fearing, good Christians?

But in a sober, honest moment Cortez felt compelled to give his monarch the whole truth. That does not mean it was ever going to get to the peons of Spain, however, and it didn’t and still doesn’t for the most part..

Of course, as with the Gaunche, the Aztecs were stripped of their humanity and turned into subhuman savages. That was for propaganda purposes, for the masses back home and posterity.

To the conquistadors this justified killing off Montezuma and then slaughtering their way to conquest and a Colonial Empire. And after all was said and done, it was in the name of the King and the Cross of Jesus Christ, so they say.. Those are the brutal historical facts.

Those gory details aside, we return to the letters of Hernan Cortez to find some astonishing details. Oh, they may not seem so at first reading, but I assure you they will be to your as they are to me, by the end of the chapter.

Back to Cortez and his Letter to the King of Spain:

This Province is in the form of a circle, surrounded on all sides by lofty and rugged mountains; its level surface comprises an area of about seventy leagues in circumference, including two lakes that overspread nearly the whole valley, being navigated by boats more than fifty leagues round. One of these lakes contains fresh, and the other, which is the larger of the two, salt water.

On one side of the lakes, in the middle of the valley, a range of highlands divides them from one another, with the exception of a narrow strait which lies between the highlands and the lofty sierras. This strait is a bow-shot wide, and connects the two lakes…

This great city of Tenochtitlan [Mexico] is situated in this salt lake, and from the main land to the denser parts of it, by whichever route one chooses to enter, the distance is two leagues. There are four avenues or entrances to the city, all of which are formed by artificial causeways, two spears' length in width. The city is as large as Seville or Cordoba. All the streets at intervals have openings, through which the water flows, crossing from one street to another; and at these openings, some of which are very wide, there are also very wide bridges, composed of large pieces of timber, of great strength and well put together; on many of these bridges ten horses can go abreast…

As big as the largest cities in Europe, it is obvious that Cortez was greatly impressed with Tenochtitlan. It rather sounds like he was describing Venice. Now here is where things get even more interesting and more dramatic, indeed.

When the Aztecs found the site it was a shallow, salty lake. In order to commemorate their ancient homeland -- that Montezuma referred to -- the Aztecs built an island in the lake. This was to remember and pay homage to their lost homeland , which they called, AZTLAN.

Does it take a degree in rocket science to make the connections? Aztlan is represented by an island in a body of water…Still no connection? Even its name is very, very similar. But then again, historians don’t get degrees in engineering or rocket science…do they.

How come the public never gets this side of what ancient Mexico was really like?

The Aztec capitol took engineering and a lot of it. The account Cortez gave makes that very clear. You don’t build an artificial island and then put a city, pyramids, canals, bridges and causeways together on top of it, without a lot of sophisticated urban planning.

Now, the sophistication of Tenochtitlan and the name Aztlan are not the only evidence linking Mexico to Atlantis. Here we return where we started this narrative, to Plato’s account. Oh yes, of that island surrounded by water, Atlantis.

Here we return where we started this narrative, to Plato’s account. Oh yes, of that island surrounded by water, Atlantis, that sank into the Atlantic Ocean, log ago..

Critias: First of all they bridged over the zones of sea which surrounded the ancient metropolis, making a road to and from the royal palace. And beginning from the sea they bored a canal of three hundred and fifty stadia in length, which they carried through to the outermost zone, making a passage from the sea up to this…

Striking how the account of Critias gives -- of the capitol of Atlantis -- agrees with the description of Tenochtitlan Cortez gave his king.. Again, we get the impression of Venice with canals winding through the city, bridges going over the canals connecting different parts of the city.

I think one has to be intentionally obtuse not to get the direct connections given the foregoing.

However, perhaps the best way to is to show rather than tell. Plato’s Atlantis on the top and, Tenochtitlan below it.

Causeways extending into the center of the temple area. Canals, throughout the city, an island surrounded by water. A valley ringed by high mountains…all of the details of the general description of the capitol of Atlantis, given by Plato in the Critias dialogue were physical realities in Tenochtitlan, which was the embodiment of their lost homeland, Aztlan.

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