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To: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
From: Kerry Delf 
Subject: The Book of Mirrors
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 18:47:11 -0800 (PST)

Requested Tezcatlipoca/Shadow essay attached.  Apologies for delay.

-K.Delf

--
 Kerry Delf                  | "Perhaps the meek will inherit the earth,
                             |  but only when the rest of us are done
 kdelf@gladstone.uoregon.edu |  with it."          --Massad Ayoob

As requested.  Scratch's work, my typing;  any spelling/grammatical errors
are likely mine. 

-K.Delf

--
 Kerry Delf                  | "Perhaps the meek will inherit the earth,
                             |  but only when the rest of us are done
 kdelf@gladstone.uoregon.edu |  with it."          --Massad Ayoob

THE BOOK OF MIRRORS
-------------------

c. 1997, Craig Hunt / Mr. Scratch.  This article may be propogated if and
only if this copyright notice remains intact. 

INTRODUCTION
------------

There are a number of points I would like to clarify for the reader in
order to ensure an easier understanding of the topics I address.

I have intentionally presented the god-form Tezcatlipoca in what appear to
be dual aspects:  one psychoanalytical, and the other of a more theistic
bent.

In this document, I place a strong emphasis on this being as a
psychological vision of mankind's collective and individual dark side.  It
is my hope that initiates (both theistic and non-theistic alike) will be
able to recognize the powers and attributes of this shadow god within
themselves, and be able to apply this new knowledge to their own
initiation in an analytical fashion.

However, it is my opinion that this explanation of this phenomenon is
incomplete.  In addition to this psychological facet of Tezcatlipoca, I
believe there is something else lurking behind.

The Tezcatlipoca that stands behind the psychoanalytical model is a
greater, whole structure that exists as an independent force in the
universe -- what some may consider a true god.  However, placing that force
within the structure of the written word is a talent which yet eludes me.
I must satisfy myself largely by making allusions to the nature and
presence of this being, and leave to others the responsibility to follow
in the direction my finger points.  

An additional note:  on a couple of occasions I contrast and compare the
Aztec religious paradigm with elements of Judeo-Christian theology.  My
intention is to allow the (presumably) Western reader to find some common
ground while examining a branch of belief that is so different from those
we normally encounter.  I seek to make the transition between confusion to
understanding a bit easier, by introducing the familiar.  It is not my
intention to intermingle the structures of Old and New World philosophy,
except insofar as they both reveal commonalities of the human experience.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           THE BOOK OF MIRRORS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


"The first men to be created and formed were called the Sorcerer of Fatal
Laughter, the Sorcerer of Night, Unkempt, and the Black Sorcerer... They
were endowed with intelligence, they succeeded in knowing all that there
is in the world.  When they looked, instantly they saw all that was around
them, and they contemplated in turn the arc of heaven and the round face
of the earth... (Then the Creator said):  "They know all...what shall we
do with them now?  Let their sight reach only to that which is near;  let
them see only a little of the face of the earth!  ...Are they not by
nature simple creatures of our making?  Must they also be gods?"

		--The Popol Vuh of the Quiche Maya




AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SMOKING MIRROR
-------------------------------------

He was an image of ruthlessness and boundless power.

Among the Mesoamerican Aztecs, Tezcatlipoca (or Smoking Mirror) was the
terrifying deity of the night sky, Black Magic and sorcery, warfare,
temptation and treachery.  He symbolized the opposite of what most
societies (including that of the Aztecs themselves) consider sacred and
proper.  Yet he was adored instead of reviled, and given a place of
highest prominence among the Mexican pantheon.  What could have caused the
Aztecs to place such value on characteristics that they themselves
considered dangerous and unpleasant, and what did their worship of this
figure say about themselves?  I would propose it was an externalization of
an ever-present psychological demiurge, what psychologists would call "the
shadow."




