History: The Aztec Sun Stone
The mistakenly called Aztec Calendar (or even worse, Mayan Calendar). It was neither Mayan nor a calendar. It belonged to the Aztec culture, whose correct name was Mexica.
The Stone of the Sun, unearthed in 1790, represents the passage of time in cyclical terms, according to the Mexica worldview, by depicting the four previous eras and the current era, known as the Fifth Sun. Each of the previous eras, or suns, was destroyed by different catastrophes, and the Mexicas believed that the present world would eventually face a similar fate.
• Nahui Ocelotl (Four Jaguar): Destroyed by jaguars.
• Nahui Ehecatl (Four Wind): Destroyed by hurricane winds.
• Nahui Quiahuitl (Four Rain of Fire): Destroyed by volcanic fire.
• Nahui Atl (Four Water): Destroyed by a great flood.
• The Fifth Sun (Nahui Ollin) in the center, symbolizes the present, the era in which they lived.
This cyclical concept of time reflects how the Mexicas understood reality, not as something linear and continuous, but as a series of cycles that could end and begin again. The stone, therefore, marks the passage of time from mythical past eras to the present, with the belief that time repeats itself and that the current era would also come to an end, possibly due to earthquakes, according to their prophecy.