{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_71503/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_71503","id":"gutenberg_71503","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71503","summary":null,"tags":["Aztec mythology","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Indian mythology -- Mexico","Mexico -- Religion"],"text":"THE\n                             GODS OF MEXICO\n\n                            By LEWIS SPENCE\n\n                  FELLOW OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL\n                 INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND\n\n\n                              ILLUSTRATED\n\n                                NEW YORK\n                      FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY\n                               PUBLISHERS\n\n                                  1923\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   TO\n                                MY WIFE,\n                         WITH DEEPEST GRATITUDE\n                             AND AFFECTION\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThis book deals exclusively with the religion of the peoples of ancient\nMexico. With the history and arch\u00e6ology of that country I am not\nconcerned in these pages, unless where they have a bearing upon the\nmain subject. By \u201cMexico\u201d I mean that region of North America lying\nbetween the Tropic of Cancer and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Thus only\npassing reference to the religion of the Maya of Yucatan or the Quiche\nof Guatemala is made in the way of occasional comparison.\n\nI have thought it best at the outset to make these points clear beyond\nthe possibility of misapprehension. It was formerly usual to regard the\nentire tract occupied by Central American civilization from the Tropic\nof Cancer to Nicaragua as one and indivisible in its manifestations.\nBut it is now clear that the type of advancement peculiar to the more\nnortherly portion inhabited by the Nahua (Aztec and Chichimec) peoples\nof Mexico proper presents numerous and striking divergencies from the\nmore southerly though related Maya civilization of Yucatan and\nGuatemala. Regarding the priority of these two cultures no doubt\nexists. The Maya was greatly the more ancient. But during the century\npreceding the conquest of Mexico by Cort\u00e9z it had been subjected to\nNahua immigration and influences, especially as regards its religious\nbeliefs. It is therefore necessary to exercise caution in the\nidentification of Nahua or Mexican with Maya myths and divine forms,\nand with this in view I have directed my researches more especially to\nan examination of the deities and ritual practices of the Mexican area,\nin the hope that once the fundamental beliefs of this better-known\nregion have been ascertained, the results arrived at may be applied\nwith some measure of confidence to the obscure field of Maya belief. It\nseemed to me also essential, if progress were to be made, to apply a\nmore intensive method of investigation than has hitherto been deemed\npossible or desirable to the first origins of the Mexican gods, and it\nis especially with the results obtained by this means that I am\nconcerned rather than with the conclusions of others.\n\nI have chosen The Gods of Mexico as the title of this book, as its\ncontents refer more particularly to the development and general\ndescription of the deities of ancient Anahuac than to the questions of\nritual, priesthood, or religious architecture. It has seemed to me\nthat, once the fundamental nature of the gods has been made clear, when\nthe multitudinous and conflicting details regarding them have been\nsifted, collated, and reduced to order, more will have been done to\ndiscover the whole purport of Mexican religion than if investigation\nhad been directed in particular to ritual practice. But that I have not\nneglected the question of ritual is proved by the extended notices of\nthe festivals I have appended to the description of each of the gods. I\nhave, however, confined my descriptions and criticisms of ceremonial to\nthese, and have refrained from the illustration of the sacraments of\nlife and death, baptism, burial, and the like, as it is my hope to be\nable to deal with the whole subject of ritualistic practice among the\nMexicans at a future date.\n\nMany authorities, even should they sympathize with the endeavour set\nforth in these pages, will question its timeousness. Our knowledge of\nthe religion of ancient Mexico, they will say, is still too vague and\ntoo fragmentary to permit of the assemblage and criticism of its\nmaterial. Such a charge it is impossible to gainsay. Yet the\nbitter-sweet experience of twenty years of meditation among the ruins\nof the Mexican pantheon has emboldened me to attempt its partial\nrestoration by the aid of such reconstructive capacity as I possess. My\nreasons for essaying this rather adventurous undertaking are twofold.\nThe first is, that although the time is scarcely ripe for it, the\nventure may inspire more skilful investigators to address themselves to\nthe task of research in a subject that has been unaccountably neglected\nin this country. The second is the hope that those who come after me in\nthe study of Mexican religion may, as the result of my labours, be\nspared the many weary years of groping that have fallen to my lot, and\nbe enabled to commence their journey from the point where I now stand.\n\nAlthough political and financial conditions in Mexico frequently arouse\na passing agitation in the minds of British people, the antiquities of\nthat extraordinary land, various as Greece and mysterious as Egypt,\nhave failed to appeal to them with the same degree of interest. We have\nnot yet, perhaps, quite recovered from the amazement with which in our\nown day we have seen the secret gates of the East unlocked and the\nprodigies of Mesopotamia and the endless dynasties of the Nile emerge\ntherefrom. Yet an arch\u00e6ology less venerable, but no less notable,\npleads with us for recognition from a continent so closely associated\nwith the spirit of modernity that we can scarcely believe in its\nability to present us with the credentials of respectable antiquity.\nAmerican scientists, however, have in recent years successfully\naddressed themselves to the problems of Isthmian research, and the\nantiquaries of Germany and France have, in certain respects, even\nimproved upon their endeavours. Great Britain alone remains insensible\nto the lure of old Mexico, and small indeed is the band of workers that\nshe has given to this department of arch\u00e6ology.\n\nNo manifestation of the life and thought of ancient Mexico so well\ndeserves the attention of British students of antiquity as its\npicturesque if bizarre religion. Our position in folklore is\npre-eminent; indeed we may with justice claim the reconstruction of\ntraditional science as due to the efforts of British scholarship. As\nthe English word \u201cfolklore\u201d is in world-wide use, so is the terminology\nof the science it denotes replete with English expressions; yet in\nBritish works which deal with traditional lore the Mexican analogies\nemployed are almost invariably quoted at second-hand, sources of the\nmost unsatisfactory description are drawn upon to illustrate Mexican\nbelief, and it is obvious that the few modern treatises which have\nsought to explain this most involved of all mythologies are not\nsufficiently taken advantage of by authorities on folklore.\n\nTo those who possess even an elementary acquaintance with the study of\nMexican religion this will cause no surprise, for the initial\ndifficulties which confront even the experienced antiquary who desires\nto gain a working knowledge of its principles are sufficiently\ndiscouraging. In all likelihood the quest is sooner or later abandoned\nin despair of acquiring that fundamental information from which it is\npossible to proceed to a more profound knowledge of the subject. The\nnative languages, familiarity with which is desirable, are complex and\ndifficult of mastery. The paintings or codices which depict the gods\npresent a riot of symbolic intricacy sufficient in itself to damp\nenthusiasm. Many years must be spent in the study of a system of\nsymbolic painting, to which a specially qualified section of the\nMexican priesthood dedicated itself in the full knowledge of a\nmythological scheme at the nature of which we can but guess. It is,\nabove all, necessary to become thoroughly conversant with an\noverwhelming body of Spanish Colonial literature, which must be handled\nwith the greatest discretion, owing to its vague, contradictory, and\nessentially untrustworthy character. Lastly, an acquaintance with\nmanuscript sources, obscure and difficult of access, is quite as\nindispensable, and these, indeed, are among the most valuable of the\nadjuncts to a knowledge of Mexican belief.\n\nBy far the most eminent and successful among modern writers on Mexican\nmythology and ritual is Professor Eduard Seler, of Berlin, who, owing\nto the generosity of the Duc de Loubat, has been enabled to publish\nmonographs upon the principal Mexican hieroglyphical paintings or\ncodices. In these he has done much for the elucidation of the involved\nsymbolism in which the native MSS. abound, and has greatly added to our\nknowledge of the divine forms represented in their grotesque pages.\nElaborate photogravure reproductions of these, the papyri of Mexico,\nhave also been published, superseding the older and less accurate\ncopies in the great collection of Lord Kingsborough. In his Gesammelte\nAbhandlungen, [1] too, a work quite encyclop\u00e6dic as regards its scope\nand aim, Professor Seler has approached almost every problem presented\nby Mexican arch\u00e6ology. But his work might have been of greater value\nhad he been mindful of the difficulties which the subject presents to\nthe non-specialist reader. Indeed, the technicality and aridity of his\ngeneral method often render his output comprehensible to few but the\n\u201csenior wranglers\u201d of the study.\n\nAmerican students of ancient Mexico and Central America have almost\nentirely confined themselves to the examination of sites and monuments.\nIn France, M. Beuchat has provided students with an admirable handbook\nin his Arch\u00e9ologie Am\u00e9ricaine, which, if too general in its purport and\nmarred by a lack of linguistic knowledge, is still valuable as an\nelementary manual to American antiquity. The essays of Lehmann, De\nJonghe, and Preuss have provided the student with translations of\nmanuscript material hitherto closed to him, or have smoothed his way to\na clearer comprehension of the difficulties connected with the Mexican\ncalendar. The best modern English handbook on Mexican arch\u00e6ology is\nthat by Mr. T. Athol Joyce, of the British Museum, but its lack of\nreferences is a serious drawback and the material it contains suffers\nfrom compression.\n\nThe method of my investigation of the divine forms of Mexico is set\nforth in the introductory paragraph immediately preceding that part of\nthe book which deals with the gods more especially. Regarding the\ntonalamatl and the Calendar, I have thought it best to relegate this\ndifficult and obscure subject to an appendix, in order that it should\nnot interfere with the main current of proof. In dealing with the\nCodices throughout I have employed the pagination of Seler rather than\nthat of Kingsborough, as referring to the more modern and greatly\npreferable editions of the Duc de Loubat, except in cases where a\nmanuscript is to be found in Kingsborough\u2019s work alone. It is my\nsincere hope that the bibliography at the end of the book as well as\nthat to be found at the conclusion of the appendix on the tonalamatl\nwill lighten the labour of students of Mexican religion, whose\nco-operation in the discovery of errors I most cordially invite.\n\nThe illustrations in this book are, for the most part, taken from the\nnative Mexican codices or paintings, and from representations of the\ngods in stone or pottery. It has, of course, been impossible to furnish\nevery picture or representation alluded to in the text, but these, in\ntheir entirety, will be found in the excellent coloured reproductions\nin collotype published by the Duc de Loubat, full particulars of which\nare given in the bibliography of the codices on pages 378\u2013381. These\nreproductions can be consulted in many of the greater libraries,\nespecially in those connected with the Universities. I have preferred,\nin many cases, to furnish the student with those representations of the\ngods which he would have found it more or less difficult to procure.\nThe numbers of the pages or sheets attached to the illustrations refer\nto the places where the respective figures can be found in the\nreproductions of the Duc de Loubat.\n\nIn conclusion, I have to thank my daughter, who took infinite pains in\ntranscribing from books and treatises difficult of access, in the\nBritish Museum and the Advocates\u2019 Library, Edinburgh, and who\nsacrificed much of that time which young people usually devote to\namusement in order that she might help me in a difficult task.\n\n\n    L. S.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nINTRODUCTORY\n\n    The type and evolution of Mexican religion\u2014The antiquity of Mexican\n    religion\u2014The literature of Mexican religion: I, The native codices;\n    II, The native writings; III, Native art-forms; IV, Writings of the\n    Spanish conquerors of Mexico\u2014The origins of Mexican\n    religion\u2014Evidence of early religion in Mexico\u2014Deification of the\n    elements of growth\u2014Evidences of primitive influences\u2014Fetishtic\n    origin of gods\u2014Animal gods\u2014Growth of the rain-cult\u2014The necessity\n    for human sacrifice\u2014The later elements of Mexican religion\u2014Cultural\n    elements of Mexican religion\u2014The Quetzalcoatl cult\u2014The cult of\n    obsidian\u2014Unity of religious conception throughout Mexico\n                                                               pp. 1\u201335\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nCOSMOGONY\n\n    The \u201cages\u201d of Mexican cosmogony\u2014The making of the earth\u2014The\n    peopling of the earth\u2014Creation of the sun and moon\u2014The Historia de\n    los Mexicanos\u2014Deluge myths\u2014The \u201cCoxcox\u201d fallacy\u2014The fall of the\n    gods\u2014Mexican conceptions of the universe\u2014The five regions of the\n    world: The Tree of the East; the Tree of the North; the Tree of the\n    West; the Tree of the South; Tlaxicco; Tlapcopa; Uitznauac or\n    Uitzlampa; Ciuatlampa; Mictlampa\u2014The supporters of the heavens\u2014The\n    Aztec heavens: Tlalocan; Homeyoca\u2014Mictlampa as Hades      pp. 36\u201364\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE GREAT GODS\n\n    Method of treatment\u2014Uitzilopochtli\u2014Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2014Quetzalcoatl\n                                                             pp. 65\u2013145\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTHE CREATIVE DEITIES\n\n    Tonacatecutli\u2014Tonacaciuatl                              pp. 146\u2013152\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nDEITIES OF THE EARTH AND GROWTH PROPER\n\n\n    Introductory\u2014Tlazolteotl\u2014Chicomecoatl\u2014Cinteotl\u2014Ciuacoatl\u2014Coatlicue\u2014\n    Xochiquetzal\u2014Macuilxochitl or Xochipilli\u2014Xipe\u2014Xilonen\u2014Itzpapalotl\u2014\n    Zapotlantenan\u2014Ilamatecutli                              pp. 153\u2013233\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nTHE GODS OF RAIN AND MOISTURE\n\n\n    Introductory\u2014Tlaloc\u2014Chalchihuitlicue\u2014Uixtociuatl\u2014Atlaua\u2014Napatecutli\n    \u2014Matlalcu\u00eay\u00ea\u2014Opochtli                                   pp. 234\u2013267\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nTHE FIRE-GODS\n\n    Xiuhtecutli\u2014Chantico\u2014Quaxolotl                          pp. 268\u2013284\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nTHE OCTLI OR PULQUE (DRINK) GODS\n\n\n    General\u2014Tezcatzoncatl\u2014Tepoxtecatl\u2014Patecatl\u2014Mayauel\u2014Totoltecatl\u2014\n    Macuiltochtli\u2014Totochtin\u2014Tomiauhtecutli                  pp. 285\u2013299\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nSTELLAR AND PLANETARY DEITIES\n\n    Tonatiuh the Sun-God (Piltzintecutli)\u2014Metztli or Tecciztecatl the\n    Moon-God\u2014Mixcoatl, Iztac Mixcoatl or Camaxtli\u2014Tlauizcalpantecutli\u2014\n    Coyolxauhqui\u2014The Tzitzimim\u00ea                             pp. 300\u2013326\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nGODS OF DEATH, EARTH, AND THE UNDERWORLD\n\n    Mictlantecutli\u2014Mictecaciuatl\u2014Tepeyollotl                pp. 327\u2013335\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nVARIANTS OF THE GREAT GODS\n\n    Itztli\u2014Itztlacoliuhqui\u2014Paynal\u2014Yacatecutli               pp. 336\u2013343\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nMINOR DEITIES\n\n    Xolotl\u2014Ixtlilton\u2014Omacatl\u2014The Ciuatete\u00f4 or Ciuapipiltin  pp. 344\u2013358\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\nTHE TONALAMATL AND THE SOLAR CALENDAR\n\n    Day-signs\u2014Model tonalamatl\u2014The day-gods\u2014Gods of the \u201cweeks\u201d\u2014Lords\n    of the night\u2014Lords of the day-hours\u2014Tonalamatl festivals\u2014\n    Recapitulation\u2014The calendar round\u2014The nemontemi\u2014The Venus\n    period\u2014Short bibliography of works relating to the tonalamatl\n                                                            pp. 359\u2013371\n\nA CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MEXICAN RELIGION                 pp. 372\u2013381\n\nGLOSSARY                                                    pp. 382\u2013383\n\nINDEX                                                       pp. 384\u2013388\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n    Nephrite Figure of a Death-god                         Frontispiece\n\n                                                           FACING PAGES\n    Colossal Statue of Coatlicue                                 14, 15\n    Statue of Coatlicue                                          16, 17\n    The Great Calendar Stone of Mexico                               38\n    Symbols of the \u201cSuns\u201d in Mexican Cosmogony                   40, 41\n    The Trees of the World-quarters                              58, 59\n    The Tree of the Middle-quarter                                   60\n    Uitzilopochtli                                                   66\n    Coyolxauhqui                                                     67\n    The Red and Black Tezcatlipoc\u00e2s                                  92\n    Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in Various Forms                                93, 98\n    Altar of Skulls to Tezcatlipoc\u00e2                                  99\n    Quetzalcoatl and Tlauizcalpantecutli                            118\n    Quetzalcoatl and the Death-god                                  119\n    Forms of Quetzalcoatl                                      120, 121\n    Tonacatecutli-Tonacaciuatl                                      121\n    Forms of Tlazolteotl                                       156, 157\n    Forms of Chicomecoatl                                           170\n    Cinteotl                                                        171\n    Ciuacoatl                                                       180\n    Forms of Ciuacoatl                                              181\n    Xochiquetzal and her Symbols                                    188\n    Forms of Xochiquetzal                                      189, 190\n    Stone Figures of Macuilxochitl                             196, 197\n    Forms of Macuilxochitl                                          198\n    Forms of Xochipilli                                             199\n    Pottery Figure of Xochipilli                                    200\n    Forms of Xochipilli                                             201\n    Forms of Xipe                                                   204\n    Stone Image of Xipe                                             205\n    Forms of Xipe                                                   208\n    Itzpapalotl                                                     222\n    Itzpapalotl (Stone of Aristides Martel)                         223\n    Xilonen and Zapotlantenan                                       223\n    Forms of Tlaloc                                       236, 237, 240\n    Chalchihuitlicue                                                258\n    Chalchihuitlicue and Tlauizcalpantecutli                        259\n    Chalchihuitlicue and Uixtociuatl                                260\n    Forms of the Tlaloqu\u00ea                                           261\n    Xiuhtecutli and Tlauizcalpantecutli                   268, 269, 272\n    Xiuhtecutli and Chantico                                        276\n    Ixco\u00e7anhqui and Chantico                                        277\n    Tepoxtecatl                                                     292\n    Patecatl, with Octli Emblems                                    293\n    The Octli-gods                                             298, 299\n    Totoltecatl                                                     299\n    Forms of Tonatiuh                                               300\n    Mexican Idea of Sacrifice to the Sun-god                        301\n    Planetary Deities                                               304\n    Forms of Mixcoatl                                          310, 311\n    Forms of Tlauizcalpantecutli                                    320\n    Tlauizcalpantecutli and Victim                                  321\n    Forms of the Underworld Deities                                 328\n    Statue of an Octli-god                                          329\n    Variants of the Great Gods                                      336\n    Xolotl and Tlaloc                                               344\n    Minor Deities                                                   345\n    The Lords of the Night-hours                                    364\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF MEXICAN\n\n\nThe pronunciation of Mexican names presents at first some little\ndifficulty. The letter X is invariably pronounced as sh, so that\nMixcoatl and Mexitli are, viva voce, Mishcoatly and Meshitlee, the\nfinal tl being pronounced as tl followed by a short y, although the\nnatives in many parts of the country articulate it with a definite\nclicking sound, unapproachable by a European. The names of the more\nimportant gods are pronounced as follows:\n\n\n            Uitzilopochtli     = Wit-zil-o-potchtly\n            Tezcatlipoc\u00e2       = Tez-catly-poc\u0101\n            Quetzalcoatl       = Quetzal-co-at-ly\n            Xipe               = Shee-pay\n            Chalchihuitlicue   = Chal-ch\u0115\u0115-w\u0115\u0115t-l\u0113\u0113-kway.\n\n\nMost of the others are comparatively simple of pronunciation. The ch\nsound is pronounced as in Spanish, i.e. hard, as in \u201cthatch.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GODS OF MEXICO\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nINTRODUCTORY\n\n\nTHE TYPE AND EVOLUTION OF MEXICAN RELIGION\n\nIf, like the necromancers of old, we possessed the power to summon the\nshades of the dead before us, and employed this dread authority to\nrecall from the place of shadows the spirit of a member of the\npriesthood of ancient Mexico, in order that we might obtain from him an\naccount of the faith which he had professed while in the body, it is\nimprobable that we would derive much information regarding the precise\nsignificance of the cult of which he was formerly an adherent without\ntedious and skilful questioning. He would certainly be able to\nenlighten us readily enough on matters of ritual and mythology,\ncalendric science and the like; but if we were to press him for\ninformation regarding the motives underlying the outer manifestations\nof his belief, he would almost certainly disappoint us, unless our\nquestionary was framed in the most careful manner. In all likelihood he\nwould be unable to comprehend the term \u201creligion,\u201d of which we should\nnecessarily have to make use, and which it would seem so natural for us\nto employ; and he would scarcely be capable of dissociating the\ncircumstances of his faith from those of Mexican life in general,\nespecially as regards its political, military, agricultural, and\nartistic connections.\n\nNor would he regard magic or primitive science as in any way alien to\nthe activities of his office. But if we became more importunate, and\nbegged him to make some definite statement regarding the true meaning\nand import of his religion ere he returned to his place, he might,\nperhaps, reply: \u201cIf we had not worshipped the gods and sacrificed to\nthem, nourished them with blood and pleasured them with gifts, they\nwould have ceased to watch over our welfare, and would have withheld\nthe maize and water which kept us in life. The rain would not have\nfallen and the crops would not have come to fruition.\u201d [2] If he\nemployed some such terms as these, our phantom would outline the whole\npurport of the system which we call Mexican religion, the rude platform\non which was raised the towering superstructure of rite and ceremony,\nmorality and tradition, a part of which we are about to examine.\n\nThe writer who undertakes the description of any of the great faiths of\nthe world usually presupposes in his readers a certain acquaintance\nwith the history and conditions of the people of whose religion he\ntreats. But the obscurity which surrounded all questions relating to\nMexican antiquity until the beginning of this century formerly made it\nessential that any view of its religious phase should be prefaced by an\naccount of the peoples who professed it, their racial affinities, and\nthe country they occupied. This necessity no longer exists. The ground\nhas been traversed so often of late, and I have covered it so\nfrequently in previous works, [3] that I feel only a brief account of\nthese conditions is necessary here, such, in a word, as will enable the\nreader to realize circumstances of race, locality, and period.\n\nThe people whose religious ideas this book attempts to describe were\nthe Nahua of pre-Colombian Mexico, a race by no means extinct, despite\nthe oft-repeated assertions of popular novelists, and which is now\nusually classed as a branch of the great Uto-Aztecan family of the\nNorth American Indian stock. They spoke, and their descendants still\nspeak, a language known as the Nahuatl, or Nahuatlatolli (\u201cspeech of\nthose who live by rule\u201d or \u201cby ritual observance\u201d). At the era of the\nSpanish invasion of their country in 1519 they had succeeded in\noverrunning and reducing to their dominion practically all that part of\nmodern Mexico which lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Isthmus\nof Tehuantepec. They were, in all probability, immigrants from the\nnorth, and their art-forms, no less than their physique and beliefs,\nhave led certain writers to form the opinion that they came originally\nfrom the neighbourhood of British Columbia, or that they had a common\norigin with the Indian tribes which inhabit that region at the present\ntime.\n\nHowever this may be, the first Nahua immigrants would appear to have\nentered the Valley of Mexico at some time during the eighth century of\nour era. But the Aztec\u00e2, part of a later swarm of Nahua, do not seem to\nhave descended upon it until the middle of the thirteenth century, or\nto have founded the settlement of Mexico-Tenochtitlan until about the\nyear 1376. At the period of their arrival in the valley they were a\nbarbarous tribe of nomadic hunters, wandering from place to place in\nsearch of fresh hunting-grounds, precisely as did many North American\nIndian tribes before reservations were provided for them. Gradually, by\nvirtue of their superior prowess in war, they achieved the hegemony of\nthe Plateau of Anahuac, which boasted a tradition and civilization at\nleast five hundred years old. These they proceeded to assimilate with\nmarvellous rapidity, as is not infrequently the case when a race of\nhunters mingles with a settled agricultural population. Indeed, in the\ncourse of the century and a quarter which intervened between the\nfounding of Mexico and the period of the Spanish Conquest, they had\narrived at such a standard of civilization as surprised their Castilian\nconquerors. When the Aztec\u00e2, abandoning their wandering life, finally\nsettled in the Valley of Anahuac, upon the site of Tenochtitlan, now\nthe city of Mexico, they embarked upon a series of conflicts with their\nneighbours, which ended in the complete subjection of these peoples.\n\nThe races over whom they exercised a kind of feudal sway were many and\ndiverse, and only the more important of these can be mentioned here. To\nthe north dwelt the hunting Chichimecs, a related people, and the\nOtomi, a semi-barbarous folk, probably of aboriginal origin, and\nspeaking a distinct language. To the west dwelt the Tarascans, whose\nracial affinities are unknown, or, at least, dubious. South of the Rio\nde las Balsas were situated the Mixtecs and Zapotecs, whose language\nsomewhat resembled that of the Otomi and who possessed a larger measure\nof civilization. On the East Coast were found the Huaxtecs and\nTotonacs, races of Maya origin, and south-east of these lay the Olmecs,\nXicalancas, and Nonoualcas, of older precedence in the land. Beyond the\nIsthmus of Tehuantepec were found the Maya, a people of relatively high\ncivilization, whose origin is obscure, and into the question of whose\nrelationship I do not propose to enter in this place.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANTIQUITY OF MEXICAN RELIGION\n\nUntil the beginning of the present century most Americanists held that\nMexican civilization and consequently Mexican religion were the outcome\nof but a few generations of native progress. It is true that the Nahua\npeople had behind them a relatively brief history of national and\ntribal life, but modern research has shown that they were undoubtedly\nthe heirs of a civilization having early foundations and of\nconsiderable achievement and complexity, the religious aspect of which\nhad arrived at a high state of development. [4] Evidences of the\narchaic character of this faith are rapidly accumulating, but many\nyears must yet be dedicated to the examination and comparison of the\ndata concerning it before it is possible to speak with any degree of\ncertainty regarding the causes which contributed to its formation and\nevolution.\n\nAlthough we must necessarily regard Mexican religion as having had a\nprogressive history spread over many generations, we are at present\nalmost ignorant of the gradual changes which accompanied its growth. An\neffort will be made to outline the probable nature of these mutations,\nbut the endeavour will not receive any great measure of assistance from\nthe abundant but chaotic and unclassified material amassed by\nAmericanists during the last twenty years, which in its present\ncondition is not of much value as regards this particular branch of the\nsubject, but which it is the writer\u2019s intention to employ, so far as it\nis capable of illustrating the question before us.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITERATURE OF MEXICAN RELIGION\n\nIt is necessary at this stage to deal briefly with the sources of\nMexican religious history. A literature, bewildering in its scope and\nvariety, has grown up around the subject of Mexican antiquity as a\nwhole, and it is perhaps well for the student if he approaches it with\nonly a partial realization of the spacious character of the material he\nmust review. I have thought it best in such a work as this to relegate\nmost of the bibliographical matter to an appendix, where an endeavour\nhas been made to supply the student with a trustworthy catalogue of\nsuch manuscripts and works as are essential to the study of Mexican\nreligion. It is hoped that this may prove of guidance and assistance\nand spare much initial toil. But for the present I will confine my\nremarks to such general observations upon the sources from which we\npartly glean our knowledge of the ancient Mexican faith as will serve\nthe immediate purpose. These sources are four in number: (I) The native\ncodices or paintings; (II) the native annals; (III) native art-forms in\narchitecture, sculpture, pottery, and mural painting, depicting gods\nand other divine beings; and (IV) the writings of the Spanish\nconquerors of Mexico.\n\n(I) The Native Codices.\u2014These are paintings executed by native Mexican\nartists upon agave paper, leather, or cotton. Through the misguided\nzeal of the early Spanish religious authorities, who regarded them as\nof diabolic character, only some twelve of these remain to us, the\ngreater number of which possess a mythological or religious\nsignificance. In their pages we find representations of many of the\nprincipal deities of the Mexican pantheon, as well as illustrations of\nseveral passages in Mexican myth, and they frequently depict the\ntonalamatl or priestly Book of Fate, with its highly complex symbolism.\n[5] Close familiarity with these manuscripts is indispensable, as they\nconstitute one of the few original sources of our knowledge of the\naspect, costume, and insignia of the Mexican deities. All of them have\nbeen handsomely, if expensively, reproduced, and these are detailed in\nthe bibliography.\n\nHere it is only necessary to remark upon the several theories which\nhave regard to their place of origin. Dr. H. J. Spinden, in his\nvaluable Study of Maya Art, objects that \u201cmost of the detailed accounts\nof religious beliefs and ceremonies that have come down to us refer\nprimarily to the Valley of Mexico, while nearly all the really\nelaborate codices of a religious nature come from either the\nZapotecan-Mixtecan area or from the Maya.\u201d [6] We are not here\nconcerned with the Maya manuscripts, and with regard to the Zapotec and\nMixtec examples we have the assurance of Seler, [7] which is founded\nupon critical evidence of value, that an entire group of these\nmanuscripts\u2014and that by far the most important, the Codex Borgia\ngroup\u2014\u201cbelongs to a Mexican-speaking people\u201d who inhabited the\ndistricts of Teouacan, Cozcatlan, and Teotitlan del Camino, and who,\nthough separated from the Nahua of the Valley of Anahuac at an early\nperiod, yet in great measure retained the ancient beliefs common to\nboth. Nearly all of the deities represented in this group of\nmanuscripts so closely resemble in their aspect, costume, and general\nsymbolism the drawings and descriptions of gods known to have been\nworshipped in the Mexican area proper, as to make it positively certain\nthat they represent the same divine beings with merely trifling\ndifferences of detail due to local environment. The separation of the\nNahua of the Plateau of Mexico and those of the more southerly region\nwas of such duration as to justify the belief that their religious\nideas had diverged considerably. But the subsequent conquest of the\nsouthern area by the Northern Nahua must have resuscitated old common\nbeliefs among their kindred in the south, and weakened the ideas they\nhad adopted or developed in that environment. This is proved by the\nconsiderable variation in type between the oldest southern pottery\nrepresenting what are presumably divine forms and the pictures of the\ngods in the later manuscripts of the Codex Borgia group.\n\n(II) The Native Writings.\u2014These \u201cannals,\u201d as they are sometimes called,\nthe work of natives who wrote in Spanish, constitute a mine of\naboriginal information of nearly equal value with that contained in the\ncodices, but considerable discrimination is necessary in using them in\nview of the tendency of their authors to corrupt traditional material\nwhen inspired by patriotic or other motives. This, however, manifestly\ndoes not apply with equal force to accounts of a mythical or ritual\nnature and to historical events, which offer a much greater temptation\nthan the former to scribes manifestly ignorant of the virtues of\nliterary integrity. The Mexican annals are of two classes: those which\nrepresent the historical or traditional relics of native communities,\nsuch as the Annals of Quauhtitlan, also known as the Codex\nChimalpopoc\u00e2; and those which are the work of educated Mexicans or\nhalf-breeds, prone to magnify the splendour of the ancient races.\nRanking almost as a third or separate class are the sacred songs or\nhymns included in the Mexican MS. of Sahagun\u2019s Historia General, which\nthat most unwearied of workers received at first hand from approved\nnative scribes. The several native writings will be found described in\nthe appendix, and the hymns, or rather a translation of them into\nEnglish prose, will be met with in the descriptions of the several\ndeities to which they apply.\n\n(III) Native Art-forms.\u2014Mexican architectural motifs, mural paintings,\nand especially sculpture and pottery, frequently afford reliable\nmaterial upon which to form conclusions regarding the aspect and\ncostume of the gods, and reproductions of the most important of these\nillustrate the descriptions of the several Mexican deities.\n\n(IV) Writings of the Spanish Conquerors of Mexico.\u2014If the\nrepresentatives of the Church in Mexico must be condemned for their\nnarrow and illiberal action in destroying all native manuscripts and\npaintings bearing upon the ancient religion of the country, certain\nmore enlightened individuals among them laboured strenuously to remove\nthis reproach by their zealous, if frequently unskilful, attempts to\nreconstruct a knowledge of the popular faith by unremitting researches\ninto native tradition. This attitude met with but little countenance\nfrom their ecclesiastical superiors, and at times they laboured under\nconditions the reverse of favourable for the collection of traditional\nmaterial. But it would be ungrateful not to pay a meed of respect to\nthe self-sacrifice of those enlightened and resourceful men, but for\nwhose endeavours our knowledge of Mexican antiquities would be all the\npoorer.\n\nUndoubtedly the most valuable collection of evidence relative to the\nMexican religion compiled by a Spanish churchman is the Historia\nGeneral of Bernardino Sahagun, whose work, composed with scholarly care\nand an almost prophetic knowledge of the correct methods to be pursued\nin the collection of traditional material, was completed about the\nmiddle of the sixteenth century, but remained unpublished until 1830.\nThis work has been described so repeatedly as to require no further\nmention here, and other notable works are included in the bibliography.\nSome allusion should also be made here to the works known as the\nInterpretative Codices, compiled by Pedro de Rios and other monks, who\nretained the services of native painters to execute drawings of Mexican\ndeities or, as some believe, drew these figures themselves, the\nsymbolism and general meaning of which they endeavoured to make plain\nand interpret, only too often in the light of their knowledge of the\nScriptures.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ORIGINS OF MEXICAN RELIGION\n\nThe question of the origin of Mexican religion, like that of the\ncivilization of which it was perhaps the most salient characteristic,\nhas afforded matter for ardent controversy from the period of the\ndiscovery and conquest of the country until the present day. But, even\nso, it is still unsafe to dogmatize upon Mexican religious origins. At\nthe time of the Conquest we observe Mexican religion as a highly\ncomplex faith, with a ceremonial of the most elaborate nature, a\npriesthood with nicely defined gradations in office, and a pantheon\nwhich had obviously been formed by the collocation of the deities of\nprovincial and dependent tribes and peoples around a nucleus composed\nof the national and departmental gods of the Aztec\u00e2. The great\ntemple-area of Mexico-Tenochtitlan harboured a bewildering array of\ngods, many of which possessed separate shrines and ministrants. An\nintensive examination of the alien elements represented, however, tends\nto prove the identity of many of them with the gods of the Aztec\u00e2, a\nsimilarity which, in numerous instances, was manifest to that people\nthemselves and which was the result of tribal affinity or basic\nresemblance in religious conception. Nevertheless a residuum of\nunrelated deities remained, which might, perhaps, be accounted for by\npositing the existence of two markedly different cultures or tendencies\nin Mexico, barbarous and civilized. This may imply that the opposing\ninfluences which gave rise to these variations were alien to each other\nracially, or it may indicate that, whereas one had remained in an\nenvironment of barbarism, the other had developed and enlarged its\ntheological and even its mythical conceptions in the light of the\nnecessities of an advancing material civilization. Whence the seeds of\nthat civilization came is, as has been said, matter of controversy. The\nexistence of a system of monachism in Mexico would seem to indicate a\nnon-American origin. Elements common to both aspects of this\ninteresting faith were sufficiently numerous in Mexican religion. Thus\nthe so-called Chichimecs, or rude hunters of the steppes to the north\nof the Valley of Mexico, retained in their pristine form the simple\nbeliefs and the ungraded pantheon, which in the case of the more\nadvanced tribes of cognate origin rapidly took shape as a great State\nreligion under the influences of a more complex social system, the\nstimulus of alien religious conceptions, and above all, of a priesthood\nskilled in the reduction of theological and mythical material to dogma.\nThis cult, although composed of elements perhaps at first conflicting\nin aim and character, had yet arrived at a comparative degree of\nhomogeneity and had evolved an intricate and exacting ritual and a\nsymbolism of great richness and artistic complexity, the extensive and\nbewildering nature of which can be verified by a cursory inspection of\nthe native codices.\n\n\n\n\nEVIDENCES OF EARLY RELIGION IN MEXICO\n\nThe myths which relate to the earliest religious influences in Mexico\nare for the most part connected with the pre-Aztec \u201cToltec\u201d\ncivilization and the more ancient and sacred sites of Tollan and\nTeotihuacan. They chiefly refer to a god or culture-hero called\nQuetzalcoatl, whose myths and attributes will be described elsewhere in\nthis work, and who was regarded as the prototype of the Mexican\npriesthood and one of the inventors of the tonalamatl or Book of Fate.\nThe type of religion founded by him differs greatly from that practised\nby the Mexicans at the period of the Conquest, as it eschewed, or was,\nperhaps, originally innocent of, human sacrifice or ceremonial\ncannibalism, and practised purification and penance by the drawing of\nblood. In certain myths its founder is described as a native of the\ncountry, in others as the offspring of divine beings, while still\nothers regard him as a foreigner who introduced his cult from the east.\nIt is noteworthy that this cult is closely connected with monachism [8]\nand that in later times it was, perhaps, regarded as more intimately\nbound up with pietistic and \u201ccivilized\u201d ritual practice than that of\nany other Mexican deity. Ultimately, the myths relate, Quetzalcoatl\nleft the country because of the machinations of \u201cenchanters.\u201d [9] This\nmay mean that the older and less barbarous cult was forced into a\nsecondary place by the ruder and more popular beliefs of a tribe of\nlower culture, but there are evidences that the religion of\nQuetzalcoatl assuredly assisted in the building-up of the rain-cult of\nMexico. In any case little information is to be gleaned from the myth\nof Quetzalcoatl for our present purpose of illustrating the primitive\ntype of Mexican religion, and it must probably be regarded as pointing\nto the existence of an early monachism and a developed ritual in\nancient Mexico. [10]\n\nThe myths relating to the great tribal gods, if faithfully examined,\nassist us in forming a definite idea of the character of early\nreligious conceptions in Anahuac. The hymns to the gods are, perhaps, a\nsurer indication of the trend of popular faith and probably date from a\nmore archaic period than do the myths, which, as we possess them,\nnearly all exhibit signs of priestly alteration. In several of these\nchants we assuredly arrive at the whole significance of Mexican\nreligion, which in its essence, and as seen at the Conquest period, was\nnothing more than a vastly elaborated rain-cult, similar in its general\ntendency to that still prevalent among the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico\nand Arizona, yet broader in outlook, of a higher complexity and\nproductive of a theology and an ethical system of greater\nsophistication and scope. The religion of the Pueblo peoples is,\nindeed, the poor and degenerate descendant of the bizarre and\npicturesque ritual of the Mexicans, or, more probably, had a common\norigin with it. Through the researches and personal exertions of many\nwell-equipped Americanists the entire ritual of this modern pluvial\ncult is now well known and deserves the closest study from students of\nMexican religion, as providing them with comparative and analogical\nmaterial of the first importance. [11]\n\nWe shall keep on the trail of a very definite clue if we attempt to\ndescry in such evidences as we possess of archaic Mexican faith the\nsigns of an incipient rain-cult, having its origin in a settled\nagricultural existence. If we glance at the general characteristics of\nthe numerous members of the Mexican pantheon, we find that very readily\nand quite naturally they group themselves into three great classes: (a)\ncreative deities, which may be regarded as the outcome of late\ntheological speculation, and which may, accordingly, be passed over in\nthis place; (b) gods of growth; and (c) gods developed from specific\nobjects and deified heavenly bodies, some of which latter were\ndeveloped from gods of the chase. The \u201coriginal\u201d deities of Mexico\nwould seem, therefore, to have presided over vegetable growth and\nconferred on their votaries good luck in the hunt. But as time passed,\nthese latter also took on the attributes of gods of the cereal and\nvegetable food-supply, and, indeed, often seriously contested the\nstatus of the true growth-gods in the elaborate nature of the symbolic\nvegetal ceremonial with which their festivals were celebrated.