LEGEND AND HISTORY
------------------

Tezcatlipoca first left his mark on the Earthly plane by creating the land
on which man lives.  Beneath the ocean's waves existed a titanic
dragon-monster, whom Tezcatlipoca drew to the surface using his foot as
bait.  When the monster's jaws snapped closed on his foot, he ripped off
her lower jaw to somehow prevent her from sinking again.  It was on her
mountainous back that men and animals were created to roam.  Like Set,
Tezcatlipoca's astrological symbol was the constellation we call the Great
Bear, representing his single foot and lopsided circular walk around the
North Star.  (The North Star being a symbol of sacredness and purity among
the Mesoamericans, it was also said that Tezcatlipoca's impure nature
prevented him from ever directly approaching it.)

We first see the appearance of Tezcatlipoca among the Toltecs, who
established a far-flung empire that preceded the arrival of the Aztecs by
at least 300 years.  His position among the Toltecs was in opposition to
the far older Quetzalcoatl (literally, "Feathered Serpent," but
alternately meaning "Precious Twin"), their chief god of learning,
culture, all of the flowers of consciousness.  The ancient Mesoamerican
religions placed a heavy emphasis on dualism, and believed that everything
had a balancing opposite.  The god of the Toltec Tezcatlipoca cult was
therefore probably defined by what the chronologically older and more
powerful god, Quetzalcoatl, was not.  

It occasionally happens that cults evolve in reaction to, or in violation
of, another cult;  their power springs from the reversal of the dominant
ethic.  Examples of this type of belief can be found among certain
heretical sects of the Islamic Sufi, and the Kurdish Yezidi tribe, who
ascribe their faith to the demonic rebel-angel Iblis.  The Christian
Gnostics placed an emphasis on creeds that stood as a whole.  Rejection of
the established Hindu dogma is a fundamental principle of the Indian
Tantrics.  The Temple of Set's own foundation, the Church of Satan, arose
substantially in reaction to the dominant Christian ethic. 

It seldom happens that these "reversal-based"  religions grow to
overshadow their parent faith.  However, it seems that at some point
during the reign of the Toltec Empire, this is what occurred.  The cult
gained the support of the military structure as their patron god of war
and conflict.  According to the legendary history, a specific Toltec king
was the earthly incarnation of Quetzalcoatl himself, a brilliant ruler who
was highly esteemed by many of the Toltec citizens.  Tezcatlipoca could
not maintain as much influence over the people so long as Quetzalcoatl
remained in power, so he devised a treacherous means by which to dispose
of the king.  He arranged for one of his servants (among them a beautiful
sorceress) to give Quetzalcoatl a potent alcoholic drink (possibly laced
with a narcotic).  Heavily intoxicated, and with his inhibitions lowered,
he seized the sorceress and had sex with her during the celebratory
feast.  This did not appeal to the prudish Toltec attitudes of his
dinner-guests.  When he had sobered, he shamefacedly fled the kingdom,
allowing Tezcatlipoca's influence among the Toltecs to grow.
Archaeological evidence suggests this is an embellishment of a real event,
a military coup d'etat related in spiritual terms.

Later, Tezcatlipoca caused the fall of the empire itself by appearing in
the marketplace as a naked trader, painted blue and red.  In this form, he
seduced the king's daughter, who gave birth to Huemac, the ruler whose
reign would cause uprising, civil war, and the total collapse of the
Toltec kingdom.

When the god was adopted by the Aztecs centuries later, he was placed in a
position superior to all other gods, including Quetzalcoatl.  His savage
nature appealed to the Aztecs, whose beliefs centered around their divine
mission to keep the sun alive through human sacrifice.  The Aztecs had
attributed the sun to an aspect of Tezcatlipoca.  The sun belonged to
whomever ruled over the present age, part of a complex system of
cosmological time-keeping to which the Aztecs subscribed.  Tezcatlipoca
was the personification of the age of the Aztecs, known as the Fifth Sun,
and this special duty to the cosmos seemed to justify their use of
violence and cruelty to secure the proper sacrifices.




THE SHADOW
----------

"Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the
individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.  At all counts,
it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meaning intentions."

