A. CONCLUSIONS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL MEETING

I. Subject of the “Teología India”

1 The individual of the “Teología India” is the indigenous community living in the land where its myths and rites grow.

2 The community lives the experience of God Father-Mother as it advances on its way: along with its sages, who are the legitimate interpreters of its beliefs, it makes reflection, expresses and celebrates in its daily life and in its rites.

3 This community is aware of its own identity, of its values, aware that it has a project of life, its own Revelation and Religion. Along with other brethren, it has for 500 years been fighting for its own liberation against the oppressor, so that it may have life in abundance.

4 The organization of this theological experience belongs to the members of the community and to those people who become involved in the community and are able to identify with its projects.

II. Culture

We are active in our culture, as we are active in our land:

1 We cultivate it, we redeem it, we reappraise it.

2 We plant, we arrange it with the help of the sciences that help us revaluate it.

3 With a real and critical conscience, we cleanse it.

4 We fertilize it by creating the conditions that will fortify it and develop the Indian identity, through our myths, rites, beliefs, places, soil, symbols, instruments, dances and our own organization.

5 We cure it, by recuperating the historical memories.

6 We harvest it when the man and the woman in the community project us into our liberation.

7 We love it because it is the life of our people; for it, we grow and will be fortified in the presence of God Father-Mother.

III. Social Structure

1 We the indigenous communities have been the object of social and ethnic oppression. From the time of the invasion 500 years ago, we have suffered impositions from the governments and the Church that used the Bible for its purposes.

2 We the indigenous communities are oppressed in the social structures, in a world that pretends to make all persons uniform, within the economy of a global market, uniform to new forms of cultural colonialism, becoming more violent against the woman.

3 We aboriginal peoples have the vocation to life; for this reason, we want to transform the economic, political and social structures that oppress us. We do that through our cultural identity and our theologies, by dialoguing with other indigenous peoples and in solidarity with marginalized groups. Thus shall we contribute to the generation of alternatives for a new society.

4 And so, we who are subjects of this process take on a consciousness that enables us to march towards liberation and carry out our indigenous projects together with other groups that are exploited.

We strengthen our resistance and desire for liberation in our “Teología India” in the face of internal and external oppressing systems.

We strengthen the Indian organization that is equal and complementary.

We revitalize the solidarity among the Indian peoples.

We fight for self-determination.

We use our symbolic language.

5 We need from the internal and external servants a commitment that goes to all extremes, a commitment that will serach for strategies that will favor the process of liberation, taking into account the cultures and situation of the country.

IV. Christian Contribution

1 To deepen and consolidate our “Teología India”; to continue to work to ascertain their thought patterns and methods in order to achieve a respectful dialogue with Christian and non- Christian theologies.

2 To reread the Bible as one of the instruments that can widen our theological reflection, while at the same time recognizing that God reveals himself in all cultures.

3 From the standpoint of the “Teología India”, dialogue with Christian and non-Christian theologies presuppose the putting aside of absolutisms and privilegies so that we might come to a true mutual enrichment.

4 Christian contribution must translate itself into prophetic attitudes and voices, so that the dialogue between theologies may serve justice, life and liberation.

B. INCULTURATED THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

1. Jesus Christ incarnates Himself in the Indigenous Peoples of Mesoamerica: “Quetzalcoalt
Jesus Christ is with us

God revealed himself to the indigenous peoples. Jesus Christ is present to, and accompanies the cultures of, the originary countries as Seed in the beginning and as Tree afterwards. Later on, he is in their myths and in their religious rites. St Justin expressed this thought about the divine presence in the cultures when he explained that “in the cultures, God’s word was present in the fashion of seeds.” For St Clement of Alexandria, it was sure that as there is an Old Testament in the tradition and in the religion of the Jews, there also is an Old Testament for the Greeks . With him, we can say that the indigenous countries have their “Old Testament” in their Faith Memorials, in their Ancient Words, and in their Ancient Codices and Annals.

Jesus Christ did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets that God accompanied in our peoples, but rather to fully fulfill the prophecies that the Holy Spirit revealed to our grandparents. That’s what inspires the Church to affirm that “evangelization is not a process of destruction but the consolidation and the strengthening of those values, a contribution to the growing of the Roots of the Word present in the cultures”.

God always spoke through our culture and asks us to bring to completion His project by bulding it up in our history, because He wants everyone to be saved and to arrive at the knowledge of the Truth, the Truth that will make us free. God reveals Himself and operates salvation through human beings and in a human language , meaning, on the basis of mental categories, cultural characters and styles of life proper to every people. We are firmly convinced that God is present and acts in the culture of our peoples in which are outlined His face, His heart and His identity.

