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The Birth of the Left-Handed Hummingbird [Huitzilopochtli]

Chapter 1 - "The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli]

The God of War and the Sun, called "The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli], does not belong to a remote past, and neither will we find him in a sacred monolith nor in the codices, nor the legends that with so much veneration mention him. For us to find him, we must seek deep within our heart.

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"The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli]. Detail from the Stone of the Temple [Teocalli] (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico

We find the following passage in the Florentine Codex:

"The Mexica's truly honored Huitzilopochtli, they knew of his origin, and his beginnings were as such…"

 


The Mexica and Mexico

To grasp the meaning of these words, we must first know who the Mexica are. They are known as the founders of Mexico-Tenochtitlan and without a doubt, there is a hidden meaning we must comprehend.

Because there are various ways to translate the name of Mexica and Mexico, we will make use of the most interesting ones because of their eminent gnostic character which are METZLI (moon) and XICTLI (navel or center). Mexico could be translated as "the city that lies at the center of the lake of the moon".

This magical name emerges from the long and arduous pilgrimage that led to finding the location where Mexico would be founded, an event that took place when an eagle (symbol of the Holy Spirit) was found devouring a snake (the Divine Mother), while standing on a Nopal (symbol of willpower), all these on a rock, in a lake of pure waters (the waters of life or the energy that brought us unto the tapestry of existence).

Such travels took place because of the order of "The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli] and it was not until after a series of hardships that it was possible to find, in the middle of a lake (the Lake Texcoco), the symbol that was promised of the eagle devouring a snake, beside a series of esoteric emblems as the frog, a white willow and others, resulting in the "city that lies at the center of the lake of the moon", or Mexico.

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Frog (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico)

There are other places on Earth where we find esoteric definitions that are similar to this one, as in Cuzco, Peru because Cuzco means "the navel of the world". No one can deny these are very special localities charged with magnetism, spiritualism, and they are filled with magic; it is obvious such names point to something that is inherently profound, and their ancestral authors make an effort to deliver a message that we must make an effort to comprehend.

The wise elders want us to receive some intuition on the spiritual transcendence that we must carry today, they want us to hold the guidance of the moon (in this case understood as love, compassion and empathy) at the very center of our daily activities, because the sun is associated to the Truth, wisdom and severity. On this perspective, the sun and the moon as masculine and feminine attributes of divinity.

Being "the navel of the moon" or Mexica, suggests that we must be comprehensive, that we must have as our foundation the love for humanity, that we must learn to place ourselves on the footsteps of others and feel what our brothers feel. It also suggests the interpretation of he who has enabled his internal eagle of the Holy Spirit to devour the serpent of his own Divine Mother by the efforts of their willpower with the work of transcendental sexuality.

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The Foundation of Mexico. Detail from the Stone of the Temple [Teocalli] (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico)

The name "Aztec" also carries deep meaning as "an inhabitant of the Aztlan", a paradise found in the fourth dimension of nature or "the place of the herons". The whiteness of the heron is a symbol of the purity of the spirit.

All that has been stated regarding Mexica and Aztec, within the content of this myth, does not refer to anyone in any particular geographical location, but esoterically refers to the person who makes an effort to purify themselves, seeking self-realization by walking the path that can ultimately lead us to the Truth. They are the only ones with the true capacity to honor and venerate our Lord "The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli], but who is he..?

 


The God of War

"The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli] is considered the God of War, which would make no sense at all only when interpreted literally; we cannot consider a giver of wisdom, mercy and compassion that at the same time rules over the hatred of war. Anything said about such deity would become incomprehensible if we do not know of the mysteries of gnosis.

The war referred-to is not the bellicose destruction perpetrated by human machines on this afflicted humanity. It refers to the war that must be fought internally, the combat we must sustain against the tenebrous forces of pride, laziness, lust, gluttony, etc., which we ourselves have created.

 


God of the Sun

Another one of his attributes is being the God of the Sun. From very ancient times the sun has been associated with a universal force, one that has given origin to creation itself. Such cosmic energy is known as the CHRIST.

We must understand the CHRIST is not a person, but an eternal principle; a force that is found at the very core of every star and every atom. The Christ is COSMIC (from Greek kosmos "order, good order, orderly arrangement") and thus known as the COSMIC CHRIST.

Such marvelous energy has its exponent in a very part of our Being: The Intimate Christ. Ancient axioms state that we must not look outside of us that which we have within; its main attribute is love, as the sun illuminates all that exists, with no distinctions of any kind.

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Solar Disc (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico)

 


Left-Handed Hummingbird

An extraordinary process had to be realized for the soul of the deceased to transform into beautiful birds, like the hummingbird; a symbol of the virtues of the soul that we must develop through the elimination of our psychological defects.

"Left-Handed" because OPOCHTLI means "left-handed", and must be translated as "he who tosses spears with the left hand". (Samael Aun Weor. The Secret Doctrine of Anahuac)

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Huitzilopochtli, tossing spears.

When relating to the masculine and feminine attributes of divinity, the right side represents the sun: wisdom and severity; the left side represents the moon: the mother, love, compassion. Both right and left pillars are necessary as we must rely on wisdom, severity, love and compassion to emerge victorious from the tribulations and tests of life.

"Tossing spears with his left hand" invites the use of the faculty of creative comprehension, the type used when we strive to truly understand a psychological aggregate so it can be eliminated. If we for example we suppress our anger, we are effectively empowering it; and if we set it free, then in grows in geometric proportions. It is only through the effort of creative comprehension how we make ourselves able of having the complete understanding of a defect that will allow us to eradicate it from within.