		--Jung



In psychological terms, much of the relationship between the Aztecs and
their dark god can be described in therms of shadow-projection.  The
shadow is that hidden half of ourselves that lies lurking beneath our
consciousness, largely consisting of those impulses that we reject and
struggle to repress.

	"The shadow is the personal unconscious;  it is all those 
	uncivilized desires and emotions that are incompatible with
	social standards and our ideal personality, all that we are
	ashamed of that we do not want to know about ourselves.  It
	follows that the narrower and more restrictive the society in
	which we live, the larger will be our shadow." (Fordham 1953,
	p.50)

The Shadow, in part, encompasses the realm of thoughts and action that
many in the West consider "evil," and in fact, when our religions attempt
to illustrate these impulses in a universal form, it is often identified
as an aspect of "the devil."  The Spanish missionary Bernadino Sahagun,
from whose records we have learned most of what we know of Aztec theology,
made this connection with Tezcatlipoca in no uncertain terms:

	"This wicked Tezcatlipoca we know is Lucifer, the great devil who
	there in the midst of Heaven, even in the beginning, began war,
	vice, and filth."

We normally struggle to keep from acknowledging these impulses, and yet
our refusal to do so means that these driving impulses direct us from
directions we cannot or will not see.  As the shadow struggles to express
itself, we rationalize reasons why it should be able to do so.  An example
of this may be found in certain forms of religious extremism that dictate
a rigid code of conduct, yet will easily advocate such excessive behaviour
as murder.  Another way in which the shadow is made manifest is actually a
part of our attempt to disassociate ourselves from it;  when we encounter
someone or something that represents some limb of ourselves that we
dislike, we react against it, sometimes violently.  These encounters
server as "mirrors," ones that reveal what we struggle to keep hidden.  We
project the unwanted characteristics onto an outside source (where they
often take on terrifying proportions), and thus attribute them to anyone
else but ourselves.  This kind of activity can result in a sense of
superiority, and lead to a scapegoating of those on whom the
characteristic has been places.  The Nazi regime's pogroms against the
Jews are probably the most often cited illustration of this technique used
on a large scale:  a bitter and defeated Germany projected its hated
weakness onto a people even weaker than themselves.  Paradoxically, they
also projected their fear of domination onto these same people, and
invented wild conspiracy theories to support their projection, all the
while upholding the purity of their symbols and ideals--Aryan race and
German culture.  In practice however, the shadow was full upon them,
causing them to release the most murderous of impulses in a desperate
attempt to be rid of their fears.  Their example reminds us that the
attempt to disown the shadow only causes us to succumb to it.

It is for these reasons that we instinctually associate the shadow with
the night, the dark, and with blackness:  the most basic characteristics
of the Tezcatlipoca demiurge.

Despite its frightening appearance, there is nothing innately "bad" about
the shadow, and in fact, much of our sense of humour, creativity, and
imagination flows directly from this hidden aspect of ourselves.
Tezcatlipoca was credited with bringing drumming, flute-playing, and
dancing to mankind, as well as stealing fire from the underworld.  The
shadow allows us a comparison by which to judge ourselves and the world
around us, to divide order from chaos.  And since it is always just
beneath the surface of our consciousness, it serves as a kind of
gatekeeper for our psychological nether-realms.




THE AZTEC MIND
--------------

The Aztecs maintained a rigid sense of dualism, symbolized by the great
cosmic deity of divided opposites, Ometecuhtli.  It was a philosophy that
encouraged the black/white thinking style in which the shadow thrives.
The Aztecs subscribed to a code of morality that was almost puritan in
terms of strictness.  There were particularly stringent restrictions
placed on sexuality and drunkenness, and even a mild deviation from the
accepted norm (such as engaging in an extramarital affair or getting drunk
in public) could result in execution.  They were a people preoccupied with
an ideal of sin (paralleling in many ways our own medieval Christian
tradition), and their sense of sin was deeply rooted throughout their
personal and religious life.  It is important to note that despite their
struggle to better themselves at the expense of their neighbors, the
Aztecs were profoundly affected by a sense of guilt, and had numerous
penitence rituals (including a confessional and a kind of baptism),
designed to alleviate the anguish of the guilty and cleanse them of their
sins.  And who was the source of sin?  The shadow-image of the guilty
themselves--Tezcatlipoca.

