Teotihuacán is a place of great beauty, magic, and power. As you learned in Chapter 1, little is known about the people who gathered there and built the pyramids, temples, and other beautiful buildings that make up the core of the old city. Surely, they were artists of the spirit, great Toltec visionaries with knowledge of astronomy, art, agriculture, spirituality, and, of course, building. Their city reached populations of perhaps 200,000 people, with sophisticated systems for water, sanitation, and food distribution, with a government directed by their spiritual leaders.

In the centuries after Teotihuacán was abandoned, the ruined city was visited by the Aztecs and the builders of Tula, and honored in their mythology as the place where civilization began. The awe-inspiring pyramid complex, an hour northeast of Mexico City, is now a beloved national park and is visited by tourists, masses of Mexican schoolchildren, and spiritual groups throughout the year.

Teotihuacán is affectionately known as “Teo” to most who live, work, and visit there. The Aztecs called the city “the Place of the Gods” to honor their mythology about its origins. For the purposes of the following modern Toltec journey to Teo, the interpretation is revised to “the Place Where Humans Awaken and Remember their Divinity.”

Visioning the Original Majesty of Teotihuacán

Archeologists have stabilized and rebuilt some of the edifices of Teo; however, they have not replaced the remaining plaster and murals that once graced all of the buildings there. The original builders covered the pyramids, temples, stairways, and priest houses with a thick layer of plaster, which was then painted white and decorated with murals and other brightly colored decorations.

The light of the sun is an important element of this ancient city, and to imagine it shimmering in the clear light of this high plateau is to dream unimaginable elegance. In addition, imagine rows of temple platforms on both sides of the mile-long Avenue of the Dead, with copal incense filling the air with its sweet smoke, and the magical music of flutes, drums, and voices singing spiritual praise. Thousands of people fill the avenue; priests, masters, apprentices, artists, and residents of the surrounding city, all here to share the glory and intent of their society.

The Home of the Sun

Most early cultures were very connected to the sun, and its seasons. In Teotihuacán, the light of the sun is unique and powerful, and the Pyramid of the Sun towers into the sky as though it were built as a ladder to the solar source. The sun represents spirit, the masculine element in creation, and the power of the sun and spirit are both very present in Teo. Of course, the feminine aspect is present here, also, in the earth, the Women's Quarters, and the Pyramid of the Moon.

Murals adorned the cities built by the Toltecs.

This journey through Teotihuacán follows the three masteries of the Toltec path. It begins in “hell” (the dream of the planet) with its judgments, attachments, and suffering, and travels through the stages of transformation, through the feminine — until the final triumph of leaping free of the dream, into the “black sun” (the source of creation).

This journey offers you opportunities for deep surrender, letting go of beliefs and attachments that do not serve you, and opening yourself to your joyful connection with life. Teotihuacán is a place of spiritual pilgrimage for many individuals and groups, especially with teachers in the lineage of the nagual don Miguel Ruiz (including the author). Note that the journey described here takes place over several days.