\n\nIt is not surprising that the Valley of Mexico became the centre of a\ncult of which the appeal for rain was the salient characteristic. A\ncopious supply of rainfall for the purposes of irrigation is, indeed, a\nnecessity to the Mexican agriculturist, and a dry year in ancient\nAnahuac brought with it famine and misery unspeakable. Inexpressibly\ntouching are the fervent prayers to Tlaloc, god of water, that he\nshould not visit his displeasure upon the people by withdrawing the\npluvial supply. \u201cO our most compassionate lord ... I beseech thee to\nlook with eyes of pity upon the people of this city and kingdom, for\nthe whole world, down to the very beasts, is in peril of destruction\nand disappearance and irremediable end ... for the ridges of the earth\nsuffer sore need and anguish from lack of water ... with deep sighing\nand anguish of heart I cry upon all those that are gods of water, that\nare in the four quarters of the world ... to come and console this poor\npeople and to water the earth, for the eyes of all that inhabit the\nearth, animals as well as men, are turned towards you, and their hope\nis set upon you.\u201d [12]\n\n\n\n\nDEIFICATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF GROWTH\n\nThe elements of growth, in the mind of primitive man, are four in\nnumber, the earth, grain, rain, and solar heat, and it is not\nremarkable that all of these came to be regarded as deified powers, and\nwere latterly personalized in anthropomorphic form. It does not appear\nthat the sun was at first looked upon as an agency of growth. There is,\nindeed, proof that in early times he was not regarded as of any\nimportance from a calendric point of view, and that the time and\nfestival-counts were designed upon a lunar basis. [13] It is not\nunlikely that, in a region where his torrid heat, if unaccompanied by\nrainfall, resulted in famine, he was at first regarded, if not\nunfavourably, at least with no special predilection. If this conclusion\nis correct, and we can afford to discount solar influence in the\nprimitive Mexican cultus\u2014or rather that adopted by the aboriginal\npeoples on embracing a settled agricultural existence\u2014there remain to\nus the three elements of earth, grain, and rain from which to\nreconstruct the prototypes of the Mexican pantheon.\n\nIn Mexican myth the earth is represented as a monster known as\ncipactli, the pictures of which have given rise to the assumption that\nit is either a crocodile, a swordfish, or a dragon. We shall probably\nnot err if we place it in the last category and see in it that great\nearth-monster common to the mythologies of many races, and which is\nmost conveniently called the \u201cearth-dragon.\u201d [14] This sign cipactli\nbecame the first in the tonalamatl or Book of Fate, where it is\nconnected with the creative deities and the Earth-mother, who was known\nby many names. Circumstances exist which seem to lend colour to the\nassumption that, as in other countries, the Mexican Earth-mother had at\none time been regarded as forming the earth, the soil. At the terrible\nand picturesque festival of the Xalaquia (\u201cShe who is clothed with the\nsand\u201d), the sacrificed virgin was supposed to enrich and recruit with\nher blood the frame of the worn-out goddess, who had been, says Seler,\n\u201cmerged in the popular imagination with the all-nourisher, the\nall-begetter, the earth.\u201d [15]\n\nPerhaps the best evidence that the idea of the Earth-mother was\nassociated with the conception of the earth-dragon is afforded by the\ncolossal stone figure of Coatlicue, one of her manifestations, which\nonce towered above the entrance to the temple of Uitzilopochtli in\nMexico and is now housed in the Museo Na\u00e7ional in that city. In this\nfigure, as in a similar if less massive statue from Tehuacan, the\ncharacteristics of the cipactli earth-animal obtrude themselves in a\nwealth of scale, claw, and tusk, which although frequently described as\nserpentine, is only partially so, and shows traces that more than one\nidea was in the mind of the artist who chiselled its symbolic\nintricacies. In the latter of these sculptures the appearance of\nferocity is most marked and is accompanied by the same dragon-like\nclaws on hands and feet. In the mythologies of many lands the\nEarth-mother is represented as ferocious, insatiable, as slaying those\nwho take part in her amours, as a riotous and outrageous demon,\nunnatural and destructive in her lusts and appetites, and it would seem\nthat her Mexican phase throws light upon the reasons for this savage\nwantonness. In the sculpture first alluded to, and in the carving on\nits base, we can perceive a close resemblance to the earth-monster of\nthe Maya peoples, especially as represented in the carvings at Copan\nand in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque. These afford almost\nirrefragable proof of the correctness of the supposition regarding the\nfusion of the concepts of the earth-beast and the earth-mother which\nhas been outlined. [16]\n\nThe deification of the grain is so universal a phenomenon as to require\nbut little explanation, especially in regard to a country where it\nformed the staple alimentary supply. It appears to have received divine\nhonours in many districts in Mexico and to have been worshipped under a\nvariety of names, but there was little difference between the\ncharacters of these several cults, and the absence of this is well\nexemplified by the readiness with which they amalgamated and the fusion\nof their central figures.\n\nThe deification of the rain, as apart from the idea of a mere rain-god,\nis perhaps a circumstance of more novelty to the student of Comparative\nReligion. Tlaloc, the god of rain or moisture, is one of the most\nstriking examples of this process in any mythology. A god of great\nantiquity, his pluvial character is obvious and undoubted. But he is\nalso the life-giver, the nourisher, who from his home in the green\nuplands of Tlalocan sends the vivifying rains to fill the deep fissures\nin the hard, cracked soil of the Valley of Anahuac. In the courtyard of\nhis dwelling stood four jars of water, typifying the four different\n\u201ckinds\u201d of rainfall which corresponded to the four quarters of the\nheavens, and these were distributed by his progeny, the Tlaloqu\u00ea. There\nis the best evidence that the aspect of Tlaloc was evolved from the\nidea of the rain itself. His face is formed from the interlacings of\ntwo serpents, his face-paint is black and blue, or dirty yellow like\nthe threatening cloud which holds the thunder-shower. The garments he\nwears are splashed with ulli rubber-gum, evidently intended to\nsymbolize rain-spots. Indeed, his robe is called the anachxechilli or\n\u201cdripping garment,\u201d and is frequently depicted as set with green gems\nto represent the sparkling raindrops. Few rain-gods, even the Vedic\nIndra himself, whom Tlaloc somewhat resembles, are so frankly symbolic\nof the moisture which falls from above. [17] But his serpentine or\ndragon-like form renders it probable that, although he was regarded in\nlater times as a personification of the rain, in earlier times he was\nlooked upon as the \u201cWater Provider,\u201d the great serpent or dragon which\ndwelt among the hills and which must be defeated by a hero or demi-god\nere it will disgorge the floods which ensure the growth of vegetation.\n\n\n\n\nEVIDENCE OF PRIMITIVE INFLUENCES\n\nWe may now examine the elements just described for traces of the early\nconstituents of religion. The conception that the earth itself was a\nmonster gifted with life is evidently the outcome of a belief in\n\u201canimism\u201d or \u201cpersonalization,\u201d and merits little further notice\nbecause of its obvious character. Although the grain was also\npersonalized, there are evidences of its \u201cfetishtic\u201d nature in early\ntimes. The great stone figure of Coatlicue already alluded to, besides\naffording evidence of the dragon-like character of the Earth-mother,\nexhibits many of the attributes of the primitive fetish manufactured\nfrom bundles of maize, large beans representing the eyes and pumpkin\npips the teeth, while strips of paper form the mouth and labret. True,\nthese early characteristics have been overlaid by the abounding\nsymbolism of later and more complex ideas\u2014the skin of the sacrificial\nvictim, the serpent-heads, representing perhaps the spouting of that\nvictim\u2019s blood from the severed trunk and the skirt of serpents with\nwhich myth credited the goddess\u2014but in the clumsy amorphousness of this\nwondrously carven block we can readily perceive the outline of the\nmaize-sheaves from which its idea was drawn. Indeed the ears and leaves\nof the maize-plant descend from underneath the skirt of serpents and\ndecorate the knot which secures it behind. [18]\n\n\n\n\n\u201cFETISH\u201d ORIGIN OF GODS\n\nMore than one of the great gods exhibit the signs of fetishtic origin.\nUitzilopochtli, the great tribal patron deity of the Aztec\u00e2 of\nMexico-Tenochtitlan, was described in tradition as leading them from\nthe mythical northern country of Aztlan in the form of \u201ca little bird.\u201d\nHe is usually represented in the pictorial MSS., where his appearance\nis infrequent, as wearing a mantle made from humming-birds\u2019 feathers.\nLater legend spoke of him as the vindicator of his mother, a goddess of\nvegetation, and as slaying her detractors, his own half-brothers, while\nin historical times the whole business of war was arranged through the\ninstrumentality of his oracular image and was carried out chiefly in\nview of the necessity for human sacrifice which characterized his\nespecial cult. But if we examine the roots of the beliefs which cluster\naround him, we shall find much to convince us that he was, after the\nentrance of his people into the Valley of Anahuac, identified with the\nmaguey plant, which forms so familiar an object in the Mexican\nlandscape. Extended proof of this lowly origin will be found in the\nsection which deals with the god.\n\nQuite as humble are the beginnings of the god Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, perhaps the\nmost universally dreaded among the Mexican deities. Regarding his\nprecise significance nothing very definite has been arrived at by\nmodern authorities. As will be shown later, the early significance of\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 arises out of his connection with obsidian, which had an\nespecial sanctity for the Mexicans.\n\n\n\n\nANIMAL GODS\n\nIn our gropings for the roots of the Mexican faith we must not fail to\nnotice those elements which stand apart from agricultural religion and\nare eloquent of the concepts of a still earlier time. Agricultural\ntheology is as old as agriculture, and no older. The food-supply of the\nsavage prior to that period depends upon the successful conduct of the\nchase. His gods are therefore often precisely of the species of animal\nby hunting which he gains a livelihood, and which he frequently regards\nas placed at his disposal by a great eponymous beast-god of the same\nkind. [19] Again, for some reason which has never been satisfactorily\nexplained and for which no solution can be found at present, in view of\nthe rather dubious nature of what is known as \u201ctotemism,\u201d primitive man\nadores, or in some manner exalts, certain animals on the flesh of which\nhe does not live. But although gods evolved from animal shapes are\nfrequently to be met with in the Mexican pantheon, I can recall no\ninstance of the taboo of the flesh of any animal as an article of diet\nin Anahuac, or Mexico proper, although this may be found in the cultus\nof several of the tribes of the more outlying regions.\n\nUitzilopochtli has the characteristics of a humming-bird, and, indeed,\nall of the thirteen gods which governed the hours of the day are\nfigured in the tonalamatl of the Aubin Collection with bird-disguises,\nand one of the thirteen heavens of the Mexicans is set apart for\nbird-gods, while certain other deities appear in animal forms. For\nexample, Tepeyollotl is figured as a jaguar, Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl\nhave serpentine characteristics, Itzpapalotl is a butterfly-dragon,\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 a spider, a jaguar, or a turkey, Mixcoatl takes deer\nshape, and so on. But some of these forms are probably symbolic rather\nthan \u201ctotemic.\u201d The cult of Nagualism, [20] a degraded post-Colombian\nform of the old religion, was insistent upon the connection of its\nvotaries with an animal spirit or familiar from an early period of\ntheir lives\u2014that is, to each individual a personal \u201ctotem\u201d was\nassigned, precisely as is the case among many North American tribes at\nthe present time and as among the Lacandone of Yucatan.\n\n\n\n\nGROWTH OF THE RAIN-CULT\n\nEnough has been said in view of the restricted nature of the evidence,\nto prove that Mexican religion passed through much the same primitive\nconditions as other faiths. Further evidence on this point will be\nadduced as the gods are severally described. We may now proceed to\nexamine such proof as we possess of the onward and upward progress of\nthe cult of rain and growth in Mexico. We may, perhaps, imagine the\ninstitution of tribal or village rain or grain fetishes, which in\ncourse of time would attain godhead by reason of popularity or supposed\nauspiciousness. The ministers of these would probably bear a strong\nresemblance to the medicine-men of North American Indian tribes.\nWarfare undoubtedly played a great part in the fortunes of these local\ncults. Thus, did the people of a certain tribal god triumph in feud or\nbattle, his worship would almost certainly be enlarged in a territorial\nsense. But such a triumph would be a small incentive to further\nconquest when compared with the absolute necessity for war engendered\nby the holy law that captives must be obtained for purposes of\nsacrifice to the tribal deities.\n\n\n\n\nTHE NECESSITY FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE\n\nThe origins of the institution of human sacrifice in Mexico are\nobscure. Native mythology attributed its invention to a group of\nearth-goddesses headed by Teteo innan or Tlazolteotl, who in the\nCalendar year \u201ceight-rabbit\u201d came to the city of Tollan or Tula from\nthe Huaxtec country and, summoning the captives whom they had taken in\nthat land, said to them: \u201cWe want to couple the earth with you, we want\nto hold a feast with you, for till now no battle-offerings have been\nmade with men.\u201d [21]\n\nThis myth is, perhaps, \u00e6tiological, but it would seem to have some\nhistorical basis. Deeply rooted in the Mexican mind was the idea that\nunless the gods were abundantly refreshed with human blood they would\nperish of hunger and old age and would be unable to undertake their\nhypothetical labours in connection with the growth of the crops. Whence\ncame this idea? Undoubtedly from that process of barbaric reasoning\nthrough which Mexican man had convinced himself that the amount of\nrainfall would be in ratio to the amount of blood shed sacrificially.\nSeler [22] has indicated his belief in such a process of reasoning by\nstating that \u201cthe one was intended to draw down the other, the blood\nwhich was offered was intended to bring down the rain upon the fields.\u201d\nThis, then, is the precise nature of the compact between Mexican man\nand his gods, Do ut des, \u201cGive us rain, and we shall give you blood.\u201d\nOnce this is understood the basic nature of Mexican religion becomes\nclear, and all the later additions of theology and priestly invention\ncan be viewed as mere excrescences and ornaments upon the simple\narchitecture of the temple of the rain-cult.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LATER ELEMENTS OF MEXICAN RELIGION\n\nThe evolution of a higher cultus is frequently identified with a more\nintimate acquaintance with the heavenly bodies, but it is not generally\nappreciated or understood by students of Comparative Religion that at\nleast two different kinds of conception underlie the general idea. A\nluminary, sun, moon, or star, may be deified and achieve godhead by\nreason of striking natural characteristics, or, on the other hand, it\nmay be identified with some god already known. Thus Mexican myth, as\nrelated to Sahagun by the natives, asserted that the gods met at\nTeotihuacan and told how two of their number, Nanahuatl and\nTecciztecatl, sacrificed themselves by leaping into a great fire,\nbecoming the sun and moon respectively. The remaining gods, sacrificing\nthemselves also, \u201cconferred life upon the stars,\u201d that is they became\nidentified with the several stellar constellations, becoming known as\nthe Centzon Mimixcoa and Centzon Uitznaua, or \u201cFour hundred\nNortherners\u201d and \u201cFour hundred Southerners,\u201d as they occupied the sky\non its northern or southern side. [23]\n\nAlthough this myth and a version of it current at Texcuco and given by\nMendieta in his Historia Ecclesiastica [24] both represent Nanahuatl as\nthe sun-god, he was not so known in Mexican popular religion and\npriestly practice, and was indeed a form of the god Xolotl, a deity of\nobscure characteristics. Tecciztecatl certainly was regarded as the\nmoon-god, but the solar luminary was known as Tonatiuh or\nPiltzintecutli. As has already been stated, there are sound reasons for\nthe belief that the solar cult was a relatively late institution in\nMexico, although in some parts of the country it may have flourished\nfor generations before it became popular in Tenochtitlan. Slightly\nelaborating our former reasons for this statement, we may indicate: (1)\nThe name Tonatiuh appears in the myths of the origin of the sun as that\nof the luminary, but not of a god. (2) The circumstance that Tonatiuh\nwas regarded by the Mexicans as a \u201cheaven,\u201d a Valhalla, to which the\nwarriors slain in sacrifice betook themselves after death, and\ntherefore represented a place of reward, a class of myth which is\nnearly always of comparatively late origin, and is the fruit of mature\nspeculation. (3) The fact that Tonatiuh was closely identified with the\nwarrior caste and therefore with human sacrifice, which was a late\nintroduction and the paramount reason for the existence of that caste.\n(4) That the original Calendar was a lunar one. But these and other\nconsiderations will be dealt with more fully when we undertake the\nelucidation of the sun-god\u2019s characteristics.\n\nThe amalgamation of the solar cult and of the Quetzalcoatl cult\n(representing the later and earlier \u201ccivilized\u201d elements in Mexican\nreligion) with the rain-cult is not an isolated phenomenon in the\nworld\u2019s religious history. The analogy of the fusion of the Osirian\ncult of Egypt with that of Ra will occur to everyone in this\nconnection, and as the theology of the priests of the more aristocratic\nfaith became in the event subsidiary in real importance to that of the\nfar more popular Osirian worship, in the same manner the Quetzalcoatl\ncult, and in some measure the solar, were of much less real\nsignificance in Mexican life generally than the earlier popular belief.\nThe solar worship seems to have successfully and naturally identified\nitself with the rain-cult, as also did the Quetzalcoatl religion. The\nmyth which described Quetzalcoatl as the founder or inventor of the\ntonalamatl or Book of Fate [25] probably records an effort on the part\nof his priesthood to identify their cult with the popular agricultural\nreligion or to systematize or reduce to symbolic form an idea which\nuntil that time had probably existed in an uncertain and chaotic\ncondition in the popular mind. For even if the tonalamatl were\nintroduced from the Zapotec or Mixtec country or the Maya region, as is\ngenerally supposed, it required skilful arrangement to make it subserve\nthe purposes of Aztec religion. The priesthood and cultus of\nQuetzalcoatl were widespread throughout Central America and Mexico, and\nits ministers appear to have adapted themselves with skill and patience\nto the conditions of the various regions to which they penetrated, the\nresult of their labours never being quite the same in any two regions.\nIt is remarkable, too, that, probably by reason of the superior\nerudition and ability of its priesthood, the caste of Quetzalcoatl held\nchief sway in Mexican ecclesiastical government. [26] But a partial,\nthough by no means complete, hostility to human sacrifice and\nceremonial cannibalism, a grudging acquiescence in what it had, in all\nlikelihood, denounced in earlier times, gave it in later days a\nsomewhat aloof and separate character.\n\n\n\n\nCULTURAL ELEMENTS OF MEXICAN RELIGION\n\nWe must now glance briefly at such evidences as we possess of the\ndistinct racial or cultural elements which assisted in the development\nof Mexican religion. Three such elements appear to be indicated. It\nwould seem that from an early period a people of settled and\nagricultural habits occupied the Mexican Plateau. These were probably\nrelatively aboriginal to the Toltecs and may have been of Otomi or\nTarascan blood, and to them I would refer the original foundation of a\nrain-cult having Tlaloc as its principal deity. Tlaloc was\nunquestionably one of the most venerable gods of Mexico, indeed he is\nthe only god who can be identified with certainty in the remains of\npre-Nahuan date at Teotihuacan. Tradition spoke of the finding of an\nancient idol representing him by the early Chichimec immigrants. [27]\nAt least five of the yearly festivals were celebrated in his honour,\nand ancient sculptured representations of him have been found in\nTarascan territory, in Michoacan, Teotihuacan, Teotitlan, in the\nZapotec country and in Guatemala, thus affording irrefragable testimony\nto his antiquity. Rather later than the culture which probably founded\nthe rain-cult (a religion necessary and indeed inevitable in Mexico)\nwas the Toltec civilization, which regarded Quetzalcoatl as its\nchiefest divinity, and which probably was brought from the Huaxtec\ncountry. But the Toltec are said to have been of Nahua blood, and may\nhave been composed of a Nahua populace and a Huaxtec or proto-Maya\naristocracy. The later hordes of Nahua (Chichimecs, Aztec\u00e2, etc.) found\nthese elements already settled upon the land, but brought with them a\nreligion which, if it was destined to have a powerful effect upon the\nfaith of the agricultural folk with whom they came into contact, was\nalso to be quite as strongly influenced by it.\n\nReverting to the conditions prevailing in Mexico prior to the entry of\nthe Chichimec Nahua, we may regard the rain-cult of the Tlaloc religion\nas in some measure resembling that of the Pueblo Indians of Northern\nMexico and Arizona at the present time. The serpentine character of its\nprincipal deity, the appeal for rain which composes the basis of most\nof the prayers to him, provide strong proofs of such a similarity, and,\nas has been said, the antiquity of the rain religion is proved by the\ndiscovery of early sculptured forms and the facts adduced above. The\nTlaloc religion had also been able in some degree to retain its own\nsacrificial customs, the drowning of victims being practised in\naddition to the Nahua method of slaughter on the stone of sacrifice.\nThe date of the introduction of the religion of Quetzalcoatl is\ngenerally placed at the middle of the eighth century of our era, so\nthat we are perhaps justified in assuming that the faith of the greater\nportion of Anahuac [28] before that time had as its basis the\nrain-cult, as represented by Tlaloc.\n\nThe religious customs of those peoples who were relatively aboriginal\nto the Nahua support the theory of the predominance of the rain-cult in\nMexico from a very early period, and Torquemada states that during\nseasons of drought the Otomi sought to propitiate the rain-gods by\nsacrificing a virgin on the top of a hill. [29] Espinosa says that the\nTarascans sacrificed snakes rather than human beings\u2014possibly for the\nsame reason as the Esquimaux beat their dogs during an eclipse, in\norder that the Great Dog which causes the undesirable phenomenon may\ndesist, the Tarascans probably killing the reptiles in question in\norder that the Great Snake might relent and send rain. [30] The towns\nabout Chapala paid divine honours to the spirit of the adjacent lake.\nLate though these survivals may have been at the era of the Conquest,\nyet they seem to have enshrined the memory of an early rain-cult among\nthe peoples with whom they were found, and many others could be\nadduced.\n\n\n\n\nTHE QUETZALCOATL CULT\n\nThe appearance of the Quetzalcoatl cult in Mexico, which would seem to\nhave entered the country at some time about the middle of the eighth\ncentury, must have caused very considerable alterations in the simple\nand probably as yet uninfluenced rain religion which it found in\noccupancy. From whatever portion of the Isthmian tract it came, one\nthing regarding it is positively certain\u2014that it introduced into Mexico\nthe rudiments of the calendric computation evolved in Central America.\nIn its phase as imported by the apostles of the Quetzalcoatl religion,\nit seems fairly certain that the tonalamatl was of the nature of a\nlunar time-count, and the probabilities are that its protagonists\ndiscovered on their arrival in Anahuac that a count similar in\ncharacter was in use among the priesthood of the Tlaloc worshippers,\nwho as an agricultural people could hardly have been without some such\nsystem of computation. The Quetzalcoatl faith, however, was manifestly\nof a considerably higher status than that which it encountered, as is\nobvious not only by the numerous and extraordinary traditions regarding\nthe Toltec civilization, but the actual remains it has left. It is\nclear that, whether it found a calendar or time-count already existing,\nit placated aboriginal opinion by the amalgamation of the several\nfestivals of the rain-god with its own. The fact that the day-signs of\nthe Mexican calendar or tonalamatl are almost identical with those of\nthe Maya tonalamatl is good proof that the former was developed from\nthe latter; and if only a small proportion of Toltec deities find a\nplace in its monthly festivals, that would seem to be due to the\ncircumstance that later Nahua demands for the inclusion of their tribal\ndeities were acceded to. We may, perhaps, imagine the early tonalamatl\nof the Quetzalcoatl missionaries to have been similar in form to that\nof the Maya\u2014that is, it must have been almost wholly concerned with the\nfestivals of deities of a purely agricultural kind.\n\nBut the religion of Quetzalcoatl, as observed in his Yucatec form of\nKukulkan and his Guatemalan variant of Gucumatz, bore a close\nresemblance to that of Tlaloc. In Yucatan Quetzalcoatl was regarded by\npriests and people as the great rain-making priest, the god of\nmoisture, whereas in Mexico he is merely the sweeper of the ways to the\nTlaloc deities of rain. This is surely eloquent of the fact that the\nTlaloc religion was not only of greater antiquity in Mexico, but that\nits ministers were disinclined to permit the deity of the new religion\nto adopt a status similar to that of their own god. With true priestly\ndiplomacy, then, it would seem that they temporized by affording\nQuetzalcoatl a status as the great rain-making priest, a character\nwhich he retained to the last. Myth certainly alludes to Tlaloc as the\nsupplanter of Quetzalcoatl in the affections of the goddess\nChalchihuitlicue and as robbing the peaceful culture-hero of the\nmaize-plant which he had discovered. This does not necessarily signify\nthe defeat of an older religion by a more novel faith, but may relate\nto a successful defence by the more ancient cultus and its absorption\nof the other.\n\nThe theory of the amalgamation of the Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl cults\nappears to me to be in some measure assisted by the circumstance that\nthe devotees of both placed a high value upon minerals of a green\ncolour. The word chalchihuitl (\u201cgreen stone\u201d), of such common\noccurrence in the works of the Spanish authors who wrote on Mexican\naffairs, must be taken as applying with equal force to jadeite,\nnephrite, turquoise, emerald, chlormelanite, green quartz, precious\nserpentine, or, indeed, any mineral of a green shade. A tradition\nexisted that Quetzalcoatl brought the use and manipulation of jadeite\ninto Mexico, but green was a salient hue in the insignia of Tlaloc, and\nthe name of his consort Chalchihuitlicue (\u201cgreenstone skirt\u201d) is\neloquent of his connection with the several kinds of stones which the\nMexicans grouped under the name chalchihuitl. Whatever significance\nattached to the colour of these stones, apart from their nature as\nprecious stones, whether or not they were symbolic of water or verdure,\nor metal, or of all of these agencies, which are regarded as so potent\nby primitive peoples, it is apparent that both cults employed them\nsymbolically or pseudo-scientifically, and it therefore seems probable\nthat each of these religions was originally connected with the worship\nof water, and therefore the influence associated with and contained in\nwater, and that this belief would render their amalgamation a process\nof little difficulty.\n\nIf, however, such similarities eventually made for the union of the\ncults, traditions were not lacking regarding their early differences or\nhostilities. As has been said, myths survived into historical times,\nwhich stated that although Quetzalcoatl had succeeded in discovering\nmaize, Tlaloc had stolen it from him and had also succeeded in\nalienating from him the affection of Chalchihuitlicue, who had\noriginally been regarded as the wife of Quetzalcoatl. [31] But these\nmyths are undeniably of late origin. Quetzalcoatl\u2019s status as a\ncelibate god or priest would scarcely allow his name to be connected\nwith matrimony, and it is plain that Chalchihuitlicue, the water\ngoddess, is in a sense merely a personification of the chalchihuitl\nstone, which was, perhaps, originally one of the symbols of the\nQuetzalcoatl cult and which later became personified in female form,\nthus giving rise to the myth in question. Nor do these tales\nnecessarily prove the priority of the Quetzalcoatl cult, which was\nindeed regarded as responsible for practically all Mexican civilization\nand which would naturally be credited with the introduction of the use\nof the sacred stones.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CULT OF OBSIDIAN\n\nBut if the later Nahua immigrants also came to regard these\nchalchihuitl stones with reverence, at the period of their entrance to\nthe Mexican plateau they paid devotion to a mineral of a very different\nkind. And this it is which helps us to regard their faith as differing\nentirely from those other faiths which already flourished in the land.\nThe mineral with which their cult was so closely connected was\nobsidian, a vitreous natural glass found in the upper volcanic strata\nof Mexico and northern California, which flakes readily from the core\nby pressure and gains by mere fracture a razor-like edge of\nconsiderable penetrative power. The principal quarry of this volcanic\nglass was the mountain known as the Cerro de las Navajas (\u201chill of the\nknives\u201d) near Timapan, and from this centre the itztli, by which name\nobsidian was known to the Mexicans, was widely distributed by barter\nover a very considerable area. There would seem to be proof that this\nmineral, so suitable for the purposes of the nomadic hunter, was\nanciently known far to the north of Mexico. The observations of Dr. G.\nM. Dawson [32] in British Columbia satisfied him that trading\nintercourse was engaged in by the coast tribes with those of the\ninterior along the Frazer River Valley and far to the south. From the\nremotest times embraced in their native traditions, the Bilqula of Dean\nInlet have possessed a trade route by way of the Bella Coola River to\nthe Tinn\u00e9 country, along which trail broken implements and chips of\nobsidian have been found. Many of the routes in British Columbia have\nalso yielded chips and flakes of obsidian, which, the Tinn\u00e9 Indians\nstated, was obtained from a mountain near the headwaters of the Salmon\nRiver (about long. 125\u00b0 40\u2032, lat. 52\u00b0 40\u2032), formerly resorted to for\nthe purpose of procuring the mineral. The Indian name of this mountain\nis Bece, which, Dr. Dawson suggested, is the same with the \u201cMexican\u201d\nname for knife, itztli, an etymology which may be of Nahuatlac origin.\nMr. T. C. Weston, of the Geological Survey, also noted in 1883 the\nfinding of a flake of obsidian in connection with a layer of buffalo\nbones occurring in alluvium, and evidently of considerable antiquity,\nnear Fort McLeod, Alberta. The nearest source of such a material is the\nYellowstone Park region. The coast tribes of British Columbia have been\ntraders for untold generations, exchanging oolactin oil for such\nmaterial as they could make implements from, and there seems to be no\ndoubt that the Mound-builders of Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky were\nalso acquainted with obsidian, which they could only have obtained by\nthe process of barter. It was thus either to be found in the regions\nfrom which the Nahua are thought to have come, or else obtainable\nthrough the channels of trade.\n\nIf, then, it be granted that the Chichimec Nahua were acquainted with\nobsidian and its properties before their entrance upon the Plateau of\nAnahuac (a hypothesis which is strengthened by the material differences\nof workmanship between their tools and weapons made of this material\nand those of the aboriginal peoples of Mexico), sufficient time had\nelapsed for their development of a cult, which, at the era of the\nConquest, exhibited traces of a very considerable antiquity. It was,\nnaturally, as a hunting people that they employed weapons of obsidian.\nThe herds of deer on the flesh of which they chiefly lived roamed the\nsteppes, and proof abounds that the customs of the chase strongly\ninfluenced the religious ideas of the early Nahua. Certain of their\ngods, indeed, seem to have been developed from cervine forms, for among\nbarbarous races the animal worshipped is that which provides the tribe\nwith its staple food, or, more correctly, a great eponymous figure of\nthat animal is adored\u2014for example, the Great Deer, who sends the\nsmaller deer to keep the savage in life. In like manner barbarous\nfisherfolk are wont to worship the Great Fish, which sends them its\nprogeny or its subjects to serve as food. These deer gods or hunting\ngods in some way connected with the deer\u2014Itzpapalotl, Itzcu\u00eay\u00ea,\nMixcoatl, Camaxtli\u2014had also stellar or solar attributes. The deer was\nslain by the obsidian weapon, which, therefore, came to be regarded as\nthe magical weapon, that by which food was procured. In the course of\ntime it assumed a sacred significance, the hunting gods themselves came\nto wield it, and it was thought of as coming from the stars or the\nheavens where the gods dwelt, in precisely the same manner as flint\narrowheads were regarded by the peasantry of Europe as \u201celf-arrows\u201d or\n\u201cthunder-stones\u201d\u2014that is, as something supernatural, falling from\nabove.\n\nBut the obsidian itself became deified as Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. I have retained\nthe full proof of this assertion for the section which treats of that\ngod, and must here content myself with a summary of it. The whole cult\nof obsidian centred in the personality of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. His idol was\nmade of that stone, and in Codex Borbonicus his sandals are painted\nwith the zigzag line of the obsidian snake. In his variant of Itztli\n(obsidian) he was the god of the sacrificial knife of obsidian, and in\ncertain codices he is represented as having such a knife in place of a\nfoot. From this stone, too, divinatory mirrors were made, one of which\nwas held by the idols of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 and served as the mirror or\nscrying-stone in which he witnessed the doings of mankind. Obsidian,\nthe great life-giver, food-getter, blood-provider, became identified in\nthe form of this god with the cause or breath of life, which, in turn,\nwas identified with the wind, and therefore it came to be classed among\nthose magical stones which in some mysterious manner are considered\ncapable of raising a tempest. In this manner Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 came to be\nregarded as a god of wind, and has been identified with the Hurakan of\nthe Quiches of Guatemala, from whose name the expression \u201churricane\u201d\nhas been borrowed and who was probably introduced into Central America\nby the Nahua.\n\nWhen the nomadic Chichimec adopted an agricultural condition, obsidian\nhad doubtless been regarded as sacred for many generations. It was by\nvirtue of this magical stone that the nourishment of the gods was\nmaintained by the sacrifice of deer; but when the Chichimec came to\nembrace a more settled existence within an agricultural community where\ndeer must certainly have been more scarce, the nourishment of the gods\nhad necessarily to be maintained by other means. The manner in which\nthis was effected is quite clear. Slaves and war-captives were\nsacrificed instead of beasts of the chase, and at the festival of\nMixcoatl, the greatest of the Chichimec gods, women were sacrificed in\nthe place of deer, and after being slain were carried down the steps of\nthe teocalli, their wrists and ankles tied together precisely in the\nmanner in which a deer is trussed by the hunter. [33] The transition\nfrom deer-sacrifice to a human holocaust and from the hunting to the\nagricultural condition is well illustrated by an ancient hymn relating\nto the goddess Itzpapalotl (\u201cObsidian Butterfly\u201d), who was associated\nwith Mixcoatl.\n\n\n   \u201cO, she has become a goddess of the melon cactus,\n    Our Mother Itzpapalotl, the obsidian butterfly.\n    Her food is on the Nine Plains,\n    She was nurtured on the hearts of deer,\n    Our Mother, the earth-goddess.\u201d\n\n\nThe inference in these lines seems to be that whereas Itzpapalotl was\nformerly a goddess of the Chichimec nomads of the steppes, who\nsacrificed deer to her, she has now become the deity of the\nmelon-cactus patch and an agricultural community. Her first human\nvictim is also mentioned by Camargo, [34] who states that the\nChichimec, coming to the province of Tepeueuec, sacrificed a victim to\nher by shooting him with arrows. Itzpapalotl has more than one cervine\nattribute. [35]\n\nMexican tradition makes it very plain that obsidian, because of its\nblood-procuring properties, came to be regarded as the source of all\nlife, as the very principle of existence. Tonacaciuatl, the creative\ngoddess, as we shall see, gave birth to an obsidian knife from which\nsprang sixteen hundred demigods who peopled the earth, [36] and the\ninfant which the goddess Ciuacoatl leaves in the cradle in the\nmarket-place undergoes metamorphosis into an obsidian knife. [37] As\nthe Codices show, grain is often pictured in the form of the obsidian\nknife of sacrifice. Just as in many myths, both in the Old World and\nthe New, flint was regarded as the great fertilizer because of its\nsupposed connection with the lightning, so was obsidian. Thus all the\nelements which go to make for growth and life were regarded as having a\nconnection with this mineral, even the sun itself, as we shall see,\nbeing identified with the Mirror of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. The idea that the sun\ncould not live without human blood was a purely Nahua conception,\narising out of an earlier belief that it must be nourished upon the\nblood of beasts. Of the transitional process abundant proof exists. The\nhunter\u2019s obsidian weapon which supplied the necessary pabulum became in\nturn the weapon of the warrior who procured victims for the holocaust,\nand the sacred knife of the priest who sacrificed them to the deity.\nObsidian was thus chiefly the war weapon and the sacrificial weapon,\nbut the traditions relating to it refer to practically all the offices\nof human art, industry, and activity generally.\n\nLest this hypothesis seem overstrained, analogies may be indicated.\nThat which is initially sacred in a primitive cult frequently comes to\nhave interrelations with the whole environment of its deities. Thus the\nworship of the oak by the Druids appears to have given an oak-like\nvirtue to the oracular birds which dwelt in its branches, to the soil\nfrom which it grew, to the sky above it, to the priests who ministered\nto it and to the sacred implements they employed. The same may be said\nof the oak-cult of Zeus and the vine-cult of Dionysos. The numerous\ntraditions which cluster round the ceremonial use of jade in China are\neloquent of such a tendency. Thus trees, plants, animals, and natural\nobjects are all in a manner identified and connected with the beautiful\njade stone in its character as an imparter of vitality. Thus in the\ngreat worship of the gods whose cult was connected with obsidian,\nwell-nigh everything with which it had interrelations came to partake\nof the nature of obsidian\u2014grain, the earth, the atmosphere, the sun,\nthe stars, the priesthood, blood, and rain.\n\nThe process by which this Nahua cult became amalgamated with those of\nTlaloc and Quetzalcoatl seems fairly clear. Upon their settlement on\nthe Plateau of Anahuac it is plain from the terms of certain myths that\nthe Nahua did not regard the cult of Quetzalcoatl in any friendly\nmanner. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is spoken of as driving him from the country, and\nit is probable that to begin with a certain amount of persecution may\nhave been inflicted upon his adherents. But the Nahua would undoubtedly\ncome to recognize the value of the calendar system connected with his\ncult, and it is clear that they did so from the fact that we find\nincluded in it certain of their principal gods. The final process of\namalgamation probably took place during the eleventh and twelfth\ncenturies, for, as seen at the Conquest period, the union of the three\ngreat cults of Mexico must have occupied several centuries. Such a\nduration of time was necessary for the development of a homogeneous and\ninvolved symbolism, which was obviously based on a tacit recognition of\nthe unity of the Mexican faith. Initial disparities seem to be\nindicated principally by ancient traditions, of which perhaps the most\nnotable was that which spoke of the different heavens of the three\noriginal cults, the Tlalocan of the worshippers of Tlaloc, the\nTlapallan or over-sea paradise of the Quetzalcoatl cult, and the\nSun-house or Valhalla of the Nahua. A striking proof of the adjustment\nof the chronology of the three cults may perhaps be found in the myths\nwhich speak of the existence of several \u201csuns\u201d or ages prior to the\nhistorical era, the \u201crulers\u201d or patrons of which were, according to the\nmost trustworthy sources, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, and\nChalchihuitlicue, goddess of the Tlaloc cult. [38]\n\nThe attribution of higher and abstract qualities to the gods was\nprobably of comparatively late origin. Especially is this to be\nobserved in the case of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, to whom, at the period of the\nConquest, we find attributed such a bewildering array of qualities,\nboth concrete and abstract, lofty and the reverse, as would seem to\nindicate that, had European influences failed to penetrate to Anahuac,\nhis worship might have reached the monotheistic stage, and in time have\novershadowed that of the other gods of the Mexican pantheon.\nUndoubtedly, too, the priesthood, and probably the nobility, fostered a\nmore esoteric and loftier type of religion than was understood of the\npeople, and good proof (which is by no means confined to the rather\ndoubtful circumstance that Nezahualcoyotl of Texcuco built a temple to\nthe \u201cUnknown God\u201d) is forthcoming that theological questions of greater\nor less complexity had begun to exercise the minds of the hierarchy.\n\n\n\n\nUNITY OF RELIGIOUS CONCEPTION THROUGHOUT MEXICO\n\nAt the epoch of the Conquest it is abundantly clear that the Aztec\u00e2 had\nsucceeded in establishing their tribal cult, enriched with the beliefs\nof the peoples they had conquered, over a wide area. They had adopted\ninto their pantheon such deities of the surrounding tribes as appealed\nto their imagination, or were too powerful to be ignored, and actually\n\u201cimprisoned\u201d many others of lesser puissance, whose idols were kept in\nconfinement in a building within the precincts of the great temple at\nMexico-Tenochtitlan. [39]\n\nWithin the historical period but little radical difference existed\nbetween the several Mexican cults, which all appear to have been\naffected by a common influence. We observe, therefore, the phenomenon\nof certain early religious forms originating under common influences,\nseparated for centuries and profoundly altered by immigrant forces, at\nlength brought together again by the amalgamating powers of conquest\nunder the influence of one central and paramount cult, only, when once\nmore united, to find a common destruction at the hands of the ministers\nof an alien and invading faith.