   Tezcatlipoca...the very fountain of man's waywardness:  He is
   arbitrary, he is capricious, he mocks.  He wills in the manner he 
   desires.  He places us in the palm of his hand;  he is making us round.
   We roll;  we become as pellets.  He is casting us from side to side.
   We make him laugh;  he is making a mockery of us.
		--possibly a Nahuatl poem, cited by Sahagun

In this form, Tezcatlipoca was thought of as The One Always At The
Shoulder:

   Tezcatlipoca...always catching and diverting thoughts so that one did
   what one would not wish to do, and found oneself thinking of evil
   things suddenly, without reason, when one should have been thinking 
   about more responsible or Holy things.   (Spence, 1962, p.132)

To compound the effects of rigid morality and the concept of sinfulness on
the strength of the Aztec shadow, there was the additional belief that
they themselves were of central importance to the survival of the world.
The Aztecs viewed themselves as having a special relationship with the
sun, and they believed that without their help, the sun would not be able
to cross the sky, thus destroying all life on earth.  The means by which
they kept the sun in motion was to keep it well fed on the lifeblood of
sacrificial victims, usually obtained through conquest.  We now see
evidence of a crucial division in the Aztec psyche:  on one hand he was a
sinful mortal, slave to his subconscious urges (one of Tezcatlipoca's
names was Titlacahuan, meaning He Whose Slaves We Are);  yet at the same
time, he idealized himself as a "collaborator" or "agent" of the gods, on
a special mission to preserve all life, part of a race of divinely chosen
people.  The embracing of the conscious ideal and the rejection of the
"sinful" unconscious is fertile ground for a growing shadow-self.
Furthermore, this special mission for the gods gave the Aztecs a license
to kill;  and kill they did.  Thousands of people (mostly young men
captured from enemies, but occasionally women) lost their lives in the
Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, each year.  At least 20,000 people were
sacrificed in one ceremony during 1487, at the dedication of the Great
Temple in the center of Tenochtitlan.  We can see here the possibility of
a shared trait with the pogroms of the German National Socialists:  the
urge to destroy the weak and "inferior" in order to secure for themselves
(and the higher ideal) the position of supremacy. 

It is worthwhile to note that the vast majority of these sacrifices were
dedicated to some form of Tezcatlipoca himself.




TEZCATLIPOCA AND SEXUALITY
--------------------------

Few natural instincts are so restricted by society as the sexual drive.
The Aztecs themselves subscribed to a set of sexual ethics that were
nearly Victorian in scope and attitude.  To fail to comply with the strict
sexual rituals was to engage in "tzintli," or "filth," a particularly
loathsome kind of sin.  In this respect, Tezcatlipoca came to embody the
dark side of sexuality.  He was characterized as seductive, and would use
the sexual urges of his victims as weapons against themselves.

The mythology holds that it was this lasciviousness that originally forced
Tezcatlipoca to the Earthly plane, when he seduced the virgin goddess
Xochiquetzal ("Precious Flower") and carried her off to the underworld,
Mictlan.  For introducing sin to the heavens, he was cast down like
Lucifer.

Later, he would continue to use temptation as a tool, as in the previously
mentioned overthrow of Quetzalcoatl in the Toltec capitol.  He also lured
the Toltecs into another dangerous situation when he appeared in the
marketplace as a naked Huaxtec trader, endowed with a remarkably beautiful
penis.  (It is to be noted that the Huaxtecs were famed among the
Mesoamericans for their sexual appetites!)  The daughter of the king
happened to see him, and the bewitched princess was overpowered by her own
lust.  She was then seduced by Tezcatlipoca, and the woman gave birth to a
son, Huemac, who would embody his father as a powerful sorcerer-king.  The
Toltec nobility was embarrassed and enraged by the lowly birthright of
this upstart, and a civil war ensued when he took the throne.  Some say he
emerged victorious and led the Toltecs to establish Tollan.  Others say he
was driven out and destroyed after the collapse of the empire, and it is
true that the last Toltec ruler was named Huemac, and was killed in
rebellion.