In the Sacred Scriptures we find that God used persons of a people to do his work of salvation. That is why across the history of humanity, there came out men and women who, by their gift of self, their counsel, their teachings and their wisdom were able to direct, govern and concretize great undertakings and cultivate the arts. Rightly so, every people must and can remember these people who praised God through their works and glorified their country, such as Quetzalcóatl for the peoples of Mesoamerica.

In the case of the history of our peoples, we have mentioned how the revelation of God flourished in the customs and the traditions of our peoples through Quetzalcóatl, prophet and man of God. We know that they came from God and not from “a man” only, because, if these ideas and accomplishments had been invented by a man, they would have already been destroyed; but since they came from God, they remain up to today in latent fashion. This explains how these customs and traditions gave life to our peoples, how they recreated and made fruitful the “Seeds of the Word” that God planted in the cultures of our countries, in such a way that they not only remained but even flourished and gave many fruits. This happened “because the seed that is the word of God, germinating in a soil that is good and irrigated by the heavenly dew, absorbs the lymph, transforms and assimilates it, and finally gives abundant fruit.”

This is what the life and the works of the Toltecs make us see with the “eyes of faith”, the Toltecs who were followers of Quetzalcóatl, and who in the other inhabitants of Mesoamérica were able to inculcate their culture, their cosmovision and their religion by proposing the Toltecáyotl. Many witnessings of these followers are found in Teotihuacan, Cholula, Tajín, Chichen-Itzá, Mitla and other ancient sacred places of México. The great vigor that emanated from the deep religious beliefs preached by Quetzalcóatl sustained the mobilization, the transformation, the recreation and the life of our ancestors, and did it with such vitality that their influence persists in our days.

One of the great teachings of Quetzalcóatl refers to the symbolism of the náhui (number 4) that will inspire: the four suns that preceded our sun today; the four paths of the world; and the four trees that sustain the House of the World where human beings live. On this conceptual basis were built the cognitive systems, the wisdom and all the sciences; the architecture of the countries and their cities; religion and theology. The number four became part of the quetzalcóatl reality and impregnated all life.

For our peoples, the number four means totality, the perfect being. I will enumerate some examples that demonstrate what I’ve said. In mathematical terms, a complete count is formed by four-five (4X5=20) which correspond to all the fingers and toes that we have in the hands and the feet (4 members times 5 fingers-toes). This count is called sempohual in Náhuatl, and akgpuxum in Totonaco. There also is, for example, in our peoples a crossed hug that is given among friends and relatives to show respect and total love. This same kind of salutation appears in the divine figures of the scenes of the Code which we will analyze. Náhuatl means four-water (nahui-átl). This word makes reference to the bond that, as a people, we have with the First Sun that existed once and whose name is Náhui-Atl. To talk Náhuatl would mean “to speak in completion”. The tlanahuatilis means to do something four times so as to do it completely.
The conceptualization of the Mesoamerican cross is expressed in the divine title In Nahuaque that refers to:
1) se: The one who is in front of you; 2) ome: The one who is behind you and takes care of you; 3) yeyi: The one who accompanies you on your left; 4) nahui: The one who is at your right side. It also refers to: 1) the one who is in front of you; 2) the one who is above you; 3) the one who is behind you; 4) the one who is under you. And who can stay at the same time in those four routes? The Elders say, Only God: Tehuatzin In Toteotzin timoyezticatzin nochin semanahuac yalhuatzin axatzin uan nochipa tonaltzintli . God alone, In Nahuaque In Tloque, is with the dawn of the sun and the setting of the moon; God has to do with the light of the day and the darkness of the night; God produces the fire, the heat and the cold, fertility and death. This discourse is similar to divine omnipresence, the praise to which refers Psalm 139: If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast.
Our indigenous ancestors applied the concept of In Tloque Nahuaque to Jesus Christ. All the crosses elaborated by the indigenous in the XVI century are adorned with flowers and, in the center of several of them, the face of Christ alone can be seen.

Besides the four routes, we find in the Mesoamerican cross a fifth one; in other words, we can see the five routes of the universe. We have to consider the Cross that appears in the Code called by the experts the Fejérváry-Meyer, if we want to understand what our ancestors understood of the Cross of Christ; and even more we should reflect on Jesus Christ as Cross, in order to understand how Jesus Christ incarnated in this people and became their savior in the sequence of Quetzalcóatl.

2. Jesus Christ “Totlaixpa” (in front of us)

From our indigenous categories, the design that we explain in the text helps us understand Jesus Christ as Sun that is born from above . At present, our peoples call this direction of the world kane tlaneze in Náhuatl, and xlipulhni in Totonaco.

