THE GODS IN CONFLICT IN ANCIENT MEXICO
Conflict and competition between the gods Feathered Snake and Smoking Mirror shaped the spiritual and social order of the Aztecs
 The Spanish invasion led by Cortex, which brought the empire to its knees, was the point in time when history and mythology coincided, coincided bringing tragedy and destruction.
The feathered Snake and the Smoking Mirror, or Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca under their Aztec names, were not only figures of religious devotion, but also  held positions of profound metaphysical and symbolic significance in the minds of a people for whom Quetzalcoatl represented conscious intelligence, and Tezcatlipoca the subconscious opposite.
            Mayan city of Kabah: detail of a facade

The concepts of good and evil did not exist as such for the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl was nevertheless accepted as the lighter side of human personality and Tezcatlipoca the darker.  Quetzalcoatl, King and God, represented dawn and the rising sun, and healing, wisdom, art, poetry, skills and crafts.

Tezcatlipoca, the alter ego, was the god of the night and the cold; a black magician, Invisible and omnipresent, ruling the Earth surface. As the Blue Humming Bird, the God of War, he brought
material gain and glory to his servants, the Aztecs.

According to Aztec law, the Feathered Snake had been banished by Smoking Mirror, who, as God of War, had risen to dominance as Aztecs conquered Mexico. However, Aztec scholars predicted that the year 1519 would herald the Feathered Snake's return from exile, and with it the creation of a new, more harmonious era, under the Feathered Snake's guidance.

The arrival of Cortex and the Conquistadors brought the old, martial order to an end - but the new civilization envisaged by Aztecs was not to be. Unbeknown to the expectant Aztecs, the arrival of these strangers in their midst was to totally destroy their civilization, leading them to slavery and ruin through the final, mercurial struggle of the Feathered Snake and the Smoking Mirror
 

Track list:
 

1. THE FEATHERED SNAKE QUETZALCOATL)
As both God and King Quetzalcoatl was, in a variety of different forms,  the dawn symbol of Venus, Ehecatl, the God of Benevolent Winds, and the God of Wisdom. Quetzalcoatl's appearance would signify the beginning end the end at world cycles.

2.  GREAT SPEAKER
The Great Speaker -Moctezuma- last of the Aztec Emperors, was an erudite astronomer and astrologer. He used to consult the stars from the terrace of his palace and it was from here that he foresaw the return of the Feathered Snake. This prediction filled with a sense of unease and foreboding. — the return of the Feathered Snake would also herald the end of Aztec rule.

3.  GRASSHOPPER HILL (CHAPULTEC)
The site where the wandering Aztec tribes first settled. it was in a valley where Mexico City was later to be founded - the Aztecs called it Chapultec.

4. THE GREAT SPEAKER'S DREAM
Recognizing through his divinations the terrible fate that awaited his people, the chronicles record how Moctezuma sought advice from Huemac, a Lord of the subterranean world, and how Huemac  told the Great Speaker to remain on the throne regardless of what the future might bring.

5. MALINCHE
This the name given to Hernan Cortes. by the Aztecs but with typical Aztec paradox it is also the name given to his mistress, Princess Malinalli of Painalla (Dona Maria who played a critical role as interpreter for the victorious Spanish).

6.  LADY GOLDEN BELLS (COXOLXAUHQUI)
Sister of the Blue Humming Bird, she was Goddess of the Moon and of the Night.

7. BLUE HUMMING BIRD  (HUITZILOPOCHTLI)
God of War and of the overpowering midday Sun. He was the recipient of the blood of the sacrificed warriors. (The Aztecs believed that the Sun needed sacrifices of human blood In order for it to continue to support human life on earth). The victims of sacrifice went to a special heaven over which Huitzilopochtli was lord.

8. THE LAND BETWEEN THE WATERS (ANAHUAC)
The land of Mexico. bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean, and on the other by the Atlantic Ocean.

9. THE SMOKiNG MIRROR (TEZCATLIPOCA)
God of Darkness, with the Great Bear as his symbol. The Smoking Mirror was omnipresent and invislble. With the help cf magic, he is victorious in his struggle with the Feathered Snake.

10. THE HUNCHBACK
Moctezuma dies, spending his last moments alone with his faithful servant. a hunchback
 

 
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