Ancient Harvest

One of the courses I am taking this semester covers the geography and peoples of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.  We are currently studying the ancient empires of this region, like the Mayans and the Aztecs.  I visited the university library yesterday to find some inspiration for the term paper we are to write for this class.  I brought home eight books! on the subjects of Mesoamerican food, medicine, and gender.  Hoping that a research topic will jump out at me from the pages of one of those books, I found an interesting Aztec verse quoted in Eating Landscape by Philip P. Arnold.  In a chapter about human sacrifice and corn harvest being directly related, this verse reads:

We live HERE on the earth [stomping on the mud floor]

we are all fruits of the earth

the earth sustains us

we grow here, on the earth and flower

and when we die we wither in the earth

we are ALL FRUITS of the earth [stomping on the mud floor]

We eat the earth

then the earth eats us.

At this time of year, it is fitting to recognize the Earth for her bounty of fruits, grains, and vegetables.  It is nice that we humans know how to ensure a good harvest without having to sacrifice our children to the fertility gods.  As the aspen leaves in the trees around my home begin to turn golden, I mentally prepare for the cold winter ahead.  I am grateful to be living, to be taking in the mountain air, planting my feet upon the dirt, watching the sun's arc over my head, as I hang my clothes on the line to dry.