\n\nAt the period of the Conquest, then, we find the Mexican religion\nrelatively homogeneous in character, with a widespread ascendancy, its\nprovincial activities exhibiting differences of little more than local\nkind. Even in its most far-flung manifestations, indeed, it never\nshowed such variations as permit us to say that the most dissimilar or\ndistant variety of the cult entirely differed from the metropolitan\nexemplar. [40] This being so, we are as fully justified in speaking of\na Mexican religion as we are in alluding to an Italic or a Hellenic\nreligion, and perhaps more so than in extending the analogy to Egypt,\nwhere anything like homogeneity in either theology or popular worship\nappears never to have been attained. We find, then, that the religion\nof ancient Mexico, as known at the Conquest period, was the outcome of\nlater religious and ethical impulses brought to bear upon a simple\nrain-cult, which, judging from the atmospheric conditions essential to\nit, must have been indigenous to the country. Although the cults of its\nseveral deities still retained some measure of distinctiveness, all had\nlong before been amalgamated in what was really a national faith. There\nare signs, too, that a fully developed pantheon had been evolved, which\nmirrored an elaborate social system in caste, rank, and guild, but the\nmythical material from which this might have been reconstructed is only\npartly available. We find, too, that practically every god in the\nMexican hierarchy, whatever his original status, was in some manner\nconnected with the rain-cult. Indeed, the rain-cult is the central and\ncoalescing factor in Mexican religion, its nucleus and foundation. As\nmight be expected, most of the deities of agricultural growth appear to\nbe of either Toltec or alien origin. Thus, Chicomecoatl was Toltec,\nwhile Tlazolteotl, Xochiquetzal, Xilonen, Cinteotl, and Xipe were all\nalien deities of the older settled peoples, but what their relationship\nto the three great cults of Mexico may have been is not apparent. Most\nof these deities appear in the tonalamatl, so that their worship must\nhave been adopted at a comparatively early date.\n\nStudents of religious phenomena not infrequently show distaste for the\ndeeper consideration of the Mexican faith, not only because of the\ndifficulties which beset the fuller study of this interesting phase of\nhuman belief in the eternal verities, but also, perhaps, because of the\n\u201cdiabolic\u201d reputation which it has achieved, and the grisly horrors to\nwhich it is thought those who examine it must perforce accustom\nthemselves. It is certainly not the most obviously prepossessing of the\nworld\u2019s religions. Yet if a due allowance be made for the earnestness\nof its priests and people in the strict observance of a system the\nhereditary burden of which no one man or generation could hope to\nremove, and the religion of the Aztec\u00e2 be viewed in a liberal and\ntolerant spirit, those who are sufficiently painstaking in their\nscrutiny of it will in time find themselves richly rewarded. Not only\ndoes it abound in valuable evidences for the enrichment of the study of\nreligious science and tradition, but by degrees its astonishing beauty\nof colour and wealth of symbolic variety will appeal to the student\nwith all the enchantment of discovery. The echoes of the sacred drum of\nserpent-skin reverberating from the lofty pyramid of Uitzilopochtli,\nand passing above the mysterious city of Tenochtitlan with all the\nmajesty of Olympic thunder, will seem not less eloquent of the soul of\na vanished faith than do the memories of the choral chants of Hellas.\nAnd if the recollection of the picturesque but terrible rites of this\ngifted, imaginative, and not undistinguished people harrows the\nfeelings, does it not arouse in us that fatal consciousness of man\u2019s\nhelplessness before the gods, which primitive religion invariably\nprofesses and which reason almost seems to uphold?\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nCOSMOGONY\n\n\nAccounts of the creation of the world and of man, even as handed down\nto us by those writers on Mexican mythology who had the best\nopportunities for collecting them, are prone to vagueness, and differ\nso materially one from another that we will probably not be in error if\nwe impute their inconsistencies to a variety of local origins. As\nregards the agencies by whom the creation or reconstruction of the\nearth was accomplished, we are not in doubt, for certain passages in\nthe Interpretative Codices find almost exact corroboration in the\ncreation story contained in the Popol Vuh, the mythic book of the\nQuiche of Guatemala (which was unknown to the interpreters of the\nMexican Codices), as well as in similar works of Maya origin.\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that the god\nTonacatecutli, \u201cwhen it appeared good to him, breathed and divided the\nwaters of the heavens and the earth, which at first were all confused\ntogether, and disposed them as they now are.\u201d [41] Further, \u201che\nbreathed and begot Quetzalcoatl, not by connection with a woman, but by\nhis breath alone.\u201d [42] The first of these deities, and his female\ncounterpart Tonacaciuatl, are almost certainly spoken of in the Popol\nVuh as \u201cthe serpents covered with green feathers,\u201d which, farther on in\nthe Quiche work, are alluded to as Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, gods who are\ngenerally admitted to be the same as the Mexican Oxomoco and\nCipactonal, who, again, are either identical with or closely connected\nwith Tonacatecutli and his spouse. [43] Quetzalcoatl, too, appears in\nthe Popol Vuh as Gucumatz, a known Quiche equivalent or translation of\nhis name, for as \u201cwind\u201d or \u201cbreath\u201d he was also thought of as \u201cspirit\u201d\nor \u201clife,\u201d and probably his fecundating efficacy as a water-bearing god\nwas also taken into consideration. In the Sahagun MS. in the Academia\nde la Historia, Madrid, is a passage which reads when translated: \u201cThey\nsay that he made, created, and formed us whose creatures we are,\nTopiltzin Quetzalcoatl, and he made the heaven, the sun, the earth.\u201d\nThe Anales de Quauhtitlan or Codex Chimalpopca, [44] too, relates how\nQuetzalcoatl created the four classes of humanity, the men of the four\n\u201csuns\u201d or periods of the world, and how men were made by him on the day\n\u201c7 wind,\u201d and, as we shall see, the work of creation in detail is\nalluded to in the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, as\neffected by him and by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. Lastly, we find in the Creative\nCouncil of the Quiche heaven, Hurakan, who is none other than\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, a deity closely connected with Quetzalcoatl in at least\none Mexican creation myth.\n\n\n\n\nTHE \u201cAGES\u201d OF MEXICAN COSMOGONY\n\nHaving thus satisfied ourselves regarding the creative personnel of the\nMexican pantheon, and preserving further proof of the constructive\ncharacter of certain of these deities until we come to discuss them\nindividually, we may proceed to examine such myths as tell of the\nformation of the world. In the belief of the Mexicans the earth was not\ndestined to receive its present inhabitants, although occupied by\nman-like beings, until it had undergone a series of cataclysms or\npartial destructions, regarding the precise incidence and even the\nnumber of which there is a marked difference of opinion on the part of\nthe older authorities.\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus states that \u201cin the first age\u201d\n(or \u201cSun,\u201d as these periods were called by the Nahua of Mexico) \u201cwater\nreigned until at last it destroyed the world.... This age, according to\ntheir computation, lasted 4,008 years, and on the occurrence of that\ngreat deluge they say that men were changed into fish, named\nTlacamichin, which signifies men-fish.\u201d [45] The second age, he tells\nus, lasted for 4,010 years and the world was ended by the force of\nviolent winds, the catastrophe concluding by the transformation of men\ninto apes. The third age endured for 4,801 years and ended in a\nuniversal fire, and in the fourth, which occupied 5,042 years, the\nhuman race, which had never ceased to transmit a few survivors from one\nof these epochs to the next, was almost destroyed by famine.\n\nIn his Historia Chichimeca [46] Ixtlilxochitl calls the first of these\nepochs Atonatiuh (Water Sun), in which all men perished by a great\ninundation. The second epoch, Tlachitonatiuh (Earth Sun), ended with\nviolent earthquakes. In this age lived gigantic beings called Quinames.\nThe third epoch was Ecatonatiuh, or \u201cSun of Wind,\u201d in which edifices,\ntrees, and men were nearly all destroyed by hurricanes, those who\nremained being changed into creatures of an intelligence so low as to\nbe almost indistinguishable from monkeys. [47] The Texcucan chronicler\ndoes not furnish us with the name of the present age in his Historia,\nnor in his Relaciones, [48] where, however, we receive fuller\ninformation regarding the first three epochs, which he succeeds in\ncarelessly transposing, giving the third the second place.\n\nCamargo [49] would almost appear to have been indebted to Ixtlilxochitl\nfor his version of the creation myth, but he seems to have been under\nthe impression that only two of the epochs were ended. That three past\ncataclysms had taken place and that four ages in all had occurred is,\nindeed, the most generally favoured version of the story, but some\nauthorities seem to have been of the opinion that a myth was current\namong the Mexican people which stated that no less than five epochs had\ntaken place in the history of the world. Gama, Gomara, and Humboldt\nshare this view, and Mendieta is of opinion that five \u201csuns\u201d existed\nbefore the present era, all of which were of such noxious character\nthat the inhabitants of the earth languished and perished through their\nbaneful influence.\n\nBut we have more stable authority for the sequence of these \u201csuns\u201d or\nepochs. It is probable that this cataclysmic theory was in vogue among\nthe Nahua for generations before it received a more or less definite\nform, and, indeed, Veytia [50] and Ixtlilxochitl [51] state that the\nnumber of suns was agreed upon at a meeting of native astronomers\nwithin traditional memory. We are probably following the official\nversion of the myth if we accept that to which the so-called\ncalendar-stone of Mexico gives sculptured form and which may be\ninterpreted as follows: While the world was still wrapped in primeval\ngloom, the god Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 transformed himself into the sun. This\nepoch, which was known as Naui Ocelotl or \u201cFour Jaguar,\u201d ended in the\ndestruction of humanity and the race of giants who then inhabited the\nearth by fierce jaguars. Quetzalcoatl became the second sun, and the\nage of Naui Eecatl or \u201cFour Wind\u201d ended in violent hurricanes, during\nwhich men were transformed into monkeys. Tlaloc then took upon himself\nthe task of providing the world with light, and his epoch of Naui\nQuiauitl or \u201cFour Rain\u201d came to an end by means of a deluge of fire.\nThe goddess Chalchihuitlicue represented the sun of the age Naui Atl,\n\u201cFour Water,\u201d at the end of which there descended a deluge in which men\nwere changed into fishes. Later there appeared the present sun, Naui\nOlin, which, it was believed, would end in earthquakes.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAKING OF THE EARTH\n\nThe second chapter of the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, a\npr\u00e9cis of the opening chapters of which is given farther on, states\nthat the gods \u201ccreated a great fish which is called the Cipactli, which\nis like the cayman [alligator], and of this fish they made the earth.\u201d\n\nThe description of the earth-monster, as it appears in the Codices, as\nan alligator or sword-fish is, however, by no means convincing.\nMoreover, the sculptured representation of the earth-monster in Maya\nart, especially in such examples as that from Copan, is essentially\ndragon-like in form, and there would seem to be little difficulty in\nclassing the Cipactli as an earth-dragon, similar in nature to the\ncosmic monster of Chinese art and mythology. The fact, too, that in the\nnative paintings we frequently observe the sun-god in the act of being\nswallowed by the Cipactli strengthens the analogy with the Chinese\nexample.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PEOPLING OF THE EARTH\n\nThe precise manner in which the earth was peopled by the gods is also a\nsubject concerning which great variety of opinion is shown by the older\nwriters on Mexican beliefs, and, as in the case of the cosmogonic myth\nproper, this is probably to be accounted for by local variation.\nMendieta [52] is our authority for a conception which appears to have\ngained wide currency in many parts of Mexico. There is good evidence\nthat he in turn received it from Andres de Olmos, a friar of great\nliterary integrity and linguistic capability, whose writings we may\nregard with credence and confidence. The myth opens in the heavenly\nabode of the gods Citlalatonac and Citlalicue, who were also known as\nOmetecutli and Omecihuatl or Tonacatecutli and Tonacaciuatl, and whom\nthe Mexicans regarded as the eventual sources of all human life. The\ngoddess gave birth to a flint knife, probably such an implement as was\nemployed for the purpose of human sacrifice. The circumstance appeared\nof bad omen to her sons, who, scandalized by it, cast the flint\nearthwards. It fell in the vicinity of Chicomoztoc, the Place of Seven\nCaves, and immediately there sprang from it an army of sixteen hundred\ngods, who, discontented with their condition, dispatched Tlotli, the\nHawk, as an ambassador to the heavenly sphere to ask as a boon that the\npower of creating men might be conferred upon them, as it was not\nfitting that beings of divine origin should suffer the miseries of\nearthly toil. Their mother, who also seems to have been perplexed by\nthe manner of their birth, replied in no very gracious terms. But in\norder to relieve their wretchedness, she directed them to seek the good\noffices of Mictlantecutli, Lord of the Realm of the Dead, from whom,\nshe suggested, they might obtain some of the relics of past\ngenerations, which, if subjected to the magical influence of sacrifice,\nmight provide the beginnings of a new earth-race. After consultation,\nthe earth-gods chose Xolotl [53] as their messenger to the place of the\ndead, and after an interview with its terrible ruler, he succeeded in\nobtaining a bone of superhuman dimensions. Fearful of treachery at the\nhands of Mictlantecutli, Xolotl turned to flee, but was pursued and,\nfalling in his flight, broke in pieces the precious relic he carried.\nThese he hastily gathered up and succeeded in quitting the subterranean\nworld without mishap. Returning to his brothers, he placed the bone in\na vessel, and each of the earth-gods, drawing blood from his own body,\ndropped it into the receptacle. For three days nothing occurred to\njustify their hopes; but on the fourth the gory mass stirred, and from\nits depths there emerged a human boy. Satisfied with the experiment,\nthe gods repeated it, and at the end of another four days a girl arose\nfrom the vessel. Xolotl was appointed guardian to the children so\nmiraculously created, [54] and nourished them upon the milk-like juice\nof the maguey plant. They throve apace, and in course of time became\nman and woman, the progenitors of the entire human race, who differ in\nbulk and stature as the pieces of the rescued bone varied in size and\nshape. Thus were born Iztac Mixcoatl the first man and Ilanceuitl or\nIlamatecutli, his wife.\n\n\n\n\nCREATION OF THE SUN AND MOON\n\nThese deeds had, however, passed in a world of darkness, for as yet the\nsun had not risen. A council of the gods was assembled at Teotihuacan,\na locality of great sanctity, and seated round a council fire, it\nconsidered the means by which the luminary might be created. It was\nresolved that he who first cast himself into the fire should be\ntransformed into the sun. The offer was accepted by Nanahuatzin, who\nwas afflicted with a painful disease, had therefore found life\nintolerable and did not dread the transformation. Nothing happened for\nsome time after his self-immolation, and the waiting gods began to make\nwagers with one another regarding the place in the heavens where the\nsun would be likely to show itself. None of them had considered it\nprobable that it would rise in the East, and when at last it became\nvisible in that quarter, it was as a stationary mass which directed\nsuch scorching rays upon them that they dispatched the hawk messenger\nto request it to depart. Whether or not Nanahuatzin in his r\u00f4le of\nSun-god was wroth with his brothers for personal reasons, he replied\nthat it was his intention to destroy them utterly. A great fear seized\nupon some, whilst others grew angry and caught up their weapons. Among\nthe latter was Citli, who fitted an arrow to his bow and fired at the\ntransformed Nanahuatzin. The sun-god avoided the shaft. He could not,\nhowever, evade all those which followed, but seizing one, cast it back\nat Citli, whom it transfixed and slew. Fiercer became the heat, until\nat length the gods could tolerate it no longer, and felt that it\nbehoved them to perish by each other\u2019s hands rather than by the ignoble\ndeath of suffocation. They agreed that Xolotl should dispatch them one\nby one, cutting open their breasts, and this holocaust he undertook,\nfinally slaying himself. Before perishing, the gods left their raiment\nto their personal servants, of which each retainer made a bundle,\nwrapping his master\u2019s clothing round a stick, placing a small green\nstone inside to serve as a heart, and naming it after the god to whom\nit had belonged. Olmos himself encountered such a relic in Tlalmanalco,\nexhibiting evidences of very considerable age. [55] On the death of the\ngods the sun began to move in the heavens, and a god, Tecciztecatl, who\nhad hidden himself in a cavern when Nanahuatzin leaped into the fire,\nnow emerged from his hiding-place and took the form of the moon. The\nretainers carried the bundles from place to place, and one of them, the\nservant of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, coming to the sea-shore, had a vision of his\ndeceased master, who commanded him to betake himself to the house of\nthe sun and to bring him singers and players of instruments to assist\nin the celebration of a festival. To enable the messenger to travel to\nthe Sun-House, the whale, the siren, and the tortoise were asked to\nform themselves into a bridge which might reach the abode of the\nluminary. The servant crossed it, singing sweetly as he went, and his\nsong was heard by the Sun, who straitly commanded his retainers not to\nrespond to it on being approached by the singer. This some of them\nfailed to do, and returning with the messenger, took with them the\nnecessary instruments wherewith to celebrate the festival of\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2.\n\nThe people of Texcuco, says Olmos, naturally placed the occurrence of\nthese events within their own boundaries, but they added (according to\na pictorial manuscript which they showed the friar) that the Sun shot a\ndart into the ground and at this spot the first man arose. He was\nimperfect, being formed only from the armpits upward. He was followed\nby a woman. Mendieta suppresses the remainder of the myth because of\nits Rabelaisian details, but we may conclude that from these twain\nhumanity was descended.\n\nSahagun\u2019s account of the creation of the sun and moon [56] differs\nsomewhat from the foregoing and is as follows: The gods met at\nTeotihuacan, and asked one another: \u201cWho will undertake the task of\nlighting the world?\u201d to which one god called Tecciztecatl (he who was\nto become the Moon-god) replied: \u201cThat will I.\u201d They cast about for\nstill another member of the pantheon to undertake the duty. At last\nthey fixed upon one who was afflicted with a terrible disease who at\nonce agreed to the accomplishment of their desires. During four days\nthe gods prepared for the occasion by acts of penitence, then they\nkindled a fire on a rock named Teotexcalli (high place of the gods).\nMeanwhile Tecciztecatl made offerings of many precious things, rich\nfeathers and golden ornaments. The spines with which the gods\nceremonially pricked themselves were like the spines of the maguey, but\nwere made from precious stones, and the copal they used for incense was\nof no common sort. The victim, who was called Nanahuatl, offered nine\ngreen reeds, joined three and three, instead of the ordinary branches\nand balls of grass and spines of the maguey generally employed for such\nceremonies, and these he saturated with his own blood. In place of\ncopal he offered up the scabs of his sores. The gods built a tower for\neach of the two divinities who had undertaken the illumination of the\nworld, and performed penance for four days and four nights. They then\nstrewed the ground with the branches, flowers, and other objects of\nwhich they had made use during that time. On the night following,\nshortly before midnight, they brought Tecciztecatl his ornaments. These\nconsisted of a plumage called aztacomitl, made of herons\u2019 feathers, and\na jacket of light stuff, whilst to Nanahuatl they gave a crown of paper\ncalled amatzontli (paper hair) and a stole and cincture, likewise of\npaper. Midnight having arrived, all the gods ranged themselves in the\nplace called Teotexcalli, where the fire had burned for four days. They\narranged themselves into two files, one on either side of the fire, and\nTecciztecatl was requested to cast himself into the burning mass.\nTerrified by the intense heat which he experienced as he advanced\ntowards the flames, the god recoiled; again and again he essayed to\nleap into the fire, but his courage failed him. Then the gods called\nupon Nanahuatl, who, on being summoned, immediately cast himself into\nthe blazing mass, where he at once began to crackle \u201clike meat that\nroasts.\u201d Tecciztecatl, ashamed of his former conduct, now followed him\ninto the conflagration, and it was said that the eagle entered the\nflames at the same time, which is the reason assigned for its dark\nplumage. The tiger or ocelot followed, and was only partly burnt, as is\nwitnessed by its spots. It is evident that this myth applied in some\nmanner to the Aztec military brotherhoods of quauhtli and ocelotl, who\nwore the eagle and ocelot insignia respectively. [57]\n\nThe gods had already waited some time to witness the resurrection of\nNanahuatl, when they beheld the heavens commence to grow red. Terrified\nat the sight, they fell upon their knees and could not comprehend\nwhence the light had arisen. The glow of sunrise illuminated every\npoint of the compass, but many fixed their gaze upon the East, feeling\nthat in that direction the luminary would first be sighted. Those who\ngazed thither were Quetzalcoatl (also called Eecatl), Totec, and\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2. Others called Mimixcoa were innumerable, and there were\nalso present four goddesses, Tiacapan, Teicu, Tlacoeua, and Xocoyotl.\nWhen the sun rose at length he appeared very red, and no one might look\nupon him without being blinded by his rays. The moon appeared at the\nsame time, and gave forth light equal to that of the orb of day. But\nthe gods thought it ill that the moon should be as bright as the sun,\nand therefore one of them took a rabbit and cast it at the face of the\nmoon, so that it remained there to dim its splendour. Although the sun\nand moon were raised above the earth, they remained stationary. They\nspoke mockingly to their erstwhile companions.\n\n\u201cHow now,\u201d they said, \u201cdo you wish to remain in mortal shame? Die all\nof you and confer life upon the stars.\u201d The wind then offered to\ndischarge the function of immolating the gods and slew them one by one.\nOnly Xolotl refused to die, and begged for life, weeping so sorely that\nhis eyes dropped out. When those who were to make the sacrifice laid\nhold of him he fled and concealed himself in a field of maize, where he\nchanged himself into a stalk of that plant having two feet (roots) such\nas the peasants call xolotl. But having been recognized among the\nmaize, he took flight a second time and hid himself among some maguey\nplants, where he changed himself into the double maguey plant which is\ncalled mexolotl (maguey of Xolotl). On being discovered a third time he\ntook flight once more and threw himself into the water, where he took\nthe form of a fish called axolotl. [58] But in this last disguise he\nwas caught and killed.\n\nWhen the gods had been slain the wind commenced to whistle and blow\nwith violence, so that at length the burning globe of the sun began to\ndrift over the heavens. But the moon still remained at rest, and in\nthis manner they became separated, so that their habit is to rise at\ndifferent hours.\n\nThe Anales de Quauhtitlan, after the manner of the Book of Genesis,\nstates that the world and all therein were created in seven days. In\nthe sign Tochtli the earth was created, the firmament was erected in\nAcatl, animals came into being in Tecpatl, and man was made out of dust\nor ashes on Ehecatl, the seventh day, but completed and perfected by\nQuetzalcoatl, who appears to have played the part of a demiurgos as\nregards the human race. There can be little doubt that this myth has\nbeen sophisticated, or is a later invention. The Anales de Quauhtitlan,\nhowever, sustains the accounts of Olmos and Sahagun regarding the\ncreation of the sun and moon.\n\nCamargo, speaking of the Tlaxcaltec cosmology, [59] says that the\nIndians did not believe that the world had been created, but that it\nhad been produced by chance. Space, according to their philosophy, has\nalways existed. Veytia [60] states that the Mexicans believed the world\nand man to have been created by Tloque Nahuague (Tonacatecutli).\nBoturini credits the creation to the same first cause, and passages in\nSahagun lead us to believe that both Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 and Quetzalcoatl were\nregarded as sub-creative spirits, who were either partly or wholly\nresponsible for the existence of the universe. Clavigero expressly\nstates that the former was \u201cthe soul of the world, the creator of\nheaven and earth and lord of all things.\u201d [61] Mendieta, [62] a much\nolder authority, gives it as his opinion that the making and moulding\nof the world was the handiwork of several gods, but especially of\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, Uitzilopochtli, and an obscure deity, Ocelopuchtli, who\nequates with the ocelot alluded to in Sahagun\u2019s account.\n\nSahagun, it will be observed, disappoints us in his account of the\ncreation, which he confines to the details of the appearance of the sun\nand moon and is silent concerning the creation of gods and men. This is\nstrange when the facilities he had for the collection of myths are\nconsidered, but as a priest, it is evident that he is more interested\nin points of ritual than in religious narrative, which, he evidently\nagrees with Curtin\u2019s French-Canadian, is to be regarded as \u201cchose\nd\u2019absurde.\u201d [63] Even although we possess the sonorous warning of\nPrescott and the objections of others to bias us against Ixtlilxochitl,\nthere is little ground for regarding his version of the Mexican\ncreation story as being other than he received it from sources which\nwould have been unspeakably precious had he made better use of them as\nregards other subjects.\n\nRegarding Ixtlilxochitl\u2019s version of the creation myth, that the\ncreator Tloque Nahuague, the maker of the planets, brought into being a\nman and a woman from whom all human beings are descended, we have no\nparallel in Mexican myth, nor, indeed, in American myth, if we accept\nthat of the creation of man current in ancient Peru, and it is probable\nthat, so far as his version of the creation of humanity is concerned,\nIxtlilxochitl had encountered a myth which was either of relatively\nlate origin, or had arisen out of the ideas engendered by contact with\nChristianity. This is, however, by no means to say that Ixtlilxochitl\nhimself invented the account. [64]\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORIA DE LOS MEXICANOS\n\nThe Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas is a manuscript of such\nimportance to the study of Nahua Cosmogony that a short pr\u00e9cis of its\nearlier chapters may, perhaps, be found of value in this place.\n\n\u201cTonacatecutli and his consort Tonacaciuatl, who had existed from the\nbeginning, resolved to undertake the work of creation. They had four\nsons, the eldest of whom was Tlactlauque-Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, or Camaxtli. He\nwas born of a red colour. The second son, Yayanque-Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, was\ngreater and more powerful than the rest. He was born black. The third\nwas Quetzalcoatl or Yacatecutli, and the fourth Omitecilt, and for\nanother name Magueycoatl, and the Mexicans called him Ochilobi\n(Uitzilopochtli), for he was left-handed and was chief god to those of\nMexico, and their war-god. Of these four, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 was the wisest,\nwas in all places, and knew the hearts and thoughts of everyone. And\nfor this he was called Moyocoya, \u201che who is all-powerful, and who has\nall those things without which nothing can be.\u201d Uitzilopochtli was born\nwithout flesh, but with bones, [65] and in this state he remained for\nsix hundred years, during which time the gods made nothing.\n\n\u201cAfter six hundred years these four god-like brothers were born, and\nall came together to order what was to be and the law that they should\nhold. They made a half-sun in the midst, the other luminaries great and\nsmall, and a man and woman named Oxomuco and Cipactonal, commanding him\nto till the earth and her to spin and weave. From these were born the\nmaceguales or labourers. And to Cipactonal the gods gave certain grains\nof maize that she might keep them and use them for charms and riddles,\nand since that day women have used them for that purpose.\n\n\u201cThe gods then gave this pair the days of the calendar and divided them\ninto months, twenty days to each month, and three hundred and sixty\ndays in the year. Then they made Mictlantecutli and Mictecaciuatl, man\nand wife, to be the gods of the infernal regions. Later they made the\nheavens and space and the water, and then a great fish like the cayman,\nwhich is called cipactli, from which they shaped the earth. In order to\ncreate the gods of water, all four gods joined together and made Tlaloc\nand his wife Chalchihuitlicue.\n\n\u201cThese gods of water have their place in the four quarters, and in the\nmiddle of it was a great court, where there were four tubs of water.\nOne water is very good, and this rains when they grow grain and wheat.\nAnd these gods of water have many dwarfish servants in the said house,\nand these have pitchers, with which they take the water from the tubs,\nand sticks in the other hand. When the gods of water wish them to go to\nthe boundaries, they take the pitchers and sticks and sprinkle the\nwater as they are told. And when it thunders, they crack the pitchers\nwith the sticks, and when it lightens they break off a portion of the\npitcher.\n\n\u201cAll the aforesaid things had been made and created without taking any\naccount of the years, and without respect of time. The first man and\nwoman had a son called Piltzintecutli, who desired a wife with whom to\nlive. So the gods made of the hairs of Xochiquetzal a woman, and thus\nwas the first marriage made. This having been done, all the four gods\nsaw that the half-sun which had been created gave but little light. And\nthey saw that they must make another half, because the existing light\nwas not able to illuminate the world.... Then Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 became the\nsun-bearer. And the gods created the giants, who were very great men\nand of much strength.... And they called the age in which Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nwas the sun the age of boasting and of tigers, for the giants gorged\nand ate and wanted for nothing. And when thirteen times fifty and two\nyears were passed, Quetzalcoatl was the sun. Then Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 took a\ngreat stick and struck upon the water, and turning himself into a\ntiger, went out to kill the giants. Afterwards he appeared in the sky,\nfor they said that the ursa major sank in the water, because it is\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2.... During the time Quetzalcoatl was the sun another count\nwent on, which, having ended, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 cast out Quetzalcoatl, who\nbecame the wind, which, when it blew on the maceguales, turned them\ninto monkeys and apes. And there was for sun Tlaloc, which lasted three\nhundred and sixty-four years.... During these years Quetzalcoatl rained\nfire on the sun, and then created as the sun his wife Chalchihuitlicue.\nShe was the sun for three hundred and twelve years.\n\n\u201cIn the last year in which Chalchihuitlicue was the sun, it rained so\nheavily that all the maceguales were turned into fishes. And when it\nhad ceased to destroy, the heavens fell upon the earth and the great\nrain began, the which year was tochtli. And the gods ordered four roads\nto be made to the middle of the earth for them, and raised the heavens,\nand to help them in holding them up they created four men, called\nCotemuc, Yzcoadt, Yzmali, and Tenesuchi, who were created by\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 and Quetzalcoatl. Then they made great trees, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\none which was called tazcaquavlt, which is to say \u201ctree of the mirror,\u201d\nand Quetzalcoatl one which was called que\u00e7alhuesuch, and with the help\nof the men they had made and the trees the gods held up the heavens and\nthe stars and made a road in the sky.\n\n\u201cAfter the heavens had been raised, in the second year after the flood,\nwhich was acatl, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 pronounced his name, and there appeared\nthe dumb Mixcoatl, \u2018Serpent of the Clouds.\u2019 And they paint him as a\nserpent. And they drew fire from fire-sticks, which they called heart\nof the fire. In the seventh year after the flood was born Cinteotl, the\nfirst son of the first man, who was a god, and his wife a goddess, and\nhe was made of the hairs of the mother goddess, and it was said that he\nwas not able to die. And in the eighth year after the flood the gods\ncreated the maceguales, like those that were before. When the first\nthree years of this group of years had passed, in the first of the next\ngroup all the four gods came together, and said that because the earth\nhad no light, and was dark, and that because there was no fire, they\nwould make a sun which would give light to the earth, and which would\neat hearts and drink blood. In order to do this they made war, by which\nthey were able to procure hearts and blood. In this time Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nmade four hundred men and a hundred women, and on these the sun lived.\nIn the tenth year, Suchicar, the first wife of Piltzintecutli, the son\nof the first man, was killed in the war, and was the first so to die.\u201d\n\nIf we search for a common factor among these conflicting ideas, we\nwill, indeed, find the task one of difficulty. The nature of the\nsources from which we obtain them does not permit us to arrange them\nchronologically, and all that we can found upon in this respect is\ntheir subject-matter, which cannot enlighten us much. As has been said,\nwe are probably on safe ground if we accept the version of the several\nages hypothetically contained in the so-called Calendar Stone of\nMexico. The circumstance, too, that the sun and moon myth, as related\nby Olmos, agrees for the most part with the version of Sahagun, permits\nus to regard it as a well-recognized belief. Nor can the variant myth\nregarding the creation of mankind, which is briefly described in an\nannotation, shake our confidence in the credibility of Olmos, as it\nobviously differs more in the names of the actors in the drama of\ncreation than in the circumstances, which are almost identical. But if\nit is impossible to verify strictly the place of origin of the Olmos\nmyth, although Texcuco was claimed as its home, it is permissible to\nindicate the universal character of that portion of it which deals with\nthe creation of the heavenly bodies, from its similarity to the\nanalogous passage in Sahagun\u2019s rendering, which proves that that part\nof it at least must have been more or less widely disseminated\nthroughout Mexico. We know that after the collection of data in any\ndistrict it was his custom to submit them to experts in other and\ndistant parts of the country for comparison and verification. We may\nthus be justified in classing the Calendar-stone version of the world\u2019s\nages and the Sahagun portion of the creation myth of the luminaries of\nthe last age as among the standard beliefs of Mexican theology. It\nfollows from Sahagun\u2019s general agreement with the Olmos-Mendieta\naccount that the portion of that version which he does not treat of\nmust naturally be within reasonable distance of exactitude. The\ncircumstance that both of these accounts relate the self-immolation of\nthe gods by the sacrificial method of having their breasts opened,\nseems to prove that the myth was no older than the institution of human\nsacrifice, which we are perhaps correct in regarding as of no very\ngreat antiquity, although arguments of sufficient cogency might be\nbrought against this view.\n\n\n\n\nDELUGE MYTHS\n\nAs Mexican myths of the creation differ, so do those concerning the\ngreat deluge which at one period was supposed to have overwhelmed the\nearth. As we have seen, myths which are concerned with the several ages\nof the earth dwell upon such an event, but separate myths exist which\nalso tell of a great flood which is almost certainly to be identified\nwith the \u201cWater-sun.\u201d The goddess Chalchihuitlicue (the goddess of\nwater), says one of the interpreters of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis,\n\u201csaved herself in the deluge.\u201d The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus\nA. relates that: \u201cMost of the old people of Mexico say that a single\nman and a single woman escaped from this deluge, from whom, in course\nof time, mankind multiplied. The tree in which they saved themselves\nwas called Ahuehuete (the fir-tree), and they say that this deluge\nhappened in the tenth sign, according to their computation, which they\nrepresented by water, which on account of its clearness they place in\ntheir calendar. They say that during the first age men ate no bread,\nbut only a certain kind of wild maize, which they called atzitziutli.\nThey name this first age coniztal, which signifies the white head;\nothers say that not only did these two who were preserved in the tree\nescape, but that seven others remained hidden in a certain cave, and\nthat the deluge having passed away, they came forth and restored the\npopulation of the earth, dispersing themselves over it: and that their\ndescendants in course of time worshipped them as gods, each in his own\nnation.\u201d\n\nA similar myth in the Anales de Quauhtitlan or Codex Chimalpopoca, is\nalso worthy of quotation.\n\n\u201cAnd this year was that of Ce-calli, and on the first day all was lost.\nThe mountain itself was submerged in the water and the water remained\ntranquil for fifty-two springs.\n\n\u201cNow toward the close of the year, Titlacahuan (Tezcatlipoc\u00e2) had\nforewarned the man named Nata and his wife Nena, saying: \u2018Make no more\npulque, but straightway hollow out a large cypress, and enter it when\nin the month of Tozoztli the water shall approach the sky.\u2019 They\nentered it, and when Titlacahuan had closed the door he said: \u2018Thou\nshalt eat but a single ear of maize and thy wife but one also.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs soon as they had finished eating, they went forth and the water was\ntranquil; for the log did not move any more; and opening it they saw\nmany fish.\n\n\u201cThen they built a fire, rubbing together pieces of wood, and they\nroasted fish. The gods Citlallinicuc and Citlallatonac, looking below,\nexclaimed: \u2018Divine Lord, what means that fire below? Why do they thus\nsmoke the heavens?\u2019\n\n\u201cStraightway descended Titlacahuan Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 and commenced to scold,\nsaying: \u2018What is this fire doing here?\u2019 And seizing the fishes he\nmoulded their hinder parts and changed their heads, and they were at\nonce transformed into dogs.\u201d [66]\n\n\n\n\nTHE \u201cCOXCOX\u201d FALLACY\n\nIt is unnecessary in this place to deal at any length with the quite\nartificial myth given by Siguenza and Clavigero, based on a mistaken\ninterpretation of certain Mexican paintings. Briefly, they state that\nCoxcox, \u201cthe Mexican Noah,\u201d and his spouse Xochiquetzal escaped from\nthe deluge in a boat which grounded on the peak of Colhuacan: \u201cthe\nArarat of Mexico.\u201d Dumb children were born to them, who received\ninnumerable languages from a polyglot dove. Garcia y Cubas published in\nhis Atlas Geografico a letter from Ramirez (April 1858) in which the\nthen conservator of the National Museum of Mexico showed the fallacy of\nSiguenza\u2019s interpretation and proved that the pictures in question\nreferred to the wanderings of the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico.\n\nA flood myth which has for its hero one of the giants who were supposed\nto inhabit the earth in the first age (or rather the first age\naccording to the version which is supported by the Calendar-stone),\nstates that Xelhua, the giant in question, escaped the deluge by\nascending the mountain of Tlaloc in the terrestrial paradise, and\nafterwards built the pyramid of Cholula. The interpreter of the Codex\nVaticanus A says of this story: \u201cIn this first age giants existed in\nthat country.... They relate of one of the seven whom they mention as\nhaving escaped from the deluge, that, the earth becoming populous, he\nwent to Chululan and there began to build a tower which is that of\nwhich the brick base is still visible. The name of that chief was\nXelhua; he built it in order that should a deluge come again he might\nescape to it. Its base is 1,800 feet in circumference. When it had\nalready reached a great height lightning from heaven fell and destroyed\nit. Those Indians who were under that chief who had escaped from the\ndeluge, named Xelhua, made bricks out of a mountain in Tlalamanalco\ncalled Cocotle, and from Tlalamanalco to Chulula Indians were placed to\npass the bricks and cement from hand to hand: and thus they built this\ntower, that was named Tulan Chulula, which was so high that it appeared\nto reach heaven. And being content, since it seemed to them that they\nhad a place to escape from the deluge if it should again happen, and\nfrom whence they might ascend into heaven\u2014a chalcuitl, which is a\nprecious stone, fell from thence and struck it to the ground. Others\nsay that the chalcuitl was in the shape of a toad; and that whilst\ndestroying the tower it reprimanded them, inquiring of them their\nreason for wishing to ascend into heaven, since it was sufficient for\nthem to see what was on the earth. The base of the tower is at the\npresent day still remaining and its circumference is 1,800 feet.\u201d\n\nThis myth has equivalents in the Hindoo story of the manner in which\nHanuman, king of the monkeys, built a bridge from India to Ceylon, and\nin Scottish legend, where Corstorphine Church, near Edinburgh, is the\nscene of the building, the stones being passed on from hand to hand by\nthe \u201cPicts\u201d from Ravelston Quarry, some considerable distance away. But\nit bears a more striking resemblance to the story of the tower of\nBabel, the work of another being of gigantic origin\u2014Nimrod. Xelhua was\nthe mythical ancestor of the people of Tehuacan, and Teotitlan del\nCamino. It may be that his myth has been sophisticated by the priestly\nwriters who set it down, and in any case it seems to be \u00e6tiological or\nexplanatory of the Pyramid of Cholula.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FALL OF THE GODS\n\nIn the literature of ancient Mexican mythology we find persistent\nvestigial notices of a fall of the gods, or rather of certain deities\nfrom \u201cheaven.\u201d Thus in the interpretation of the Codex\nTelleriano-Remensis we find a divine locality called Tamoanchan\ndescribed as the \u201cmansion\u201d from which they fell, and \u201cwhere they\ngathered roses.\u201d The same paragraph [67] relates that Tamoanchan \u201cis\nthe place where these gods were created whom they feared: it signifies\nthe Terrestrial Paradise, and accordingly they relate that those gods\nbeing in that place transgressed by plucking roses and branches from\nthe trees, and that on this account Tonacatecutli and his wife,\nTonacacigua, became highly incensed, and cast them out of that place,\nand that some of them came to earth and others went to hell.