TRUGEMS Table of Contents Page
the
Stone of the golden sun
It was the Time of the Fifth Sun.
The great Emperor, Cuauhtémoc, looked out over the island city of Tenochtitlan and its population of more than a quarter of a million people. Here before him stood the capital of an Aztec Empire that spanned thousands of square miles and was the unquestioned pinnacle of American civilization. So peaceful…so reassuring; and yet…all of this was in grave and imminent danger.
For
the great volcano near the city, Popocatepetl, had erupted, and with mighty
blasts Xiutecuhtli, the God of Fire, had filled the sky with black clouds of
soot and ash. Day had turned to night. The Sun God, Tonatiuh, had been made
captive of “the jaguar heart of the mountain”, the powerful Lord of the
Night, Tepeyolothli. Crops were starting to wither and die. The rivers were
thickened with ash, and the fish and animals had fled. The people were in a
state of panic.
A delegation of nobles had begged the Emperor for help. The situation was desperate. How could the Sun God be released from captivity? Surely the Emperor would have the wisdom to find a solution! Cuauhtémoc desperately searched his memory for details of a long-forgotten story from his childhood. Slowly a glimmer of hope crept into the corner of his consciousness. Yes….perhaps…there might be a way, but it lay buried in the ancient myths and legends of Aztec culture. The only hope for his people was the chance that one of these myths might actually have a basis in truth. Was such a thing possible?
There was little time to waste - the Emperor had no choice. He immediately assembled a small band of his best runners and trackers and gave them details of a story passed down through generations, a story so fantastic that Cuauhtémoc scarcely believed it himself.
The ancient myth suggested that in the days of pre-history, long before
men, a battle had been waged between Tonatiuh, the Sun God, and Tlaltecuhtli,
the God of Earth. The Earth God won this battle. To memorialize the triumph of
his victory he created a special SUN-STONE
in which he imprisoned his defeated rival. Tlaltecuhtli then broke the
stone into millions of pieces and scattered them into boiling lava, which
eventually cooled into dense, black rock that would forever keep Tonatiuh
within the earth…and within his grasp.
This plan might have worked, except for the unexpected intervention of Tialoc
and Quetzalcoatl, the Gods of Water and Wind. Over millennia of uncounted
time, these elemental forces struggled against the dense black lava rock that
had encased the bits and pieces of Tonatiuh’s prison. Eventually
the rock was worn away, unlocking the golden fragments and allowing them to
accumulate on the surface of the ground. When enough of them had been released, Quetzalcoatl
blew them high into the sky, restoring Tonatiuh to his rightful place in
the heavens. According to the legend, the Gods of wind and water continued to
tear at the rock and expose more of the golden fragments, to make sure that
someday ALL of Tonatiuh would be freed. The ancient Aztec priests had
given a name to the magical rock that imprisoned the Sun God. They had called it
the Stone of the Golden Sun.
Cuauhtémoc prayed that his idea would work. The location of
the Stone of the Golden Sun
was far to the north in a remote volcanic area. If his runners could track it
down and bring back some of the ancient fragments of Tonatiuh, then
perhaps returning these to the lavas of Popocatepetl would appease the Fire God Xiutecuhtli
and save his people!
After weeks of searching, the runners finally discovered a place that
seemed to fit the descriptions of the ancient legends. In a remote valley lay a
tiny area in which bright, golden yellow stones literally covered the ground.
These stones were amazing – and unique - transparent and hard, unlike anything
ever seen before. The Emperor’s team scooped up as much of the stones as they
could carry and rushed back to Tenochtitlan.
The
situation at home had become truly desperate. There was no time to waste! The
Emperor’s astronomer-priests carried the pieces of golden SUN-STONE
to a spot where the full fury of the volcano could
not only be seen, but also be felt! And with loud cries and incantations
they hurled the stones out into the hot plumes of lava. The stones quickly
disappeared into the incandescent cauldron. Within minutes, the fiery eruption
ceased. By morning the tower of ash and dust had begun to settle. The God of the
mountain had been appeased and the city was saved from destruction.
In
1790 an amazing carved stone was excavated in the center of Mexico City, an
artifact now believed to be a symbolic representation of the Aztec view of
space-time. This object, an immense disk of dark, basaltic rock a meter thick,
1.6 meters across and weighing 24 metric tonnes, has come to be known as the Sun-Stone.
All the existing studies of Aztec culture, religion and myth emphasize the
unique importance of the sun. The entire religious and military focus of their
civilization revolved around sacrifice to the Sun God and a fanatical need to
prevent darkness from overtaking the land. There is no modern counterpart to the
religion that so dominated Aztec culture. However, the sun and its symbols
remain vitally important to native peoples throughout the Americas.
the Stone of the
golden sun
There
is no way to prove or disprove the legend of Tonatiuh and Xiutecuhtli.
We do know, however, that Mexico is a volcanic country and eruptions have
plagued its occupants for centuries. We do know that there is a tiny area
in remote northern Mexico where bright golden yellow crystals have weathered out
of dark basaltic rock and lie scattered on the ground. We do know that
while this surface material has been exposed for a long time and is not
completely flawless, the golden yellow crystals still trapped within the basalt
are transparent, unusually hard, and generally unlike anything found anywhere
else on earth.
This
deposit is known as La
Mina de La Piedra del Sol Dorado, which
means “The Mine of the Stone of the Golden
Sun”.
Is
it coincidence? Is it prophecy?
Or is it simply amazing good fortune that the gemstones now available as GOLDEN
SUNSTONE TM (and as ROYAL
SUNSTONE TM
in cut gem sizes over 20 carats)
are remarkably brilliant and amazingly limpid, as if the sun’s rays were
truly imprisoned within their glittering polished surfaces!
GOLDEN SUNSTONE TM can be purchased as faceted gemstones in a wide
variety of shapes and sizes, as well as unique patented and trademarked cuts,
including Virtual RealityTM, the Virtual CrossTM
and the Virtual StarTM. GOLDEN SUNSTONE
is rapidly becoming one of the most sought-after gemstones in the global
marketplace.
There
is a special pleasure in possessing the Stone of the Golden Sun. Perhaps….just
maybe…when you hold one in your hand… you really do own a fragment of
captured sunlight.
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