In 1961 an unknown Aztec codex was revealed to Beat poet and explorer Marty Matz by a Mazatec shaman in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. Originally intended for dramatic performance, this codex presents a profound metaphysical teaching describing how the end of time will bring about a visionary ascent and mystic initiation. At the behest of his Mazatec teacher, Matz transcribed this pictorial codex into a literary form that would preserve its initiatory teachings and reveal its secret meanings to a wider audience.

The Pyramid of Fire codex (Codex Matz-Ayauhtla) is an epic poem that provides a vehicle to transport the initiate into the higher realms of consciousness. It represents a barely surviving thread of teachings that have been passed down in secret since the time of the Spanish Conquest. Revealed are the techniques by which human beings are transported to the stellar realm after death via the solar energy within what the ancients called the "serpent of consciousness." Line-by-line commentary by John Major Jenkins provides insights into the perennial philosophy and Matz, in his introduction and through the inclusion of his poetry and fiction and an interview he conducted with Jenkins, offers his understanding of its relevance to our time.


Bear & Company, 2004
Softcover, 192 pages