\u201d One of\nthese, the divinity most frequently associated by the Codices with this\nevent, Ixnextli, is spoken of in the same work [68] as \u201cEve, always\nweeping and looking at her husband Adam. She is called Ixnextli, which\nsignifies \u2018Eyes blind with ashes,\u2019 and this refers to the time\nsubsequent to her sinning by plucking the roses.\u201d In Codex\nTelleriano-Remensis (Plate VII, Kingsborough) she is associated with a\ngod Ueuecoyotl and is represented as kneeling on a chair with head\naverted. There is no doubt that the name given her here, and which is\nsupplemented by the name Xochiquetzal, is that of a variant of the\nlatter, who is the goddess of flowers.\n\nIn his interpretation of this goddess in his work on the Aubin-Goupil\ntonalamatl (pp. 118\u2013119) Seler gives it as his opinion that the\ninsignia of the goddess Tonacaciuatl, consort of the creative deity\nTonacatecutli, is identical with that of Xochiquetzal, and proceeds to\nsay that this strongly suggests \u201cthat the home of the cosmogonic\nspeculations embodied in the names of Tonacatecutli and Tonacaciuatl\nwas to be sought in the region where dwelt the goddess Xochiquetzal,\nand this was assuredly not Mexico proper, but appears to have been the\ngroup which in one place is comprised by Torquemada under the name\nChalmeca, Olmeca, Xicalanca, Tepaneca, Xochimilca, and Tlalhuica. Here\nby Chalmeca are to be understood the dwellers about the volcano, and by\nOlmeca, Xicalanca, the aborigines of the Tlaxcallan district....\nOriginally the goddess Xochiquetzal is perhaps nothing more than the\ndeity of one of those mountains from which the life-giving waters flow\ndown from the fields.\u201d It is easy to believe that Xochiquetzal is a\nvariant of Tonacaciuatl; but it is not necessary to infer therefrom\nthat the Olmec-Tlaxcaltec version of the myth relating to her with its\ncosmogonic speculations was prior in origin to that which found\nacceptance at Mexico, even although the Olmecs were regarded as an\nolder race. Tonacatecutli and his consort were believed to be Toltec\ndeities, and had thus a greater antiquity behind them than Olmec myth\ncould invest them with. Codex Vaticanus A tells much the same story\nregarding Ixnextli and was probably inspired from the same source.\n\n\n\n\nMEXICAN CONCEPTIONS OF THE UNIVERSE\n\nNo definite account of the Mexican conception of the universe has come\ndown to us, but we are probably founding correctly if we accept the\nMaya belief as closely approximating to that in general currency in\nMexico. An examination of the central design in the Maya Book of Chilan\nBalam of Mani, given in Cogolludo\u2019s History of Yucatan (1640), shows\nthe earth as a cubical block, by which term it is practically described\nin the Popol Vuh (\u201cthe quadrated castle, four-pointed, four-sided,\nfour-bordered\u201d). This the Maya described as tem (\u201cthe altar\u201d), that is,\nthe altar of the gods, the offering upon which was life. Above this\ncube on four legs is the celestial vase (cum) containing the heavenly\nwaters, rains, and showers, upon which all life depends. Above it hang\nthe rain-clouds which fill it and from it springs the vax che, or Tree\nof Life, with outspread branches.\n\nA similar illustration from the Codex Cortesiano, [69] a Maya MS. which\nhas been described as the \u201cTableau of the Bacabs\u201d or heavenly\nsupporters, shows the Tree of Life, the Celestial Vase, and the cloud\nmasses. Beneath the tree are seen the two creative deities, and the\nwhole design is surrounded by the twenty day-signs.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIVE REGIONS OF THE WORLD\n\nThe Mexicans divided the universe into five regions. The locus\nclassicus for the representatives of the gods who preside over these\nregions is the first sheet of the Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer. The Fire-god\noccupies the centre of the picture, for just as fire occupies a space\nin the middle of the primitive hut, so does Xiuhtecutli maintain the\ncentral position in the universal disposition of things. From him four\nstreams of sacrificial blood radiate in the direction of the four\ncardinal points, east, north, west, south, [70] which are situated at\neach corner of the picture, for he rules over all as well as over the\ncentre, which is known as Tlalxicco. These bands of blood end in the\nfour day-signs\u2014acatl, tecpatl, calli, and tochtli, from which alone the\nyears of the \u201ccalendar\u201d or tonalamatl could be named, and which\nrespectively agree with the cardinal points noted above. The four sides\nof the square are also associated with the four quarters of the\nuniverse. Thus the top square in the picture represents Tlapcopa,\nRegion of the Dawn (the East), the right-hand side Uitznauac, Place of\nThorns (the South), the bottom Ciutlampa, Region of Women (the West),\nand the left-hand side Mictlampa, Place of the Dead (the North). Within\nthese squares are seen four species of trees, belonging to the four\npoints of the compass. They resemble the trees seen in sheet 49 of\nCodex Borgia and sheet 17 of Codex Vaticanus B, from the first of which\ncodices they can be more clearly described.\n\nThe Tree of the East is represented as a highly conventionalized tree\nhaving two boughs, each with four branches which end in the\nchalchihuitl (greenstone) symbol. Round branches are twisted two ropes,\ngreen and blue in colour, set with golden bells. A quetzal bird perches\nupon the top and the trunk is decorated with the symbol for war, for\nthe spirits of the sacrificed warriors were believed to dwell in the\neastern heavens, where the sun rose. The tree springs from the body of\nthe Earth-goddess, and the ornaments borne by it are symbolic of the\nrich and fruitful character of the Orient.\n\nThe Tree of the North.\u2014This tree is painted half-green, half-blue, but\nis set with thorns in every part. Bands of blood and darkness issue\nfrom the body of the Earth-goddess, in which it has its root, and these\nwind around its boughs. The eagle stands upon the top, each of its\nplumes bristling with a sacrificial stone knife.\n\nThe Tree of the West.\u2014This has a yellow star, and bears the magic bloom\nat the end of each branch. It is surmounted by the humming-bird, and\nits trunk is dotted with the stellar eye, in this case the evening\nstar.\n\nThe Tree of the South.\u2014This, too, is thorny, but painted red, and the\ntrunk is sprinkled with symbols recalling that of the \u201cspoken word\u201d\nwhich in the Codices is frequently seen issuing from the mouths of gods\nand men. It may symbolize smoke or fire, thus alluding to the fiery\nnature of the region to which the tree belongs. A cloud of darkness and\na stream of blood wind around the stem. It is surmounted by the arara\nbird.\n\nThese four trees have parallels in Maya mythology, as, for example, on\nthe altar-pieces of the cross from Palenque (Temple II) and elsewhere.\n\nThe gods governing the five regions of the universe are [71]:\n\n\n    Centre\u2014Xiuhtecutli.\n    East\u2014Mixcoatl and Tlaloc.\n    North\u2014Itztli and Xochipilli.\n    West\u2014Iztac Mixcoatl and Quetzalcoatl.\n    South\u2014Macuilxochitl and Xipe.\n\n\nWe find from an examination of the codices that the Mexicans believed\nthat the \u201cworld\u201d or universe was divided into:\n\n\n    Tlalxicco, the centre or \u201cnavel\u201d of the Earth.\n    Tlapcopa, \u201cthe region of the Dawn\u201d (the East).\n    Uitznauac, \u201cPlace of Thorns\u201d (the South).\n    Ciuatlampa, \u201cRegion of Women\u201d (the West).\n    Mictlampa, \u201cPlace of the Dead\u201d (the North).\n\n\nThese several regions demand a brief description.\n\nTlalxicco was the dark interior of the earth, which was supposed to be\ninhabited by an animal-headed god or demon, resembling a badger, to\nwhom no name has as yet been applied, but who seems to possess\naffinities with sorcery and the darker arts. A good representation of\nhim is to be found on sheet 9 of Codex Vaticanus B.\n\nTlapcopa, the East, or \u201cRegion of the Dawn,\u201d was regarded as a region\nof prosperity, fertility, and abundant food-supplies. It was the house\nof the Sun, the region where sacrificed warriors dwelt in bliss, and\nwill be further described when we come to deal with the subject of\n\u201cheaven and hell.\u201d\n\nUitznauac or Uitzlampa, \u201cRegion of Thorns\u201d (the South), was, as its\nname implied, a place of rather evil omen, for it was sometimes thought\nof as inhabited by Mictlan, Lord of the Dead. The Mexicans, dwelling in\na plateau country where climatic conditions were temperate, probably\nregarded the tropics to the south as a region fatal to health, and\ngenerally insalubrious in character.\n\nCiuatlampa, \u201cRegion of Women\u201d (the West), was the place to which those\nwomen who died in their first childbed (Civapipiltin or Ciuatete\u00f4) went\nafter death, and as such falls to be described in the section on\n\u201cheaven and hell.\u201d But it was also the home of the maize-plant, and of\nthe deities producing it, and also of the Gods of Procreation. It was\nthe Region of the Evening Star, Tlauizcalpantecutli, the planet Venus.\nIn Codex Borgia (sheets 43\u201346) we seem to see a subdivision of the\nWestern region into North, South, and West. This region may also be\ncollated with Tamoanchan, the paradisaical land of abundant maize,\nwhere the maize goddess Tlazolteotl gave birth to her son Centeotl.\n\nMictlampa, \u201cRegion of the Dead,\u201d also falls to be noticed in the\nsection on \u201cheaven and hell.\u201d Symbolically it is the region of drought.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SUPPORTERS OF THE HEAVENS\n\nJust as we gain light upon the subject of the Mexican idea of the\nuniverse from Maya sources, so do we find a similar correspondence in\nthe beliefs of the two races as regards the conception that the heavens\nwere supported by certain deities. Thus the Maya believed that the\nheavens were upheld by four gods called Bacabs, and we find pictures in\nthe Mexican Codices which depict certain deities upholding both the\nheavens and the earth. On sheets 49\u201352 of Codex Borgia (upper half) are\nseen the gods of the four quarters and the four supporters of the sky,\nwhich last are Tlauizcalpantecutli, the Sun-god, Quetzalcoatl, and\nMictlantecutli. On sheets 19\u201323 of Codex Vaticanus B the four upholders\nof the heavens are given as Tlauizcalpantecutli, Uitzilopochtli,\nQuetzalcoatl, and Mictlantecutli, and the four terrestrial gods as Xipe\nTotec, Mictlantecutli, Xochipilli, and Centeotl. The first four are\nshown upholding the starry firmament, so that we are left in no doubt\nas regards the existence of such a conception as the support of the\nheavens by certain gods. The close correspondence between the personnel\nof the sky-bearers in the two MSS. proves a fairly universal acceptance\nof the belief, especially as Xipe Totec, and Tonatiuh the Sun-god have\nmuch in common. [72]\n\n\n\n\nTHE AZTEC HEAVENS\n\nAccording to ancient Mexican belief various destinations awaited the\ndead. Warriors slain in battle repaired to the region of the sun, where\nthey dwelt in bliss with the deity who presided over that luminary.\nSacrificed captives also fared thence. These followed the sun in his\ndaily course, crying aloud and beating upon their shields, and fighting\nsham battles. \u201cIt is also said,\u201d writes Sahagun in his History of the\nAffairs of New Spain (Appendix to bk. iii, ch. 3), \u201cthat in this heaven\nare trees and forests of divers sorts. The offerings which the living\nof this world make to the dead duly arrive at their destination, and\nare received in this heaven. After four years of sojourn in that place\nthe souls of the dead are changed into divers species of birds having\nrich plumage of the most brilliant colours.\u201d These were known as\ntzintzonme [73] (\u201clittle bird which flies from place to place\u201d), and\nthey flitted from blossom to blossom on earth as well as in heaven,\nsucking the rich fragrance from the tropical blooms of the deep Valleys\nof Anahuac. This region is the Ciutlampa, and perhaps the Tamoanchan\nalluded to above.\n\nTlalocan.\u2014An even more material paradise was presided over by the\nwater-god or deity of moisture, Tlaloc. Sahagun calls this a\n\u201cterrestrial paradise,\u201d \u201cwhere they feign that there is surfeit of\npleasure and refreshment, void, for a space, of torment.\u201d In that\ndelectable region there is plenteousness of green maize, of calabashes,\npepper, tomatoes, haricots, and it is fulfilled with variegated\nblossoms. There dwell the god Tlaloc and his followers. The persons who\ngain admittance to this paradise are those who have been slain by\nlightning or thunderbolt, the leprous and the dropsical\u2014those whose\ndeaths have in any way been caused through the agency of water\u2014for\nTlaloc is god of that element. Existence there is perpetual. The\nparadise of Tlaloc was situated in the east in a climate of eternal\nsummer.\n\nHomeyoca.\u2014The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A states that the\nabode of the Creator of the Universe, Tonacatecutli, was Homeyoca or\nHomeiocan, \u201cplace of the Holy Trinity.\u201d The etymology is vague, but\nwould appear to apply to duality rather than trinity, a suggestion\nwhich is buttressed by the androgynous character of the creative\ndeities. In an accompanying picture he points out the various\ndepartments of this heaven as \u201cthe Red Heaven,\u201d \u201cthe Yellow Heaven,\u201d\n\u201cthe White Heaven.\u201d Young children, he says, went to a specific\nparadise, but it was thought that they would return to re-people the\nworld after the third destruction. They were nourished by a milk-giving\ntree round which they were seated, getting suck from the branches.\n\nBut we have glimpses here and there in Aztec literature of a much more\nelaborate series of heavens, thirteen in number. The first contained\ncertain planets, the second was the home of the Tzitzimim\u00ea, who\nincluded many of the great gods, the third that of the Centzon\nMimixcoa, or star-warriors, who were many-coloured\u2014yellow, black,\nwhite, red, blue\u2014and provided the sun with food in the shape of blood.\nThe fourth was inhabited by birds, the fifth by fire-snakes (perhaps\ncomets), the sixth was the home of the winds, the seventh harboured\ndust, and in the eighth dwelt the gods. The remainder were placed at\nthe disposal of the high primal and creative gods Tonacatecutli and his\nspouse Tonacaciuatl, whose abode proper was in the thirteenth and\nhighest heaven. [74]\n\n\n\n\nMICTLAMPA AS HADES\n\nThe Hades of the Aztec race was Mictlampa, presided over by\nMictlantecutli (Lord of Mictlampa) and his spouse (Mictecaciuatl). The\nsouls of the defunct who fared thither were those who died of disease,\nchiefs, great personages, or humbler folk. On the day of death the\npriest harangued the deceased, telling him that he was about to go to a\nregion \u201cwhere there is neither light nor window,\u201d and where all was\nshadow, a veritable land of gloom, the passage to which swarmed with\ngrisly forms inimical to the soul. It was a vast, trackless, and gloomy\ndesert, having nine divisions, of which the last, Chiconahuimictlan,\nwas the abode of the lord of the place. Rank and privilege would appear\nto have been maintained even in this dark realm, although all offerings\nto the dead must first be inspected by Mictlantecutli himself ere being\npassed on to their proper owners. Sahagun states that four years were\noccupied in journeying to Mictlampa, evidently an error for four days,\nas elsewhere he says that the former period was spent within the\nregions of the dead. The journey thence was replete with terrors. Says\nthe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A: \u201cIn this region of hell they\nsupposed that there existed four gods, or principal demons, one of whom\nwas superior, whom they called Zitzimatl, who is the same as\nMiquitlamtecotl, the great god of hell. Yzpuzteque, the lame demon, was\nhe who appeared in the streets with the feet of a cock. Nextepehua was\nthe scatterer of ashes, Contemoque signifies he who descends\nheadforemost; an allusion being made to the etymology which learned men\nassign to the name of the Devil, which signifies deorsum cadens, which\nmode of descent after souls they attribute to him from this name and\nZon. Yzpuzteque is he whose abode is in the streets, the same as Satan,\nhe who on a sudden appears sideways. It appears that they have been\nacquainted with the Holy Scriptures, although clearer arguments in\nproof of this fact are adduced in the course of the following pages.\nThey say that these four gods or demons have goddesses.\u201d\n\nThese and other dread beings, according to the same MS., rendered the\nhellward journey terrible in the extreme, and an attempt was made to\nmitigate the terrors of the passage between the two worlds by means of\npassports of much the same character as the spells in the Egyptian\n\u201cBook of the Dead,\u201d which franked the soul past the numerous demons and\ndangers which awaited it. The first paper served to pass him by two\nmountains which threatened to clash together and crush him. The second\nsaved him from the maw of a huge snake. Others helped him to face the\nlurking terrors of eight deserts and eight hills, and to avoid the grim\ncrocodile Xochitonal. A wind of sharp flint knives then attacked him.\nLastly he came to the river Chiconahuopan (Nine Waters), which he\ncrossed on the back of a red-coloured dog which accompanied him and\nwhich was killed for that purpose by having an arrow thrust down its\nthroat. It is not clear whether this dog acted as a guide to Mictlampa,\nor whether it preceded the soul, but it would seem that its master\nfound it awaiting him when he came to the banks of the river, in the\npassage of which it assisted him. It kept its vigil on the opposite\nbank, however, and had to swim the river ere it could reach him.\n\nThe deceased then came before Mictlantecutli, to whom he made suitable\ngifts\u2014cotton, perfumes, and a mantle. He was told to which sphere he\nmust go. It is obvious that Mictlampa was not so much a place of\npunishment as a place of the dead, a Hades, where the souls of the good\nand evil were alike consigned. Its locality is partially fixed, for it\nis \u201cthe place where the sun slept,\u201d and, like the Egyptian Amenti, it\nwas therefore antipodean, or occupied the centre of the earth. After a\nfour years\u2019 sojourn in this dark monarchy the soul was supposed to come\nto a place where, according to the interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus,\nit enjoyed a measure of rest.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE GREAT GODS\n\n\nMETHOD OF TREATMENT\n\nIn the section descriptive of the gods, each divinity is dealt with\nseparately. The need for system and orderly arrangement in the study of\nMexican Mythology is clamant. In the hope that future students of the\nsubject may be spared the Herculean task of separating the mythology of\nthe Mexican people from their history, I have thought it best to\narrange my material in as systematic a fashion as its complex character\npermits.\n\nThe plan employed is a simple one. I have prefaced the description of\neach god with a table containing the following information concerning\nhim: Area of Worship, Name, Minor Names, Relationship, Calendar-place,\nCompass-direction, Symbol, Festivals. In some cases where, for example,\na god has no festival or no minor names, the item relating to such\ninformation is, of course, absent.\n\nThe description proper of each deity begins with an account of his\nAspect and Insignia, as observed in the several codices and paintings,\nmanuscripts, vases, or statuary. [75] A section is devoted to festivals\ncelebrated in his honour, another deals with the priesthood specially\nattendant on him, and a further paragraph with the temples in which he\nwas worshipped. There follows a pr\u00e9cis of all known myths relating to\nhim. In certain instances, too, hymns and prayers offered up to him are\nquoted. The last section deals with his nature and status, so far as I\nhave been able to elucidate these.\n\n\n\n\nUITZILOPOCHTLI = \u201cHUMMING-BIRD WIZARD\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Tetzateotl\u2014\u201cTerrible God.\u201d\n        Tetzahuitl\u2014\u201cThe Raging.\u201d\n        Ilhuicatl Xoxouhqui\u2014\u201cThe Blue Heaven.\u201d\n        Mexitli\u2014\u201cHare of the Maguey.\u201d\n\n    Compass Directions: The South; upper region.\n\n    Festivals:\n        Toxcatl, the fifth month; first of tlaxochimaco, the ninth\n        month.\n        Panquetzaliztli, the fifteenth month.\n        Movable feast ce tecpatl.\n\n    Relationships:\n        Son of Coatlicue.\n        Brother of the Centzonuitznaua.\n        Brother of Coyolxauhqui.\n        One of the Tzitzimim\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nFace-paint.\u2014Blue and yellow horizontal stripes, the yellow known as\npiloechinolli (\u201cface-painting of children\u201d) made of children\u2019s\nexcrement, in allusion, perhaps, to his character of a young or\nnew-born god. He occasionally wears the stellar mask, [76] like\nMixcoatl and Camaxtli.\n\nBody-paint.\u2014Blue.\n\nDress.\u2014Usually the humming-bird mantle, pictographic of his name. His\nhead is surmounted by a panache of feathers. On his breast is a white\nring made from a mussel-shell, like those of Quetzalcoatl,\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, and Paynal, which is called eteocuitlaanauauh (\u201chis\ngolden ring\u201d) or eltezcatl (\u201chis breast mirror\u201d). Perhaps the best\nrepresentation of him is in Codex Borbonicus (sheet 34).\n\nWeapons.\u2014Shield (teueuelli), made of reeds, with eagle\u2019s down adhering\nto it in five places in the form of a quincunx. He carries spears\ntipped with tufts of down instead of stone points (tlauacomalli), the\nweapons of those doomed to a gladiatorial death, the fire-snake\nxiuhcoatl as an atlatl, or spear-thrower, and the bow, which he was\nsupposed to have invented or introduced into Mexico. The flag held by\nhim on some occasions represents the panquetzaliztli festival in\nCodices Telleriano-Remensis and Vaticanus A.\n\nVariations.\u2014He is frequently to be observed wearing the insignia of the\nstellar gods of war and hunting (Mixcoatl, Camaxtli).\n\nAccording to Seler (Commentary on the Codex Vaticanus B, p. 91),\nUitzilopochtli figures in that MS. as showing \u201cin a general way the\ndevices and the dress-badges of the fire-god,\u201d differing, however, in\ncolour and painting. When found along with Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 as Ruler of the\nSouthern Heaven, in Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer (sheet 25), he is seated on a\njaguar-skin seat, enveloped in a long robe of a light blue colour, with\nballs of downy feathers. He wears the aztaxelli or forked heron-feather\nornament on his head and has the yellow face-paint alluded to above. In\nthe Sahagun MS. (Bib. del Palacio) he is represented as wearing on his\nback the \u201cdragon\u2019s head\u201d alluded to in the text. In the Duran MS. (2 o,\nplate 2 a), drawn by a European hand, the humming-bird headdress forms\na helmet-mask, and in the Codex Ramirez (Juan de Tobar), in which the\nfigure is Europeanized almost out of recognition, the same is the case,\nbut the shield-marking is incorrect, consisting as it does of seven\ntufts of down instead of five.\n\nClavigero (tom. ii, pp. 17\u201319) says of Uitzilopochtli\u2019s insignia: \u201cUpon\nhis head he carried a beautiful crest, shaped like the beak of a bird,\nupon his neck a collar shaped like ten figures of the human heart. His\nstatue was of an enormous size, in the posture of a man seated on a\nblue-coloured bench, from the four corners of which issued four snakes.\nHis forehead was blue, but his face was covered with a golden mask,\nwhile another of the same kind covered the back of his head. In his\nhand he carried a large blue, twisted club, in his left a shield in\nwhich appeared five balls of feathers disposed in the form of a cross,\nand from the upper part of the shield rose a golden flag with four\narrows, which the Mexicans believed to have been sent to them from\nheaven. His body was girt with a large golden snake, and adorned with\nlesser figures of animals made of gold and precious stones, which\nornaments and insignia had each their peculiar meaning.\u201d\n\nAcosta says of his appearance: \u201cThe chiefest idoll of Mexico was, as I\nhave sayde, Vitziliputzli. It was an image of wood like to a man, set\nupon a stoole of the coloure of azure, in a brankard or litter, in\nevery corner was a piece of wood in forme of a serpent\u2019s head. The\nstoole signified that he was set in heaven. This idol had all the\nforehead azure, and had a band of azure under the nose from one ear to\nanother. Upon his head he had a rich plume of feathers like to the beak\nof a small bird, the which was covered on the top with gold burnished\nvery brown. He had in his left hand a small target, with the figures of\nfive pineapples made of white feathers set in a cross. And from above\nissued forth a crest of gold, and at his sides hee hadde foure dartes,\nwhich (the Mexicaines say) had been sent from heaven which shall be\nspoken of. In his right hand he had an azured staff cutte in the\nfashion of a waving snake. All those ornaments with the rest hee had,\ncarried his sence as the Mexicaines doe shew.\u201d [77]\n\nSolis writes of his aspect as follows: \u201cOpposite ... sat\nHuitzilopochtli, on a throne supported by a blue globe. From this,\nsupposed to represent the heavens, projected four staves with serpents\u2019\nheads, by which the priests carried the god when he was brought before\nthe public. The image bore upon its head a bird of wrought plumes,\nwhose beak and crest were of burnished gold. The feathers expressed\nhorrid cruelty, and were made still more ghastly by two strips of blue,\none on the brow and the other on the nose. Its right hand leaned, as on\na staff, upon a crooked serpent. Upon the left arm was a buckler\nbearing five white plums, arranged in the form of a cross, and the hand\ngrasped four arrows, venerated as heaven-descended.\u201d [78]\n\nHerrera says that his idol was a gigantic image of stone, covered with\na lawn called nacar, beset with pearls, precious stones, and pieces of\ngold. It had for a girdle great snakes of gold, and a counterfeit visor\nwith eyes of glass. [79]\n\nTorquemada writes: \u201cIn his right hand a dart or long blue pole, in the\nleft a shield, his face barred with lines of blue. His forehead was\ndecorated with a tuft of green feathers, his left leg was lean and\nfeathered, and both thighs and arms were barred with blue.\u201d [80]\n\nThe Sahagun MS. states that \u201che wears a panache of yellow parrot\nfeathers stuck together, and having a bunch of quetzal-feathers at the\ntip. His espitzalli is over his forehead. The face or mask is striped\nin various colours, and the ear-plug is made of the feathers of the\nblue cotinga. On his back is the fire-snake dress and on his arm he has\na quetzal-feather. At the back he is girded with a blue net cloth, and\nhis leg is striped with blue. Bells and shells decorate his feet, and\nhe is shod with sandals of the type usually worn by persons of high\ndegree. His shield is the teueuelli with a bundle of arrows without\npoints stuck in it, and in one hand he holds a serpent-staff.\u201d\n\nSahagun (c. xxii, bk. iv) describes the insignia employed at the god\u2019s\nfestival of ce tecpatl. These were the quetzalquemitl, or mantle of\ngreen quetzal-feathers, the tozquemitl, the mantle made of the yellow\nfeathers of the toztli, a bird of the parrot species, the\nUitzitzilquemitl, or mantle of humming-bird\u2019s feathers, \u201cand others\nless rich.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nThe first festival of Uitzilopochtli was the tlaxochimaco, of which\nSahagun says: \u201cThe ninth month was styled tlaxochimaco. A festival was\nheld on the first day of this month in honour of Huitzilopochtli, god\nof war, when he was offered the first flowers of the year. The night\nbefore this festival everybody killed chickens and dogs with which to\nmake tamalli and other things good to eat. Very soon after the first\nglimmerings of dawn on the day of the festival, the attendants of the\nidols adorned the statue of Huitzilopochtli with flowers. The images of\nthe other gods were decked with garlands and wreaths of flowers, and\nthe same was done to all the other idols of the calpulli [81] and\ntelpochcalli. [82] The calpixque, [83] the principal people, and the\nmacehualli [84] covered the statues in their houses with flowers. These\npreparations being completed, the viands prepared during the previous\nnight were partaken of, and shortly after this repast a dance was\nengaged in, in which the nobles mingled with the women, taking them by\nthe hand, and even going the length of embracing them by placing their\narms round their necks. The usual movements of the areyto [85] were not\nperformed, the dancers moving step by step, to the strains of the\nmusicians and singers, who stood, some distance away, at the foot of a\nround altar called momoztli. They sang thus until night, not only in\nthe courts of the temples, but also in the houses of people of rank and\nof the macehualli, while the aged of both sexes indulged deeply in\npulque; but young people were not permitted to touch it, and anyone\nallowing them to drink it was severely punished.\u201d\n\nToxcatl.\u2014For this festival see under Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, to whom it was also\nand more especially sacred.\n\nPanquetzalitztli.\u2014The following account of this festival is summarized\nfrom Sahagun\u2019s pages: For twenty-four days prior to the incidence of\nthe festival the priests did penitence. They hung branches upon the\noratories and shrines of the gods of the mountains, and green reeds and\nleaves of the maguey-plant. At the end of the quecholli festival\neveryone took to dancing and singing, especially to the song or hymn of\nUitzilopochtli. Nine days before the sacrifice those doomed to die\nbathed in the fountain called Uitzilotl (humming-bird water) in the\nvillage of Uitzilopochco. The old men went to seek nine bunches of the\nleaves of the tree called aueuetl (\u201cold one of the waters\u201d\u2014the\nCupressus distica). The faces of the doomed ones were painted in the\ncolours of the god, yellow and blue in transverse bands, and adorned\nwith his insignia.\n\nAfter five days of penitential exercises mingled with dancing and\nsinging, and on the day before the festival, the captives rose with\ndawn and betook themselves to the houses of those who had dedicated\nthem to the slaughter, preceded by a man carrying a vessel full of\nblack ink or red ochre or blue tincture. On arriving at the houses of\nthose who had devoted them to death, they dipped their hands in the\nvessel and pressed them on the gates and the pillars of the dwelling,\nso that the imprint remained. [86] They then entered the kitchen of the\nhouse and walked several times round the furnace. Then they marched in\nprocession to the temple, accompanied by porters bearing rich attire,\nwhich the captives donned. The hair was then taken from their heads to\nbe kept \u201cas a relic.\u201d They were then given cylindrical cakes to eat,\nwhich must be held on the point of a maguey thorn and not between the\nfingers. With the dawn of day the god Paynal, the herald of\nUitzilopochtli, descended from the temple of Uitzilopochtli. Four\ncaptives were then slain, two in honour of \u201cthe god Oappatzan.\u201d Paynal,\nborne by four \u201cnecromancers,\u201d then took the road to Tlatelolco, whence\nhe passed to Nonoalco, the priest of the temple there receiving him\nwith the representative of the god Quauitlicac, \u201chis companion\u201d (see\n\u201cMyths\u201d). The images were then carried to Tlaxotlan and Popotlan, where\nother captives were slain. Then the procession took its way to\nChapultepec, passing the hill of that name and crossing the little\nriver Izquitlan, at the temple of which other captives called Izquiteca\n(\u201cwho eat roasted maize\u201d) were sacrificed. They then crossed to the\nright under Coyoacan, passing by way of Tepetocan to Acachinanco.\n\nDuring the time they made this progress the slaves who were about to\ndie engaged in a skirmish. They divided themselves into two parties,\nthe Uitznauatl (\u201cThey of the Thorny Wizard\u201d), the other unnamed. The\nformer seem to have been professional soldiers armed with mock weapons;\nthe others slaves, armed with maquahuitls, wooden swords set with\nobsidian flakes. On Paynal\u2019s return those who watched them from the\nsummit of the temple, seeing the banner of the god (epaniztli), cried\nout, \u201cMexicans, cease your strife, the lord Paynal has come.\u201d The\nwarriors in the patrol of Paynal then rushed to the summit of the\ntemple, where they arrived in a breathless condition. They placed their\nidol beside the paste image of Uitzilopochtli. Their ears were pierced\nby the priest. They descended again, carrying an image of\nUitzilopochtli made of paste, which they divided, each bearing his own\nportion to his own house, where he made festival with his parents and\nneighbours. A tour of the temple was then made, the captives walking in\nfront.\n\nA priest then descended from the summit of the temple bearing a sheaf\nof white papers in his hand, which he held up to the four cardinal\npoints in turn, afterwards throwing them into a mortar called\nquauhxicalco [87] (\u201ccup of the eagles\u201d). He was followed by another\nholding a very long pine-torch called xiuhcoatl (\u201cfire-snake\u201d), shaped\nlike fire. (This was the fire-snake weapon with which one of\nUitzilopochtli\u2019s followers had killed his rebellious sister\nCoyolxauhqui). This was cast burning into the vessel containing the\npapers, which were consumed. Paynal reappeared, and the slaves were\nsacrificed according to rank to the sound of conch-shells. All then\nreturned home, where octli of special strength was drunk, festivities\nengaged in, and presents of wearing apparel distributed to friends and\ndependants (bk. ii, c. 34).\n\nThis festival took place at the period of the winter solstice, when the\nsun has removed farthest to the south. The burning of the papers by the\nxiuhcoatl, and the fact that the fire-festival of the new period of\nfifty-two years, the making of the new fire, was usually postponed to\ncoincide with it, show it to be a fire-feast; for in his \u201cavatar\u201d of\nthe sun Uitzilopochtli was a fire-god.\n\nTorquemada states that the priest of Quetzalcoatl hurled a dart into\nthe breast of the paste image of Uitzilopochtli, which fell. He then\npulled the \u201cheart\u201d out of it, giving it to the king. The body was then\ndivided among the men, no woman being allowed to eat of it. The\nceremony was called teoqualo, i.e. \u201cgod is eaten.\u201d [88]\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nRegarding Uitzilopochtli, Clavigero says: \u201cHuitzilopochtli, or Mexitli,\nwas the god of war; the deity the most honoured by the Mexicans, and\ntheir chief protector. Of this god some said he was a pure spirit,\nothers that he was born of a woman, but without the assistance of a\nman, and described his birth in the following manner: There lived, said\nthey, in Coatepec, a place near to the ancient city of Tula, a woman\ncalled Coatlicue, mother of the Centzonhuiznahuas, who was extremely\ndevoted to the worship of the gods. One day, as she was employed,\naccording to her usual custom, in walking in the temple, she beheld\ndescending in the air a ball made of various feathers. She seized it\nand kept it in her bosom, intending afterwards to employ the feathers\nin decoration of the altar; but when she wanted it after her walk was\nat an end she could not find it, at which she was extremely surprised,\nand her wonder was very greatly increased when she began to perceive\nfrom that moment that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy advanced till it\nwas discovered by her children, who, although they could not themselves\nsuspect their mother\u2019s virtue, yet fearing the disgrace she would\nsuffer upon her delivery, determined to prevent it by putting her to\ndeath. They could not take their resolution so secretly as to conceal\nit from their mother, who, while she was in deep affliction at the\nthought of dying by the hands of her own children, heard an unexpected\nvoice issue from her womb, saying, \u2018Be not afraid, mother, I shall save\nyou with the greatest honour to yourself and glory to me.\u2019\n\n\u201cHer hard-hearted sons, guided and encouraged by their sister\nCojolxauhqui, who had been the most keenly bent upon the deed, were now\njust upon the point of executing their purpose, when Huitzilopochtli\nwas born, with a shield in his left hand, a spear in his right, and a\ncrest of green feathers on his head; his left leg adorned with\nfeathers, and his face, arms, and thighs streaked with blue lines. As\nsoon as he came into the world he displayed a twisted pine, and\ncommanded one of his soldiers, called Tochchancalqui, to fell with it\nCojolxauhqui, as the one who had been the most guilty; and he himself\nattacked the rest with so much fury that, in spite of their efforts,\ntheir arms, or their entreaties, he killed them all, plundered their\nhouses, and presented the spoils to his mother. Mankind were so\nterrified by this event, that from that time they called him Tetzahuitl\n(terror) and Tetzauhteotl (terrible god).\n\n\u201cThis was the god who, as they said, becoming the protector of the\nMexicans, conducted them for so many years in their pilgrimage, and at\nlength settled them where they afterwards founded the great city of\nMexico. They raised to him that superb temple, so much celebrated, even\nby the Spaniards, in which were annually holden three solemn festivals\nin the fifth, ninth, and fifteenth months; besides those kept every\nfour years, every thirteen years, and at the beginning of every\ncentury. His statue was of gigantic size, in the posture of a man\nseated on a blue-coloured bench, from the four corners of which issued\nfour huge snakes. His forehead was blue, but his face was covered with\na golden mask, while another of the same kind covered the back of his\nhead. Upon his head he carried a beautiful crest, shaped like the beak\nof a bird; upon his neck a collar consisting of ten figures of the\nhuman heart; in his right hand a large blue, twisted club; in his left\na shield, on which appeared five balls of feathers disposed in the form\nof a cross, and from the upper part of the shield rose a golden flag\nwith four arrows, which the Mexicans pretended to have been sent to\nthem from heaven to perform those glorious actions which we have seen\nin their history. His body was girt with a large golden snake and\nadorned with lesser figures of animals made of gold and precious\nstones, which ornaments and insignia had each their peculiar meaning.\nThey never deliberated upon making war without imploring the protection\nof this god, with prayers and sacrifices; and offered up a greater\nnumber of human victims to him than to any other of the gods.\u201d [89]\n\nBoturini says of this god: \u201cWhile the Mexicans were pushing their\nconquests and their advance toward the country now occupied by them,\nthey had a very renowned captain, or leader, called Huitziton. He it\nwas that in these long and perilous journeys through unknown lands,\nsparing himself no fatigue, took care of the Mexicans. The fable says\nof him that, being full of years and wisdom, he was one night caught up\nin sight of his army and of all his people, and presented to the god\nTezauhteotl, that is to say the Frightful God, who, being in the shape\nof a horrible dragon, commanded him to be seated at his right hand,\nsaying: \u2018Welcome, O valiant captain; very grateful am I for thy\nfidelity in my service and in governing my people. It is time that thou\nshouldest rest, since thou art already old, and since thy great deeds\nraise thee up to the fellowship of the immortal gods. Return then to\nthy sons and tell them not to be afflicted if in future they cannot see\nthee as a mortal man; for from the nine heavens thou shalt look down\npropitious upon them. And not only that, but also, when I strip the\nvestments of humanity from thee, I will leave to thine afflicted and\norphan people thy bones and thy skull so that they may be comforted in\ntheir sorrow, and may consult thy relics as to the road they have to\nfollow: and in due time the land shall be shown them that I have\ndestined for them, a land in which they shall hold wide empire, being\nrespected of the other nations.\u2019\n\n\u201cHuitziton did according to these instructions, and after a sorrowful\ninterview with his people, disappeared, carried away by the gods. The\nweeping Mexicans remained with the skull and bones of their beloved\ncaptain, which they carried with them till they arrived in New Spain,\nand at the place where they built the great city of Tenochtitlan, or\nMexico. All this time the devil spoke to them through this skull of\nHuitziton, often asking for the immolation of men and women, from which\nthing originated those bloody sacrifices, practised afterwards by this\nnation with so much cruelty on prisoners of war. This deity was called,\nin early as well as in later times, Huitzilopochtli\u2014for the principal\nmen believed that he was seated at the left hand of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2014a name\nderived from the original name Huitziton, and from the word mapoche,\n\u2018left hand.\u2019\u201d [90]\n\nSahagun says of Uitzilopochtli that, being originally a man, he was a\nsort of Hercules, of great strength and warlike, a great destroyer of\ntowns and slayer of men. In war he had been a living fire, very\nterrible to his adversaries; and the device he bore was a dragon\u2019s\nhead, frightful in the extreme, and casting fire out of its mouth. A\ngreat wizard he had been, and sorcerer, transforming himself into the\nshape of divers birds and beasts. While he lived, the Mexicans esteemed\nthis man very highly for his strength and dexterity in war, and when he\ndied they honoured him as a god, offering slaves, and sacrificing them\nin his presence. And they looked to it that those slaves were well fed\nand well decorated with such ornaments as were in use, with earrings\nand visors; all for the greater honour of the god. In Tlaxcala also\nthey had a deity called Camaxtli, who was similar to this\nHuitzilopochtli. [91]\n\nThe myth of Uitzilopochtli, as given by Sahagun, may be condensed as\nfollows:\n\nUnder the shadow of the mountain of Coatepec, near the Toltec city of\nTollan, there dwelt a pious widow called Coatlicue, the mother of a\ntribe of Indians called Centzonuitznaua, who had a daughter called\nCoyolxauhqui, and who daily repaired to a small hill with the intention\nof offering up prayers to the gods in a penitent spirit of piety.\nWhilst occupied in her devotions one day she was surprised by a small\nball of brilliantly coloured feathers falling upon her from on high.\nShe was pleased by the bright variety of its hues and placed it in her\nbosom, intending to offer it up to the Sun-god. Some time afterwards\nshe learnt that she was to become the mother of another child. Her\nsons, hearing of this, rained abuse upon her, being incited to\nhumiliate her in every possible way by their sister Coyolxauhqui.\n\nCoatlicue went about in fear and anxiety; but the spirit of her unborn\ninfant came and spoke to her and gave her words of encouragement,\nsoothing her troubled heart. Her sons, however, were resolved to wipe\nout what they considered an insult to their race by the death of their\nmother, and took counsel with one another to slay her. They attired\nthemselves in their war-gear, and arranged their hair after the manner\nof warriors going to battle. But one of their number, Quauitlicac,\nrelented and confessed the perfidy of his brothers to the still unborn\nUitzilopochtli, who replied to him: \u201cO uncle, [92] hearken attentively\nto what I have to say to you. I am fully informed of what is going to\nhappen.\u201d With the intention of slaying their mother, the Indians went\nin search of her. At their head marched their sister, Coyolxauhqui.\nThey were armed to the teeth, and carried bundles of darts, with which\nthey intended to kill the luckless Coatlicue.\n\nQuauitlicac climbed the mountain to acquaint Uitzilopochtli with the\nnews that his brothers were approaching to kill their mother.\n\n\u201cMark well where they are at,\u201d replied the infant god. \u201cTo what place\nhave they advanced?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Tzompantitlan,\u201d responded Quauitlicac.\n\nLater on Uitzilopochtli asked: \u201cWhere may they be now?\u201d\n\n\u201cAt Coaxalco,\u201d was the reply.\n\nOnce more Uitzilopochtli asked to what point his enemies had advanced.\n\n\u201cThey are now at Petlac,\u201d Quauitlicac replied.\n\nQuauitlicac later informed them that his brothers and sister had\narrived at the middle of the mountain. At the moment they arrived\nUitzilopochtli was born, attired in full war panoply. He ordered one\nnamed Toch\u00e2ncalqui (inhabitant of our house) to attack his sister with\nthe fire-snake xiuhcoatl, and with a blow he shattered Coyolxauhqui in\npieces. Her head rested upon the mountain of Coatepec. The infant god\nthen pursued his brethren four times round the mountain. Several fell\ninto the lake and were drowned. Others he slew, only a few escaped, and\nthese were banished to Uitzlampa in the south. [93]\n\nTorquemada says of Uitzilopochtli: \u201cHuitzilopochtli, the ancient god\nand guide of the Mexicans, is a name variously derived. Some say it is\ncomposed of two words: huitzilin, \u2018a humming-bird,\u2019 and tlahuipuchtli,\n\u2018a sorcerer that spits fire.