What is "toltec"

Toltec \Tol"tec\, n. (Ethnol.) One of a race which formerly occupied Mexico. -- Tol"te*can, a.

1787, in reference to an ancient people of Mexico, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) tolteca, literally "people of the tules" (cat-tail reeds).

The Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca 900-1168 CE). The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tōllān ( Nahuatl for Tula) as the epitome of civilization; indeed in the Nahuatl language the word "Tōltēcatl" (singular) or "Tōltēcah" (plural) came to take on the meaning " artisan". The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of the Toltec Empire, giving lists of rulers and their exploits.

Among modern scholars it is a matter of debate whether the Aztec narratives of Toltec history should be given credence as descriptions of actual historical events. While all scholars acknowledge that there is a large mythological part of the narrative, some maintain that by using a critical comparative method some level of historicity can be salvaged from the sources. Others maintain that continued analysis of the narratives as sources of actual history is futile and hinders access to actual knowledge of the culture of Tula de Allende.

Other controversies relating to the Toltecs include the question of how best to understand the reasons behind the perceived similarities in architecture and iconography between the archaeological site of Tula and the Maya site of Chichén Itzá. No consensus has yet emerged about the degree or direction of influence between these two sites. Another source of controversy is the claims by New Age authors such as Carlos Castaneda and Don Miguel Ruiz, who claim to represent "Toltec" teachings, for this tradition of knowledge see Toltec (Castaneda).

The term "Toltec" is used in the works of writer Carlos Castaneda to denote a person who was recruited into a band of sorcerers with a tradition that had its origin in the Native American culture of that name.

The nagual Juan described the Toltecs to Castaneda as a guild of sorcerers that began in Southern Mexico 10,000 years ago, originally based on harnessing the changes of perception and perspective brought about by working with power plants. [The Fire From Within – The New Seers] The primary purpose of the Toltec sorcerers is to prevent the disintegration of the self, which normally happens at death. To achieve that purpose, they evolved a set of techniques and developed a body of knowledge that enables the sorcerer to transform into a high-speed inorganic being with an endless lifespan (not unlike the spiritual notion of Ascending the body, but without the baggage).

Castaneda makes it clear that his use of the term Toltec is specialized, so that it is not directly equivalent to the Toltec people or culture referred to in the ethnohistory and mythology of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The ongoing Toltec tradition had its beginning in the Toltec culture, but now those who are recruited are chosen for their suitability, rather than on ethnic or cultural lines.

Castaneda recounts that he was recruited in 1960, and paints a word-picture of the methods and concepts in the guise of conversations with his teacher, who he calls Don Juan in the series of 12 books he wrote on the subject. The books are written in a narrative style, in which Castaneda frequently ridicules himself for his inept and inappropriate reactions to disclosures and the associated perceptions induced in his apprenticeship.

Castaneda’s accounts are largely dismissed as being fiction, largely because the Toltec reality map is an uncompromising contradiction of conventional spiritual and secular beliefs.

Anthropologists and other researchers have made various claims of fraud.

Toltec is the ninth solo album by Yes lead singer Jon Anderson, released in 1996.