Curanderismo Soul Retrieval: Ancient Shamanic Wisdom to Restore the Sacred Energy of the Soul - Erika Buenaflor M.A. J.D. 2019

The Mexica South
The South: The Space of Discovery and Understanding

The South is the first space we visit in the soul retrieval process. It is where we discover and understand what triggered the soul loss, how and why it happened, and what needs to be done to begin the retrieval and create a loving, healthy, and safe space for the soul pieces to return. The South is our first step toward deeper self-awareness, healing, spiritual growth, and authentic self-love. Because discovery and understanding are an ongoing process, it is very likely that we will revisit the South more than once. But we should not be in a race to heal ourselves; rather patience, self-compassion, and tenderness are necessary for creating an ideal space for our soul pieces to return.

The ancient Mexica and Maya associated the South as a space that could not necessarily be anticipated: it could be neutral, arduous, or possibly transformative. Tests associated with the South possibly included tempering the dangers and repercussions of excessive pleasure associated with drinking, gambling, and sex.

As a fixed space, for the Mexica, the South was the place that was to the left of the sun. For the Maya, the South as a fixed space was the right or left hand of the sun. It was the road to the Underworld, into which Venus would descend and from which it would arise and be resurrected.¹ In many cities, the South was connected with the Underworld—a space of tests and tribulations that could lead to resurrection.

The Mexica South

Uncertainty, Understanding, and Tempering Excesses

The Mexica called the South Huitztlampa (place of the spines) or tochtli (rabbit). It was associated with the macaw bird, fire and heat, and the chinapas—the floating gardens of Xochimilco.² It was the blue region to the left of the sun. It was also a space of an uncertain character represented by the rabbit, whose next leap could not be anticipated.³ It was also understood as a space of neutral character; not necessarily good or bad but, again, unpredictable.⁴

The South, like the other cardinal spaces, directed and influenced the energies and movement of thirteen years. The Thirteen-Year Bearer sign of the South was Rabbit, which was, again, considered neither good nor bad. In some years, events went very well and in others, very poorly. It was uncertain. Like a rabbit, the South would leap to and from many places but never stayed in one place.⁵

The South presided over the five following tonalpohualli day signs: xochtli (flower), malinalli (grass), cuetzpallin (lizard), cozcacuauhtli (king vulture), and tochtli (rabbit).⁶ One xochtli was a sign for artisans; those that were devoted to their craft would be content and happy.⁷ One malinalli was a dreadful day sign of misfortune.⁸ One cuetzpallin was a favorable symbol of abundance and virility.⁹ Cozcacuauhtli was associated with death.¹⁰ Two tochtli were generally a symbol of drunkenness, while one tochtli was a favorable sign of wealth and abundance.¹¹ The good or bad fortune of a day sign could be tempered by the number it was assigned in the repeating cycles of 1 to 13, which also had specific assignations as good, bad, neutral, and in between. The day signs would cycle numerically and pair with a tonalpohualli day sign—2 tochtli, 3 atl, 4 itzcuintli, 5 ozomatli, 6 malinalli, 7 acatl, and so forth—to influence the character of the Year Bearers and day signs.

The deities that presided over the South were associated with war, the cycle of death and rebirth, fertility and growth, and the dangers of excess in vices. The deities of the South included the tutelary war deity, Huitzilopochtli; the principal god of death, Mictlantecuhtli; and the rain god Tlaloc.¹² Huitzilopochtli was associated with the sun, war, fire and the blue Tezcatlipoca—one of the quadripartite deities. He wore a blue-green hummingbird headdress, and carried the xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent that was his primary weapon.¹³ The hummingbird headdress was likely due to the belief that brave warriors would later become hummingbirds, birds, or butterflies, and spend the rest of eternity drinking nectar from flowers from an Upperworld paradisal flower realm and from flowers on earth.¹⁴ Huitzilopochtli was known for guiding the Mexica from their original home in Aztlan to their promised land in the Valley of Mexico, Tenochtitlan.¹⁵

Out of the many deities related to death, Mictlantecuhtli was the principal god of the Underworld. He was typically represented as a skeleton with bloody spots and wore a headdress decorated with owl feathers and paper banners, a necklace of human eyeballs, and earspools made from human bones.¹⁶ His imagery also had connotations of fertility, health, and abundance—death and life as a natural, cyclical procession.¹⁷ Where there was death, life followed.

Tlaloc was the principal deity of rain and lightning and presided over the South;^*12 he was the god of rain of fire.¹⁸ He was associated with caves and springs and was believed to reside in mountain caves that were miraculous treasure houses filled with wealth and prosperity. His animal forms included herons and water-dwelling creatures.¹⁹ Tlaloc ruled the fourth layer of the Upperworld, Tlalocan (place of Tlaloc), which was an earthly paradise of green plants and unending springtime. Those who died from phenomena associated with water, such as lightning, drowning, and waterborne diseases, went to Tlalocan.²⁰

The South was also affiliated with a group of deities called the ahuiateteo or macuiltonaleque, who represented understanding the dangers and repercussions of excessive pleasure connected to drinking, gambling, and sex.²¹ The macuiltonaleque were young solar deities who presided over f lowers, feasting, singing, dancing, gaming, and painting.²² They were known to be the causes of disease and misfortune. Each of these deities bore a coefficient of five, a number alluding to excess.²³