\u2019 Others say that the second part of the\nname comes not from tlahuipuchtli, but from opuchtli, that is, \u2018the\nleft hand\u2019; so that the whole name, Huitzilopochtli, would mean \u2018the\nshining-feathered left hand.\u2019 For this idol was decorated with rich and\nresplendent feathers on the left arm. And this god it was that led out\nthe Mexicans from their own land and brought them into Anahuac.\n\n\u201cSome held him to be a purely spiritual being, others affirmed that he\nhad been born of a woman, and related his history after the following\nfashion: Near the city of Tulla there is a mountain called Coatepec,\nthat is to say the Mountain of the Snake, where a woman lived, named\nCoatlicue or Snake-petticoat. She was the mother of many sons called\nCentzunhuitznahua, and of a daughter whose name was Coyolxauhqui.\nCoatlicue was very devout and careful in the service of the gods, and\nshe occupied herself ordinarily in sweeping and cleaning the sacred\nplaces of that mountain. It happened that one day, occupied with these\nduties, she saw a little ball of feathers floating down to her through\nthe air, which she taking, as we have already related, found herself in\na short time pregnant.\n\n\u201cUpon this all her children conspired against her to slay her, and came\narmed against her, the daughter Coyolxauhqui being the ringleader and\nmost violent of all. Then, immediately, Huitzilopochtli was born, fully\narmed, having a shield called teuehueli in his left hand, in his right\na dart, or long blue pole, and all his face barred over with lines of\nthe same colour. His forehead was decorated with a great tuft of green\nfeathers, his left leg was lean and feathered, and both thighs and the\narms barred with blue. He then caused to appear a serpent made of\ntorches, teas, called xiuhcoatl; and he ordered a soldier called\nTochaucalqui to light this serpent, and taking it with him to embrace\nCoyolxauhqui. From this embrace the matricidal daughter immediately\ndied, and Huitzilopochtli himself slew all her brethren and took their\nspoil, enriching his mother therewith. After this he was surnamed\nTetzahuitl, that is to say Fright, or Amazement, and held as a god,\nborn of a mother without a father\u2014as the great god of battles, for in\nthese his worshippers found him very favourable to them.\u201d [94]\n\n\u201cHistoria de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas.\u201d [95]\u2014Collecting and\nsummarizing the scattered notices regarding Uitzilopochtli in the\nabove-named work, we find it stated that he was the fourth and youngest\nson of Tonacatecutli and Tonacaciuatl, his elder brothers being the Red\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, the Black Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, and Quetzalcoatl. Uitzilopochtli\nis here also called Omitecatl, \u201cand for another name Magueycoatl (Snake\nof the Maguey). He was called Ochilobos (the Spanish rendering of\nUitzilopochtli) because he was left-handed and was chief god to those\nof Mexico and their god of war. He was born without flesh but with\nbones, and thus he remained six hundred years, in which nothing was\nmade, \u2018neither the gods nor their father.\u2019 Taking counsel with\nQuetzalcoatl, they fashioned the sun, then they made a man, Oxomoco,\nand a woman, Cipactonal, commanding him to till the earth and her to\nspin and weave, and created other things.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nHYMNS\n\nIn the Sahagun MS. the following hymns or songs relate to\nUitzilopochtli:\u2014\n\n\n    THE SONG OF UITZILOPOCHTLI\n\n    I\n\n    Uitzilopochtli the warrior, no one is my equal;\n    Not in vain have I put on the vestment of yellow feathers,\n    For through me the sun has risen (i.e. the time of sacrifice\n    appears).\n\n    II\n\n    The man out of the cold land knew (through him) a baneful omen.\n    He had taken a foot from the man out of the cold land.\n\n    III\n\n    In the place of Tlaxotlan, the feathers were distributed\n    With which the war chieftains stuck themselves.\n    My God is named Tepanquizqui (\u201cHe who overcomes the people\u201d).\n\n    IV\n\n    He makes himself feared, the god of Tlaxotlan,\n    Dust whirls upon the God of Tlaxotlan,\n    Dust whirls upon him.\n\n    V\n\n    Our enemies, the people from Amantlan, assemble; meet me there.\n    So will in their own house the enemy be. Meet me there.\n\n    VI\n\n    Our enemies the people of Pipitlan assemble; meet me there.\n    So will in their own house the enemy be.\n\n\nThis song is probably a chant sung before sacrifice to the god. The\nline \u201cHe had taken a foot from the man out of the cold land\u201d seems to\nallude to the maiming of one of the gods by Uitzilopochtli, or is\nsymbolic of the punishment of a human enemy by rendering him unfit for\nwar through the amputation of one of his feet. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, one of\nwhose names was Yaotzin, \u201cthe enemy,\u201d is frequently represented as\nhaving but one foot, and the phrase \u201cthe man from the cold land,\u201d i.e.\nthe North, applies almost certainly to him. The rest of the song\nrelates to the peoples with whom the Mexicans were frequently at war.\n\n\n    SONG OF THE SHIELD\n\n    I\n\n    In his shield of the young wife the great warrior chieftain was\n    born.\n    In his shield of the young wife (or maid) the great warrior\n    chieftain was born.\n\n    II\n\n    He who gained his heroic title on the serpent mountain\n    In his (warrior) face-painting, (and with the shield) teueuelli.\n    No one in truth rises.\n    The earth quakes\n    As he put on his (warrior) face-painting (and his shield)\n    teueuelli.\n\n\nThe first couplet is obscure to me, and seems to refer to a lost myth,\nwhich perhaps stated that the god was born of a virgin. The second\nstrophe, of course, relates to the slaughter by Uitzilopochtli of his\nbrothers the Centzonuitznaua.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThe high priest of Uitzilopochtli was called Totec tlamacazque, who\nalso bore the name of Quetzalcoatl (an honorary title, originating out\nof the belief that the god of that name was regarded as the prototype\nof all religious orders), and who, along with the Tlaloc tlamacazque,\noccupied the chief religious office in Mexico. He was selected for his\npiety and general fitness. [96]\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLE\n\nAcosta describes Uitzilopochtli\u2019s great temple at Mexico as follows:\n\u201cThere was in Mexico this Cu, the famous Temple of Vitziliputzli, it\nhad a very great circuite, and within a faire Court. It was built of\ngreat stones, in fashion of snakes tied one to another, and the\ncircuite was called Coatepantli, which is, a circuite of snakes: vppon\nthe toppe of every chamber and oratorie where the Idolls were, was a\nfine piller wrought with small stones, blacke as ieate, set in goodly\norder, the ground raised vp with white and red, which below gave a\ngreat light. Vpon the top of the pillar were battlements very\nartificially made, wrought like snailes (caracoles), supported by two\nIndians of stone, sitting, holding candlesticks in their hands, the\nwhich were like Croisants garnished and enriched at the ends, with\nyellow and greene feathers and long fringes of the same. Within the\ncircuite of this court there were many chambers of religious men, and\nothers that were appointed for the service of the Priests and Popes,\nfor so they call the soveraigne Priests which serve the Idoll.\n\n\u201cThere were foure gates or entries, at the east, west, north, and\nsouth; at every one of these gates beganne a fair cawsey of two or\nthree leagues long. There was in the midst of the lake where the citie\nof Mexico is built, four large cawseies in crosse, which did much to\nbeautify it; vpon every portall or entry was a God or Idoll having the\nvisage turned to the causey, right against the Temple gate of\nVitziliputzli. There were thirtie steppes of thirtie fadome long, and\nthey divided from the circuit of the court by a streete that went\nbetwixt them; vpon the toppe of these steppes there was a walke thirtie\nfoote broad, all plaistered with chalke, in the midst of which walke\nwas a Palisado artificially made of very high trees, planted in order a\nfadome one from another. These trees were very bigge, and all pierced\nwith small holes from the foote to the top, and there were roddes did\nrunne from one tree to another, to the which were chained or tied many\ndead mens heades. Vpon every rod were twentie sculles, and these\nranckes of sculles continue from the foote to the toppe of the tree.\nThis Palisado was full of dead mens sculls from one end to the other,\nthe which was a wonderfull mournefull sight and full of horror. These\nwere the heads of such as had beene sacrificed; for after they were\ndead and had eaten the flesh, the head was delivered to the Ministers\nof the Temple, which tied them in this sort vntil they fell off by\nmorcells; and then had they a care to set others in their places. Vpon\nthe toppe of the temple were two stones or chappells, and in them were\nthe two Idolls which I have spoken of, Vitziliputzli, and his companion\nTlaloc. These Chappells were carved and graven very artificially, and\nso high, that to ascend vp to it, there was a staire of stone of\nsixscore steppes. Before these Chambers or Chappells, there was a Court\nof fortie foot square, in the midst thereof, was a high stone of five\nhand breadth, poynted in fashion of a Pyramide, it was placed there for\nthe sacrificing of men; for being laid on their backes, it made their\nbodies to bend, and so they did open them and pull out their hearts, as\nI shall shew heereafter.\u201d [97]\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nProlonged deliberation upon the nature of Uitzilopochtli has led me to\nthe conclusion that he was originally a personification of the\nmaguey-plant (Agave americana). The grounds upon which I base this\nhypothesis are as follows: A certain variety of the maguey-plant, or\nmetl, was known to the Aztec\u00e2 of Mexico-Tenochtitlan as\nUitzitzilteutli, or \u201cbeak of the humming-bird,\u201d probably because of the\nresemblance the long spiky thorns (uitztli) with which it is covered\nbear to the sharp beak of that bird (the uitzitzilin), which suspends\nits tiny, web-like nest from the leaves of the plant in question. The\nconnection of Uitzilopochtli with the maguey-plant is also proved by at\nleast two of his subsidiary titles. Thus in the Historia de los\nMexicanos por sus Pinturas [98] he is alluded to as Magueycoatl,\n\u201cSerpent of the Maguey,\u201d and he was also known as Mexitli, or \u201cHare of\nthe Maguey,\u201d a title from which one of the quarters of Tenochtitlan,\nand later the entire city, took its name of Mexico. At the\npanquetzaliztli festival held in his honour, the warriors who\nskirmished on his side in mimicry of his combat with the\nCentzonuitznaua were said to take the part of Uitznauatl, [99] or\n\u201cThorn that speaks oracularly.\u201d In certain of the place-names which are\nhieroglyphically figured in the codices, too, the element of his name\nis depicted as a maguey-plant. Sahagun further states that the\nproprietors of the maguey plantations and the publicans who sold octli\nor pulque cut their plants so that they might yield their juice during\nthe sign ce tecpatl, the movable feast of Uitzilopochtli, in the belief\nthat, were they tapped at this time, they would yield abundantly. [100]\n\nEtymologically, there is good evidence that Uitzilopochtli originally\nrepresented the maguey. The word uitztli means \u201cthorn,\u201d and appears in\nsuch compounds as Uitzlampa, \u201cPlace of Thorns\u201d (the South), and\nUitznauatl, \u201cThe Thorn that speaks,\u201d which, as we have seen, was\nanother, and probably an older, title of the god. Uitzoctli, too, as\nSeler has indicated, [101] means \u201cpricking pulque,\u201d newly fermented\noctli. It would seem, then, that the name Uitzilopochtli, until now\ngenerally translated as \u201cHumming-bird-to-the-left,\u201d and rendered by\nSeler \u201cHumming-bird of the South,\u201d must possess another significance\nfor us. Opochtli certainly means both \u201csouth\u201d and \u201cleft,\u201d but it also\nmeans \u201cwizard,\u201d as in the compound tlahuipuchtli, \u201cwizard who spits\nfire,\u201d instanced by Torquemada, [102] who states that some persons\nderived the god\u2019s name from that word, combined with uitzilinin, \u201ca\nhumming-bird.\u201d [103] It is easy to see how the god came to be\nassociated with the humming-bird, which suspends its nest from the\nfoliage of the maguey. It would appear to the Mexicans to emerge from\nthe leaves of that plant, and would come to be regarded as the form\nwhich the maguey-spirit took. Indeed, the humming-bird dress or\ndisguise is that in which Uitzilopochtli is almost invariably\nrepresented in the codices. It was in the shape of a humming-bird that\nthe god was said to have led the Aztec\u00e2 from their ancient home to the\nValley of Anahuac, and his flights would probably be considered ominous\nand suggestive to augurs, like those of the Latin Picus. But it is\npossible that a certain degree of confusion arose between the elements\nuitzilinin (humming-bird) and uitztli (thorn), that this assisted the\nbelief that he took the shape of a humming-bird and that the\nexplanatory myth of the hero-god Uitziton refers to this bird in an\nanthropomorphic shape.\n\nThese facts lead me to infer that the name implies \u201cHumming-bird\nWizard,\u201d for Uitzilopochtli was, as Sahagun says, [104] \u201ca necromancer\nand friend of disguises,\u201d and wizards are universally conceived of as\n\u201csinister,\u201d which English word means both \u201con the left hand\u201d and\n\u201cinauspicious,\u201d and \u201cmalign,\u201d as does the Latin word from which it is\nderived. The same holds good of the Mexican word. The sub-titles of the\ngod, Uitznauatl and Magueycoatl, show\u2014the first, that the ideas of\nsorcery and oracular speech were connected with him; and the second,\nthat he was of a serpentine or venomous disposition, like the liquor\ndistilled from the plant over which he presided, the intoxicating\nqualities of which were regarded as inducing prophetic inspiration.\n\nThat the maguey-plant entered into Uitzilopochtli\u2019s insignia seems\nprobable from the circumstance that at his festival in the month\ntoxcatl his dough image was surmounted by a flint knife half covered\nwith blood. [105] In the codices the sacrificial stone knife is\nfrequently depicted as growing in plant-like bundles out of the ground,\nthis artistic and conventional form bearing a close resemblance to the\nmaguey plant, with the spines of which the Mexican priests pierced\ntheir tongues and ears to procure a blood-offering.\n\nHis primary character notwithstanding, Uitzilopochtli in later times\ncame to possess a very different significance for the Mexicans of\nTenochtitlan\u2014such a significance, in short, as the development of their\nreligious conceptions demanded. Thus we find him at the period of the\nSpanish Conquest possessing solar characteristics and a place in the\nMexican pantheon which, if not the most important, had essentially the\ngreatest local significance in the city of Tenochtitlan, of which he\nwas the tutelary god. His status in the days of the second Motecuhzoma\nis, perhaps, most clearly illustrated by the circumstances of his myth\nas given by Sahagun, which is obviously \u00e6tiological and exhibits the\ninfluences both of priestly contrivance and popular imagination. His\nmother, Coatlicue, has been elsewhere in this work identified with the\nearth, but in the myth is euhemerized as a pious widow. That she was\noriginally one of those mountain goddesses, like Xochiquetzal, from\nwhose sacred heights the rain descended to the parched fields of\nMexico, seems plain from the name of her abode, Coatepetl (\u201cSerpent\nMountain\u201d), the serpents of which her skirt is composed, being\nsymbolical, perhaps, of the numerous streams flowing from the tarns or\npools situated on its lower acclivities. That such a mountain actually\nexisted in the vicinity of Tollan is proved by the statement of\nSahagun. Uitzilopochtli is the sun which rises out of the mountain,\n[106] or is born from it, fully armed with the xiuhcoatl, or fire-snake\n(the red dawn), with which he slays his sister Coyolxauhqui, the moon,\nwhose lunar attributes are clearly defined in her face-painting, which\ncomprises half-moons and a shell-motif, a lunar symbol. Her nose-plate\nis also the half-moon symbol. The Centzonuitznaua, or \u201cFour Hundred\nSoutherners,\u201d are the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. These the\nnew-born god puts to flight with ease. [107] If further verification of\nwhat is obviously a most artificial and operose myth is required, it is\nonly necessary to indicate that one of the subsidiary names of\nUitzilopochtli, as recorded by Sahagun, was Ilhuicatl Xoxouhqui, \u201cThe\nBlue Heaven,\u201d the expanse of the sky, showing that, like many another\nsun-god, he typified the blue vault of heaven. [108] Acosta, too,\nstates that the azure colour of his throne signified \u201cthat he sat in\nthe heavens.\u201d [109] But the myth possesses an allegorical as well as an\n\u00e6tiological character. Thus Coatlicue, the earth, is fructified by the\nball of humming-birds\u2019 feathers, that is, by the humming-bird itself,\nwhich, in Mexico, is the means of fructifying the plants, its movements\ncausing the transfer of the pollen from the stamens to the germ-cells.\n\nHow, then, may we reconcile the primitive fetish of the maguey-plant\nwith the later solar deity? In my view the course of development of the\nconcept of Uitzilopochtli is much the same as that of the Hellenic god\nApollo, who, originally a spirit of the apple-tree, [110] came in like\nmanner to be regarded as the god of the sun. But, to adhere to the\nMexican concept, the sun was regarded by the peoples of Anahuac as the\ngreat eater of hearts and drinker of blood. These must be obtained for\nhim by war, or he would perish, and all creation along with him.\nUitzilopochtli, as the spirit of the maguey-plant, was the tribal\nfetish of the Aztec\u00e2, and therefore their natural leader in battle. The\nconnection is obvious and does not require to be laboured. Because of\nhis tribal leadership in war, a governance of which Mexican myth and\nhistory bear eloquent testimony, he became confounded with the luminary\nwhich demanded blood and lived by human strife.\n\nThe solar connection of the octli liquor yielded by his plant is also\nmost clear. Says Duran [111]: \u201cThe octli was a favourite offering to\nthe gods, and especially to the god of fire. Sometimes it was placed\nbefore a fire in vases; sometimes it was scattered upon the flames with\na brush (aspergillum?); at other times it was poured out around the\nfire-place.\u201d Fire is, of course, a surrogate of the sun, and Seler has\nalready identified Uitzilopochtli as a fire-god in virtue of his status\nas a sun-deity, [112] showing that the drilling of the solar fire\nbefore the beginning of the new cycle of fifty-two years was deferred\nuntil the panquetzalitztli, the great feast of Uitzilopochtli. Jacinto\nde la Serna, too, says that the octli ritual invoked the \u201cshining Rose;\nlight-giving Rose, to receive and rejoice my heart before the god.\u201d The\n\u201crose,\u201d of course, referring to the fire or sun. It would seem,\nhowever, that before he became confounded or identified with the sun,\nUitzilopochtli may have possessed a lunar significance, and this may\nhave obtained in the period while yet the calendar was reckoned upon a\nlunar basis and its solar connection still remained undefined. The name\nMexitli, which has already been remarked upon, and which means \u201cHare of\nthe Maguey\u201d appears to place Uitzilopochtli upon a level with the other\ngods of octli, if not to class him as one of these. It bears a\nsuspicious resemblance, too, to the name of the Moon-god, Metztli. The\nhare or rabbit in Mexico was invariably associated both with the moon\nand the octli-gods, whose chief characteristic, perhaps, is the lunar\nnose-plate. But among many of the native tribes of North America the\nhare or rabbit is the representative of the sun or the dawn, under the\nnames of Michabo, Manibozho, Wabos, and so forth, being described in\nmyth as a warrior, hero-god and culture-bringer. Perhaps the Nahua,\nwhile still in a more northern region where the agave was unknown to\nthem, worshipped the rabbit of the sun or moon, and on establishing\nthemselves in a region where the maguey was one of the salient features\nin the landscape, fused his myth with that of a newly-acquired fetish,\ndiscarding later the more ancient belief, or retaining but a confused\nmemory of it. But this train of reasoning lacks evidence to support it.\nNor need the consideration of Uitzilopochtli\u2019s serpent-form detain us\nlong. I think I see in the myth which recounts how the Aztec\u00e2, on\nsettling in Tenochtitlan, beheld an eagle perched on a cactus with a\nserpent in its talons, some relation to Uitzilopochtli, but what it\nprecisely portends is still obscure to me. In any case the symbol of\nthe eagle enters into his insignia, as does that of the serpent. We\nwill recall that he was known as Magueycoatl, [113] \u201cSerpent of the\nMaguey.\u201d Again the solar character of the serpent in America, as\nelsewhere, readily accounts for his later connection with it, and for\nthe prevalence of serpentine forms in his insignia and temple. But I\nconfess that these two points of contact with the serpent do not\naltogether satisfy me as regards the god\u2019s connection with it, nor does\nthe fact of the serpentine character of his mother commend itself to me\nas altogether explanatory of this, and I think we must look to\nUitzilopochtli\u2019s nature as a wizard or sorcerer to enlighten us upon\nthis point. Jacinto de la Serna [114] states that in his time some of\nthe Mexican conjurers used a wand around which was fastened a living\nserpent, in much the same way as the priests of the Pueblo Indians do\nat the present day; and as the great invisible medicine man of the\ntribe, Uitzilopochtli may have been thought of as doing the same. \u201cWho\nis a manito?\u201d asks the Meda chant of the Algonquins. \u201cHe,\u201d is the\nreply, \u201cwho walketh with a serpent, he is a manito.\u201d For the connection\nof the Indian magicians with the serpent the reader is referred to the\npages of Brinton. [115]\n\nIn many lands the serpent is the symbol of reproductive power and has a\nphallic significance. In Mexico he casts his winter skin near the time\nof Uitzilopochtli\u2019s first festival, about the beginning of the rainy\nseason. Moreover, this reptile is connected with soothsaying, and in\nthis respect resembles the god.\n\nHis myths, as well as his status in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, of which he\nwas the tutelary deity, make it plain that Uitzilopochtli was a tribal\ngod of the Aztec\u00e2, their national god par excellence. The brave\nQuauhtemoc, the last native defender of the city, imagined himself\ninvincible when armed with the bow and arrows of Uitzilopochtli, and we\nknow that the advice of the oracle of that deity was sought by the\nMexicans when hard pressed by the Conquistadores.\n\nNor is there any dubiety regarding his character as a god of war. This\nmay have arisen from the circumstance that he presided over the liquor\nwhich was given to the troops when about to engage in battle, or, as\nhas been said, may have followed his promotion to the rank of sun-god,\nthe deity of human sacrifice, the god who demanded human hearts and\nblood. A larger number of captives were devoted to him than to any\nother divinity, and as the waging of war was the only means by which so\nmany victims might be procured, the sun would naturally become the\ngreat patron of strife.\n\nAs the sun is the great central cause of all agricultural success, so\nUitzilopochtli came to be looked upon as one of the promoters of plant\ngrowth, as is witnessed by his festivals, which synchronize with the\nfirst rainfall of the year, the growth of plant life, and the end of\nthe fruitful season, when, in the form of a paste image, the god was\nslain. He is thus the sun of the season of plenty, as his \u201cbrother\u201d\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 represents that of sereness and drought. He is the \u201cyoung\nwarrior\u201d of the South, who drives away the evil spirits of the dry\nseason and causes the land to rejoice.\n\n\n\n\nTEZCATLIPOC\u00c2 = \u201cFIERY MIRROR\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Nahua territory generally, with extension into\n    Central America (as Hurakan).\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Titlacahuan\u2014\u201cHe whose slaves we are.\u201d\n        Yaotl\u2014\u201cEnemy.\u201d\n        Yaomauitl\u2014\u201cDreaded Enemy.\u201d\n        Chico Yaotl\u2014\u201cEnemy on one side.\u201d\n        Necoc Yaotl\u2014\u201cEnemy on both sides.\u201d\n        Moyocoyotzin\u2014\u201cCapricious Lord.\u201d\n        Uitznahuac Yaotl\u2014\u201cWarrior in the Southern House or Temple.\u201d\n        Tlacochcalco Yaotl\u2014\u201cWarrior in the (Northern) Spear House.\u201d\n        Telpochtli\u2014\u201cThe Youth.\u201d\n        Ne\u00e7aualpilli\u2014\u201cFasting Lord.\u201d\n        Itztli\u2014\u201cObsidian.\u201d\n\n    Festivals: Toxcatl, teotleco, and the movable feasts ce miquiztli,\n    ce malinalli, and ome coatl.\n\n    Compass Directions: North and south in different aspects. Guardian\n    of the fifth quarter, \u201cthe below and above.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the 18th day, tecpatl; ruler of the second\n    tonalamatl quarter, the region of the north; as Itztli, second of\n    the nine lords of the night; ruler of the 13th day-count acatl.\n\n    Symbol: The smoking or fiery mirror; the obsidian knife.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014By far the best representation of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in any of\nthe manuscripts is that to be found on page 17 of Codex Borgia, where\nhe is seen in connection with the insignia of the twenty calendric\ndays. The picture on the lower right portion of page 21 is without\nthese symbols, but is almost identical with the former figure. The god\nwears the black body-paint of a priest, and his face-painting is\nsimilar to that of Uitzilopochtli, that is, it consists of black\nhorizontal stripes upon a yellow ground, the latter having the same\norigin as in the case of Uitzilopochtli. From his back rises a very\nlarge and elaborate bunch of feather plumes, which arches itself over\nhis head. His hair, dressed in a manner which resembles the\n\u201cnight-hair\u201d of Mictlantecutli, is ornamented with feather-balls as\nindicating his sacrificial character, and in the picture on page 21\nseveral of these depend from his side-locks. He wears the white ring\n(anauatl) on his breast, and a short tunic, seemingly covered with\nstellar devices. His right foot ends in the smoking mirror symbolic of\nhis name and in which he was supposed to observe the actions of\nhumanity, and on page 21 he carries the jaguar-skin purse in which the\npriests placed copal for incense. In his left hand he holds a shield,\nthe field of which is a tawny yellow in colour, traversed by two white\nstripes, and a paper banner. On page 3 the god is shown in a springing\nattitude. He wears the face and body-paint characteristic of him, and\nthe warrior\u2019s headdress, with hair tousled on one side, and the blue\nnasal rod, with square plaque, falling over the mouth. At the side of\nthe head is the fiery mirror which gives him his name. On page 14 he is\nseen wearing on his breast, and fastened to two strong red leather\nstraps, the white ring teocuitlaanauatl, an ornament resembling a\nlarge, round eye. On his back is a feather device known as the \u201cquetzal\nfeather-pot.\u201d The right foot, as in other pictures of him, is replaced\nby a small fiery mirror and his left by an obsidian knife.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014In this manuscript Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is depicted with the\nyellow-and-black face-painting, but in his form as a black god. At his\nforehead is the smoking mirror, on his back the large quetzal-feather\nornament with a banner, on his breast the anauatl, and round his loins\nthe hip-cloth, with a bordering of red eyes. On his feet he wears\nsandals showing the motif of the obsidian snake, and his headdress is\npainted with the stellar symbol, the round white spots on a black\nground, which typifies the night sky. Here also we see two bamboo\nstaves attached to his neck\u2014undoubtedly the collar worn by captives or\nslaves which rendered flight impossible, and which Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 wears\nto symbolize his enslavement of the Mexican people and in allusion to\nhis name Titlacauan, which means \u201cHe whose slaves we are.\u201d The spear\nand the net-pouch in this place recall the insignia of Mixcoatl, and\nseem to indicate that Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 was a god of the Chichimec or\nhunting folk of the North Steppes, or perhaps it may merely symbolize\nthe proneness of all stellar, lunar and solar deities in Mexico to the\nchase.\n\nTonalamatl of the Aubin Collection.\u2014In this manuscript Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nappears as the representative of the Moon-god and sits opposite the\nSun-god. He is shown with his usual attributes and face-painting, the\nsmoking mirror in the region of the ear, the white ring on his breast,\nand on his back the quetzalcomitl, the large quetzal-feather ornament\nin which a banner is stuck. In his right hand he holds several of the\nagave-spikes which the priests employed for piercing the tongue. In\nthis manuscript the Death-god is also depicted as Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, and\nwears his body-and-face painting and his general insignia, as well as\nthe rosette at the nape of the neck. In this place, however, the\nsnail-shaped shield rises above the forehead, which is also decorated\nwith a row of feather balls and a single arara plume.\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\u2014A good illustration of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 will be\nfound on page 89 of this codex. The figure of the god is surrounded by\nfootprints, symbolic, probably, of the circumstance that as the\nyoungest and swiftest of the gods he arrived first at the teotleco\nfestival (coming of the gods) and impressed his footprint on the heap\nof maize arranged by the priests for its reception in order that they\nmight know of his coming. He wears a large panache of green feathers,\nconsisting of two parts; that immediately above the face being inserted\nin a tumbler-shaped ornament painted blue, with a red rim, and having\nsix white disks upon its field. To the lower part of this is joined a\nrainbow-like device in various colours, from which springs the main\npart of the feather panache. The upper fore-part of the face is painted\nyellow, the rear portion purple or grey, and the region about the mouth\nis bright red. He is bearded. The tunic is white, with a white\nshoulder-knot, and a bunch of maize springs from the right shoulder. On\nthe breast is the god\u2019s mirror, and at the waist an ornament or symbol\nresembling the Maya Kin (sun) sign, painted blue. The rest of the\nbody-colour is purple-grey. In the left hand he carries an atlatl, or\nspear-thrower, with a serpent\u2019s head having a brown mane, and bearing a\nresemblance to some horse-like ornamental motifs found in Guatemala. In\nthe right hand he bears a shield, the field of which is divided into\ntwo parts, the right painted blue and bearing what would seem to be the\nnose-ornament of the pulque-gods, whilst the left resembles the design\nfound on the skirt of the Earth-goddess. The shield is crossed behind\nby four darts and is surmounted by a befeathered banner. In this place\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 is undoubtedly represented in his variant of \u201cthe young\nwarrior,\u201d as his equipment shows.\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014The god\u2019s feather crown is set\nwith obsidian knives. His face is barred with horizontal lines of\nblack, and on his back he carries a basket filled with\nquetzal-feathers. His arm-ring is set with obsidian knives, and\none-half of his leg is painted black. On his legs and feet he wears\nshells and sandals, the latter the so-called \u201cobsidian sandals,\u201d\npainted with a picture of the obsidian snake. His arms are covered with\npaper fans. His shield is inlaid with feather balls, and in one of his\nhands he holds the \u201cseeing\u201d or scrying implement tlachialoni.\n\nAcosta, describing Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, says [116]: \u201cThey called this idol\nTezcallipuca, he was made of black, shining stone like to Jayel, being\nattired with some Gentile devises after their manner. It had ear-rings\nof gold and silver, and through the nether lip a small canon of\nchristall, in length half a foote, in the which they sometimes put a\ngreene feather, and sometimes an azure, which made it resemble\nsometimes an emerald and sometimes a turquois. It had the haire broided\nand bound up with a haire-lace of gold burnished, at the end whereof\ndid hang an eare of gold, with two fire-brands of smoke painted therein\nwhich did signify the praires of the afflicted and sinners that he\nheard, when they recommended themselves to him. Betwixt the two eares\nhanged a number of small herons. He had a jewell hanging at his neck so\ngreat that it covered all his stomake. Upon his armes bracelets of\ngold, upon his navill a rich, green stone, and in his left hand a fanne\nof precious feathers, of greene, azure and yellow, which came forth of\na looking-glasse of gold, shining and well-burnished, and that\nsignified, that within this looking-glasse he saw whatever was done in\nthe world. They called this glasse or chaston of gold irlacheaya, [117]\nwhich signifies his glass for to look in. In his right hand he held\nfoure darts which signified the chastisement he gave to the wicked for\ntheir sins.... They held this idoll Tescatlipuca for the god of\ndrought, of famine, barrenness and pestilence. And therefore they\npainted him in another form, being set in great majesty upon a stoole,\ncompassed in with a red curtin, painted and wrought with the heads and\nbones of dead men. In the left hand it had a target with five pines,\nlike unto pine apples of cotton, and in the right a little dart with a\nthreatening countenance, and the arm stretched out as if he would cast\nit and from the target came foure darts. It had the countenance of an\nangry man and in choller, the body all painted blacke and the head full\nof quailes feathers.\u201d\n\nBernal Diaz says of him (bk. vi. c. 91): \u201cThen we saw on the other side\non the left hand there stood the other great image the same height as\nHuichilobos, and it had a face like a bear [118] and eyes that shone,\nmade of their mirrors which they call Tezcat, and the body plastered\nwith precious stones like that of Huichilobos, for they say that the\ntwo are brothers; and this Tezcatepuca was the god of Hell and had\ncharge of the souls of the Mexicans, and his body was girt with figures\nlike little devils with snakes\u2019 tails.\u201d\n\nFace-mask.\u2014When Cort\u00e9z landed at Vera Cruz, the messengers of\nMotecuhzoma tendered him, along with other presents, \u201cthe ornaments or\nfinery with which Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 was decorated.\u201d The mask belonging to\nthis costume is still in existence, and is to be seen in the room\ndevoted to American antiquities in the British Museum. It consists of a\nhuman skull encrusted with mosaic in alternate bands of black and\ngreen, the nasal cavity being set with a red stone and the eyes with\npyrites ringed with white.\n\nStatuette.\u2014A statuette of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 from the Valley of Mexico, and\nnow in the Uhde collection, shows the god as nude, with the exception\nof a loin-cloth and a flat headdress, rising in the middle.\n\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 in His Black and Red Forms.\u2014Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 was regarded by\nthe Mexican people as possessing two definite forms, the Black and the\nRed. In this paragraph we will deal only with the insignia of these and\nnot with their mythological significance, which we will attempt to\nexplain in its proper place. Perhaps the best and most classical\nexamples of these forms we possess are to be observed on sheet 21 of\nCodex Borgia, on both halves of which we see the two forms represented\nas parallel figures, closely resembling one another in nearly every\ndetail. It should at once be stated that the Red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is merely\na variant of Xipe, and indeed in one place in Codex Vaticanus B we\nobserve that his loin-cloth forks in the swallow-tail fashion\nnoticeable in the loin-cloth of that god, and, generally speaking, the\nred colours he wears are those of the roseate spoon-bill, the feathers\nof which are typical of Xipe\u2019s dress. These pictures in the Codex\nBorgia are supplemented by two on sheets 85 and 86 of Vaticanus B,\nwhere the swallow-tail ends of the loin-cloth and the nasal rod show\ndistinctly that the Red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is only a form of Xipe. The Black\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 opposite him is, however, represented with the striped\nbody-paint of Tlauizcalpantecutli, the arms being entirely black. In\nthe Borgia paintings the Black Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 wears the black body-paint\nof the priest, his face-paint is alternately black and yellow, he has\nthe warrior\u2019s tousled hair, the nasal rod with the square plaque\nfalling over the mouth, the forked heron-feather adornment in his hair,\nand on his temple the smoking mirror. The foot, too, is torn off and\nreplaced by a smoking mirror\u2014all symbolical of the \u201cstandard\u201d character\nof the god\u2019s sable form. The Red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 represented in the upper\nportion of Borgia (sheet 21) has a yellow face-painting striped with\nhorizontal bands of red and his body-paint is red. On the red bands\ncrossing the face is seen the stellar eye. A brown fillet encircles a\nred headdress, and the torn-off foot is also replaced by the smoking\nmirror. On his back is seen the bundle of the merchant, surmounted by\nthe arara bird, two symbols which indicate his southern character. The\nrepresentation of the Red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in the lower portion of sheet 21\nis practically similar to this, save that he wears feather balls and\nheron plumes in his headdress, is without the merchant\u2019s pack, and\nholds in one hand the jaguar-skin copal-bag of the priests and the\nsmoking rubber ball used as incense.\n\nThese forms of the god have been laid down in myth as distinctly\nseparate deities, especially in the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus\nPinturas. [119]\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nToxcatl.\u2014This, one of the most important of all the Mexican festivals,\nis described by Sahagun substantially as follows: The fifth month\ncalled toxcatl and sometimes tepopochuiliztli, was begun by the most\nsolemn and famous feast of the year, in honour of the principal Mexican\ngod, a god known by a multitude of names and epithets, among which were\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, Titlacaoan, Yautl, Telpuchtli, and Tlamatzincatl. A year\nbefore this feast one of the most distinguished of the captives\nreserved for sacrifice was chosen for his superior grace and personal\nappearance from among all his fellows, and given in charge to the\npriestly functionaries called calpixques. These instructed him with\ngreat diligence in all the arts pertaining to good breeding, such as\nplaying on the flute, deportment, conversation, saluting those he\nhappened to meet, the use of straight cane tobacco-pipes and of\nflowers. He was attended upon by eight pages, who were clad in the\nlivery of the palace, and had perfect liberty to go where he pleased\nnight and day; while his food was so rich that, to guard against his\ngrowing too fat, it was at times necessary to vary the diet by a purge\nof salt and water. Everywhere honoured and adored as the living image\nand accredited representative of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, he went about playing on\na small shrill clay flute or fife, and adorned with rich and curious\nraiment furnished by the king, while all he met did him reverence,\nkissing the earth. All his body and face was painted black, his long\nhair flowed to the waist; his head was covered with white hens\u2019\nfeathers stuck on with resin, and covered with a garland of the flowers\ncalled izquixochitl, [120] while two strings of the same flowers\ncrossed his body in the fashion of cross-belts. Earrings of gold, a\nnecklace of precious stones, with a great dependent gem hanging to the\nbreast, a lip-ornament (barbote) of sea-shell, bracelets of gold above\nthe elbow on each arm, and strings of gems called macuextlu winding\nfrom wrist almost to elbow, were part of his ornaments. He was covered\nwith a rich, beautifully fringed mantle of netting, and bore on his\nshoulders something like a purse made of white cloth of a span square,\nornamented with tassels and a fringe. A white maxtle of a span broad\nwent about his loins, the two ends, curiously wrought, falling in front\nalmost to the knee. Little bells of gold hung upon his feet, which were\nshod with painted sandals called ocelunacace.\n\nAll this was the attire he wore from the beginning of his year of\npreparation; but twenty days before the coming of the festival they\nchanged his vestments, washed away the paint or dye from his skin, and\ncut down his long hair to the length, and arranged it after the\nfashion, of the hair of the captains, tying it up on the crown of the\nhead with feathers and fringe and two gold-buttoned tassels. At the\nsame time they married to him four damsels, who had been pampered and\neducated for this purpose, and who were surnamed respectively after the\nfour goddesses, Xochiquetzal, Xilonen, Atlantonan, and Uixtociuatl.\nFive days before the great day of the feast, the day of the feast being\ncounted one, all the people, high and low, the king it would appear\nbeing alone excepted, went out to celebrate with the man-god a solemn\nbanquet and dance, in the ward called Tecanman; the fourth day before\nthe feast the same was done in the ward in which was guarded the statue\nof Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. The little hill or island called Tepetzinco, rising\nout of the waters of the Lake of Mexico, was the scene of the next\nday\u2019s solemnities; which were renewed for the last time on the next\nday, or that immediately preceding the great day, on another like\nisland called Tepelpulco, or Tepepulco. There, with the four women who\nhad been given to him for his consolation, the honoured victim was put\ninto a covered canoe usually reserved for the sole use of the king, and\nhe was carried across the lake to a place called Tlapitzaoayan, near\nthe road that goes from Yztapalapan to Chalco, at a place where was a\nlittle hill called Acaccuilpan, or Cabaltepec. Here left him the four\nbeautiful girls whose society for twenty days he had enjoyed, they\nreturning to the capital with all the people. There accompanied him\nonly those eight attendants who had been with him all the year. Almost\nalone, done with the joys of beauty, banquet, and dance, bearing a\nbundle of his flutes, he walked to a little cu, some distance from the\nroad mentioned above, and about a league removed from the city. He\nmarched up the temple steps; and as he ascended he dashed down and\nbroke on every step one of the flutes that he had been accustomed to\nplay on in the days of his prosperity. He reached the top, where he was\nsacrificed. From the sacrificial stone his body was not hurled down the\nsteps, but was carried by four men down to the tzompantli, to the place\nof the spitting of heads.\n\nIn this feast of toxcatl, in the cu called Uitznahuac, where the image\nof Uitzilopochtli was always kept, the priests made a bust of this god\nout of tzoalli dough, with pieces of mizquitl [121]-wood inserted by\nway of bones. They decorated it with his ornaments; putting on a jacket\nwrought over with human bones, a mantle of very thin nequen, and\nanother mantle called the Tlaquaquallo, covered with rich feathers,\nfitting the head below and widening out above; in the middle of this\nstood up a little rod, also decorated with feathers, and sticking into\nthe top of the rod was a flint knife half covered with blood. The image\nwas set on a platform made of pieces of wood resembling snakes, and so\narranged that heads and tails alternated all the way round; the whole\nborne by many captains and men of war. Before this image and platform a\nnumber of strong youths carried an enormous sheet of paper resembling\npasteboard, twenty fathoms long, one fathom broad, and a little less\nthan an inch thick; it was supported by spear-shafts arranged in pairs\nof one shaft above and one below the paper, while persons on either\nside of the paper held one of these pairs in one hand. When the\nprocession, with dancing and singing, reached the cu to be ascended,\nthe platform was carefully and cautiously hoisted up by cords attached\nto its four corners, the image was set on a seat, and those who carried\nthe paper rolled it up and set down the roll before the bust of the\ngod. It was sunset when the image was so set up; and the following\nmorning everyone offered food in his own house before the image of\nUitzilopochtli, incensing also such images of the other gods as he had,\nand then went to offer quails\u2019 blood before the image set up on the cu.