THE ENEMY
---------

As we have examined, it is part of the function of the shadow to create
enemies.  We superimpose upon others the reversal of our conscious values.
We will even go so far as to attribute to them (the "enemy")
characteristics they do not truly have.  It makes little difference to the
shadow if the features fit the model, as long as there is someone to
blame.  We demonize, dehumanize, and seek to degrade or destroy in others
that which we cannot face in ourselves.

The Aztecs often referred to Tezcatlipoca by his title Yaotl, or The
Enemy.  It was his function to divide others, to spread conflict and
discontent.

   Whenever great men humiliated others in debate, scorned them in
   embassy, or demeaned them in anger, thus making war inevitable, 
   Tezcatlipoca was responsible for the provocation.  In further 
   clarification of this role, we note that he was also called [Necoc
   Yaotl,] the Enemy of Both Sides, which stressed his single-minded
   concentration on discord itself, not on the victory of any one faction.
		(Burr, 1979, p.85)

Tezcatlipoca was a creator of war and animosity, but he was not a war-god
in the traditional sense.  Normally a war-god is a kind of totem or
figurehead of the tribe's fighting prowess.  It is called upon for
guidance and strength, and is usually firmly allied with those who fight
in its name.  Tezcatlipoca, however, represented the divisive /principles/
of warfare.  He was not concerned with who was victorious or who lost, nor
whether one side was just and the other not.  He was only interested in
spreading discord and causing people to find an enemy in others.




SPEAKING WITH THE SHADOW
------------------------

The name Tezcatlipoca means "Smoking Mirror."  It stems from a device
which both represented him and was used in his service:  a circular mirror
fashioned of black obsidian.

The mirror of Tezcatlipoca himself was used by the god to see directly
into the hearts of any mortal, uncovering their innermost thoughts and
secrets.  It was with this mirror that he struck a blow against his rival,
Quetzalcoatl, by persuading that deity to gaze into it.  The mirror
reflected back Quetzalcoatl's image as monstrous and repulsive, causing
him to flee in horror.

All such devices on Earth were considered special portals for
Tezcatlipoca, doorways into his realm.

In the hands of the Aztec priest, the mirror, used as a scrying glass, was
the most powerful of divination devices.  After ritual preparation, the
priest would gaze into its surface until he fell into a trance state.
Then the visions would begin:

   One important Nahuatl (Aztec) text says that [the mirror] "clouds up
   all over like the shadows on its surface."   (Brundage 1979, p.81)

On the black mirror's surface, reflected day becomes night.  The sun
becomes the moon.  Colours become indistinguishable, like those of a
photographic negative.  The face of the person gazing into it appears dark
and murky.  As the spellbound priest looked into the mirror, his reflected
image would become that of the terrible god itself (the projection of the
priest's shadow-self would now be complete and visible, often terrifyingly
so).  In this form Tezcatlipoca was known as Tezcatlanextia, or He Who
Causes Things to be Seen in the Mirror.  Having thus contacted the darker
realms of his subconscious, the priest's shadow-self would now guide his
entranced consciousness beneath the surface.  He would now encounter
visions and portents, reportedly seeing the future and revealing the
hidden thoughts and deeds of others.  