Very meaningful is the ritual followed by the Flying Dancers, the Kgosnin , when they are on the tree where the square is, and from which they throw themselves to fly: the ritual dancers always begin by turning to that direction. When they go to the hills to perform the ritual of the rain, their offerings are given in that direction too. I transcribe here a text that reflects the praying attitude of the peoples Náhuatl and Totonaco in the mountainous chain north of Puebla: In this course rises life from God, there is born the light for humanity, there appears life through good food for us, thence comes life for our crops, Mother-Corn, Father-Corn. From there comes our life, our joy, thence is the wisdom of our peoples reborn. For that reason, we must not let ourselves be overcome by sadness, by the worries of life. Let us not allow the problems, the pains, the sicknesses that we find on our way overcome us. We must let our Father Sun brighten our lives. We must allow him to be the guide of our living and of our history. Let him be the light on our way that he may fill us with wisdom so that life may continue flourishing in our people.

Elements of the image explained in the text:

a) In the back, figure of a little table: the hill.
b) Starry circle of eight points: Father Sun.
c) Tree in the form of a cross = the people.
d) On the left, a divine personage: the wayfarer Sun.
e) On the right, a divine personage: Offering Maker.
f) On the tree, the bird (humming-bird) = the servant.

The text of the Code Fejervary Meyer spoke theologically of this place. As we can see, in the foreground we have the glyph of the Tlachihualtépetl , i.e., hill (in the form of a little table; see ‘a’ in the image explanation), a hill made up by the people and similar to those made in nature by Ometeotzin. The hills, according to indigenous wisdom, are a fundamental part of the people, to the extent that in the root of the concept of people there is the term hill. The word for people in the Náhuatl language is altépetl , and in the Totonaco language, chuchusipi . On this elevation is positioned the glyph of the Father Sun (a starry circle of eight points, ‘b’). We know the importance, for our peoples, of the sun as preeminent sacrament of the divine paternal presence. If we pay attention to the glyph used in the scene of the Code, if we consider its form, its splendor, its center, its ornamentation – we can understand why this sign is now perceived by our peoples in the monstrances of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. Besides, considering the discourse presented in this scene, we can understand how the indigenous peoples give the title “Our Father Jesus” to the images of Jesus Christ.

From the image blooms out a tree (‘c’) that symbolically represents the people. Even today we hear traditional discourses that develop the symbolism of the tree as people. In those discourses it is said that the elders are the root, the branches are the families, the leaves are the children, sons or daughters, and the trunk is the sum of the people and their institutions. This tree is greeted with the gesture of a cross, and is revered because of the two divine personages present in it. On the left (‘d’) we have Tonatiuh, the “Wayfarer Sun”, presented in the divine solarlike red. And on the right (‘e’), we have Itzpantzin, the Offering Maker, bringing up the cap of the sacrifice.

We recall the ancestral meaning of the human sacrifice. In his History of the Náhuatl Literature , P. Ángel María Garibay offers us an analytical and examplar reflection that reflects the meaning of the human sacrifice. In that History, one of the Chiefs tells the reason for the sacrifice that was applied to the servant of servants, whose name is Tlatoani in the Náhuatl language, and Puxku in the Totonaco language.

Even today, our peoples grant the Topiltzin (Leader’s Staff) only to the main servant who earned this dignity by rendering many services. We find the same thing in the tables of the ritual of the creative movement (the Ulamaliztli), commonly called the ball game, that we find in Tajín. In the so-called Southern Ball Game of Tajín, in bas-relief, it can be clearly seen that only the Main Servants were able to participate in this ritual: we know that because they hold the Lixtokgol (Leaders’ Staff) and wear the ritual feathers on their head which express the services they performed for the people.

The argument for the human sacrifice was articulated this way: the best thing God made in all creation is the human being; and the best thing that the human being has is his heart. Consequently, the best thing that can be offered to God is the human heart: but not the heart of any human being; only the heart of those who have distinguished themselves in being servants of all. Thus, our peoples applied the style of life taught by Jesus Christ¸ who came not to serve but to serve and give his life in ransom for many.

In our indigenous mentality, we see Jesus Christ as the Feathered Being who sustains the Divine Topiltzin (the Staff of the Divine Command). The glyph of the quetzal bird (humming bird) that stands on the tree of this scene (‘f’ in the image) tells us of the intermediary service, because his feathers were granted to the servant for the confection of his plume. Nowadays, this scene is ritualized in he dance of the Flyers of the Totonaco people and in the dance of the Quetzales of the Náhuatl people.

3. Jesus Christ “Totlacuitlapa” (our shoulder)

This place in Náhuatl language is called Kane Tlayohua (where the sun sets). In Totonaco it is called Xlitsankgalh (where it gets lost). As for the discourse of the code that we are using as locus theologicus, the revelation of God as Mother is presented in this scene in a pictorial way.

