Page:Historia Verdadera del Mexico profundo.djvu/86

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some to sow and harvest land, to build, carving, weaving and shaping. Others were taught planting, cooking, healing, raising children, growing plants, weaving and embroidery. The spirit of the ancient Mexico education was, "Forming an own face and a real heart" in children and young people.

The Calmécac[1] was an institution that could attend only the best students. Young people starting their preparation in ancient and secret knowledge of the ancient grandparents were called "Warriors". They were called as such because they had to undertake the most difficult struggle that a human being can face. The fight within oneself; the battle to defeat "the internal enemy". This war was based on "Flower and song", which represents wisdom, philosophy and art. The Warrior goal was to let his "Heart Flourish" and feed from their loved ones. Beautiful metaphor, where the "war" is used symbolically, biophilous[2] and spiritual. Warriors were prepared for the symbolic death to the material world and thus achieve eternal life of the spirit. This concept was Toltec from the Classical period. The Mexica, as we shall see later transgressed these principles as a basis for their imperialist expansion (Postclassical period).

These "total freedom warriors" were taken to the knowledge centers. By this centers are meant the so-called archaeological sites of the Classical period; they were not cities, ceremonial centers, fortresses, palaces nor pantheons. Surely these were knowledge centers of wisdom, that today, we find very hard to understand, but that we could call
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  1. The Calmecac ("the house of the lineage", Nahuatl pronunciation: [kalˈmekak]) was a school for the children of Aztec nobility (pīpiltin [piːˈpiɬtin]) in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerican history, where they would receive rigorous religious and military training. The calmecac is to be contrasted with the Tēlpochcalli ([teːɬpotʃˈkalːi] "house of youth") where mostly commoners received military training. Only a few commoners (mācēhualtin [maːseːˈwaɬtin]) entered the Calmecac, and those who did only trained for priesthood
  2. The biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book entitled Biophilia.
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