The Aztecs were firm believers in fate, and those things envisioned in the
mirror were accepted as actual glimpses into a predetermined future.  More
likely these revelations were the unspoken impulses and intuitions of the
priest's hidden inner self.  In fact, the legendary history tells us that
it was with the aid of such a mirror that the doomed Motecuhzoma (commonly
known as "Montezuma") foretold the coming of Cortes and the subsequent
fall of the Aztec civilization, years before the Spaniards arrived in the
New World.  In this mirror he saw strange, bearded men, with unusual
clothing and weapons, riding on the backs of deer (horses were unknown to
the New World).  He saw them marching over Mexico, on their way to destroy
him and his gods.  There had been a couple of brief landings by other
Europeans on the Mexican shores years before, and it is quite possible
that Motecuhzoma, having heard sketchy reports of these encounters,
subconsciously recognized the very real threat these foreigners posed.  As
no proud Aztec emperor would ever admit the prospect of defeat, the
possibility would have remained in his subconscious until it could be
projected by his Tezcatlipoca shadow-self onto the glassy surface of the
mirror.

As an interesting side note:  a century later this mirror may have played
a role in destroying the Spanish themselves (they who built a war machine
on pillaged Aztec gold), when an original Aztec mirror of black obsidian
came into the possession of Dr. John Dee chief occult advisor and spy for
Queen Elizabeth of England, who destroyed the Spanish Armada and crippled
that nation's empire.




OWNING THE SHADOW
-----------------

The Aztecs embraced that which most cultures and individuals struggle to
repress.  They not only tolerated the misery the shadow brought upon them,
but indeed they placed the highest value upon this externalized source of
inner anguish and conflict.  They took an unusual approach toward the
difficulties the shadow created for them:  they saw value in it!

Perhaps they had appreciation for conflict itself, and the way that
competition often creates ambition.  It is the nature of all species to
compete against one another over resources in order to adapt and evolve.
The same often holds true for human societies, and with the emphasis that
the Aztecs placed on warfare, it should be of little surprise that they
were familiar with the strengthening that often accompanies struggle.

It is also possible that their fixation on moral codes and duality
allowed them to recognize the function which "unacceptable" behaviour
provides to such cultures:  an example by which comparison can be
established.  Just as day can be best understood in association with
night, it is only when we experience "evil" that "goodness" can arise.




THE BLACK MAGICIAN AND THE SHADOW
---------------------------------

   Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does
   not become a monster.  And when you look long into an abyss, the 
   abyss also looks into you.  
		--Friedrich Nietzche, _Beyond Good and Evil_


Black Magick was the exclusive realm of Tezcatlipoca, and for this he was
known as the Left-Handed Jaguar, and is described as "opoche," or
"left-handed."  The Aztecs, like the Europeans and others, associated
left-handedness with sinisterness and forbidden sorcery.  Jaguars, among
most Mesoamericans, were also equated with sudden danger and dark, arcane
wisdom.  In fact, the Mayan word "balam" means both jaguar and sorcerer.

That these priests used the shadow as a medium for communicating with the
subconscious also allowed for an unusual opportunity to gain direct and
practical usage of the shadow.  In confronting himself in this manner,
the Black Magician's shadow opens doorways into himself that ordinarily
remain locked and barred.

Smoking Mirror rituals of a personal nature should focus on a mirror or
other reflective device.  Obsidian or black/smoked glass is recommended,
but anything that is reflective will do.  Even a normal mirror can appear
quite dark when the lights are out.

It may help to envision the mirror surface, not as a solid, but as the
surface of a deep pool.  Like water, the subconscious appears flat and
unremarkable when viewed from a distance.  It looks solid, and if one had
never seen a body of water before, one might believe he could actually
walk out onto it.  But in fact, it hides a deep and primordial world
underneath, an alien landscape of sea-monsters and sunken treasure.

