Daniel Stange de Acatl
Posted March 26, 2026
New life is everywhere. Spring has officially begun and the world is awakening to its yearly cycle of flowers and fruits and all things medicine. The pollinators are racing from flower to flower and gathering their nectars and exchanging their messages. Among bees, butterflies, lady bugs and other flying insects is another great pollinator we call Hummingbird, Colibri or Chuparosa. This amazing tiny-winged creature is unique to the Western Hemisphere. 80% of all these hummingbirds today live in the Amazon jungles because it has the greatest diversity and last refuge of undomesticated territory.
When I was a boy, I thought they were great hornets with their long-spiked beaks. The amount of curiosity and biological study of these fellow earthlings does not match their importance. It has only recently been given attention; UC Davis hummingbird health and conservation research program is one of the leading groups that continues to discover new information. They even say hummingbirds are evolving because of the increased use of backyard hummingbird feeders. But these amazing two-legged messengers had been well respected and understood by Aztec and other American Indigenous nations long before the arrival of Spain.
To follow your heart is the easiest and sometimes the most challenging decision that you face.
Huitzilin (Wit see lyn), the Nahuatl word for hummingbird. Huitzi is a needle much like their beak and the word OPOCH signifies the left side. As in – Opochmaitl (left-hand) Yecmaitl (right-hand). So, the literal translation of HUITZILOPOCHTLI is hummingbird to the left. Some historians say, ‘Hummingbird to the south’, because the word Huitzlampa is used when naming the four directions. But people with little or no understanding about the Nahuatl culture and language can often make these types of misinterpretations. The worst error is calling Huitzilopochtli the God of War. Priests during the 16th century that documented Mexican/Aztec mythologies were either purposefully trying to force our concepts into their ideas or they intentionally distorted the mythology, so that we could be painted as merciless savages that sacrificed people to the God of War.
The truth about Huitzilopochtli is a very profound concept that reveals the wisdom of our ancestral synchronicity. The Eurocentric stories paint a very barbaric version of the birth of Huitzilopochtli that still has an esoteric metaphor. Spanish priests documented the basic story line as such:
Coatlicue is the Mother of the Gods and she is cleaning her temple Coatepec one day, when a ball of precious eagle feathers floats down. She guards them in her bosom so that she can show them to her children later and she finishes her sweeping (Talacha). When her daughter Coyolxauhqui arrives with the Centzon Huitznahuas, Coatlicue tries to retrieve the feathers but discovers that her womb is impregnated. This angers Coyolxauhqui so she orders the Centzon Huitznahuas to prepare for battle with the intent to kill the child inside the womb of her mother. One of the Centzon Huitznahuas tried to warn Coatlicue about this impending doom and when he tells her she begins to tremble with fear, but from inside her the unborn Huitzilopochtli speaks to her heart and says, “Don’t worry, I will fulfill my destiny.” So, Coatlicue is placated and when Coyolxauhqui and the Centzon Huitznahuas arrive at the foot of Coatepec the child is born and is armed with the Fire Serpents (Xuihcoatl) and he wins the battle.
This story is meant to be a metaphor of the daily battle of the day and night. Coatlicue is the Earth. When the sun sets in the west, that is the ball of eagle feathers. Coyolxauhqui is the moon and the Centzon Huitznahuas are the stars in the sky. The Xuicoatl are the celestial fires of the sun and, so when Huitzilopochtli is born (as the sunrise begins), the moon and stars begin to disappear. The first hour of the sunrise is also very quick to raise upward from our viewpoint on the eastern horizon. When it reaches the zenith at noon the sun becomes an eagle and the cycle repeats as the sun sets in the west.
Much deeper than this simple metaphor is the relationship of this story to each individual. Coatlicue means Skirt of Snakes and your body is composed of many blood vessels and the way your muscles twist around the bones. Even your stomach has a huge snake we call the intestine and represents Coatepec. So, when you are sweeping, cleansing, sleeping, studying or many other ways of focusing your attention; the eagle feather – like a divine inspiration – can impregnate you with a profound purpose or a meaningful ambition. So then, like the moon that has a strong influence on the human psyche Coyolxauhqui is that internal enemy. The Centzon Huitzhahuas are the multitude of doubts and worry that make you question yourself and your ability to overcome the obstacles you face. Therefore, Huitzilopochtli speaks to your heart. It represents your heart because that is where you truly know yourself. That is where your inspiration is anchored.
To follow your heart is the easiest and sometimes the most challenging decision that you face. Most of our decisions are made with the gut and then your mind spends the energy to validate the choice you made. So, even before you invest the energy to struggle with such a decision, the most valid concern should be, is this a path with heart? Is this something that you have put your heart into? When you feel truth you say, “I know it by heart” nobody ever says, “I know it by brain”. The understanding of Huitzilopochtli is how well you have reconciled what you feel in your gut and what you believe in your mind. Once you can clarify those issues then the heart will guide you to your truth.
Life does not have to be a battle of free will between the choices of what is right and wrong. When the heart has done the work of understanding, those ambiguities between what we perceive in the mind and what we feel in our body; then the heart knows what action to take. We no longer have to question ourselves. We follow our heart and we fulfill our destiny. We don’t have to justify our choices, because the heart that understands its truth will guide us to whatever action is necessary.
Tlazokamati.
Danny Stange de Acatl is a Denver Native and Cultural activist that serves his community on various levels.
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