\nThe king began, wringing off the heads of four quails; the priests\noffered next, then all the people; the whole multitude carrying clay\nfire-pans and burning copal incense of every kind, after which everyone\nthrew his live coals on a great hearth in the temple yard. The virgins\npainted their faces, put on their heads garlands of parched maize, with\nstrings of the same across their breasts, decorated their arms and legs\nwith red feathers, and carried black paper flags stuck into split\ncanes. The flags of the daughters of the nobles were not of paper, but\nof a thin cloth called canauac, painted with vertical black stripes.\nThese girls, joining hands, danced round the great hearth, upon or over\nwhich, on an elevated place of some kind, there danced, giving the time\nand step, two men, having each a kind of pine cage covered with paper\nflags on his shoulders, the strap supporting which passed, not across\nthe forehead\u2014the usual way for men to carry a burden\u2014but across the\nchest, as was the fashion with women. They bore shields of paper,\ncrumpled up like great flowers, their heads were adorned with white\nfeathers, their lips and part of the face were smeared with sugar-cane\njuice, which produced a peculiar effect over the black with which their\nfaces were always painted. They carried in their hands pieces of paper\ncalled amasmaxtli [122] and sceptres of palm-wood tipped with a black\nflower and having in the lower part a ball of black feathers. In\ndancing they used this sceptre like a staff, and the part by which they\ngrasped it was wrapped round with a paper painted with black lines. The\nmusic for the dancers was supplied by a party of unseen musicians, who\noccupied one of the temple buildings, where they sat, he that played\nthe drum in the centre, and the performers on the other instruments\nabout him. The men and women danced on till night, but the strictest\norder and decency were preserved, and any lewd word or look brought\ndown swift punishment from the appointed overseers.\n\nThis feast was closed by the death of a youth who had been during the\npast year dedicated to and taken care of for Uitzilopochtli, resembling\nin this the victim of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, whose companion he had indeed been,\nbut without receiving such high honours. This Uitzilopochtli youth was\nentitled Ixteocalli, [123] or Tlacauepan, or Teicauhtzin, [124] and was\nheld to be the image and representative of the god. When the day of his\ndeath came the priests decorated him with papers painted over with\nblack circles, and put a mitre of eagles\u2019 feathers on his head, in the\nmidst of whose plumes was stuck a flint knife, stained half-way up with\nblood and adorned with red feathers. Tied to his shoulders by strings\npassing across the breast was a piece of very thin cloth, about a span\nsquare, and over it hung a little bag. Over one of his arms was thrown\na wild beast\u2019s skin, arranged somewhat like a maniple; bells of gold\njingled at his legs as he walked or danced. There were two peculiar\nthings connected with the death of this youth: first, he had absolute\nliberty of choice regarding the hour in which he was to die; and,\nsecond, he was not extended upon any block or altar, but when he wished\nhe threw himself into the arms of the priests, and had his heart so cut\nout. His head was then hacked off and spitted alongside that of the\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 youth, of whom we have spoken already. In this same day\nthe priests made little marks on children, cutting them, with thin\nstone knives, in the breast, stomach, wrists, and fleshy parts of the\narms; marks, as the Spanish priests considered, by which the devil\nshould know his own sheep.\n\nTeotleco.\u2014The movable feasts sacred to Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 and alluded to in\nthe list of his festivals are only briefly mentioned by Sahagun, and do\nnot appear to have been of any particular importance. As regards the\nTeotleco Sahagun says: \u201cThe twelfth month was called Teotleco, which\nsignifies the arrival of the gods. A festival was celebrated in honour\nof all the gods who were said to have gone to some country, I know not\nwhere. On the last day of the month a greater one was held, because the\ngods had returned.\n\n\u201cOn the fifteenth day of this month the young boys and the servitors\ndecked all the altars or oratories of the gods with boughs, as well\nthose which were in the houses as the images which were set up by the\nwayside and at the cross-roads. This work was paid for in maize. Some\nreceived a basketful, and others only a few ears.\n\n\u201cOn the eighteenth day the ever-youthful god Tlamatzincatl, or\nTitlacauan, arrived. It was said that he marched better and arrived the\nfirst because he was young and strong. Food was offered him in his\ntemple on that night. Everyone drank, ate, and made merry; the old\npeople especially celebrated the arrival of the god by drinking wine,\nand it was alleged that his feet were washed by these rejoicings. The\nlast day of the month was marked by a great festival, on account of the\nbelief that the whole of the gods arrived at that time. On the\npreceding night a quantity of flour was kneaded on a carpet into the\nshape of a cheese, it being supposed that the gods would leave a\nfootprint thereon as a sign of their return. The chief attendant\nwatched all night, going to and fro to see if the impression appeared.\nWhen he at last saw it he called out, \u2018The master has arrived,\u2019 and at\nonce the priests of the temple began to sound the horns, trumpets, and\nother musical instruments used by them. Upon hearing this noise\neveryone ran forthwith to offer food in all the temples or oratories,\nand gave themselves up to renewed rejoicings, to wash the feet of the\ngods, as we have already described.\n\n\u201cThe next day the aged gods were said to come last, because they walked\nmore slowly on account of their age. On that day several captives were\ndoomed to be burnt alive. A great brazier was prepared; young men\ndisguised as monsters danced round about it, and while dancing, hurled\nthe unhappy victims into the fire, in the manner already explained.\nOther ceremonies took place which will be described in the account of\nthis festival.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nSahagun says of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 that he was invisible and was able to\npenetrate into all places, heaven, earth, and hell. The Mexicans, he\nsays, believed that he wandered over the earth stirring up strife and\nwar, and setting men against one another. He also remarks that he was\nthe true giver of prosperity, and extremely capricious. [125]\n\nAcosta calls him the god of drought, famine, barrenness, and\npestilence. [126]\n\nClavigero alludes to him as the chief of the gods worshipped in Mexico,\nthe god of providence, the soul of the world, the creator of heaven and\nearth and master of all things. \u201cThey represented him as young, to\ndenote that no length of years ever diminished his power. They believed\nthat he rewarded with various benefits the just, and punished the\nwicked with diseases and other afflictions.\u201d [127]\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that \u201cTezcatlipoc\u00e2\nis he who appeared to the nation on the mountain of the mirror, as they\nsay, and is he who tempted Quetzalcoatl the penitent.\u201d Elsewhere he\nsays: \u201cThey do not here paint Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 with a foot formed of a\nserpent, since they say that this festival [panquetzaliztli] relates to\na time previous to his sinning while still in heaven, and that hence\nhappened the war in heaven, from whence wars sprung below.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A. says of him: \u201cTezcatlipoc\u00e2, here\nrepresented, was one of their most potent gods. They say that he\nappeared in that country on the top of a mountain called Tezcatepu,\nwhich signifies the mountain of mirrors.\u201d Later on he remarks that the\ngod was sometimes painted with the feet of a man and of a cock, \u201cas\nthey say his name bears allusion to this circumstance. He is clothed\nwith a fowl, which seems to cry in laughing accents, and when it crows,\nOa, Oa, Oa, they say that it deceived the \u201cfirst woman, who committed\nsin, and accordingly they place him near the goddess of pollution.\u201d\n\nA report on the Huaxtec territory, dated 1579, states that: \u201cThey\nrelate another fable, that they had two other effigies as gods, one\ncalled Ometochtli, who is the god of wine, the other Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nwhich is the name of the most exalted idol worshipped by them, and with\nthese they had painted the figure of a woman named Hueytonantzin, that\nis \u2018our great mother,\u2019 because they said that she was the mother of all\nthese gods or demons. And those four above-mentioned male demons, they\nrelated, had killed this great mother, founding with her the\ninstitution of human sacrifice, and taking her heart out of her breast,\nand presenting it to the sun. Similarly, they related that the idol\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 had killed the god of wine with his consent and\nconcurrence, giving out that in this way he gave eternal life, and that\nif he did not die, all persons drinking wine must die; but that the\ndeath of this Ometochtli was only the sleep of one drunk, that he\nafterwards recovered, and again became fresh and well.\u201d\n\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, it will be remembered, is alluded to in the cosmogonic\nmyths of Mendieta and Sahagun, already related in the chapter on\nCosmogony. The Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas refers to him\nas the creator, says that \u201che made the sun to shine,\u201d and states that\nhe was the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, which \u201csank in the\nwater.\u201d He also made the Tazcaquavlt, or \u201ctree of the mirror,\u201d\nfashioned four hundred men and a hundred women as food for the sun,\nand, along with Quetzalcoatl, constructed \u201cthe road in the heavens, the\nMilky Way.\u201d\n\nSahagun states [128] that after Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 had succeeded in driving\nQuetzalcoatl from the country, \u201che proceeded further guilefully to kill\nmany Toltecs and to ally himself by marriage with Vemac or Uemac, who\nwas the temporal lord of the Toltecs, even as Quetzalcoatl was the\nspiritual ruler of that people. To accomplish these things Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\ntook the appearance of a poor foreigner and presented himself naked, as\nwas the custom of such people, in the market-place of Tulla, selling\ngreen chilli pepper. Now the palace of Vemac, the great king,\noverlooked the market-place, and he had an only daughter, and the girl,\nlooking by chance among the buyers and sellers, saw the disguised god.\nShe was smitten through with love of him, and she began to sicken.\nVemac heard of her sickness, and he inquired of the women who guarded\nher as to what ailed his daughter. They told him as best they could,\nhow for the love of a peddler of pepper, named Toveyo, the princess had\nlain down to die. The king immediately sent a crier upon the mountain\nTzatzitepec to make this proclamation: \u2018O Toltecs, seek me out Toveyo\nthat goes about selling green pepper, let him be brought before me.\u2019 So\nthe people sought everywhere for the pepper vendor, but he was nowhere\nto be found. Then after they could not find him, he appeared of his own\naccord one day, at his old place and trade in the market. He was\nbrought before the king, who said to him: \u2018Where dost thou belong to?\u2019\nand Toveyo answered, \u2018I am a foreigner, come here to sell my green\npepper.\u2019 \u2018Why dost thou delay to cover thyself with breeches and a\nblanket?\u2019 said Vemac. Toveyo answered that in his country such things\nwere not in the fashion. Vemac continued: \u2018My daughter longs after\nthee, not willing to be comforted by any Toltec. She is sick of love\nand thou must heal her.\u2019 But Toveyo replied: \u2018This thing can in no wise\nbe; kill me first; I desire to die, not being worthy to hear these\nwords, who get my living by selling green pepper.\u2019 \u2018I tell thee,\u2019 said\nthe king, \u2018that thou must heal my daughter of this her sickness; fear\nnot.\u2019 Then they took the cunning god and washed him, and cut his hair,\nand dyed all his body and put breeches on him and a blanket; and the\nking Vemac said, \u2018Get thee in and see my daughter, there, where they\nguard her.\u2019 Then the young man went in and he remained with the\nprincess and she became sound and well; thus Toveyo became the\nson-in-law of the king of Tulla.\n\n\u201cThen, behold, all the Toltecs, being filled with jealousy and\noffended, spake injurious and insulting words against King Vemac,\nsaying among themselves, \u2018Of all the Toltecs can there not be found a\nman, that this Vemac marries his daughter to a peddler?\u2019 Now when the\nking heard all the injurious and insulting words that the people spake\nagainst him he was moved, and he spoke to the people saying, \u2018Come\nhither, behold I have heard all these things that ye say against me in\nthe matter of my son-in-law Toveyo; dissimulate then; take him\ndeceitfully with you to the war of Cacatepec and Coatepec, and let the\nenemy kill him there.\u2019 Having heard these words, the Toltecs armed\nthemselves, and collected a multitude and went to the war, bringing\nToveyo along. Arrived where the fighting was to take place, they hid\nhim with the lame and the dwarfs, charging them, as the custom was in\nsuch cases, to watch for the enemy, while the soldiers went on to the\nattack. The battle began. The Toltecs at once gave way, treacherously\nand guilefully deserting Toveyo and the cripples. Leaving them to be\nslaughtered at their post, they returned to Tulla and told the king how\nthey had left Toveyo and his companions alone in the hands of the\nenemy. When the king heard the treason he was glad, thinking Toveyo\ndead, for he was ashamed of having him for a son-in-law. Affairs had\ngone otherwise, however, with Toveyo from what the plotters supposed.\nOn the approach of the hostile army he consoled his deformed\ncompanions, saying: \u2018Fear nothing; the enemy come against us, but I\nknow that I shall kill them all.\u2019 Then he rose up and went forward\nagainst them, against the men of Coatepec and Cacatepec. He put them to\nflight and slew of them without number. When this came to the ears of\nVemac it weighed upon and terrified him exceedingly. He said to his\nToltecs, \u2018Let us now go and receive my son-in-law.\u2019 So they all went\nout with King Vemac to receive Toveyo, bearing the arms and devices\ncalled quetzalapanecayutl, and the shields called xiuhchimali. [129]\nThey gave these things to Toveyo, and he and his comrades received them\nwith dancing and the music of flutes, with triumph and rejoicing.\nFurthermore, on reaching the palace of the king, plumes were put upon\nthe heads of the conquerors, and all the body of each of them was\nstained yellow, and all the face red. This was the customary reward of\nthose that came back victorious from war. And King Vemac said to his\nson-in-law: \u2018I am now satisfied with what thou hast done, and the\nToltecs are satisfied; thou hast dealt very well with our enemies, rest\nand take thine ease.\u2019 But Toveyo held his peace.\n\n\u201cAnd after this, Toveyo adorned all his body with the rich feathers\ncalled tocivitl, and commanded the Toltecs to gather together for a\nfestival, and sent a crier up to the top of the mountain Tzatzitepec,\nto call in the strangers and the people afar off to dance and to feast.\nA numberless multitude gathered to Tulla. When they were all gathered,\nToveyo led them out, young men and girls, to a place called Texcalapa,\nwhere he himself began and led the dancing, playing on a drum. He sang\ntoo, singing each verse to the dancers, who sang it after him, though\nthey knew not the song beforehand. Then was to be seen a marvellous and\nterrible thing. A panic seized the Toltecs. There was a gorge or ravine\nthere, with a river rushing through it called the Texcaltlauhco. A\nstone bridge led over the river. Toveyo broke down this bridge as the\npeople fled. He saw them tread and crush each other down, under-foot,\nand over into the abyss. They that fell were turned into rocks and\nstones; as for those that escaped, they did not see nor think that it\nwas Toveyo and his sorceries had wrought this great destruction; they\nwere blinded by the witchcraft of the god, and out of their senses like\ndrunken men.\n\n\u201cTezcatlipoc\u00e2 then proceeded to hatch further evil against the Toltecs.\nHe took the appearance of a certain valiant man called Teguioa, and\ncommanded a crier to summon all the inhabitants of Tulla and its\nneighbourhood to come and help at a certain piece of work in a certain\nflower-garden (said to have been a garden belonging to Quetzalcoatl).\nAll the people gathered to the work, whereupon the disguised god fell\nupon them, knocking them on the head with a hoe. Those that escaped the\nhoe were trodden down and killed by their fellows in attempting to\nescape. A countless number was slain. Every man that had come to the\nwork was left lying dead among the trodden flowers.\n\n\u201cAnd after this Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 wrought another witchcraft against the\nToltecs. He called himself Tlacavepan, or Acexcoch, and came and sat\ndown in the midst of the market-place of Tulla having a little manikin\n(said to have been Uitzilopochtli) dancing upon his hand. There was an\ninstant uproar of all the buyers and sellers and a rush to see the\nmiracle. The people crushed and trod each other down, so that many were\nkilled there; and all this happened many times. At last the\ngod-sorcerer cried out on one such occasion: \u2018What is this? Do you not\nsee that you are befooled by us? Stone and kill us.\u2019 So the people took\nup stones and killed the said sorcerer and his little dancing manikin.\nBut when the body of the sorcerer had lain in the market-place for some\ntime it began to stink and to taint the air, and the wind of it\npoisoned many. Then the dead sorcerer spake again, saying: \u2018Cast this\nbody outside the town, for many Toltecs die because of it.\u2019 So they\nprepared to cast out the body, and fastened ropes thereto and pulled.\nBut the ill-smelling corpse was so heavy that they could not move it.\nThen a crier made a proclamation, saying: \u2018Come, all ye Toltecs, and\nbring ropes with you, that we may drag out and get rid of this\npestilential carcass.\u2019 All came accordingly, bringing ropes, and the\nropes were fastened to the body and all pulled. It was utterly in vain.\nRope after rope broke with a sudden snap, and those that dragged on a\nrope fell and were killed when it broke. Then the dead wizard looked up\nand said; \u2018O Toltecs, a verse of song is needed.\u2019 And he himself gave\nthem a verse. They repeated the verse after him, and, singing it,\npulled all together, so that with shouts they hauled the body out of\nthe city, though still not without many ropes breaking and many persons\nbeing killed as before. All this being over, those Toltecs that\nremained unhurt returned every man to his place, not remembering\nanything of what had happened, for they were all as drunken.\n\n\u201cOther signs and wonders were wrought by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in his r\u00f4le of\nsorcerer. A white bird called Iztac cuixtli was clearly seen flying\nover Tulla, transfixed with a dart. At night also, the sierra called\nZacatepec burned, and the flames were seen from afar. All the people\nwere stirred up and affrighted, saying one to another, \u2018O Toltecs, it\nis all over with us now; the time of the end of Tulla is come; alas for\nus, whither shall we go?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 wrought another evil upon the Toltecs; he rained\ndown stones upon them. There fell also, at the same time, a great stone\nfrom heaven called Techcatl; and when it fell the god-sorcerer took the\nappearance of an old woman, and went about selling little banners in a\nplace called Chapultepec Cuitlapilco, otherwise named Uetzinco. Many\nthen became mad and bought of these banners and went to the place where\nwas the stone Techcatl, and there got themselves killed; and no one was\nfound to say so much as, \u2018What is this that happens to us?\u2019 They were\nall mad.\n\n\u201cAnother woe Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 brought upon the Toltecs. All their victuals\nsuddenly became sour, and no one was able to eat of them. The old\nwoman, above mentioned, took up then her abode in a place called\nXochitla, and began to roast maize: and the odour of the roasted maize\nreached all the cities round about. The starving people set out\nimmediately, and with one accord, to go where the old woman was. They\nreached her instantly, for here it may be again said, that the Toltecs\nwere exceedingly light of foot, and arrived always immediately\nwhithersoever they wished to go. As for the Toltecs that gathered to\nthe mock sorceress, not one of them escaped. She killed them every\none.\u201d\n\nThese feats of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 against the Toltecs seem to have reference\nto the various species of charm wielded by the enchanter; the\nlove-charm, the charm by music, by disease, by destruction of victuals.\nThe rain of stone signified barrenness, drought, which was implied by\nthe nature of the god, the deity of obsidian and of tempests.\n\nFor other myths regarding Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 see the chapter on Cosmogony.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nIn my opinion the early significance of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 arises out of his\nconnection with obsidian. This stone had an especial sanctity for the\nMexicans, as it provided the sacrificial knives employed by the\npriests, and we possess good evidence that stone in its fetish form was\nworshipped even so late as the eighteenth century by the\nNahuatl-speaking Chotas, who comprised it in a trinity with the Dawn\nand the Serpent. [130] From a passage in Acosta [131] we are justified\nin assuming that Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s idol was of obsidian, and, like the\nQuiche god Tohil, mentioned in the Popol Vuh, he wore sandals of\nobsidian, as is witnessed by one of his representations in Codex\nBorbonicus, where his footgear is painted with the zigzag line of the\nobsidian snake.\n\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 was unquestionably the god of the itztli (obsidian) stone,\nand Seler [132] has identified him with Iztli, the stone-knife god, the\nsecond of the lords of the night. In certain codices, too, he is\nrepresented as having such a knife in place of a foot, and we know that\nit was a fairly common practice of the Mexican artists to indicate the\nname or race of an individual by drawing one of his feet in a\nhieroglyphical manner. [133] I believe, too, that the net-like garment\nworn at times by the god above his other attire is an adaptation of the\nmesh-bag in which Mexican hunters carried flints for use as spear- and\narrow-heads.\n\nThis, as well as the fact that he was the god of the sharp-cutting\nobsidian from which such weapons were made, caused him to be regarded\nas patron deity of the wild hunting Chichimecs of the northern steppes,\na connection which is eloquent of his erstwhile primitive character. It\nis clear, too, that Chalchiuhtotolin, the jewelled fowl, which is ruler\nof the eighteenth day-sign, tecpatl (obsidian knife), is merely a\nvariant of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. [134]\n\nBut another important link connects Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 with obsidian. Bernal\nDiaz states that they called this \u201cTezcat.\u201d From it mirrors were\nmanufactured as divinatory media by the wizard. Sahagun says [135] that\nit was known as aitztli (water obsidian), probably because of the high\npolish of which it was capable. Another such stone he mentions was\ncalled tepochtli, which I would translate \u201cwizard stone,\u201d and from\nwhich I think, by a process of etymological confusion, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nreceived one of his minor names, Telpochtli, \u201cthe youth.\u201d The name of\nthe god means \u201cSmoking Mirror,\u201d and Acosta [136] says that the Mexicans\ncalled Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s mirror irlacheaya (an obvious error for\ntlachialoni) \u201chis glass to look in,\u201d otherwise the mirror or\nscrying-stone in which he was able to witness the doings of mankind. It\nis possible that the \u201csmoke\u201d which was said to rise from this mirror\nsymbolized the haziness which is supposed to cloud the surface of a\ndivinatory glass prior to the phenomenon of vision therein.\n\nThus from the shape beheld in the seer\u2019s mirror, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 came to\nbe regarded as the seer. That into which the wizard gazed became so\nclosely identified with sorcery as to be thought of as wizard-like\nitself; for Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is, of all Mexican deities, the one most\nnearly connected with the wizard\u2019s art. He is par excellence the\nnocturnal god who haunts the crossways and appears in a myriad phantom\nguises to the night-bound wayfarer. \u201cThese,\u201d says Sahagun, \u201cwere masks\nthat Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 assumed to frighten the people.\u201d\n\nHe wears the symbol of night upon his forehead; he is the moon, ruler\nof the night, the wizard who veils himself behind the clouds; he bears\nthe severed arm of a woman who has died in childbed, as a magical\ninstrument, as did the naualli of old Mexico. From him all ominous and\nuncanny sounds proceed: the howl of the jaguar (in which we perceive\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 as the wizard metamorphosed into the wer-animal), and the\nforeboding cry of the uactli bird, the voc, the bird of Hurakan in the\nPopol Vuh.\n\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 was undoubtedly connected with the wind, and this leads me\nto suspect that in the course of his evolution he came to be thought of\nas among that class of magical stones which in some mysterious manner\nis considered capable of raising a tempest under the spell of the\nsorcerer. [137] Of such a belief world-wide examples exist. In the\nIrish island of Fladdahuan such a stone was anointed when the fisher\ndesired a wind [138] and was kept in wool wrappings. A piece of\npumice-stone drifted to Puka-Puka, says Lang, [139] and was regarded as\na god of winds and waves, to which offerings were made during\nhurricanes. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is none other than the original \u201churricane,\u201d\nfor he has been identified with the Hurakan of the Quiches of Guatemala\nalluded to in the Popol Vuh, from whose name the meteorological\nexpression has been borrowed.\n\nWhether or not he came to be looked upon as the wind of night which\nravined through the empty streets and deserted countryside by virtue of\nthe train of thought suggested above, many aspects of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 are\neloquent of his boreal attributes. Thus, he is invisible and\ncapricious, the object of mistrust among the people, who discerned in\ntempestuous weather a manifestation of his freakish bad temper. The\nmyth in which he was described as pursuing Quetzalcoatl in tiger-form\nwill, in the section which deals with that god, be indicated as an\nallegory of the clashing of the hurricane with the rain-bringing\ntrade-wind. Lastly, as patron of war, of the warrior\u2019s club and\ndance-house, he is, as the boisterous storm, emblematic of strife and\ndiscord. Seats of stone over-arched with green branches were provided\nfor him throughout the city so that he might rest from his wanderings\nif he thought good.\n\nIn the Aztec mind stone was symbolic of sin. Thus Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in his\nvariant, Itzlacoliuhqui, is the just avenger, who punishes evil swiftly\nand terribly, for obsidian as the sacrificial knife was the instrument\nof justice. [140] The coldness of stone, its hardness and dryness, seem\nalso to have given rise to the conception of him as god of the Toxcatl\nfestival in the fifth month of the year, the dry season, when the sun\nstood at the zenith above Tenochtitlan. Thus, as the prayers to him\neloquently affirm, he was the god of drought, of sereness, and\nbarrenness.\n\nIn common with the majority of the greater Mexican deities,\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 had a stellar connection. He was one of the Tzitzimim\u00ea who\nhad fallen from heaven, and the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus\nPinturas remarks of him, \u201cthe constellation of the Great Bear descends\nto the water because it is Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, who has his seat there,\u201d thus\nalso indicating that he ruled the northern quarter, out of which, it\nwas considered, no good thing might come. His Tzitzimim\u00ea shape appears\nto have been the spider. In American-Indian myth the stars are\nfrequently regarded as having spider form, and especially so in Mexican\nmyth. In several of the codices, notably in Codex Borbonicus, the\nTzitzimim\u00ea or star-demons are represented in insect shape. Thus,\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, when he descended from heaven to harass Quetzalcoatl, did\nso by means of a spider\u2019s web, so that we are justified in regarding\nthe spider as his stellar form.\n\nThe origin of his conception as the sun of the north and as the setting\nsun seems reasonably clear and is secondary in character. As the sun\nsinks in the west its brilliant gold turns to a glassy red, reminiscent\nof the dull reflex of light in a surface of polished obsidian. The\nmirror held by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, with its fringe of feathers, obviously\nrepresents the sun of evening. But he is also to be thought of as the\ntorrid and blazing orb of the dry season, scorching and merciless.\n\nI regard his several coloured forms as symbolic of various kinds of\nweather. Thus, in his black form he appears to represent the rainy\nseason; in his red, the torrid and dry period of the year; in his\nwhite, cold and frost; and in his striped painting, the embodiment of\nfair weather. Thus Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is the atmospheric god par excellence,\nruler of all meteorological conditions. In the prayers offered up to\nhim it is frequently stated that he may, if he so chooses, send rain\nand plenty, and this aspect of him seems to account for his variously\ncoloured disguises. That these were, indeed, regarded as practically\nseparate divine forms is clear from the first chapter of the Historia\nde los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, which alludes to the Black and Red\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 as two entirely different gods.\n\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, at the period of the Conquest, had developed attributes\nof a more lofty kind than any of those already described. Like\nQuetzalcoatl, and because he was a god of the wind or atmosphere, he\ncame to be regarded as the personification of the breath of life. In\nthe mind of savage man the wind is usually the giver of breath, the\ngreat store-house of respiration, the source of immediate life. In many\nmythologies the name of the principal deity is synonymous with that for\nwind, and in others the words \u201csoul\u201d and \u201cbreath\u201d have a common origin.\nIt has been suggested that the Hebrew Jahveh (the archaic form of\nJehovah) is connected with the Arabic hawah, to blow or breathe, and\nthat Jahveh was originally a wind or tempest god.\n\nOur word \u201cspiritual\u201d is derived from the Latin spirare, to blow; the\nLatin animus, \u201cspirit,\u201d is the same word as the Greek anemos, \u201cwind,\u201d\nand psukhe has a similar origin. All are directly evolved from verbal\nroots expressing the motion of the wind or the breath. The Hebrew word\nruah is equivalent to both \u201cwind\u201d and \u201cspirit,\u201d as is the Egyptian\nkneph. If we turn to the American mythologies, nija in the language of\nthe Dakota means \u201cbreath,\u201d or \u201clife\u201d; in Netela piuts is \u201clife,\u201d\n\u201cbreath,\u201d and \u201csoul\u201d; the Yakuna language of Oregon has wkrisha,\n\u201cwind,\u201d wkrishmit, \u201clife.\u201d The Creeks applied to their supreme deity\nthe name Esaugetuh Emissee, Master of Breath, [141] and the original\nname for God in Choctaw was Hustoli, the Storm Wind. \u201cIn the identity\nof wind with breath, of breath with life, of life with soul, of soul\nwith God, lies the far deeper and truer reason,\u201d says Brinton, \u201cof the\nprominence given to wind-gods in many mythologies.\u201d [142]\n\nBut although Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 was the Giver of Life, he was also regarded\nas a deity with power to take it away. In fact at times he appeared as\nan inexorable death-dealer, and in this guise he was named\nNezahualpilli (\u201cThe Hungry Chief\u201d) and Yaotzin (\u201cThe Enemy\u201d). But he\nwas also known as Telpochtli (\u201cThe Youthful Warrior\u201d), from the fact\nthat his reserve of strength, his vital force, never grew less and was\nboisterously apparent, as in the tempest. As the wind at night rushes\nthrough the roads with more seeming violence than it does by day, so\nwas Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 pictured in the Aztec consciousness as rioting along\nthe highways in search of slaughter. Indeed, seats or benches of stone,\nshaped like those used by the chiefs of the Mexican towns, were placed\nat intervals on the roads for his use, and here he was supposed to\nlurk, concealed by the green boughs which surrounded them, in wait for\nhis victims. Should anyone grapple with and overcome him, he might\ncrave whatsoever boon he desired, with the surety of its being granted.\nThe worship of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 previous to the Conquest had so advanced,\nand so powerful had his cult become, that it would appear as if the\nmovement would ultimately have led to a monotheism or worship of one\ngod equivalent to that of the cult of Jahveh, the God of the Old\nTestament among the ancient Hebrews. To his priestly caste is credited\nthe invention of many of the usages of civilized life, and it succeeded\nin making his worship universal. The Nahua people regarded the other\ngods as objects of special devotion, but the worship of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nwas general.\n\n\n\n\nQUETZALCOATL = \u201cFEATHERED SERPENT\u201d\n\n    Area of Worship: The Plateau of Anahuac.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Chicunaui eecatl\u2014\u201cNine Wind.\u201d\n        Ce acatl\u2014\u201cOne Reed.\u201d\n\n    Relationship: Son of Iztacmixcoatl and Chimalman or Xochiquetzal;\n    one of the Tzitzimim\u00ea.\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Ruler of the second day-count, eecatl.\n        Ruler of the second week, ce ocelotl.\n        Ninth of the thirteen day-lords.\n\n    Festivals:\n        Ce acatl (movable feast).\n        Atlacahualco.\n\n    Compass Direction: East.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nGeneral.\u2014The insignia of Quetzalcoatl is fairly constant in its\nappearance. He usually wears the Huaxtec cone-shaped hat painted in the\ndesign of the jaguar-skin, which is occasionally divided vertically\ninto a black or blue and a red field, having an eye in the middle. The\nhair is bound by a leather strap set with jewels, which has a\nconventional bird\u2019s head on the front, and in Codex Borgia consistently\nshows a black, stepped pattern on a white ground. Elsewhere a bow with\nrounded ends takes the place of this strap, but in Borgia (sheet 62)\nthe hair is bound up with two intertwined snakes. At the back of the\nneck a fan-shaped nape-ornament is usually seen, consisting of black\nfeathers, from which rise the red plumes of the quetzal bird, and it\nseems, from the account of the costume sent to Cort\u00e9z by Motecuhzoma,\nthat this nape-appendage was made from grouse-feathers, although the\nSpanish account states that they belonged to the crow. The god usually\nwears white ear-pendants of hook-like shape, which, Sahagun states,\nwere made of gold. The necklace is of spirally voluted snail-shells,\nand on the breast is worn a large ornament, also sliced from a shell.\nThe ends of the loin-cloth are rounded off and are generally painted in\ntwo colours\u2014brown, the colour of the jaguar-skin, and white or red. The\ngod\u2019s atlatl, or spear-thrower, is painted with the stellar design of\nwhite circles on a black ground, and in his headdress is stuck the\nagave-leaf spike and the bone dagger, the implements of penance and\nmortification. The body-paint is frequently black, like that of the\npriests. Most of these insignia are of Huaxtec origin and show that\nQuetzalcoatl was usually associated with this coastal people. The\nsnail-shell ornament on the breast, the hook-shaped ear-pendant, the\nfan-shaped nape-ornament, and the cone-shaped cap, were undoubtedly of\nHuaxtec origin, and such objects have been taken from Huaxtec graves\nand are found represented on vases and jugs from the State of Hidalgo.\nIn many representations of him the god is seen wearing a long-snouted\nmask, usually painted a bright red, through which he was supposed to\nexpel the wind in his guise of Eecatl, the Wind-god. This mask is\nfrequently fringed with a beard.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 75: Quetzalcoatl\u2019s body-paint is a dark\ncolour, and in his hair he wears unspun cotton, as does Tlazoltcotl.\nSheet 76: Here his face is painted black and he wears the fillet with\nthe step-pattern and the two-coloured cap, and in his hair are stuck\nthe instruments of mortification. He holds in his hand a snake, which\nis to be regarded as the agricultural implement with which he tills the\nground.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 73: In this place he is set back to back with the\nDeath-god and is surrounded by the twenty day-signs. The body-paint is\nlight blue, and the anterior part of the face has the stellar painting\nof white circles on a black ground. His conical cap has the\nparti-coloured painting and the cross, the symbol of the four winds, in\nthe middle. On his breast he wears the snail-shell and in his hand a\nblue staff. His wind-mask is entirely covered with stellar and lunar\nemblems. His rattle-staff is light blue, in contradistinction to that\nof the Death-god, which is sprinkled with blood. Sheet 56: Here he is\nequipped with the hoe and wears the body-paint of a priest, a necklace\nof jaguar-skin and teeth, the conical bi-coloured cap, the stepped\nfillet with conventional bird\u2019s head in front, and the bearded\nface-mask. Stellar symbols and feather-balls dot his dress and\nheaddress. He stands back to back with the Death-god, and it is clear\nthat here he is intended to represent the heavenly Quetzalcoatl, the\ngiver of breath and life. On sheet 72 we see him as a priest surrounded\nby day-signs and implements of mortification. Sheet 19: As represented\nin this sheet he stands opposite the Death-god. He wears a\ndark-coloured garment, and what can be seen of his face is painted\nblack, with a spiral pattern. His mantle bears the cross-hatchings\nindicative of rain or water and is ornamented with feather balls. The\nred wind-mask protrudes beneath a parti-coloured cap with stellar eyes,\nand a fillet with step-pattern and conventional bird\u2019s head, and he\nwears the snail-shell breast ornament and carries the implements of\nmortification. Sheet 16: On the lower right-hand corner of this sheet\nhe is depicted in a precisely similar manner.\n\nQuetzalcoatl\u2019s Dress sent to Cort\u00e9z.\u2014When Cort\u00e9z landed at Vera Cruz,\nMotecuhzoma, believing him to be the god Quetzalcoatl returned, sent\nhim \u201cthe dress that was appropriate to him.\u201d [143] This consisted of\nfour costumes, that of Quetzalcoatl proper, and those of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nTlaloc, and Xiuhtecutli, the Fire-god, who were regarded as the four\ndeities dominant in the four quarters of the heavens, and had in the\nhigher theology become fused in the conception of Quetzalcoatl, or were\nregarded as variants of him. The Quetzalcoatl dress proper is said by\nSahagun to have consisted of the turquoise snake-mask, now to be seen\nin the British Museum, and which can be easily identified by the folds\nof the snake\u2019s body forming the eyebrows, the quetzal-feather\nadornment, and the turquoise throwing-stick, shaped in the form of a\nsnake. It seems probable, however, that this dress, although it is\ndescribed as that of Quetzalcoatl, was that associated with the\nFire-god.\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\u2014Sheet 89: Quetzalcoatl is here represented in a\ndancing attitude. He wears the Huaxtec hat made of jaguar-skin, the\nshield with the snail-shell ornament, which is also reproduced on his\nbreast, and the yellow and red face-painting. The bone \u201creed\u201d for\npiercing the tongue is stuck in his headgear, and from it depend balls\nof cotton. He carries an atlatl, or spear-thrower, symbolic of rain or\nwind, and similar in motif to the nose-ornament of the Maya God B. His\nmantle is cross-hatched to symbolize rain or water and is decorated\nwith red bows. He wears anklets of jaguar-skin, and a panache of green\nand yellow feathers.\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014In the illustration which\naccompanies his description in this MS. he wears a pointed cap of\njaguar-skin, surmounted by quetzal-plumes. The face and body are\npainted black with soot, and a curved band falls from beneath the hat\nto the neck. He wears the golden \u201cwater-snake\u201d collar, and on his back\nthe wing of the red guacamayo. Over the hips is slung a cloth with a\nred border. He wears white sandals, and pieces of jaguar-skin are\nfastened over the foot. On his shield he has the shell which is typical\nof him, and in his hand a staff with a motif like that of the nose of\nthe Maya God B. Sahagun says of him: \u201cHis image was always in a\nrecumbent position and covered with blankets. The face of it was very\nugly, the head large and furnished with a long beard.\u201d [144]\n\nTorquemada states that Quetzalcoatl was a white man, large-bodied,\nbroad-browed, great-eyed, with long black hair and a beard heavy and\nrounded. [145]\n\nAcosta says of Quetzalcoatl\u2019s image at Cholula: \u201cThey called it\nQuetzallcoalt. This idoll was in a great place in a temple very high.\nIt had about it gold, silver, jewels, very rich feathers, and habits of\ndivers colours. It had the forme of a man, but the visage of a little\nbird with a red bill, and above a combe full of warts, having ranks of\nteeth and the tongue hanging out. It carried upon the head a pointed\nmyter of painted paper, a sithe in the hand, and many toyes of gold on\nthe legs, with a thousand other foolish inventions, whereof all had\ntheir significations.\u201d [146]\n\nElsewhere Acosta says: \u201cThe greatest idoll of all their gods was called\nQuezcalcovately.... He never ware but one garment of cotton, which was\nwhite, narrow and long, and upon that a mantle beset with certain red\ncrosses. They have certain green stones which were his, and those they\nkeep for relickes. One of them is like an ape\u2019s head.\u201d\n\nAnales de Quauhtitlan.\u2014In this work Quetzalcoatl is described as\nwearing the turquoise snake-mask and the quetzal-feather ornament\u2014that\nis, the decorations of the Fire-god: \u201cLastly in the year one reed they\nsay, when he had arrived on the shore of the sea, then he began to weep\nand put off the garb with which he was arrayed, his quetzal-feather\nornament, his turquoise mask.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nSTATUARY\n\nA statuette of the god from the Valley of Mexico exhibits him in a high\ncap, ornamented round the lower portion with a serpentine motif, and\nwearing the sliced snail-shell dress-ornament. A caryatid found in the\nCalle de las Escalerillas, Mexico City, on the 16th of October 1900,\nrepresents him with a long, pointed beard, which might, however, be\ninterpreted as the mouth-mask of the Wind-god lowered down to show the\nupper part of the face more clearly, and it would seem from this statue\nthat the beard with which Quetzalcoatl is represented in some places in\nMexican art is nothing more or less than the mouth-mask pushed down\nover the chin and neck, although it must be admitted that his mask is\nfrequently depicted with what is undoubtedly a beard. A relief\nexcavated at the Castillo de Teayo shows Quetzalcoatl wearing the\nfeathered-serpent helmet-mask, which in this representation is most\nelaborate, and the sliced snail-shell dress-ornament. Two figures of\nQuetzalcoatl found near Texcuco exhibit considerable differentiation\nfrom other forms. In both he is seated on the top of a teocalli or\ntemple, and behind him is seen the solar emblem, represented as a\nlarge, flaming disc. He wears a high cap which reminds one of the crown\nof Upper Egypt, as seen in Egyptian representations, except that it is\nflanked on either side by two large studs or knobs and is surrounded at\nthe base by the serpent-motif, as in the specimen from the Valley of\nMexico. He also wears his usual breast-ornament. In a round sculpture\nfound at Puebla we perhaps see Quetzalcoatl as a butterfly, and can\nonly identify this figure as the god because of the wind-mask it wears.