In this compelling and unusual document is found a confluence of spiritual beliefs, historical records, poetical interpretation, and a thorough commentary bringing it all together. What results is a shining exemplar of the Perennial Philosophy emanating from a previously lost Aztec codex.

Marty Matz was a major beat-era poet, and in the latter half of the twentieth century he fled to Mexico where he stayed for over twenty years. He was an explorer, both in the geographical and spiritual sense. He explored the shamanic world, the world of Mescalito, and around 1961 he was initiated into the mysteries of The Pyramid of Fire by a Mazatec shaman.

When he was shown the codex in the early 1960s, he set about translating the pictorial material into written English. On his return to the US he read his translation around the ‘beat culture’ clubs of San Francisco and elsewhere. He also made now rare tapes of his recitations.

It was most fortunate that author and researcher John Major Jenkins became involved in the wider distribution of the codex, being one of the world’s foremost experts on Mayan cosmology and philosophy. He was able to organise Matz’ work into a coherent whole, adding a line-by-line commentary and many scholarly insights into how the codex dovetails into the Perennial Philosophy from many different cultures.

The book is arranged into six chapters. After the foreword and preface is Marty’s brief introduction on Nahuatl poetry and metaphysics. This gives the reader a clear outline of the function of codices, poetry and paintings as memory aids (mnenomic devices) for compression and transmission of important metaphysical and spiritual information from one generation to the next. Poetry, art and song have always carried cultural and spiritual information in a form that is easy to retain and thus pass on.

In the next chapter is a biography of Marty Matz and his wandering search for meaning. The intriguing fact of Marty’s life was a constant need to explore and search. Others can recount everyday events, but his vast inner life can only be measured by his poetry and what turned out to be his life’s quest: The Pyramid of Fire.

After the biography there is an autobiographical short story, then an incomplete novella. The translation of the Pyramid of Fire codex itself follows, with many of the pictographs in black and white accompanying.  The codex comprises thirteen pages, the last of which was lost and later restored by John Major Jenkins from recorded recitations made by Marty.

The content is in the form of an epic poem, tracing the progress and initiations on the spiritual quest right up to the end times according to the Aztec calendar. Jenkins then provides a stunning, scholarly commentary, drawing astute comparisons with the perennial philosophies of other cultures and times.

It is somehow reassuring to be made aware of the commonalities in philosophy and cosmology over many lifetimes and vastly separated cultures. It gives a definite feeling that these treasures being passed down to us are authentic. The reader is asked to see this apparent commonality of knowledge as essential signposts for spiritual development, both as individuals and as a planet.

I found the biographical information warm and engaging. The codex and commentary demanded focused attention. Jenkins’ scholarly explanations are well-researched, quite complex, and perhaps slightly beyond the present understanding of your book reviewer.

Nevertheless, I recommend this book for those with an increasing desire to learn of the approaching end time of the Aztec calendar, galactic alignment in 2012, and matters related. This small, but important volume will satisfy on many levels.

– Reviewed by Jennifer Hoskins in New Dawn No. 93