It is doubtful that the Magician can truly face Tezcatlipoca without
personal fear.  The darkness that shields him is there to preserve our
sanity, and to drag him suddenly into consciousness may be dangerous
indeed.  The wise Black Magician will not force the issue;  rather, he
will patiently grow more accustomed to this hidden device, coaxing it into
daylight gradually.  There are rewards, but there must be terrors first.
The legends tell us that Tezcatlipoca (in this form known as Night Axe)
would sometimes appear in the forest during the dead of night.  Whoever
passed by would hear a chopping sound and see a light, as if there were
someone cutting wood in the distance.  If the curious passer-by chose to
investigate, upon drawing closer he would find that this was no woodsman
at all.  It would be Tezcatlipoca in the form of a mutilated corpse or a
rotting skeleton, eyes burning with an unnatural light, tongue lolling
from his grinning mouth.  The chopping sound would issue from his
rib-cage, which would open and slam shut like a bear-trap, housing a
living, beating heart inside.

   Only those who dared to approach to thrust their hand into the breast
   and hold the heart could ransom their life and reason.  If they had the
   bravery to face the spectre, to take its heart as if it was their own
   heart in their own power, then they would find strength, wealth and
   power showered upon them.  Otherwise, divided, and remaining in the 
   eternal state of the young man, they would not succeed in their battle
   through life.   (Burland, 1967, p.132)

The Tezcatlipoca image is one that has seldom been used in recent years,
and as this is largely uncharted territory, it may be wise to consider
smaller steps of ritual magick at first.  These initial Workings should be
introspective and centered around the Magician's individual Self.  Some
examples of possible basic Workings include:

   --Merge consciousness with an acceptance of all aspects of the 
     unconscious.
   --To suspend judgement of oneself and the outside world in order to
     gain a larger and more balanced view.
   --To create a bridge (or strengthen existing ones) between the
     conscious and the subconscious to gain otherwise unrecognized
     insights.
   --To evaluate aspects of oneself that are hidden, uncomfortable, or
     too easily avoided.
   --To anchor unconscious aspects into consciousness.
   --To free up or better utilize the inspiration and creative functions
     contained within the shadow.

These should be excellent exercises with which the Black Magician can gain
familiarity with his shadow-Self.

But there are far darker depths than these to fathom.

The Aztecs recognized a crystallized facet of Tezcatlipoca that lay at the
being's very center.  Known as Tloque Nahuaque ("Ever Present, Ever Near")
and Yohualli Ehecatl ("Night and Tempest" or "Night and Wind," but also
translatable as "Invisible and Intangible"), he was unusual among the
Aztecs and Toltecs in that he was without form.  Rather, he appears to
have been a kind of godlike _principle_.


   There was no mask that distinguished Tloque Nahuaque, because he had no
   visibility, he was not really a god at all the way the Aztecs defined
   them.  He was rather the appearance of the undifferentiated numinous
   that stands behind and supports all the gods.

   He was a friend of man and yet, acting as Tezcatlipoca, he intended 
   man's destruction.  He mocked men and saw to it that all things
   decayed.  And yet he protected the land of Anahuac (Mesoamerica).

   Its antiquity is undoubted.  But because the term implied a metaphysic 
   as much as a religious certainty, Tloque Nahuaque was removed from the
   earthly habitat otherwise so congenial to Tezcatlipoca and placed in
   the top-most heaven, where he lived as an "only" god.  
		(Brundage, 1979, p.67-68, 92)

Though widely recognized as the supreme essence of being, his abstractness
prevented him from being the object of traditional worship.  The only
temple built to Tezcatlipoca's form as Tloque Nahuaque/Yohualli Ehecatl was
constructed in the city of Tezcoco, by the famed poet-king Nezahualcoyotl.
A black pyramid with stars painted on its shrine, it was unique in that it
had no image of the god inside.

There lies a tremendous potential for Medial and Greater Black Magic to be
mined from the depths of the Tezcatlipoca symbol, as extensive usage
should come to transform the magician's very understanding of himSelf hand
his Will.  But we know little of these mysteries as yet, and this chapter
will have to be expanded upon as we practitioners gain more and more
insight into ourselves and this ancient portal we are exploring.  We have
in Tezcatlipoca a new and powerful key to the gateways.  In this respect,
the members of the Smoking Mirror Pylon may consider themselves pioneers
in an otherwise seldom explored field of Magick.







--BAA00164.884770414/gladstone.uoregon.edu--