Mexico Archive

Feature Articles –   Rebuilding Creation Like so many other cultures, the Mayan religious centres were designed along the principles of sacred architecture, which retold the story of creation. by Philip Coppens The Papantla Flyers, descending from the World Tree/Polar axis, which links the Earth with the heavens Sacred space. All ancient civilisations prided themselves that they lived in the “centre of the world”, in an …

Feature Articles –   Orion’s Image The New World equivalent of the Gizeh pyramids may well be Teotihuacan, even in as much detail that its layout also mimics astronomical information, even that of Orion’s Belt. by Philip Coppens The citadel of Teotihuacan, just outside of Mexico City, is one of the most famous sites constructed by our ancestors. It bloomed between 300 and 600 AD and …

Feature Articles –   Mayan Magic The Yucatan with its Mayan temples and pyramids is a magical land. But what these buildings reveal, is that the Maya seem to have placed major emphasis on magic. by Philip Coppens Magic: sleigh of hand, or utilisation of an invisible force? The magician will do the former, but will leave the audience with the impression it is the latter …

Feature Articles –   Maize: food from the Gods? In a 1982 exhibition, the Mexican National Museum of Culture claimed that maize was “not domesticated, but created”. Indeed, maize is accepted as Man’s first, and perhaps his greatest, feat of genetic engineering. So much so, that it is even said to be a gift from the gods. by Philip Coppens Great civilisations need a great asset. …

The village of San Juan Chamula, in the mountains of Chiapas, is a Mayan village, masking as a Christian community… but Christian it isn’t… by Philip Coppens Mayans are alive… and our mind will wonder away to what we envision as a small village, no doubt in a forest somewhere in the Yucatan, no doubt not too far from Chichen Itza or Cancun, so that …