mexican sun calendar

Artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association recreate the elaborate stone sculpture known as the "Aztec Calendar" or "Sun Stone." Discovered in Mexico City, the original massive stone is on display in the National Museum of Anthropology and History. The Aztecs (or Mexica, as they called themselves) believed that the sun struggled daily against the forces of darkness. They aided the sun through human sacrifices. This beautiful replica is sculpted in clay and given a crackled antique effect. Features a loop for hanging.

A myriad shades of blue conjure a cool and soothing universe in this elegant nierika, or votive beadwork painting by Kupihaute. Scorpions scuttle purposefully around the center of the composition, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artist, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "From the focal center of the nierika, the precious flower arises in spiral movement as the culminating expression of the deepest roots. The blossom is keeping in its entrails the seed that will disseminate the power of creative energy. This is symbolized by the scorpions that, in their wonderful body symmetry, show the essence of the power itself, since any imbalance in its mating dance, any missing the target, will cause its own poisoning and thus its own death. Therefore the symbol of cosmos, of order is shown in their mouths and the tails."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.

Artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association present a faithful replica of the Aztec calendar, known also as the "Sun Stone." Discovered in Mexico City, the original massive stone is on display in the National Museum of Anthropology and History. The Aztecs (or Mexica, as they called themselves) believed that the sun struggled daily against the forces of darkness. They aided the sun through human sacrifices.

Artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association recreate the elaborate stone sculpture known as the "Aztec Calendar" or "Sun Stone." Discovered in Mexico City, the original massive stone is on display in the National Museum of Anthropology and History. The Aztecs (or Mexica, as they called themselves) believed that the sun struggled daily against the forces of darkness. They aided the sun through human sacrifices. This beautiful replica is sculpted in clay and given a crackled antique effect. Features a loop for hanging.

Artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association present a faithful replica of the Aztec calendar, known also as the "Sun Stone." According to pre-Hispanic beliefs, there have been a total of five suns, including the current one. It is said the previous four, together with humans, were destroyed by the gods' wrath. The calendar represents the fifth sun and tells the story of the past four and marks the changing of the seasons. The Aztecs (or "Mexica," as they called themselves) believed the sun struggled daily against the forces of darkness. They aided the sun through human sacrifices.

Features a loop for hanging.

Angel Cerón presents a faithful replica of the Aztec calendar, known also as the "Sun Stone." According to pre-Hispanic beliefs, there have been a total of five suns, including the current one. According to legend, the previous four, together with humans, were destroyed by the gods' wrath. The calendar represents the fifth sun and tells the story of the past four and marks the changing of the seasons. The Aztecs (or "Mexica," as they called themselves) believed the sun struggled daily against the forces of darkness. They aided the sun through human sacrifices.

Artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association handcraft a ceramic replica of an Aztec calendar that will make an intriguing conversation piece wherever it is displayed. A replica of the Piedra del Sol, the "sun stone," found in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, the images in the calendar represent the legend of the fifth sun. According to Mesoamerican cosmology, there were four suns before our current sun, all destroyed, along with the people of the time, by the wrath of the gods. Faithful to the original, the replica is full of intricate detail and painted in warm, earthy orange, red, green, and beige. A sueded leather cord makes a loop at the top for easy hanging.