This superior comprehension allows us the ability to study its mechanisms, its relationships with other defects, its structures, transactions, roots, and its harmful consequences at all the levels of the mind.

"Tossing spears" is akin to "guiding" or "directing" the electrical force that gives origin to life; and the left-hand is associated to our "receiving of the comprehension", so we can become successful in the great work of eliminating our passions and defects.

Whenever we hear the Mexica adored "The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli] and that they knew of what was his origin, what these ancient teachers sought was to provide the populace with the necessary keys to experience the birth of "The Left-Handed Hummingbird" in each one's individual and particular internal universe. Their teaching is meant to provide the opportunity for us to experience the manifestation of the superior values and attributes of the spirit. These values are the manifestation of the "Intimate Christ".

 


Death, War and the Hummingbird

This extract from a beautiful Nahuatl poem transcribed by Master Samael Aun Weor in his book, The Secret Doctrine of Anahuac, helps us better understand why Huitzilopochtli is represented with a hummingbird and considered the God of War:

"How many died at war, or at the altar of sacrifice, they departed to the house of the sun. They all were united in an immense prairie. When the sun is going to appear, when the time of its rising is near, they then start launching cries of war, and make the rattles they carry in their ankles resound while beating on their shields."

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Moctezuma's Stone. (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico)

Those who experience death in their interior war (the altar of sacrifice or sacred office), are those who are able to discover hidden aspects of themselves and identify their mistakes in the daily happenings of life. The master Gautama Buddha stated that it is in the internal combat and through the most gruesome battles, that the practitioner dies within:

"Regardless if a man defeats a thousand men a thousand times in battle, the greatest warrior is he who defeats himself." – The Dhammapada

To reach the house of the Sun is to return to the house of the Internal Father, which is to reach the realm of our own internal profound Being, and the only way to achieve this is by the elimination of all of that which keeps us separated from Him. We must eliminate the many psychological defects we carry within and "die" in our internal war.

"If their shield is pierced by two or three arrows, through those openings they can contemplate the sun, but those whose shields have no openings, cannot." Nahuatl Epic

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Shield of Feathers (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico)

It is through this battle against oneself, against the darkness of our ignorance, errors and fanaticisms that we can effectively approach divinity, the Truth.

The harsh battles are what allow the internal warrior to make progress in this path, so if their shield has not been perforated by the arrows (i.e. insults) of their enemies, if they are not capable of making the most out of the psychological gymnasium of life with all of its painful details, and we do not take advantage of those adverse circumstances to comprehend and disintegrate our psychological defects, it would become more than impossible for us to enjoy the bliss of seeing the shining light of our own Being.

The teachable point is that we must make an effort to stop complaining of all that happens to us and instead, make the effort to make the most out of the adversities we face. Each adversity hands us an opportunity to discover our psychological defects and any defect that is discovered must then be comprehended, disintegrated and eliminated. This is the path that leads to the birth of new virtues, powers and abilities.

"How many were killed among magueys and cacti, among thorny acacias; and those who have offered sacrifices to the gods, may behold the sun, they can reach it." Nahuatl Epic

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Figure 9 - Brazier of the Dead Warrior (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico)

To fall dead before agaves (magueys) and cacti is a symbol similar to the crown of thorns worn by the Master Jesus, as well as for the Cloth of Veronica; these speak are to the amount of THELEMA (willpower) that is necessary to achieve this work. This is not something anyone can make happen; this is not for those who are inconsistent, superficial, or those who are skittish or fickle. We need of the discomforting motivation that comes sharp tip of the thorn to invite the work and the internal battle.

Only those who achieve the second death, the total elimination of that which is false and illusory, the ones who earn the right to contemplate the Sun, the Being, Divinity and even more; and if they continue their path of perfection, they will eventually reach Him.

"When four years have passed, they turn into beautiful birds, namely, hummingbirds, fly-birds, golden birds with black holes around their eyes or into shining white butterflies, or into fine fur butterflies, or into large and multicolored butterflies, such as the drinking glasses, and sipping they walk there in the place of their rest, and usually come to earth and sip in blood red-colored flowers that resemble: the erythrin, the paisentía, the carolinea, the caliandra." (Nahuatl Epic) Samael Aun Weor. The Secret Doctrine of Anahuac.

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The Lord of the Underworld [Mictlantecuhtli] (Museum of History and Anthropology, Mexico)

It would take "four years" for the soul of the deceased to experience different trials in the regions of the netherworld (the MITCLAN) before they would be liberated and transformed into birds like the hummingbird. After "four years", meaning once the four bodies of sin (the physical, astral, mental and causal bodies) where the thousands of psychological defects take manifestation are eliminated, they could transform into beautiful birds; all of them symbols of the human soul that the warrior has incarnated: all the virtues, attributes, powers, and faculties gained in the harsh battles, as they fought the eternal enemy of the night.

To become a hummingbird is to have reached the pinnacle of powers, abilities and virtues that emerge once we are dead to everything that is illusory within the battlefield of life.

"The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli] is an illuminated master in the likes of Buddha, Hermes, Jesus Christ, etc., and he is also the representation of the highest spiritual values the human being could incarnate.

"The Left-Handed Hummingbird" [Huitzilopochtli] is a marvelous, living symbol of the Inner Christ whose realm is the Heart Temple. Every human being has been given the mission to incarnate him and that is why we have come unto life; incarnating him is the only one thing of true importance.

Now we can comprehend why he is the God of the Sun, why he is the Intimate Christ, love, God of the War fought against oneself, and his name "hummingbird" translates as a representation of the virtues that we must crystalize so that incarnation becomes possible.