In our spiritual life, when we say the Our Father, we see the expression of God as Father. This expression is common and is not strange to us. As we continue to deepen the traditions and the usages proper to our countries of origin, we find in the discourses another expression that is different from this way of speaking of God: it is the expression of God as Mother.

In the life of the Jewish country that is presented to us in the Bible, we find texts that speak of the maternity of God. In the book of Isaiah, Sacred Scripture presents maternal images in which God’s maternal tenderness is presented to us: “… as a consoling mother, so will I console you.” In the New Testament, Jesus also uses a highly suggestive maternal image to teach us his great love for Jerusalem: “How many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling…” In this case, Jesus identified himself with the image of a maternal fowl.

Elements of the image explained in the text:

a) at the basis of the image: perfumer in the form of a grasshopper.
b) on the head of the grasshopper, the moon = mother earth.
c) from the moon surges a tree in form of a cross = the people.
d) on the tree, a bird (humming bird).
e) on the left, the feminine divine personage of the Precious Skirt.
f) on the right, the feminine divine personage of Divine Love.


In the tradition of our peoples we find the theological conceptualization of God as Ometeotzin, the divine title that expresses the mystery of the Divine Duality, Mother-Father. Our countries continue to see God as Mother and Father. A very meaningful expression is given to us by the Maya peoples who call God the Heart of the Heavens (Father), and Heart of the Earth (Mother). Here too, in Sierra Norde de Puebla (Mexico), we the daughters and the sons of the Náhuatl and Tonanaco peoples, keeep this theological concept of God as Mother and Father. We can see this in the prayers. For example, here is a prayer in Náhuatl: Tehuatzin Teotzin, Totatzin, Tonantzin…”; in Totonaco: “…Puchin, Tse, Tlat…” We all know that: lex orandi, lex credendi, that is to say, what we pray is what we believe, and for us indigenous people what we pray over are the very things that we profoundly believe. Towards the place and the hills that the Code speaks of, there is the Code that we will present. Towards them we send our prayer and supplications: Because we know that our Father the Sun arrives there, at Yohualichan , there it hides, there it keeps itself, there death is tasted. In this place the sense of rest shows itself, there, in the darkness, where only the light of the moon shines. Even humanity experiences death here in the repose of the night. May the night not make us lose the sense of life, may it be a true repose, a repose that is such even for our cultivations and for the whole of creation.

In the forefront of this image of the Code there appears a glyph that tells us of a perfumer in the form of a grasshopper (‘a’). We find this glyph in a mural that develops the theme of the sacred gulp that is found in the Temple of Quetzalcóatl, in Cholula, Puebla. This image is commonly called “the drinkers of pulque” (pulque = a traditional liqueur). This idea of the sacrality of the gulp brings the indigenous people to possess a great esteem of the sign of the blood of Christ in the celebration of the Mass: they see it as the Great Sacred Gulp. This glyph of the perfumer grasshopper refers certainly to the seeding, an agricultural work that is deeply related to the moon and where the glyph is sustained by the perfumer grasshopper. Ordinarily, the perfumer is used during the rituals for women who perform a priestly function.

This is an image that tells us of fertility at its beginning and of maternity. Even today we hear our
People respectfully call the moon Grandma Moon (‘b’). We already know that the moon is connected with the feminine cycles. This image has the same idea that we have in the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe: a personage sustained by the moon. And from the Navel of the Moon the Divine Maternal proposal is developed.

All of us the indigenous in Mexico know that to speak of Tonantzin is the same as to speak of Mother Earth, the earth as preponderant sacrament that our people identify as the Divine Maternity. From the moon issues the tree of huizache (‘c’) that is blooming where the humming bird is (‘d’). We already referred to these symbols of the tree and of the bird. This tree is greeted respectfully by two divine maternal personages. On the left (‘e’), there is the divine feminine personage Chalchiutlicue, the Precious Skirt; on the right (‘f’’), the divine feminine personage Tlazoteotzin, the Divine Love: in its skirt are seen the bones of humanity. The sign of the bones reminds us of the myth in which Cihuacóatl grinds the bones of humanity that dwelt in the four previous suns, as it prepared them for the creation of macehualzintli . Evidently, this is a theological image that expresses divine maternity.
This theological discourse is at present latent in the celebrations of the lakgatankuwit Totonaco in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but with this ideological nuance: If it rains the night of the celebration, then Jesus Christ was born a baby boy; but if the evening of the celebration it does not rain, then Jesus Christ was born as a girl. The latter, Jesucristo-Niña, refers to what we have seen in this image of the Code.

Fr. Mario Pérez Pérez