Toltechs and the Millenial Maya

A rant like this has been building for some time, and today the last straw finally came. You've seen it: New Agers hungry for the next culture to find their five step instructions to enlightenment in. They've always had their eyes on Mesoamerica, but recently their interest has reached epidemic proportions.

The book market is glutted with "Toltec Wisdom," while any brief search of the internet will come up with dozens of sites selling the latest turning of the Mayan calendar as the beginning of human enlightenment. Meanwhile, people continue to read the Celestine Prophecy as if it were their Bible, ignoring the fact that the author is so grossly misinformed in so many regions as to make the whole work laughable even outside of its philosophical content.

What about this Mayan calendar thing everyone keeps talking about? It's quite simple, really. Like other Mesoamerican cultures, the Maya kept a circular calendar that worked in repetitive cycles. Unlike other Mesoamerican cultures, the Mayan Long Count calendar has by far one of the longest cycles, one which takes 13 baktuns (13 cycles of 400 years, or 5,200 years) to complete. The thing most amusing to me is that the New Agers preaching that we will find enlightenment by embracing the Mayan calendar display a linear Western thinking that prevents them from actually understanding it.

The key factor in understanding any Mesoamerican calendar is that they are repetitive. In the Aztec Tonalpohualli and the Maya Tzolkin (the shorter of their calendars), these repetitive cycles are short enough to be obvious. Every 20 days, the same day name comes around with the same auspices. Every 260 days, the same name and number combinations repeat, giving exactly the same divinitory meanings all over again. It's all about repitition.

The Long Count calendar is no different- the only difference is that it dares to measure dates in portions of hundreds and even thousands of years. Intrepid New Agers speculate with wonder over what will happen when the 13th baktun completes itself and the current Long Count comes to an end. With only a simple understanding of Mesoamerican philosophy you will realize, it simply starts over again. No vibrating to a higher level. No sudden visitations of aliens. No instant enlightenment. I promise you that on December 27, 2012, you will feel... the same as you did five minutes before the stars crossed the zenith.

That's not to say that the Maya wouldn't have ascribed any meaning to the beginning of a new Long Count cycle- I'm sure that they would have. But what the New Agers don't understand is that the meaning very likely wouldn't have been peace between mankind or a growing understanding of the universe. Judging by the behaviors of the Maya, Aztecs, and other Mesoamerican cultures at the ending of other lengthy calendar cycles, it's more likely that they would've been afraid of the world ending than rejoicing over everyone smiling on their brothers.

And what of these "Toltecs" floating here, there, and everywhere? Where did they come from, and what exactly are they? With a bit of observation and study, I was able to deduce that these people started to use the term "Toltecs" because they had gotten it from Carlos Castaneda. Curious, I decided to track down these references. Outside of the New Age movement, if Carlos Castaneda is known for anything, it's not his truthfulness. But interestingly enough, even the fictional "Toltecs" Carlos Castaneda invisioned bear little resemblance to what is now rampant in the New Age movement.

I read some of the Carlos Castaneda books out of curiousity about these alleged Toltecs. The interesting thing is that Carlos Castaneda's "Toltecs" are all about unemotionalness, unconnectedness, and not caring about anyone, whether yourself or anyone else. Love was a thing to be discarded or a tool to use. The major goal, according to Castaneda, is to do these things so that you can avoid being "eaten" by some big cosmic force when you die. This in and of itself is not anywhere near a historical relation to actual Mesoamerican beliefs or Toltec culture, but the New Agers who quickly became Castaneda's fans were able to take it even further.

What you'll find about modern Toltecs now is that they are about love, enlightenment, and inner peace. "Stalking," a technique Castaneda claimed was based on pretending to be a certain way so as to get what you want from others, is now about tracking down your negative traits and extinguishing them with love and acceptance. Read any portion of a "Toltec" website and you'll see that it's just the same philosophy that New Agers have regurgitated again and again, only this time wrapped up in a neat little Mesoamerican package, and made to look "authentic" by claiming these are the ancient teachings of a secret society descended from the real, live Toltecs.

What a load of bull, to put it mildly. Let's contrast the real Toltecs with the New Age "Toltecs." I'll take a few example quotes from The Toltec Tradition website to show the basic New Age beliefs:

Where do I even begin? First off, the Toltecs did not conquer the city of Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan was a separate civilization, and fell quite some time before the rise of the Toltec people. Tollan was the major stronghold of the Toltecs.

Secondly, who are these "ancient ones"? They don't figure into any Mesoamerican mythology. If you wanted to rip off some good legends to back up your stories, you'd do better to claim your teachings descended from the wisdom of Quetzalcoatl. He was the teacher of those things according to actual Mesoamerican mythology, and a Toltec to boot. He also was the one renowned for his priestly rule and peacefulness. He probably didn't see much of Teotihuacan though. :p

And what about the claim that the ideals of peaceful behavior are what the city was known for? Whether you're talking about Teotihuacan or Tollan, this statement isn't factual. Both the Teotihuacanos and the Toltecs have ample proof in the form of cultural artifacts, ruins, remains, and surviving mythology to show that they were both extremely war-like cultures, built on conquest and tribute much as the Aztecs were, and practicing human sacrifice as one of their major religious rituals. Hardly the peaceful beings being presented by the New Age crowd.

Moving on, "Toltecs" isn't even what the civilization called themselves. Their original name has been lost, and "Toltec" simply means "artist," "master builder" or "reed person" (someone who lives in a large city) depending on your translation. The name was given to them by the Aztecs, because the Aztecs attributed to them a mythological status as the originators of civilization. I bet that 99% of these people have no clue what Toltec actually means. If these New Age Toltecs were really carrying on the traditions of an ancient secret society, wouldn't they know what the Toltecs really called themselves? In the very least, wouldn't they choose a name more fitting? If these ancient Toltec wise people called themselves "men and women of knowledge," and it is widely accepted the Toltecs did speak Nahuatl, why don't these people call themselves "tlamatinime" instead? It's the closest you'll come to "people of knowledge."

Another quote:

So, basically they were Buddhists, and this alleged Toltec Tradition bears no resemblance to actual Mesoamerican philosophy or theology.

And, as I'm growing weary of this argument, my final comment will be on a tiny statement the site makes, naming one of the most prolific publishers of "Toltec" books (Don Miguel Ruiz) as a Toltec Master of the Eagle Knight lineage. To keep it short but sweet, that makes about as much sense as me claiming that I am an Ascended Master of the Green Beret lineage.