Page:Historia Verdadera del Mexico profundo.djvu/124

 We must remember that the concept, "the red and black ink" symbolically meant wisdom. Similarly, the four Tezcatlipocas each had a color, which had a philosophical meaning. The cardinal points and the colors had a philosophical meaning for the ancient grandparents.

''"Earth’s surface (Tlatipac) is a large disk located at the center of the universe that extends horizontally and vertically. Around earth is huge water (Teo-atl) spreading everywhere like a ring, makes the world, "the-forever-surrounded-by-water" (cen-a-náhuac). But, both land and its enormous water ring are not something amorphous and undifferentiated. Because the universe is divided into four major quadrants or directions, which open at the navel of Earth and extend up to where the waters around the world meet the sky and are named celestial water (Ilhuica-atl). The four directions of the world imply swarms of symbols." (Miguel Leon Portilla. 1956)''

Another way to represent space, by the ancient grandparents was with a huge tree, which could be a Ceiba or an Ahuehuete and a cactus. The thirteen skies were represented by the leaves, the nine levels of the underworld by the root and the human level the earth's surface where the tree is.

The thirteen skies.

The spatial universe of ancient grandparents is the huge philosophica—religious scenario in which 13 levels or heavens occupy the top of their world. The heavenly space for ancient Mexicans was totally identified. The first heaven or "lower sky" is what humans see, therein lies the Moon and the clouds, this sky is called Ilhuícatl Metztli. The second heaven was the place of the stars or Citlalco. The third heaven was the place of the Sun or Ilhuícatl Tonatiuh. The fourth heaven is where the planet Venus resides, known as Ilhuícatl huitzlan. The fifth heaven is where the comets or smoky stars, called Citlalin Popoca. The sixth and seventh heaven are places where only the colors black and blue can be seen, known as Yayauhco and Xocouhco. The eighth heaven is the place of