to read - Jaltemba Bay Life

SACRED HEARTSWe came upon the outskirts of Ixtlan Del Rioand noticed a small sign indicating anarcheological site called Los Toriles, which wasnear the town. We decided to visit and when weentered the area we saw a level, deserted 8-hectare field dotted with excavated buildings thatonce housed the original ancient inhabitants ofMexico, the Nahuatl. I closed my eyes and triedto transport myself back in time to envision whatlife was like thousands of years before.When I opened my eyes I saw an old manstanding by the central altar. He looked like hewas dressed in feathers and held a large staff. AsI walked toward the altar the old man walkedaway. I slowly walked up to the altar and wasshocked to see a bloody, fist-sized heart lyingthere. I quickly turned, but the old man haddisappeared. I called to my father and waved himover to the altar. We could not tell if the heartwas human or animal; all we knew was that aheart was before us. No one else was at the site.Are ancient religious rites still practiced? After all,the Christian ritual of the drinking of the symbolicblood of Jesus Christ is two thousand years old.The Aztec religion is much older. Should I havebeen surprised at what I had seen?I remember patrolling the Bong Son coastalplains in Vietnam in 1969: we were sweepingthrough a village at around dusk. Many huts hadBuddhist shrines and the air hung heavy with thesmell of incense and earthen stoves cooking theevening meal. Mid-way through the village a loud