Condition: Good. Packed in a RIGID mailer with cardboard backing and padding. (See Photos)! Ships from California. Pages: not written on, sticker ghost on inside cover, otherwise, clean, bright, odor free. Cover: clean, bright, near fine edges. Ships same or next day (weekdays and Saturdays)! ABOUT THIS: Quetzalcoatl, the great bird-serpent priest king, Xochipilli, the god of flowers and beauty, the belief that suicides enter paradise ? the ancient Maya and Nahua civilisations of Mexico and Central America produced a rich and complex culture. The maize which provided people's basic food, their shells and jewels, the sun, rain and flowers all became the symbols of their mythology, expressing not only material needs but also the desire to understand the meaning of life and live in harmony with the universe. By the tenth century A.D. however, the Maya and Nahua cities had passed their greatest period. A series of invasions and conquests furthered their decline and when the Spaniards took over in the sixteenth century they inherited a culture that, with the Aztecs, had become far debased from its original form. Irene Nicholson retells the ancient stories of Mexican and Central American mythology as they were in pre-Hispanic times. A fascinating collection of religion, lore and legend that reveals a civilisation of astonishing richness and beauty.