\n\n\n\n\nWALL-PAINTINGS\n\nIn several of the wall-paintings at Mitla, and especially in those on\nthe north side of Palace I, Quetzalcoatl is depicted as wearing the\ninsignia usually connected with him in Mexico. In one of these he wears\nthe Huaxtec cap with jaguar-skin markings, having the sacrificial\nimplements stuck in it, and the wind-mouth mask, with beard. The\nsnail-shell ornament adorns his shield. In another the facial insignia\nis less easily seen, but the large nape-fan with which he is frequently\nadorned is well depicted. Immediately behind this is a figure, which,\nthough partially destroyed, is still interesting because of its high\ndegree of conventionality. We have here the cap and panache of\nQuetzalcoatl, together with the strip running from brow to eye and from\neye to jaw, which is part of the face-painting of the Moon-god.\nMoreover, in the corner we have the symbol of the moon, a pot-shaped\nbone, so that here, I think, we have a symbol of Quetzalcoatl as the\nMoon-god. In the preceding figure, too, we have also the lunar emblem,\nin this place in shape like the nose-plug of the octli-gods, but\ncontaining the stellar eye, and flanked by balls of feather-down. It\nwould thus seem that the symbol has some reference to Quetzalcoatl in\nhis variant of the planet Venus. Moreover the eye appears as gouged\nout. This eye-gouging is seen in the Maya Books of Chilan Balam, in the\ncase of the god Itzamn\u00e1. These two latter paintings, Seler thinks, are\nsymbolic of the Uiyatao, or the high-priests of Mitla, who were\nregarded as incarnations of Quetzalcoatl. [147]\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe myths concerning Quetzalcoatl are numerous and conflicting. In the\nfirst place I shall provide a careful pr\u00e9cis of the more important,\ntheir prolixity rendering full quotation impossible.\n\nSahagun\u2019s account of Quetzalcoatl may be summarized as follows: The\narts had their inception with Quetzalcoatl. His houses were made of\nchalchiuites, silver, white, and red shells, and rich feathers. His\nfolk were nimble and swift in passage from one place to another, and\nwere called tlanquacemilhiyme. [148] He gave his commands to the\npeople for a hundred leagues round by means of a crier stationed on the\nmountain Tzotzitepetl. [149] He had wealth in abundance, provision in\nplenty, and in his time maize was so large in the head that a man might\nnot carry more than one stalk in his clasped arms. Pumpkins were in\ncircumference as great as a man is high, and the stalks of the wild\namaranth grew like trees. Cotton grew in all colours\u2014red, scarlet,\nyellow, violet, white, green, blue, black, grey, orange, and tawny. In\nthe city of Tollan, where Quetzalcoatl dwelt, were many birds of rich\nplumage and sweet song. The servants of Quetzalcoatl were wealthy and\nhad abundance of all things, and food was plentiful with them. Their\nmaster did penance by pricking his legs and drawing blood with the\nspines of the maguey and by washing at midnight in a fountain. But\nsorcerers came against Quetzalcoatl and his people, the Toltecs, and\nthese, we are told, were the gods Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, Uitzilopochtli, and\nTlacuepan. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 visited the house of Quetzalcoatl in the guise\nof an old man, but was told that he was sick, and was at first refused\nentrance. Later, however, he was admitted, Quetzalcoatl observing that\nhe had waited for him for many days. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 then produced a\ndraught of medicine which, he assured the sick king, would intoxicate\nhim, ease his heart, and carry his thoughts away from the trials and\nfatigues of death and departure. [150] This latter phrase roused\nQuetzalcoatl to ask where he must go, for that he had a premonition of\ndeparture seems clear. \u201cTo Tollantlapallan,\u201d replied Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\n\u201cwhere another old man awaits thee. He and you shall speak together,\nand on thy return thou shalt be as a youth, yea as a boy.\u201d With little\ngoodwill Quetzalcoatl quaffed the medicine, and having once tasted of\nit he drank more deeply, so that at last he became intoxicated and\nmaudlin. That which he had drunk was the wine made from the\nmaguey-plant, called teoncetl (\u201cdrink of the gods\u201d). And so great a\nlonging to depart came upon him that at length he arose and went from\nTollan. [151] Ere departing, Quetzalcoatl burned his houses of shells\nand silver and buried many precious things in the mountains and\nravines. He turned the cocoa-trees into mezquites and dispatched all\nthe birds of brilliant plumage in Anahuac, three hundred miles away. On\nhis journey to the coast he came to the hill Quauhtitlan, where he\nfound a great tree, under which he rested. Gazing into a mirror, as he\nreclined under its shade, he said, \u201cI am very old,\u201d named the place\nUeuequauhtitlan after his saying, [152] and stoned the tree. The stones\nhe cast at it sank into its trunk, and were to be seen remaining there\nfor long afterwards. Preceded by flute-players, he recommenced his\njourney, but once more became weary, and rested on a stone by the\nwayside. Looking towards Tollan, he wept, and his tears pitted the\nstone on which he sat, and the imprints of his hands and thighs also\nremained thereon. That place he called Temacpalco. Reaching a great\nriver, he halted until a stone bridge was built over it, and having\ncrossed, he called the place Tepanaoya. Certain sorcerers now met him,\nand asked him whither he was bound, why he had left his city of Tollan,\nand who would now do penance there. Quetzalcoatl replied that he must\ngo, that he was called to Tlapallan by the Sun. The sorcerers requested\nhim to leave behind his knowledge of the mechanical arts, the smelting\nof silver, the working of precious stones, and masonry, painting, and\nfeather-work. These he left with them perforce. But his treasure of\njewels he cast into the fountain of Cozcaapan hard by. Another magician\nwhom he met insisted upon his drinking a draught which he could give\n\u201cto none of the living.\u201d Intoxicated, he slept, and when he awoke, tore\nhis hair. That place was called Cachtoca. Pursuing his journey, he\npassed between a mountain of snow and a volcano, where his hump-backed\nand dwarfish servants perished from the excessive cold. Bitterly he\nbewailed their death in song. Passing on, leaving signs of his progress\non every hand, and sliding down the mountains, he tarried here and\nthere, building a tlachtli court at one place, the markings of which\nwere visible in deep gashes on the hills. Once he transfixed a tree\nwith a dart or with another tree, so that it resembled a cross. In\nother localities he constructed subterranean houses (mictlancalco),\nand elsewhere balanced a great rolling-stone, and on all these spots he\nconferred names. At length he came to the sea-shore, where he commanded\nthat a raft of snakes (coatapochtli) should be constructed for him. In\nthis he seated himself as in a canoe, put out to sea, and set out for\nTlapallan. [153]\n\nTorquemada\u2019s account of the Quetzalcoatl myth somewhat resembles that\nof Sahagun, due, no doubt, to the circumstance that he had access to\nthe unpublished MS. of that author, from which he borrowed in a\nwholesale manner. The points of difference are these: Quetzalcoatl was\nhigh-priest of Tollan, whence he migrated to Cholula. The ruler of\nTollan was one Huemac, but Quetzalcoatl was its chief in spiritual and\necclesiastical matters. In drinking the magic potion of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nQuetzalcoatl desired to render himself immortal. He left the impress of\nhis body on a stone situated on a mountain near the city of\nTlalnepantla (or Temacpalco), two leagues from Mexico, as the natives\ndeclared to Torquemada himself. Met by the sorcerers Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 and\nthe others who tried to hinder his going, he refused to stay his\nprogress, and said that he must pass on to the sun-land. Father\nSahagun, remarks Torquemada, when at Xochimilco, was asked by the\nnatives, who were keenly desirous of knowledge on the point, where\nTlapallan was, and replied that he did not know, as he had then not\nbeen long among them. The fountain in which Quetzalcoatl cast his\njewels was now called Coaapan, \u201cin the snake-water.\u201d He then passed on\nto Cholula, where he was adored as a god. When he had resided there for\ntwenty years, he was expelled by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. Setting out once more\nfor Tlapallan, accompanied by four virtuous youths, he embarked at\nCoatzacoalco. Bidding farewell to his disciples, he assured them that\nat a future time there would come by way of the sea, where the sun\nrises, certain white men with white beards, like him, and that these\nwould be his brothers and would rule the land. These disciples became\nthe rulers of the four provinces of Cholula. Quetzalcoatl was god of\nthe air, and during his life on earth was devoted to the careful\nobservance of the older forms of worship, but instituted many new\nrites, ceremonies, and festivals and made the calendar. Barren women\nprayed to him. He swept the road, so that the Tlaloque might rain. For\na month or so before the rainy season stormy winds blew throughout New\nSpain. The Cholulans preserved as relics green stones that had belonged\nto him, on one of which was carved a monkey\u2019s head. A great temple to\nhim was founded at Cholula. [154]\n\nElsewhere Torquemada descants on the Quetzalcoatl myth as follows: A\nbody of men came from the north by way of Panuco, dressed in long robes\nof black linen, cut low at the neck, with short sleeves. They came to\nTollan, but finding the country there too thickly peopled, passed on to\nCholula, where they were well received. Their chief was Quetzalcoatl, a\nman with ruddy complexion and long beard. These people multiplied and\nsent colonists to the Mixtec and Zapotec countries, raising the great\nbuildings at Mitla. They were cunning handicraftsmen, not so good at\nmasonry as at jewellers\u2019 work, sculpture, and agriculture. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nand Huemac conceived an enmity to Quetzalcoatl, and as he did not wish\nto go to war with them, he and his folk removed to Onohualco (Yucatan,\nTabasco, and Campeche). [155]\n\nMotolinia says of Quetzalcoatl that when Iztacmixcoatl, the Mexican\nAdam, married his second wife Chimalmat, she bore him Quetzalcoatl, who\ngrew up chaste and temperate. He instituted fasting and mortification,\nand never married. He founded the custom of drawing blood from the ears\nand tongue in penitence. A certain Chichemecatl fastened a leather\nstrap to his arm, near the shoulder, and from that time this\nChichemecatl was known as Acolhuatl, and became the ancestor of the\nColhua. Quetzalcoatl was god of the air and many temples were raised to\nhim. [156]\n\nMendieta has much to say of Quetzalcoatl, but in a synopsis of his\naccount we retain only such circumstances as have not been already\nalluded to: Many different traditions regarding Quetzalcoatl existed,\nsome saying that he was the son of Camacotli (Camaxtli), god of hunting\nand fishing, and of his wife Chimialuna; others that Chimialuna, when\nsweeping one day, found a chalchihuitl stone, by virtue of which she\nbecame miraculously pregnant and gave birth to Quetzalcoatl, who came\neither from Tollan or Yucatan. The people came to love him, not only\nbecause he taught them handicrafts, and desired no offerings but those\nof bread, flowers, and perfumes. He forbade all war and disturbance.\nPilgrims came to his shrine at Cholula from all parts of Mexico, even\nthe enemies of Cholula, and the lords of distant lands built them\nchapels and idols there. Among all the gods only Quetzalcoatl was\ncalled Lord, and men swore by him. The gods thought it well that the\npeople should have some means of writing by which they might direct\nthemselves, and two of their number, Oxomoco and Cipactonal, who dwelt\nin a cave in Cuernavaca, especially considered the matter. Cipactonal\nthought that her descendant Quetzalcoatl should be consulted, and she\ncalled him into counsel. He, too, thought the idea of a calendar good,\nand the two addressed themselves to the task of making the tonalamatl.\nTo Cipactonal was given the privilege of choosing and writing the first\nsign. She painted the cipactli animal, and called the sign ce cipactli\n(\u201cone cipactli\u201d). Oxmoco then wrote ome acatl (\u201ctwo cane\u201d), and\nQuetzalcoatl \u201cthree house,\u201d and so on, until the thirteen signs were\ncompleted. [157]\n\nAnother form of the Quetzalcoatl myth given by Mendieta is in substance\nas follows: Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 let himself down from the upper regions by\nmeans of a spider\u2019s web, and coming to Tollan engaged in a game of\ntlachtli (the native ball game) with Quetzalcoatl, in the midst of\nwhich he transformed himself into a tiger. Those who watched the game\nwere panic-stricken, and cast themselves pell-mell into a ravine, and\nwere drowned in a river which flowed therein. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 then\nharassed Quetzalcoatl from city to city, until he drove him to Cholula,\nand latterly to Tlapallan, where he died, and where his followers burnt\nhis body, thus inaugurating the custom of burning the dead. [158]\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis says regarding\nQuetzalcoatl:\n\n\u201cQuetcalcoatl they say was he who created the world; and they bestowed\nupon him the appellation of Lord of the Wind, because they said that\nTonacatecotli when it appeared good to him breathed and begat\nQuecalcoatle. They erected round temples to him without any corners.\nThey said that it was he (who was also lord of these thirteen signs\nwhich are here represented) who formed the first man. They celebrated a\nfestival on the sign of four earthquakes, to the destroyer with\nreference to the fate which again waited the world; for they said that\nit had undergone four destructions and would again be destroyed. He\nalone had a human body like that of men; the other gods were of an\nincorporeal nature.\n\n\u201cAfter the deluge the custom of sacrificing commenced. Topilcin\nQuetcalcoatle was born on the day of seven canes; and they celebrated\non this same day of seven canes a great festival in Cholula, to which\nthey came from all parts of the country and the cities and brought\ngreat presents to the lords and papas of the temple; and they did the\nsame on the day on which he disappeared or died, which was the day of\nOne Cane. These festivals happened at the expiration of every period of\nfifty-two years.\n\n\u201cThey here fasted the last four days to Quecalcoatl of Tula, who is he\nwho was named after the first Calcoatle; and now they name him One\nCane, which is the star Venus, of which they tell the fable accredited\namongst them.\n\n\u201cTlavizcalpantecutli is the star Venus the first created light\n(Civahteltona) before the deluge. They say that it was a fire or a\nstar: it was created before the sun. This star (Venus) is Quecalcoatle.\nThey say this is the star which we call Lucifer from its light; and\nthey accordingly paint it with the sign of one Cane, which was the day\ndedicated to it. He took this name on the occasion of his departure or\ndisappearance. Tlavizcalpantecutli is the God of Morning when it begins\nto dawn: he is also the Lord of Twilight on the approach of Night: he\npresided over these thirteen days during the four last of which they\nfasted. It properly was the first light which appeared in the world; it\nhere signifies the light which diffuses itself over things, or the\nsurface of the earth.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A says:\n\n\u201cThey invented dreams, the result of their own blindness, relating that\na god of the name of Citallatonac, which is the sign seen in heaven\ncalled St. James\u2019s or the Milky Way, sent an ambassador from heaven on\nan embassy to a virgin of Tulan called Chimalman (a shield) who had two\nsisters, the one named Tzochitlique and the other Couatlique; and that\nthe three being alone in the house, two of them, observing the\nambassador of heaven, died of fright, Chimalman alone remaining alive,\nto whom the ambassador announced that it was the will of this god that\nshe should conceive a son; and having delivered to her the message, he\nrose and left the house, and as soon as he had left it she conceived a\nson without connection with man, who they called Quetzalcoatle, who\nthey say is the god of air, and his temples are round in the manner of\nchurches, although till that time such was not the fashion of their\ntemples. He was the inventor of temples of this form as we shall show.\nHe it was, as they say, who caused hurricanes and in my opinion was the\ngod who was called Citaladuali and it was he who destroyed the world by\nwinds. This painting is here wanting, together with another which\nrepresented that as soon as the son of this virgin was born he\npossessed the use of reason. The son of the virgin, Topilcin\nQuetzalcoatle, knowing that the vices of men were necessarily the cause\nof the troubles of the world, determined on asking the goddess\nChalchiutlicue (this was the heavenly designation of the virgin\nChimalman) who is she who remained after the deluge with the man in the\ntree, and is the mother of the god Tlaloque, whom they have made\ngoddess of water, that they might obtain rain when they stood in need\nof and accordingly Quetzalcoatle commenced offering sacrifices to\nobtain rain, as a period of four years had elapsed since it had rained.\n\n\u201cQuetzalcoatltopilzin does penance and makes offerings of prayers,\nsacrifice, gold gems, incense, etc., to appease divine wrath against\nthe people; draws his own blood with thorns. After the expiration of a\nlong period during which he continued his penance a lizard appeared\nscratching the ground giving him to understand that the scourge of\nheaven was past and that the earth would with joy produce its fruits,\nwhich quickly came to pass; and accordingly they relate that on a\nsudden such abundance followed that the earth, which had remained so\nmany years barren, bore many kinds of fruit and from that even they\ntook four signs.\n\n\u201cQuetzalcoatl\u2019s example teaches men to do penance, make offerings. He\nfounded four temples\u2014the first for the nobles; second, for the people;\nthird, House of Fear or Serpent; fourth, Temple of Shame.\n\n\u201cOf Quetzalcoatle they relate that, proceeding on his journey, he\narrived at the Red Sea, which is here painted, and which they named\nTlapallan; and that entering into it, they saw no more of him, nor knew\nwhat became of him, except that they say that he desired them at the\ntime of his departure to restrain their grief and to expect his return,\nwhich would take place at the appointed time; and accordingly they\nexpect him even to the present time: and when the Spaniards came to\nthis country they believed that it was he, and when at a later period\nof 1550 when the \u00c7apotecas revolted, they alleged, as the cause of\ntheir insurrection, the report that their god who had to redeem them\nhad already come. Quetzalcoatle was born on the sign One Cane; and the\nyear of the Spaniards\u2019 arrival commenced on the sign One Cane,\naccording to their ancient Computation: whence the occasion arose of\ntheir believing that the Spaniards were their gods; because they say\nthat he had foretold that a bearded nation would arrive in those\ncountries who would subject them. They adored him as a god, as will be\nseen: for they believed it certain that he had ascended into heaven and\nwas that star which was visible at the north of the sun before the\nbreak of day, which is the planet Venus; and they represented him\naccordingly as has already been shown.\n\n\u201cQuetzalcoatle was the first inventor of sacrifices of human blood,\namongst the various other things which they offered to the gods; and\nthis was the manner in which they pierced their tongues, that the blood\nmight flow ... and their ears and penis; till at last, as we shall\npresently mention, the custom of human sacrifices was introduced, when\nthey tore out the hearts of the victims to present them to the face of\nthe idol which they considered the image of their wretched god.\n\n\u201cThey declare that their supreme deity Tonacatecotle, whom we have just\nmentioned, who by another name was called Citinatonali, when it\nappeared good to him, breathed and begot Quetzalcoatle, not by\nconnection with woman, but by his breath alone, as we have observed\nabove, when he sent his ambassador, as they say, to the virgin of Tula.\nThey believed him to be the god of the air and he was the first to whom\nthey built temples and churches, which they formed perfectly round\nwithout any angles. They say that it was he who effected the\nreformation of the world by penance, since as, according to his\naccount, his father had created the world and men had given themselves\nup to vice, on which account it had been frequently destroyed,\nCitinatonali sent his son into the world to reform it.... They assigned\nto him the dominion over the other thirteen signs, which are here\nrepresented, in the same manner in which they assigned the preceding\nthirteen to his father. They celebrated a great festival on this sign,\nas we shall see on the sign of four earthquakes, which is the fourth in\norder here, because they feared that the world would be destroyed in\nthat sign, as he had foretold to them when he disappeared in the Red\nSea, which event occurred on the same sign. As they considered him\ntheir advocate, they celebrated a solemn festival and fasted during\nfour signs.\u201d\n\nThe Anales de Quauhtitlan or Codex Chimalpopoc\u00e2 states that\nQuetzalcoatl was born in no natural manner, but was a nine years\u2019\nchild. He created the four classes of men: the men of the four \u201csuns\u201d\nor periods of the world were made by him on the day chicome ehecatl, or\n\u201cseven wind.\u201d The record proceeds to relate the circumstances of his\nrule at Tollan, the manner in which he discovered the value of precious\nstones, gold and silver, red and white shells, quetzal feathers, the\ncotinga and red sparrowbill feathers, the various species of cocoa and\ncotton. When he had drunk the octli offered him by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, he\nforgot his chastity in the intoxication and indulged in intercourse\nwith Quetzalpetlatl, for which sin he was forced to quit Mexico. When\nhe was driven from Tollan in the year one reed, he arrived on the\nsea-shore, wept, and divested himself of his garb and turquoise\nsnake-mask. Then he immolated himself by burning, his ashes became dust\nand changed into birds and his heart was converted into the morning\nstar. Lastly, it is said of him that when he died he was not visible\nfor four days, during which period he tarried in the Underworld. For a\nsubsequent four days \u201che was bones.\u201d \u201cAfter eight days appeared the\ngreat star which they called Quetzalcoatl. They said that he thus\nmounted the throne as a god.\u201d\n\nIn its second or historical portion the codex states that Quetzalcoatl\ndiscovered maize which was concealed in the mountain Tonacatepetl. Many\nof the gods searched for it, but Quetzalcoatl, taking the form of a\nblack ant, was guided to the spot by a red ant. As he was unable to\nlift the mountain, it was split open by the magical prowess of Xolotl\nin his manifestation of Nanahuatl, and the maize became the spoil of\nQuetzalcoatl. But it was stolen from him by Tlaloc, the rain-god\nproper, perhaps an allegorical manner of alluding to the more direct\ninfluence of that deity upon growth.\n\nOther myths relating to Quetzalcoatl, chiefly as a creative agency,\nwill be found in the pr\u00e9cis of the opening chapters of the Historia de\nlos Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, in the chapter on Cosmogony.\n\nIn Codex Borgia we find a passage (sheets 35\u201346) which appears to refer\nto the progress of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 through the infernal\nregions, and which might be described as the Mexican \u201cHarrying of\nHell.\u201d On this passage Seler has briefly commented (see his Commentary\non Codex Vaticanus B, p. 119).\n\n\n\n\nCENTRAL AMERICAN MYTHS RELATING TO QUETZALCOATL\n\nQuetzalcoatl is, perhaps, singular among the deities of Mexico in that\na number of well-authenticated Central American myths cluster around\nhis name in its forms of Kukulcan, Gucumatz, and Votan. Certain of\nthese must be considered here, for purposes of comparison and analogy.\n\nNu\u00f1ez de la Vega: A book in the Quiche tongue, said to have been\nwritten by Votan, a local name for Quetzalcoatl, was at one time in the\npossession of Nu\u00f1ez de la Vega, Bishop of Chiapas, who included\nportions of it in his Constituciones Diocesianos de Chiapas, but\nnevertheless destroyed it in his holocaust of MSS. at Heuheutlan in\n1691. Ordo\u00f1ez de Aguilar had, however, made a copy of it before its\ndestruction, and incorporated it in his Historia de Cielo MS. In this\nwork Votan declared himself \u201ca snake,\u201d a descendant of Imos, of the\nline of Chan [159] of the race of Chivim. Taking Aguilar\u2019s account\nalong with that of Nu\u00f1ez de la Vega, as both rely upon the same\nauthority, we find that Votan proceeded to America by divine command,\nhis mission being to lay the foundation of civilization. With this\nobject in view he departed from Valum Chivim, [160] passing the\ndwelling of the thirteen snakes, and arrived in Valum Votan, whence,\nwith some members of his family, he set out to form a settlement,\nascending the Usumacinta River and ultimately founding Palenque. By\nreason of their peculiar dress the Tzendal Indians called them\nTzequitles, or \u201cmen with shirts,\u201d but consented to amalgamate with\nthem. Ordo\u00f1ez states that when Votan had established himself at\nPalenque he made several visits to his original home. On one of these\nhe came to a tower which had been intended to reach the heavens, a\nproject which had been brought to naught by the linguistic confusion of\nthose who conceived it. Finally he was permitted to reach \u201cthe rock of\nheaven\u201d by a subterranean passage. Returning to Palenque, he found that\nothers of his race had arrived there, and with them he made a friendly\npact. He built a temple by the Heuheutan River, known, from its\nsubterranean chambers, as \u201cthe House of Darkness,\u201d and here he\ndeposited the national records under the charge of certain old men\ncalled tlapianes, or guardians, and an order of priestesses. Here also\nwere kept a number of tapirs. A quotation of the passage dealing with\nthis temple may be made from Nu\u00f1ez de la Vega:\n\n\u201cVotan is the third heathen in the calendar (that is the deity who is\nascribed to the third division of the calendar), and in the little\nhistory written in the Indian language all the provinces and cities in\nwhich he tarried were mentioned; and to this day there is always a clan\nin the city of Teopisa that they call the Votans. It is also said that\nhe is the lord of the hollow wooden instrument which they call\ntepanaguaste (that is, the Mexican teponaztli); that he saw the great\nwall, namely, the tower of Babel, which was built from earth to heaven\nat the bidding of his grandfather, Noah; and that he was the first man\nwhom God sent to divide and apportion this country of India, and that\nthere, where he saw the great wall, he gave to every nation its special\nlanguage. It is related that he tarried in Huehueta (which is a city in\nSoconusco), and that there he placed a tapir and a great treasure in a\nslippery (damp, dark, subterranean) house, which he built by the breath\nof his nostrils, and he appointed a woman as chieftain, with tapianes\n(that is, Mexican tlapiani, \u201ckeepers\u201d) to guard her. This treasure\nconsisted of jars, which were closed with covers of the same clay, and\nof a room in which the picture of the ancient heathens who are in the\ncalendar were engraved in stone, together with chalchiuites (which are\nsmall, heavy, green stones) and other superstitious images; and the\nchieftainess herself and the tapianes, her guardians, surrendered all\nthese things, which were publicly burned in the market place of\nHuehueta when we inspected the aforesaid province in 1691. All the\nIndians greatly revere this Votan, and in a certain province they call\nhim \u2018heart of the cities\u2019 (Corazon de los pueblos).\u201d\n\nIn his ninth Pastoral Letter Nu\u00f1ez says of Quetzalcoatl:\n\n\u201cIn most of the Calendars, the seventh sign is the figure of a man and\na snake, which they call Cuchulchan. The masters have explained it as a\nsnake with feathers which moves in the water. This sign corresponds\nwith Mexzichaut (Mixcoatl), which means Cloudy Serpent, or, of the\nclouds. The people also consult them in order to work injury on their\nenemies, taking the lives of many through such devilish artifices, and\ncommitting unspeakable atrocities.\u201d\n\nThe Popol Vuh.\u2014The myths relating to Quetzalcoatl under his name of\nGucumatz in the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiche of Guatemala,\nare difficult to summarize. In the first chapter he is alluded to as\n\u201cthe serpent covered with feathers, the heart of the lakes, the heart\nof the sea, master of the sky, master of the blue expanse,\u201d and is\nconnected with the creative gods. Along with Hurakan (Tezcatlipoc\u00e2) he\ncreates the world by uttering the word \u201cearth.\u201d The creation of man\nhaving been considered, the wherewithal for his sustenance is debated.\nGucumatz, who is sometimes alluded to in the plural, like the Hebrew\nElohim, succeeds in discovering maize in Paxil by the aid of the fox,\njackal, parrot, and crow, and obtains the seeds of other alimentary\nplants (pt. iii, c. i.) Gucumatz then created man by a \u201cmiracle\u201d (c.\nii). In c. v, pt. iii, Quetzalcoatl is alluded to as Tohil, a parallel\nfor which we have justification in ver. 19 of c. x, where in the song\ncalled Kamucu (\u201cWe see\u201d) the first men sing: \u201cTruly Tohil is the name\nof the god of the Zaqui nation, which was called Yolcuat-quetzalcuat\nwhen we separated in the place Tolan in Zuiva.\u201d But the myths relating\nto this deity are obviously tribal and local, and I am of opinion that\nthey refer to some tribal deity who possessed some of the\ncharacteristics of Quetzalcoatl and who was identified with him by the\nQuiches in rather an arbitrary fashion. [161]\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nAtlacahualco.\u2014The festival of Atlacahualco or Quaitl Eloa was, says\nSahagun, sacred to Quetzalcoatl, as well as to the Tlaloque. For an\naccount of it see the section which deals with Tlaloc.\n\nCe Acatl.\u2014Says Sahagun: \u201cOn the first day of the sign ce acatl the\ngreat folk made a feast to Quetzalcoatl, the god of winds. This was\ncelebrated in the calmecac, and here they offered rich gifts to his\nidol, perfumes and things to eat. They said it was the sign of\nQuetzalcoatl.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThe order of priests devoted to the service of Quetzalcoatl [162] was\ncalled Tlamacazcayotl, and its members Tlamacazque. Of these Clavigero,\nwho was well informed regarding the Mexican priesthood, says: \u201cAmongst\nthe different orders or congregation, both of men and women, who\ndedicated themselves to the worship of some particular gods, that of\nQuetzalcoatl is worthy to be mentioned. The life led in the colleges or\nmonasteries of either sex, which were devoted to this imaginary god,\nwas uncommonly rigid and austere. The dress of the order was extremely\ndecent; they bathed regularly at midnight, and watched until about two\nhours before day, singing hymns to their god, and observing many rules\nof an austere life. They were at liberty to go to the mountains at any\nhour of the day or night, to spill their blood; this was permitted them\nfrom a respect to the virtue which they were all thought to possess.\nThe superiors of the monasteries bore also the name of Quetzalcoatl,\nand were persons of such high authority, that they visited but the king\nwhen it was necessary. The members of this religious order were\ndestined to it from their infancy. The parents of the child invited the\nsuperior to an entertainment, who usually deputed one of his subjects.\nThe deputy brought the child to him, upon which he took the boy in his\narms and offered him with a prayer to Quetzalcoatl, and put a collar\nabout his neck, which was to be worn until he was seven years old. When\nthe boy completed his second year, the superior made a small incision\nin his breast, which, like the collar, was another mark of his\ndestination. As soon as the boy attained his seventh year he entered\ninto the monastery, having first heard a long discourse from his\nparents, in which they advertised him of the vow which they had made to\nQuetzalcoatl, and exhorted him to fulfil it, to behave well, to submit\nhimself to his prelate, and to pray to the gods for his parents and the\nwhole nation.\u201d\n\nThe high-priest of Quetzalcoatl was stationed at Cholula and was,\nperhaps, the most venerated ecclesiastic in Mexico.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES\n\nThe principal temple of the cult of Quetzalcoatl in Mexico was the\nwell-known teocalli at Cholula. He had also a shrine in the great\ntemple court at Mexico, built in circular form, and thus typical of the\nWind-god.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThe latest of the myths concerning Quetzalcoatl are obviously those\nwhich regard him as a culture-hero who enters the country as an alien,\nand, his beneficent work performed, withdraws to the place whence he\ncame, under pressure of malignant opposition. Had the basic outline of\nhis myth been more carefully examined, fewer unsatisfactory hypotheses\nconcerning Quetzalcoatl\u2019s nature might have been ventured upon. The\nMexicans themselves recognized Quetzalcoatl as a wind-god, but Dr.\nSeler has not seen fit to accept their assurance upon this point in\ntoto, and at various times has advanced the hypotheses that\nQuetzalcoatl represents the wind, the planet Venus, or the moon,\nlatterly confining his personality almost entirely to the lamp of\nnight. [163]\n\nIn my view the physical phenomena which occur in connection with the\ncourses of the winds typical of the Mexican plateau provide by far the\nmost simple and natural explanation of the nature of the god\nQuetzalcoatl. From April or May to the beginning of October the\ntrade-wind blows from the east coast over the Plateau of Anahuac,\nbringing with it abundance of rain, and accelerating vegetable growth,\nthus actually \u201csweeping the ways for the rain-gods.\u201d Its advance is\ncomparatively slow, the rains beginning three or four weeks earlier in\nVera Cruz than in Puebla and Mexico. At the beginning of October,\nhowever, it is invariably modified by the local monsoon, which\ninterrupts it over wide areas, or in certain districts invades it in\nviolent cyclonic storms, dissipating its energies and altering its\ncourse. Quetzalcoatl represents the gentle trade-wind, which ushers in\nthe growth-making rains. His reign of peace, plenty, and fertility\nover, he comes into opposition with Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, who represents the\nmonsoon and who chases his rival \u201cfrom city to city,\u201d ravening at him\nlike a tiger, says Mendieta, and at last hustling him out of the\ncountry. That Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 is also a god of wind is certain, as is\nproved by one of his names, Yoalli Ehecatl, \u201cWind of Night,\u201d and that\nhe is the monsoon or hurricane is proved beyond all doubt by the\ncircumstance that he is said to have rushed along the highways at night\nat extraordinary speed, and that Hurakan, his Quiche name, is still\nemployed for the very wind he represented, and has become a generic\nname for a tempestuous wind in practically all European languages,\nwhich have without question adopted it from the American word. [164]\n\nIf this simple elucidation of the original myth be accepted, it will be\nseen how naturally its later modifications arise out of it or adapt\nthemselves to it. But before we examine the manner in which they\ncrystallized around it, it becomes necessary to disentangle from the\nwhole mass that portion of it which alludes to the advent of a\ncivilizing agency upon the Mexican plateau.\n\nThis speaks of the advance of a body of men from the neighbourhood of\nVera Cruz to the Mexican plateau, and precisely in the direction whence\nthe trade-wind comes\u2014that is, from the east, the direction of the land\nof the Huaxtecs, a people of proto-Maya stock.\n\nQuetzalcoatl is dressed in Huaxtec garb, and wears the truncated\nsugar-loaf hat and shell-ornaments of this people. This may signify\nnothing more than that he was so attired because he represented a wind\nwhich blew from the direction of the land of the Huaxtecs. Yet, it is\ncertain that several of the deities adopted by the Mexicans had\nundoubtedly a Huaxtec origin, and this is markedly the case with\nTlazoltcotl. There seems to be some ground, then, for the hypothesis\nthat Quetzalcoatl was a god of Huaxtec origin. But the acceptance of\nsuch a theory will entail the acknowledgment of certain hypotheses\nwhich are among the most controverted questions in Mexican arch\u00e6ology.\nIn the first place, it makes Quetzalcoatl the deity of a people of Maya\nstock, and secondly it would seem to imply a Huaxtec or Maya origin for\nthe much-debated Toltec culture.\n\nA discussion of these points must begin with the question, \u201cHas the\nmyth of Quetzalcoatl\u2019s civilizing mission to the Mexican plateau any\nhistorical justification?\u201d Regarding the reality of the civilization\nknown as Toltec there is now no question, although I fully admit that\nit took me a long time to realize this, thanks principally to my\nacceptance of Brinton\u2019s well-known theory on the subject, to which I\nattached far too much weight. But admitting Toltec reality, what proof\ndo we possess that such a civilizing agency as that of Quetzalcoatl\ngave an impetus to the \u201cprehistoric\u201d culture of Tollan? But little\u2014that\nis if we are to regard Quetzalcoatl as a man. But in his guise as the\ngentle trade-wind that ushers in the rains, we have every reason to see\nin him the founder of the Toltec civilization. Such a culture as the\nToltec must undoubtedly have had its origin in agricultural efficiency.\nOnly through agricultural efficiency can the corv\u00e9e system arise and\nextensive building become possible. The god whose bountiful patronage\nof growth assisted the arts in this manner seems in time to have been\n\u2018humanized.\u2019 [165] Legends of his civilizing prowess clustered around\nhis supposititious memory, he was thought to have been a culture-hero\nwho actually moved and had his being among the people. Kings or rulers\nwere called by his name\u2014a lucky name of happy associations\u2014and the\nillusion that he actually existed was thereby heightened. These rulers\nseem to have flourished in Mexico ere yet the offices of king and\npriest had become separate, so that it is not surprising that\nQuetzalcoatl was regarded as having been the priest of his own cult, or\nthat the Mexican pontiffs of historical times bore his name. From this\npoint of view, then, Quetzalcoatl was certainly the \u201cfounder\u201d of the\nToltec civilization. If this theory be accepted, I do not see how the\nmyth of Quetzalcoatl can be regarded as having any basis in actual\nfact, unless one can find in the rather vague statements of certain\nearly writers on Mexico a further basis for discussion as to his\nreality. To me the meaning of the myth seems very plain. It may be that\nHuaxtec influence was brought to bear upon Toltec civilization, but my\nhypothesis does not seem to me to require assistance from such an\nadmission.\n\n\n\n\nCRITICISM OF THE LATER ELEMENTS OF QUETZALCOATL\u2019S MYTH\n\nIn short, the myth of Quetzalcoatl as recorded by Sahagun is obviously\ndeveloped from a much older one which referred to a season of plenteous\nrain\u2014the period of the rule of the gentle and beneficent god\nrepresenting the trade-wind. As it was connected with prosperous\nconditions in agriculture, it was naturally brought into connection\nwith the Toltec time, the \u201cgood old times of long ago,\u201d when conditions\nwere greatly better, and no mouth knew want. Such a concept was\nobviously of later origin. The revised myth took on a cultural\ncomplexion. In terms of allegory, it tells how the powers of the\nrain-making priest-god fail him; he becomes sick, and is beguiled and\ndefeated by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, the rival wind-god, who tells him that\n\u201canother old man\u201d awaits him in Tlapallan. And here we seem to find\ninterpolated a reference to the guardian genius of the fountain of\nperpetual youth, the reservoir of rain and all refreshment, which\nQuetzalcoatl must visit if he would be cured of the ills of old age,\nand he is counselled to speak with its keeper if he would return to\nMexico \u201cas a boy.\u201d The destruction of his treasure by the banished god\nseems to point to a reminiscence of the downfall of the Toltec state,\nand the concealment of his gold and gems by burial to analogous Toltec\npractice on the defeat or decline of that civilized folk. With his\ndeparture the reign of plenty ceases, the trees wither, the birds\nmigrate, the season of the trade-wind rains has come to an end. History\nand myth are perhaps combined in this story of the latter days of the\nToltec r\u00e9gime and those of the revivifying rains. The priest-god\nwithdraws eastwards to the \u201cflute-playing\u201d of the retreating\ntrade-winds. Nahua sorcerers detain him in order to learn the Toltec\narts, perhaps a mythical manner of showing how the Nahua barbarians\nforced captive Toltecs to teach them the mysteries of stone- and\nmetal-craft. He is given the draught of the dead, \u201cthat none of the\nliving can drink,\u201d a mythical episode common in all parts of the world.\nHis dwarfish followers (the rain-gods, the Tlaloque, with whom Sahagun\nassociates him elsewhere) are frozen to death in the cold of the\nmountains, otherwise the rain is congealed into snow.\n\nTorquemada\u2019s version of Quetzalcoatl\u2019s myth is eloquent of the\npre-eminence of his cult at Cholula. The priest-god\u2019s prophecy of his\nreturn bears an extraordinary resemblance to that given in the Books of\nChilan Balam, a Guatemalan native production, regarding the coming of\nwhite men to Central America. [166]\n\nMotolinia\u2019s story of the fixing of the strap on Quetzalcoatl\u2019s arm is\nmerely a grotesque explanation of the name Acolhua, which in reality\nsignifies \u201cthe folk of the great shoulder,\u201d \u201cthe pushers,\u201d \u201cthe\nhustling invaders.\u201d\n\nMendieta, in dwelling upon Quetzalcoatl\u2019s dislike of war, merely\nretains for us a characteristic of the effeminate people of Cholula.\nThe appearance of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 as a spider is typical of the god of the\ndry season, or of the dry-rot prevalent in that period of the year. As\na tiger he symbolizes the fierceness of the hurricane, and the tlachtli\ngame which he and Quetzalcoatl engage in is undoubtedly symbolic of the\nseasonal strife between the wind-gods.\n\n\n\n\nDEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPTION OF QUETZALCOATL\n\nSummarizing the myths relating to Quetzalcoatl we find:\n\n(1) That all of them have their origin in or refer back to an original\nnature-myth, in which Quetzalcoatl, the trade-wind, is, at the end of\nthe rainy season, regarded as driven from the Mexican Plateau by\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 (Hurakan) in his guise of the monsoon, or hurricane.\n\n(2) That this myth in the first place became confounded with traditions\nof the Toltec civilization, naturally enough, as that civilization was\nthe direct outcome of the agricultural wealth stimulated by the god\nrepresenting the trade-wind.\n\n(3) That it seems to have been associated with a myth relating to the\nfountain of youth, that is, the fountain in which the refreshing and\nrevivifying rains were stored, to which Quetzalcoatl must return for\nrejuvenation and a fresh rain-supply.\n\n(4) That the conception of the god Quetzalcoatl became humanized in the\nlight of the agricultural and other manifestations of Toltec culture,\nthus bringing about the idea of his existence as a priest-king, and\nculminating in the establishment of a line of priestly rulers bearing\nhis name, which endured as long as Mexican civilization.\n\n(5) Out of these conceptions there naturally arose other related ideas,\nas those of:\n\n(a) Quetzalcoatl as inventor of the tonalamatl, the instrument by which\nthe festal days of the rain-cult were originally noted, but which on\nthe adoption of the solar calendar as time-count degenerated into what\nmay be regarded as an astrological table.