Nahui Ollin: The four-petal flower in Virgin of Guadalupe image.
Directly below Mary’s belt is a small, four-petalled flower that is not found anywhere else on Mary’s tunic. This is the nahui ollin, the jasmine flower, called the Flower of the Sun by the Aztecs, a symbol of plentitude, representing the four compass directions. For the Aztecs, this flower symbolized the center of the universe, and placed above Mary’s womb, they would have read it to say that a new sun was born of this Virgin, and would bring them new life in baptism.
Our age (Nahui-Ollin), the fifth age, or fifth creation, began in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. According to the myth, all the gods had gathered to sacrifice themselves and create a new age. Although the world and the sun had already been created, it would only be through their sacrifice that the sun would be set into motion and time as well as history could begin. The handsomest and strongest of the gods, Tecuciztecatl, was supposed to sacrifice himself …More