A fight between light and darkness

One of the activities carried out by the Antonio Narro Autonomous Agrarian University (UAAAN) Torreón within the framework of the Total Solar Eclipse that occurred yesterday in the region was a Mesoamerican ball game, which more than a simple sport practiced by the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica was a ritual, social and religious practice that represented a bridge between the earthly and the divine.

In some way, the UAAAN offered a different reading of this astronomical event that, it is worth mentioning, had not occurred in the region for 101 years.

An hour before the Moon completely covered the Sun, representatives of the Coahuila Delegation of the group “Aura Mexica” performed a ball game demonstration on one of the university fields. While waiting for the audience, the players positioned themselves and divided into two groups, some would represent the Moon, and others the Sun.

But what does this activity of the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica have to do with the astronomical event that occurred yesterday in La Laguna?

SACRED GAME

Among the numerous variants of this sacred game, it can be written, the Mixtec ball game emerges as a fascinating testimony of the worldview and the intimate connection that existed between ancient Mesoamerican peoples and astronomical phenomena, such as the Total Solar Eclipse.

The Mixtec ball game, played by indigenous people in the Oaxaca region of Mexico, was characterized by its marked emphasis on precision and physical skill. However, its meaning transcended the purely athletic.

For Mesoamerican civilizations, the cosmos and nature were imbued with sacred meanings, and celestial phenomena were interpreted as manifestations of the gods. In this context, total solar eclipses occupied a prominent place in Mesoamerican mythology and cosmology, considered events of great significance and symbolic power.

Total solar eclipses, like the one that could be seen 100 percent yesterday, were seen by ancient Mesoamerican civilizations as a moment of transformation, a moment in which the natural order of the world was temporarily altered.

FIGHT BETWEEN CELESTIAL FORCES

For the Mixtecs and other cultures of the region, total solar eclipses represented the cosmic struggle between celestial forces, personified in solar and lunar deities.

These astronomical events were interpreted as a confrontation between the sun and the moon, a fight between light and darkness, day and night, masculine and feminine. In the context of the Mixtec ball game, this relationship between solar eclipses and cosmic duality was vividly reflected. The playing field, with its two stone rings placed on opposite sides, symbolized the fundamental dichotomy of the Mesoamerican universe.

On the other hand, the ball thrown through the air in an effort to pass through these rings, represented the cyclical movement of the celestial bodies in their eternal dance in the sky. The players, by participating in this ritualized act, became intermediaries between the earthly and the divine, emulating the cosmic struggle represented in solar eclipses.

In addition to their cosmic symbolism, total solar eclipses also played a practical role in the life of Mesoamerican societies, including the Mixtecs.

Ancient Mesoamerican astronomers developed complex calendrical systems that allowed them to accurately predict the occurrence of these celestial phenomena. Solar eclipses, along with other astronomical events, were carefully observed and recorded, and their appearance was associated with omens and omens that influenced political, agricultural and religious decision-making.

The relationship between the Mixtec ball game and total solar eclipses goes beyond mere historical coincidence. These two phenomena are intrinsically intertwined in the Mesoamerican worldview, where the divine is reflected in the earthly and the heavenly is manifested in the everyday.

Thus, through the Mixtec ball game and other activities, the Antonio Narro Autonomous Agrarian University joined in the celebration of the recent astronomical event, which could be perceived: it inspired the admiration and amazement of those who observed it.