The Vatican Library is a repository for all kinds of unique & rare works. I happened to come across this Aztec manuscript that is scanned in high resolution:
DigiVatLib
Borg.mess.1
The artwork is so far from Western sensibilities, that it may as well be an alien language. It is very image-based and extremely psychedelic. Considering the Mesoamerican absence of our modern taboos on using entheogens, the bizarre nature of the imagery is understandable.
It is a tragedy that so much of the ancient culture of this continent was almost completely wiped out by the colonizers, missionaries, and conquistadors. It is a miracle that these few remnants have survived at all. Thankfully, they have, and we can continue to admire the amazing imagery and ponder the meanings they hold.
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