\n\n(b) The lunar basis upon which the tonalamatl was founded connected\nQuetzalcoatl with the moon. [167]\n\n(c) Regarded as inventor of the tonalamatl, he gained a reputation as\nthe possessor of profound hieratic wisdom, and came to be looked upon\nas the magician or sage par excellence, the patron of education, the\nrain-maker who knew precisely when the blood shed in penance should be\nspent in order that it might return to the soil of Anahuac in an\nabundant rainfall.\n\n(d) Quetzalcoatl as the god of wind was also regarded as the breath of\nlife, a phenomenon encountered in many mythologies, and therefore came\nto be conceived as the agency by which souls were originally placed in\nhuman bodies. From this, too, we may argue his appearance as a creator,\nor cosmic deity, although it may have been in his character as\nfertilizer that he came to be regarded in this light.\n\n(e) Quetzalcoatl is the great penitent, the supreme protagonist of the\npenitential system, because without the blood spent in penitential\nexercise no rain might fall. The secondary character of this conception\nis probable.\n\n(f) Quetzalcoatl seems at a later date to have been regarded as the god\nof the four quarters of the compass, a conception of him indubitably\nevolved from his status as a wind-god. I think I also perceive signs\nthat from this latter idea was further evolved a conception of him as\ngod of the four elements\u2014fire, air, earth, and water. He is the fire\nand the flint, because of the lightning which in Mexico accompanies the\nfall of the trade-wind rain. He is the air in his r\u00f4le of Wind-god, and\nas such is symbolized by the bird, the natural inhabitant of the air,\nthe beak of which he uses as a funnel from which to expel the wind. He\nis earth, and, his myth says, a builder of subterranean houses, and\nsometimes bears the earth-staff of agriculture. [168] He is water, or\nrain, in which guise he is typified by the feathered snake.\n\nThis conception of him, evidently strongly sophisticated by priestly\ntheological science, is illustrated in the Codex Magliabecchiano, where\nhe is represented on one sheet along with Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, Tlaloc, and\nUitzilopochtli. This group, in my opinion, represents the four\nelements: Fire (Uitzilopochtli), as possessor of the tlachinalli\nsymbol, a hieroglyph for water and fire, and as sun-god; Air\n(Quetzalcoatl); Earth (Tezcatlipoc\u00e2), who as Tepeyollotl was an\nearth-deity; and Water (Tlaloc). The picture may also be descriptive of\nthe four points of the compass over which he rules. But above and\nbeyond this, as Seler has shown, it implies that these deities were\nlater embodied in the idea of Quetzalcoatl. When Cort\u00e9z, coming from\nthe East, landed at Vera Cruz, the Mexicans naturally believed that\nQuetzalcoatl had returned, and Motecuhzoma sent him as an offering \u201cthe\ndress appropriate to him,\u201d four kinds of attire, the ceremonial\ncostumes of Uitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, Tlaloc, and Quetzalcoatl.\n\n\n\n\nETYMOLOGY\n\nThere but remains the etymology of Quetzalcoatl\u2019s name. It is\ncompounded of the element quetzalli and coatl. The first denotes the\nbright green tail-feathers of the quetzal bird, and coatl = \u201csnake,\u201d so\nthat the whole implies \u201cfeathered snake.\u201d The generally accepted belief\nis that this name applies to the rain-bearing clouds which accompany\nthe trade-wind, although others have seen in it a description of the\nrain itself, and still others the ripples made by wind on water. But\nquetzal in a secondary sense means \u201cprecious,\u201d and coatl is capable of\nbeing translated \u201ctwin.\u201d The Mexicans themselves, however, frequently\ndrew and sculptured the god as a feathered serpent, although this may\neasily have possessed a merely pictographic significance. In any case,\nafter prolonged consideration on the etymology of the name, I do not,\nso far, see any reason to quarrel with the currently accepted rendering\nof it.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTHE CREATIVE DEITIES\n\n\nTONACATECUTLI\u2014TONACACIUATL (TONACATECUTLI = \u201cLORD OF OUR SUBSISTENCE\u201d)\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico; originally Atlantic coastlands, the Olmeca\n    lands and Tlaxcallan. Anciently Toltec.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Ometecutli = \u201cTwofold lord.\u201d\n        Tlachinale = \u201cLord of Creation.\u201d\n        Tlatecque = \u201cLord of the Earthly World.\u201d\n        Teotlale = \u201cLord of the Steppe.\u201d\n        Matlaua = \u201cLord of the Net.\u201d\n        Topeua = \u201cLord of the Mountains.\u201d\n        Tloque Nahuaque = \u201cLord of the Close Vicinity.\u201d\n\n    Relationship: Father of Quetzalcoatl.\n\n    Calendar Places: Ruler of the first day, ce cipactli, of the first\n    week and of the fourth day-hour.\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n    Symbol: The human pair beneath the coverlet.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Vaticanus A.\u2014In the Codex Vaticanus A Tonacatecutli\u2019s body-paint\nis red and pink. His headdress is bound by a fillet richly encrusted\nwith turquoises, having in front the conventional bird\u2019s head which is\nso frequently encountered in representations of the Mexican gods in the\ncodices. He wears the nasal ornament of serpentine shape peculiar to\nthe octli- or drink-gods, as to some of the deities of fertility, and\nhis fruitful or life-giving nature is symbolized by a foot-stool\ncomposed of maize ears.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014In the Codex Borgia (sheet 61, lower half) the lower\nportion of his face is painted red, but its upper part, as well as the\nrest of his body which is visible, is coloured yellow. On the cheek is\nseen a rectangular surface divided into compartments, each of which is\ntinted a different colour, the distinctive painting of the maize-gods,\nwhich, it is believed, symbolizes the maize-field with its many hues. A\n\u201cgobber\u201d tooth hangs from his mouth as a sign of great age, for as\ncreator he was regarded as one of the most venerable among the gods.\nAround his forehead is a head-band enriched with precious stones, which\nrecalls that frequently worn by the Sun-god. His necklet consists of a\ncasket of jewels, with lid and feet, on which is represented the symbol\nof the chalchihuitl jewel. [169] On sheet 60 Tonacaciuatl, the female\nform of this deity, is depicted in the act of handing Tonacatecutli a\nflower, symbolic of life or blood. Above this figure is the picture of\na red snake, also symbolizing blood. The god wears a jaguar-skin and\nthe goddess an eagle\u2019s, thus illustrating their patronage of the\nmilitary orders who wore those dresses. (For similar readings, see\nCodex Laud, 34\u20135 K). In sheet 57 (lower right-hand corner) he is\nrepresented as wearing a beard of black eagle-feathers.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014In Codex Vaticanus B (sheet 87) Tonacatecutli is\nrepresented with Quetzalcoatl\u2019s head and neck ornaments, combined with\nthe jewelled fillet and bird\u2019s head on forehead. He wears a long beard\nreaching to the feet.\n\n\n\n\nTONACACIUATL = \u201cLADY OF OUR SUBSISTENCE\u201d\n\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Omeciuatl = \u201cTwofold Lady.\u201d\n        Citlalinicue = \u201cStarry Skirt.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place: Same as that of Tonacatecutli.\n\n    Compass Direction: Same as that of Tonacatecutli.\n\n    Symbol: Same as that of Tonacatecutli.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nGeneral.\u2014In Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer (sheet 10) the drawn-in angle of the\nmouth and the female figure point to the inference that here is\ndepicted Tonacaciuatl, who is identified by the interpreters with\nXochiquetzal. In Codex Telleriano-Remensis and Codex Vaticanus A we\nfind her standing in front of the male creative god Tonacatecutli. In\nthe latter MS. the first interpreter calls her Tonagacigua, and the\nthird Xochiquetzal, Oxomoco, and Chicomecohuatl. The picture shown\nunder the nineteenth week of Codex Telleriano-Remensis pictures her\nwith precisely the same dress and emblems as Xochiquetzal (q.v.).\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThese deities were identified by the Mexicans with the Creator, the\nTloque Nahuaque, of whom almost every one of the post-Conquest Spanish\nwriters speaks. Indeed the Codex Telleriano-Remensis expressly\nidentifies them with the creative force. The passage runs: \u201cAll those\nepithets (God, Lord, Creator) they bestowed on their god Tonacatecutli,\nwho, according to their account, was the god who created the world; and\nthey painted him alone with a crown as lord of all. They never offered\nsacrifices to this god, for they said that he did not regard them.\u201d Of\nthe female deity the Codex Vaticanus says: \u201cTonacacigua was the wife of\nTonacatecutle; for, as we have observed, although their gods were not,\nas they affirm, united together for matrimonial purposes, still they\nassigned to each a goddess as a companion. They called her by another\nname, Suchiquetzal and Chicomecoual, which means Seven Serpents, for\nthey say that she was the cause of sterility, famine, and all the\nmiseries of life.\u201d [170]\n\nIn further descriptive passages concerning Tonacatecutli the same Codex\nsays: \u201cThis is the representation of Tonacatecotle, which name\nsignifies the Lord of our Bodies; others say that it means the First\nMan, or perhaps it means that the first man was so called.\u201d \u201cThese are\nthe figures which have been mentioned; and the first is that of their\ngreatest god Tonacatecotle. It represented the first god under whom\nthey affirm was the dominion of the world; who, when it appeared good\nto him, breathed and divided the waters of the heavens and the earth,\nwhich at first were all confused together, and disposed of them as they\nnow are; and accordingly they called him Lord of our Bodies; and also\nof abundance, who bestowed everything upon them; and on this account\nthey paint him alone with a crown. They called him besides Seven\nFlowers, for they say that he disposes of the principalities of the\nearth. He had no temple, nor did they offer sacrifices to him, for they\nsay that he did not require them, as if on account of his superior\nmajesty.... They say that Tonacatecotle presided over the thirteen\nsigns which are here marked (the day-signs of the tonalamatl, q.v.).\nThose above denote the thirteen causes or influences of the sky which\nare under subjection to him, and the others below are the thirteen\nsigns of their superstition and sorcery. This man and woman represent\nthe first pair who existed in the world; their names are Huehue (very\nold ones). Between them is placed a knife or razor and an arrow above\neach of their heads, typifying death, as in them death originated.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey called this god Tonacatecotli and by another name Citallatonalli\n[171]; and they said that he was the constellation which appears by\nnight in the sky, St. James\u2019s or the Milky Way. They paint these\nfigures and all the others which follow, each of them in its own\nmanner; because as they considered them their deities, each had its\npeculiar festival. It was necessary to wear in these festivals the\nhabit of the god.\u201d\n\nThe Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas regards these deities as\nappearing at the commencement of creation, but says nothing of their\nrelations to the precise creative act.\n\nThe Anales de Quauhtitlan says of them:\n\n\n    And they say\n    that in the inner heaven\n    he [Quetzalcoatl] dedicated a cult\n    and called on them:\n    her with the star-studded robe, together with the astral Sun-god.\n    the mistress of our flesh, the lord of our flesh,\n    who is clothed in charcoal, clothed in blood,\n    who giveth food to the earth;\n    and he cried aloft\n    \u2014as they (the old people) were informed\u2014\n    to the Omeyocan,\n    to the heaven lying above the nine that are bound together.\n    And\u2014as they learnt\u2014\n    those having their abode there,\n    those he called upon, those he worshipped.\n\n\n(See also chapter on Cosmogony for further mythical material relating\nto these deities.)\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nIn examining the characteristics of these deities we find:\n\n(1) That they were among the oldest of the Mexican divinities.\nTonacatecutli is called, among other names, \u201cLord of the Steppe,\u201d [172]\nwhich does not necessarily indicate that he was a deity of the\nChichimec or hunting tribes, who from generation to generation raided\nthe Mexican valley, but may apply to his stellar or heavenly\nsignificance. Reference is also made in the Anales de Quauhtitlan to\nthe circumstance that he and his female counterpart were gods of the\nancient Toltecs, and that their cult was founded by Quetzalcoatl, the\ntypical Toltec priest-king.\n\n(2) That these gods were regarded by the Mexican priesthood in more\nmodern times at least, as abstractions, ideal beings who arose out of\nphilosophic speculation. That they had become rather neglected in the\npopular Mexican faith is clear from the circumstance that they had no\ntemples and that no offerings were made them. Tonacatecutli\nrepresented, indeed, that great invisible and intangible figure which\nat all times and in all religions has loomed behind most pantheons\u2014the\ngreat god behind the gods\u2014the principle of causality, that first cause\nbeyond which the speculations of theology cannot proceed.\n\n(3) They presided over the food supply. Although other deities occupied\nthe positions of maize and vegetable gods, the creative deities were in\nthe ultimate the great givers of all food. Thus they were designated\n\u201cLords of Food Supplies\u201d and \u201cLords of Superabundance.\u201d\n\n(4) They must be regarded as the direct creators of the spirit of man.\nTo the Mexican man flesh was merely maize in another form. But apart\nfrom this conception the pair typified the first human couple, and as\nsuch they are represented in all the MSS. lying side by side and\ncross-legged under a blanket, in the attitude of procreation. They are,\nindeed, the great initiators of life, and must be comprehended as\nsending the human soul to occupy the body made by human procreation,\ngiving warmth and breath to the infant before birth. [173]\n\n(5) They commence the series of twenty day-signs, and this alone\nsymbolizes their creative and original nature.\n\n(6) They represent the sign cipactli, the animal from which the earth\nwas made.\n\n(7) They are gods of the Omeyocan, the highest or thirteenth heaven,\nwhich fact further illustrates their supreme character.\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\n\nFrom these facts we may be justified in concluding:\n\n(1) That in the most early times Tonacatecutli and his consort typified\nthe father-sky and mother-earth respectively, but that this aspect of\nthem had been forgotten and they came to have a purely abstract\ncreative significance for both priests and people. That Tonacaciuatl\noriginally represented the earth there is no doubt, and her\nidentification with Xochiquetzal and Chicomecoatl alone would show this\nto be so. Again, the association with the sign cipactli proves the\nconnection of one of the divine pair with the earth, and from what has\nbeen said regarding this sign in the introduction, and by the constant\nassociation of goddesses in the Mexican mind with the terrestrial\nsphere, it is plain that Tonacatecutli, her male counterpart, is not\nlikely to have represented it in early times. The suggestion that he\nsymbolizes the sky is perhaps assisted by the nature of his abode, the\nuppermost heaven, and from his close identification with Citlallatonac,\nthe god of the night heaven, who was supposed to represent the Milky\nWay.\n\n(2) That in later times the early concepts of these divinities became\nfused almost into one, and that in some measure they had come to be\nregarded as androgynous. This view may be traversed by the circumstance\nthat they are frequently represented separately, but on the other hand\ntheir names appear as one in the form Tonacatecutli-Tonacaciuatl in\nmany passages. The same may be posited of their counterparts in the\nQuiche Popol Vuh, Xpiyacoc and Xmucane. [174]\n\nTonacatecutli and his spouse are to be regarded as the parents of\nQuetzalcoatl, but this is probably a theogonic myth of late origin,\nbrought about by the constant association of Quetzalcoatl with the\ncreative gods as deities of the ancient Toltecs, and the frequent\nreferences to him as the founder of their cult.\n\nIxtlilxochitl states in his fourth Relacion that Tonacatecutli and his\nwife were the chief gods of the Toltecs, who represented them as the\nsun and the moon, and he goes on to say that at certain seasons of the\nyear criminals were sacrificed to them by a method called\nTelimonamiquian, \u201cwhich is to say grinding between the stones.\u201d Two\ngreat stones, he says, were balanced opposite each other, and the\nvictim was crushed between them as they fell\u2014the slain man thus\nrepresenting the corn-spirit, or, indeed, the corn itself in the\nprocess of being ground.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nDEITIES OF THE EARTH AND GROWTH PROPER\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY\n\nSo numerous were the manifestations and variants of the Earth-goddess\nconceived by the Nahua or adopted into their pantheon, that this has\nbeen the cause of considerable misconception on the part of students of\nMexican religion, who have confounded them in a manner which in the\ncircumstances is scarcely surprising. An attempt will be made here to\nprovide the reader with a list of the most important of these deities,\nbriefly and barely outlining their various origins and attributes, in\norder that he may be the better able to comprehend what follows when we\ncome to discuss them more fully.\n\nChicomecoatl (Seven Serpents)\u2014the Mexican name of the Earth-goddess and\nthat of the seventh day of the seventh week of the tonalamatl. She was\nprobably of Toltec origin. The third interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus\nA identifies her with Xochiquetzal, and, perhaps more correctly, with\nXumoco and Tonacacigua or Tonacaciuatl. She had two temples dedicated\nto her, the chicome iteopan and the cinteopan, and seems to have become\na variant of Tonacaciuatl on the adoption of an agricultural basis of\nexistence.\n\nTlazolteotl, Tlaelquani, Teteo innan or Toci\u2014an earth-goddess whose\nworship had its origin among the tribes of the Atlantic seaboard, where\nmaize grew abundantly. She possessed warlike propensities, as became a\ngoddess to whom human sacrifice was much in vogue, and the myth of her\nimpregnation by Uitzilopochtli was enacted at the ochpaniztli festival\nin August, typifying, perhaps, the impregnation of the \u201cearth-mother\u201d\nby the \u201csky-father.\u201d As Ixcuine she represented a plurality of\ngoddesses. Seler [175] believes that Chicomecoatl represents the young\nmaize ear, and Tlazolteotl, the ripe ear of the plant.\n\nCihuacoatl (Serpent Woman)\u2014an earth-goddess of Xochimilco and\nColhuacan.\n\nCoatlicue or Coatlantonan (Serpent Skirt)\u2014a Mexican earth-goddess,\nmother of Uitzilopochtli.\n\nXochiquetzal\u2014originally a mountain goddess of the Tlalhuica. An\nearth-and-maize goddess as well as a deity of flowers and vegetation.\n\nXilonen\u2014originally a maize-goddess of the Huichol tribes. She\nrepresented the young maize-plant.\n\nCinteotl (Maize-god)\u2014son of Tlazolteotl, originally a god of the\npeoples of the Atlantic seaboard. He is occasionally alluded to as a\nfemale deity, but is always male in the MSS. of the Borgia group,\nexecuted by a people of Nahua speech dwelling in the south. He is the\nequivalent of Xochipilli and had a separate temple, the cinteopan.\n\nXipe\u2014an earth-god of the Teotitlan district, a god of spring\nvegetation. His temples were called yopico. His great festival was the\nTlacaxipeuliztli, or \u201cflaying of men.\u201d\n\nOnly three of these deities, Tlazolteotl, Xipe, and Xochiquetzal,\nappear as rulers of one or other of the twenty day-signs of the\ntonalamatl. But Cinteotl figures in the ochpaniztli feast and appears\nas one of the \u201cLords of the Night.\u201d\n\nThese criteria are perhaps sufficient to identify these figures as\nseparate divinities. We find in Sahagun that Chicomecoatl, Cinteotl,\nand Xipe had separate temples of their own. In several of the rituals\nof the great festivals, however, the cults of Tlazolteotl,\nChicomecoatl, and Cinteotl appear to have been very closely interwoven,\nand this leads me to suspect that the worship of the old Toltec goddess\nChicomecoatl was in process of fusion with that of the \u201cimmigrant\u201d\nTlazolteotl at the period of the Conquest. Xilonen, too, according to\nSahagun, had a separate festival in her honour, the uei tecuilhuitl.\nFrom all this and from considerations still to be advanced we may,\nperhaps, be justified in assuming:\n\n(1) That at the period of the Conquest the cults of Tlazolteotl,\nChicomecoatl, and Cinteotl were very naturally in process of becoming\namalgamated, the worship of the two goddesses, Mexican and alien,\npresenting many features in common.\n\n(2) That Xochiquetzal, originally the goddess of the Tlalhuica, was\nregarded more properly as the goddess of flowers and of the spring\nflorescence, a hypothesis which is upheld by her myths. Her equation\nwith Tonacaciuatl appears to have been a later concept, due to the\nconnection of both with the earth.\n\n(3) That the Huichol goddess Xilonen came to symbolize for the Nahua\nthe maize plant in its early stages of growth, and in that respect\nresembles Cinteotl.\n\n(4) That the cult of the southern god Xipe, the grain-deity of a\nrelated people, had made great headway among the Nahua of\nMexico-Tenochtitlan.\n\n(5) It follows from these conclusions that only one of these deities of\ngrowth\u2014Coatlicue\u2014was of Nahua origin, all the others being gods of the\naboriginal or settled peoples. The Chichimec Nahua, a hunting people,\npossessing no official grain-goddess of their own, would naturally come\nto worship these on their adoption of an agricultural mode of life. As\nmost of these forms hailed from districts of considerable cultural\nantiquity, I believe their worship to have been of long duration in the\nland, not much less ancient, indeed, than the cult of Tlaloc.\n\nIt is not claimed for these conclusions that they are more than\napproximate. The data relative to these deities is much too complex to\npermit of any more precise or dogmatic treatment, in fact at one time\nor another there was identification between them all; but with the\nabove attempt at simplification in view we shall now endeavour to\npresent the reader with a detailed account of each of these and other\nless important divinities who were regarded as in any way connected\nwith the personification of the earth or the growth of the crops, their\nfestivals and ritual.\n\nThe earth-deities seem to have been prophetic and divinatory and to\nhave been connected with medicine, like similar European and Asiatic\ngoddesses. Some of them, like Itzpapalotl, share the butterfly symbol\nwith the gods of fire, with whom they are frequently connected. They\nare also closely associated with the deer, a fertility animal, and the\neagle, the sun-bird, and their victims were, like those of the sun and\nwar deities, decked with eagle-down.\n\n\n\n\nTLAZOLTEOTL = \u201cGODDESS OF DIRT\u201d\n\n\n    Territory: Huaxtec, Mixtec, Olmec.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Tlaelquani = \u201cFilth-eater.\u201d\n        Chicunaui acatl = \u201cNine Reed.\u201d\n        Teteo Innan = \u201cMother of the Gods.\u201d\n        Chiquacen acatl = \u201cSix Reed.\u201d\n        Toci = \u201cOur Grandmother.\u201d\n        Naui tecpatl = \u201cFour Flint Knife.\u201d\n        Cocauic Xochitla = \u201cYellow Bloom.\u201d\n        Tlalli iyallo = \u201cHeart of the Earth.\u201d\n        Iztac Xochitla = \u201cWhite Bloom.\u201d\n        Ixcuine = \u201cFour Faces.\u201d\n        Tonana Teumechaue = \u201cOur mother, the goddess of the thigh-skin\n        face-painting.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Places: Ruler of the fourteenth day, ocelotl, of the\n    thirteenth week, ce olin. Seventh of the nine lords of the night.\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n    Festivals: Ochpaniztli (\u201cFeast of Brooms\u201d) in the eleventh month.\n\n    Symbols: A man eating excrement (\u201cDirt-eater\u201d); a broom.\n\n    Relationships: Mother of Centeotl; one of the Tzitzimim\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 74: Here Tlazolteotl is depicted as naked, and\naccompanied by a snake. A patch of rubber appears near the mouth, and\nher head is bound by a fillet of unspun cotton. Behind the neck a\nfeather ornament is seen, made of the blue plumage of the quail, and\nshe also wears the golden nasal Huaxtec ornament usually seen in\nconnection with the octli-gods. In the Codex Vaticanus B her naked body\nis painted white, with yellow longitudinal stripes, and she has the\nbifurcated nose-ornament of Xipe. Significantly, perhaps, the shape of\nher eye recalls that of the god of flaying, whose eye is usually a mere\nslit in the flayed human skin which he wears, and through the mask of\nwhich he is supposed to be looking. She wears the cotton fillet and\near-plug typical of her.\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014In this place she has a disk of liquid rubber on the face,\nwith which substance her mouth is also painted, an elaborate cotton\nheaddress, crowned with feathers, a tunic of sac shape with a fringe\ndivided into compartments, a skirt with bands joined by diagonal lines,\nand she holds in her right hand the broom symbolic of her feast, and in\nher left a shield decorated with four concentric circles.\n\nGeneral.\u2014In the tonalamatl of the Aubin-Goupil collection, wherever she\nis depicted as seventh of the nine lords of the night, her face is\nwhite, its upper portion being surrounded by a yellow band. In the\nCodex Borbonicus she is occasionally painted all yellow or all white,\nand this yellow colour symbolizes that of the ripe maize ear. In the\nsong about her given by Sahagun, we observe that she is alluded to as\n\u201cthe yellow blossom\u201d and the \u201cwhite blossom,\u201d otherwise the yellow or\nwhite maize\u2014the maize at different stages of its growth.\n\nAnother of her distinguishing characteristics, as has been remarked, is\nthe black colouring in the region of the mouth, which frequently\nextends to and includes the tip of the nose and chin and, as Sahagun\nstates, this was effected with liquid rubber, as in the case of the\nFire-god. The small patch or circle on her cheek is also commented upon\nby Sahagun, who says, \u201ca hole has she placed on her cheek\u201d\u2014the \u201chole\u201d\nbeing probably a disk of rubber with a perforated centre. As an\nalternative to this we find in Codex Borgia two broad horizontal lines\nand in Codex Borbonicus several short, vertical black lines below the\neye, and it would seem that the concentric circle on the shield of the\ngoddess in the Sahagun MS. has the same meaning\u2014that is, it is probably\na symbol of sex. [176] In some representations her skirt is covered\nwith crescent-shaped objects perhaps typical of her symbol\u2014excrement.\n\nWhen Tlazolteotl appears as ruler of the thirteenth week she often\nlacks the ripe-maize colour with which she is represented elsewhere.\nThus in Telleriano-Remensis she is painted about the mouth with liquid\nrubber, and in Borbonicus her face-paint is in two colours. A black\nstroke is seen descending from brow to nose, but she has the yellow\nskin-colour. In both cases she is, like Xipe, clothed in the skin of a\nvictim. In Telleriano-Remensis and the Aubin tonalamatl her arms and\nlegs are powdered with white chalk and small feathers are affixed to\nthem, probably with ulli gum. In Telleriano-Remensis these cover part\nof her costume as well. In this codex, too, her Huaxtec nose-ornament\nis replaced by one having a stepped motif, or a butterfly formed of the\nspotted feathers of the quail.\n\nThe cotton fillet of the goddess is worthy of further remark. It is\nmade from the unspun produce of the plant, covers the top of the head\nand reaches the shoulders on either side of the face. Spindles are\nstuck into the mass, which is marked upon its surface with acute-angled\nfigures or groups of parallel lines on a white ground, which may be\nregarded as hieroglyphic of raw cotton.\n\nIn certain of the MSS., for example in the Aubin tonalamatl and in\nTelleriano-Remensis, Tlazolteotl wears a feather coronal, which in\nother codices takes the shape of a fan or nape-ring like that\nfrequently worn by Quetzalcoatl. Occasionally, too, it rises from a\nrubber ball which rests upon the head. In Codex Borgia (sheet 68) the\nfeathers are dark in colour, but are brightened by the red plumes which\nspring from them in turn. Elsewhere we find white, brown, or yellow\nfeathers, the latter prepared artificially from palm-leaves, which,\nlike the fan-shaped ornament itself, are Huaxtec in character. In the\npicture in Borbonicus of Tlazolteotl as ruler of the week ce olin (one\nreed) we see the conical Huaxtec hat, as worn by Quetzalcoatl, peeping\nabove her cotton headdress, and the palm-leaf plume rising from a\nfeather fan, which springs from a ball of rubber. In\nTelleriano-Remensis Tlazolteotl is seen wearing a string of\nsnail-shells depending from the waist. This is known as citallicue, or\n\u201cstar-skirt,\u201d another Huaxtec article of dress.\n\nIn none of the representations alluded to was Tlazolteotl pictured with\nthe broom characteristic of her and of her feast-day, ochpanitztli\n(\u201cwhen they sweep the ways\u201d). This was made from hard, stiff, pointed\ngrass, which was cut with sickles in the mountain-forests of\nPopocatepetl. [177] It was bound with a coloured leather strap, and the\npaper which held it together was flecked with the V-shaped cotton\nsymbol.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nTlazolteotl is described in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis as \u201cthe woman\nwho sinned before the deluge, who was the cause of all evil, of all\ndeceit\u201d; but this would appear to be an error for Ixnextli or\nXochiquetzal (q.v.). The Anales de Quauhtitlan says of her: \u201cIn the\nsame year (8 Rabbit) came the so-called Ixcuiname female demons [to\nTollan] and, as they say from the reports of the old people, they came\nfrom Huaxteca. And in the place Cuextecatl ichocayan (\u201cWhere the\nHuaxtecs weep\u201d) they summoned these captives whom they had taken in\nHuaxteca and explained to them what was about to be done, saying\u2014\u2018We go\nnow to Tollan. We wish to couple the earth with you, we desire to hold\na feast with you, for till now no battle offerings have been made with\nmen. We wish to make a beginning of it and shoot you to death with\narrows.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\n\nSACRIFICE BY SHOOTING WITH ARROWS\n\nThis indicates that the goddess, one of the Ixcuiname, was regarded as\nthe inventress of that especial mode of sacrifice by which the victim\nwas tied to a framework and shot to death with arrows. We have no\nclassical statement that such a proceeding took place at her festival,\nhowever, but it is known that it formed part of the ritual at the\nfestival of Xipe (q.v.). The expression, \u201cWe wish to couple the earth\nwith you,\u201d when taken along with the straddling attitude of the victim\non his frame, has given rise to the assumption [178] that such a\nsacrifice was intended to symbolize a sexual connection between the\nvictim and the earth or earth-mother. It appears to me as more probable\nthat its intention was to draw down rain by sympathetic magic, the\ndropping blood from the arrow wounds symbolizing the rain, and the tear\nwhich the victim sheds in the representation of this sacrifice in the\nCodex Nuttall and Codex Telleriano-Remensis, combined with the fact\nthat such sacrifices are supposed to have been made in years of\ndrought, strengthens my belief in the soundness of this theory.\n\nIxcuine means \u201cfour-faced,\u201d and may apply to the circumstance that\nancient idols of Tlazolteotl were, like those of Janus, provided with\nmore than one face, so that they might look upon every direction whence\nthe rain might come. Later, however, the Ixcuiname were regarded as a\nfourfold manifestation of Tlazolteotl and as personifying four sisters\nof different age, Tiacapan, Teicu, Tlaco and Xocoyotzin, who\n\u201crepresented the carnal passions.\u201d [179]\n\n\n\n\nHYMN\n\nA song in the Sahagun MS. relating to Tlazolteotl is as follows:\n\n\n   \u201cThe yellow blossom has flowered. She, our mother, with the\n    thigh-skin of the goddess painted upon her face, came out\n    of Tamoanchan. The white blossom has burst open, she our\n    mother,\u201d etc. [180]\n\n\nThis of course symbolizes the yellow and white maize. The thigh-skin of\nthe goddess \u201cis the mask cut from the thigh of the sacrificed girl and\nworn by the priest\u201d (see \u201cFestivals,\u201d infra). The statement that\nTlazolteotl came out of Tamoanchan is important, for another song in\nthe same series tells us that in that paradise was born her son\nCinteotl, the Maize-god (q.v.).\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nOchpaniztli.\u2014This, the great festival of Tlazolteotl, was held in the\nopening of the eleventh Aztec month, commencing, says Sahagun, [181]\nabout September 14th. Fifteen days before the festival began, those who\nwere to celebrate it danced the sacred dances, which they continued for\neight days. In complete silence they ranged themselves in four lines,\nand danced with their hands full of flowers, keeping time most\nprecisely. At the end of eight days those women who practised medicine,\nthe mid wives, leech-women, and steam-bath keepers probably, divided\nthemselves into two companies and presented themselves before a female\nvictim who represented the goddess and who was destined for sacrifice.\nTheir object was, says Sahagun, to amuse her and to keep her from\npondering upon her fate. The victim herself, accompanied by three old\nwomen called her \u201cmothers,\u201d headed one of these parties, who pelted\neach other with the red leaves of the cactus flower. In the whole\nperformance we can see some such concept as survives in a manner in the\nmodern \u201cbattle of flowers,\u201d which in certain towns in Southern France\nushers in the season of Lent. The victim was then led back to the place\nof detention, and the ceremony was repeated for several days in\nsuccession. Then the \u201cmothers\u201d who guarded her led her through the\npublic market-place for the last time, on which occasion she sowed\nmaize on every side, and on that day she was taken to a place near the\nteocalli [182] where she was to be sacrificed. As it was of importance\nthat she should not mourn, she was informed that she was to become the\nbride of the king, and for this imaginary honour she was adorned with\nthe full insignia of the goddess Tlazolteotl.\n\nWhen midnight had arrived, in a dead and unbroken silence, she was led\nto the summit of the lofty teocalli, where she was placed on the\nshoulders of a man, as was the custom with brides about to be borne to\nthe houses of their lords, and ere she could be well aware what was\nabout to happen, she was decapitated and immediately flayed. First of\nall pieces of skin were removed from the broad portion of the thigh and\ncarried to the temple of Cinteotl, the son of Tlazolteotl. The skin of\nthe upper part of the body formed a jacket, which a priest of\nTlazolteotl, chosen for his strength and vigour, drew over his own\nbody. Accompanied by two men vowed to his assistance, as well as by\nother priests, dressed to represent the goddess\u2019s Huaxtec servants, all\nof whom carried blood-sprinkled brooms which they brandished in a\ncombative manner, he pursued a number of nobles and warriors, who\nstruck their shields and made a threatening display. The priest who\npersonified the goddess rushed upon these with simulated fury, but they\nfled before him, refusing him battle. This part of the proceedings\nsymbolized the warlike nature of the goddess, and the military\nsignificance of her cult. As has been explained, the people of Mexico\nbelieved that only by the continued offering up of human sacrifice and\nblood could an adequate rainfall, and therefore abundant harvests, be\nprocured, and this naturally presumed the upkeep of a considerable\nstanding army and many military guilds or brotherhoods dedicated to the\ntask of securing a large supply of sacrificial victims. The warlike\ncharacter of the Earth-goddess was assumed as a matter of course.\n\nThis chase continued until the priest who personated Tlazolteotl came\nto the teocalli of Uitzilopochtli, the War-god. Here he lay down and\nstretched himself out in the female posture for sexual intercourse.\nSays the Aztec text of Sahagun: \u201cThen she broadens herself [that is the\npriest personating the goddess], expands, stretches arms and legs out\nat the feet of Uitzilopochtli, her face turned towards him.\u201d This\nceremony undoubtedly had reference to a supposed impregnation of the\ngoddess by the god Uitzilopochtli, and that the myth relating to it was\nenacted is shown by the symbolic presence of her son, Cinteotl, or a\npriest dressed to represent that god, who had placed over his face a\nmask made from the skin of the thighs of the flayed woman which had\nbeen sent to his temple, and who was now regarded as the son conceived.\n[183]\n\nIn addition to the skin-mask, the Cinteotl priest wore a hat or cap,\nalso made of the skin of the sacrificed victim, which had a vandyked\nedging of the crown, or a crest like the comb of a cock, symbolic of\nthe stone knife of sacrifice.\n\nTogether, the priests of Tlazolteotl and Cinteotl now proceeded to the\ntemple of the former, where they awaited the morning. At dawn the chief\nmen of the community, who had been waiting near the teocalli, ran up\nthe steps of the temple bearing offerings. The priest of the goddess\nwas then decorated with her insignia in addition to the dreadful trophy\nhe wore. His head and feet were covered with the white down from the\neagle\u2019s breast, the particular ornament of the warrior who had captured\na victim in battle. His face was painted red, the colour of the ripe\nmaize, he was clothed in a short tunic which had woven upon it the\nsemblance of an eagle, and he was equipped with other garments for the\nlower part of the body. Still richer and more elaborate vestments were\nthen placed on him by the priests, after which he went to select the\ncaptives who must die. He chose four of these, and placing them upon\nthe stone of sacrifice, dispatched them by taking out their hearts,\nhanding over the others to the priests to deal with similarly. This\ndone, he accompanied the Cinteotl priest to his temple, the Huaxtec\nservants marching before them, wearing what would seem to be huge\nartificial phalluses and tassels of untwisted cotton, to symbolize the\nvirile strength and richness of the earth. [184] They were also\naccompanied by the medical women.\n\nComing to the temple of Cinteotl, the priest of Tlazolteotl placed one\nfoot upon the drum there, and awaited the priest of Cinteotl, who later\nset out alone in a hasty manner, and accompanied by a large body of\nwarriors, to a point on the frontiers of Mexico where a small hut\nstood, and at this place he left the mask and cap which he had worn,\nmade from the thighs of the sacrificed woman. Not infrequently the\nparty were attacked or ambushed and fighting ensued. I can form no\nopinion regarding the significance of this procedure. Was the skin left\non the frontier as a gage of war, as would appear to be its most\nobvious interpretation, or did it possess a deeper and more symbolical\nmeaning? If it did, I am at a loss to supply the elucidation. I feel\nthat this is one of those acts so often encountered in primitive\nreligion, when the temptation is to look for a profound meaning where,\nperhaps, none exists.\n\nThe priest of Tlazolteotl, on the departure of his colleague, proceeded\nto the temple called Atempan, or \u201cPlace of Death,\u201d a favourite\nmuster-place for children and leprous persons about to be sacrificed,\nwhich was situated in the precincts of the great temple of Mexico. Here\nthe king took his seat on a throne, his footstool being a nest made of\neagles\u2019 skin and feathers, whilst an ocelot-skin was cast over the back\nof the seat, these articles symbolizing the \u201cknighthoods\u201d of the eagle\nand ocelot respectively. A military review followed, and the monarch\ndistributed raiment, arms, and insignia to the deserving, who, thus\ndistinguished, were expected to so comport themselves in war that they\nmight eventually die the warrior\u2019s death, the only fitting end for a\nMexican brave. The recipients then repaired to the temple of\nTlazolteotl, where dancing was engaged in. The scene was picturesque\nand even magnificent, for all the dancers held flowers in each hand and\nwore the dazzling insignia of their various ranks and orders.\n\nThis spectacle continued for two days, and on the evening of the second\nday the priests of the goddess Chicomecoatl (q.v.), clothed in the\nskins of captives slain at the festival of that goddess, ascended a\nlittle teocalli known as the \u201cTable of Uitzilopochtli,\u201d and threw\nbroadcast maize and calabash seeds upon the heads of the multitude\nbelow, who scrambled for the grain. The young women in the service of\nChicomecoatl now advanced, each bearing upon her shoulder seven ears of\nmaize, rolled in a rich mantle, and wrapped in white paper, after being\nsprinkled with ulli gum. The high-priest of the goddess led the chant,\nafter which he descended from the teocalli and placed in a little\ncavity between the temple stairs and the temple itself a large basket\nfilled with powdered chalk and feather-down. The warriors at once\nrushed upon it and scrambled for the contents, which were, of course,\nsymbolical of the goddess\u2019s \u201cmake-up.\u201d They were chased by the priests,\nwhom they pelted with the chalk and feathers, even the king taking part\nin the sport. The priest then betook himself to the temple of the\ngoddess, called Toctitlan (\u201cThe Place of our Grandmother\u201d), where he\nsaw the skin of the sacrificed woman properly disposed.\n\nThus ended the ceremonies of the ochpaniztli, one of the most\npicturesque and involved, yet gruesome, of the festivals of ancient\nMexico.\n\n\n\n\nRITUAL\n\nTlazolteotl, as we shall find when we attempt our elucidation of her\ncharacteristics, was regarded as the goddess of sexual indulgence, a\nnot inappropriate r\u00f4le for the wild, wanton, and riotous goddess of\nearth, so prodigal in her bringing forth and (naturally in the eyes of\na primitive people) so bountiful in her favours, for to the barbarian\nmind productiveness is the outcome of lustfulness. By an easy\ntransition, then, she became the goddess of sexual immorality, the\npatron of prostitutes, and the archetype of female wantonness. But,\nrather strangely, although she presided over salacious vice, she alone\ncould pardon it, and once in a lifetime the Mexican adulterer or\nlibertine might approach her to obtain by a full confession remission\nof his sins. This he generally did late in life, for absolution could\nnot be obtained on a subsequent occasion. The ritual associated with\nhis cleansing was a prolonged and involved one, and is described by\nSahagun in the twelfth chapter of his first book.\n\nThere is no reason to believe that the account of the ritual as\nfurnished by Sahagun is otherwise than genuine, and he remarks upon the\nfacility with which the native Mexicans embraced the Catholic\nconfession as a proof that the rite was not unknown to them.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLE\n\nWe know from the descriptions of the ochpaniztli festivals in the\nSahagun Aztec MS., and the illustrations accompanying them, that the\ntemple of Tlazolteotl, the Toctitlan, was a scaffolding of poles on\nwhich was set a representation of the goddess.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThat Tlazolteotl possessed a priesthood of her own is obvious from the\nrepeated mention of the adolescent youths known as Cuecuesteca (\u201cHer\nHuaxtecs\u201d), who figured in the festival of ochpaniztli. But that these\nwere only priests ad hoc, or employed temporarily for that celebration,\nis likely, as Sahagun states (Appendix to bk. ii) that the Atempan\nteohuatzin, or the Chief of Rites connected with the Atempan, had the\ntask of assembling them, as well as charge of the insignia used at the\nfestival. Tlazolteotl\u2019s priests, according to Sahagun (bk. i, c. xii),\nwere \u201cthe augurs who possessed the books with the prognostications and\nthe destinies of the new-born and the spells and the omens and the\ntraditions of the ancients, as they were handed down and came unto\nthem.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nTlazolteotl has been completely identified with the Teteo innan or Toci\nof Sahagun and other writers, but though she ranked as the Earth-mother\nof Mexico par excellence, there is no room for doubt that her worship\nwas originally alien, and assuredly of Huaxtec origin. The Huaxtecs\nwere a people of Maya origin or affinities, isolated from the main body\nof that race, dwelling on the east coast of Mexico, and retaining many\nof their peculiar customs; and it is noteworthy that a Huaxtecan\ngoddess should be alluded to in Mexican tradition as coming to Tollan,\nthe city of the Toltecs, the people whom so many writers have tried to\nidentify with the Maya. As has been observed, she was accompanied at\nthe ochpaniztli festival by a band of youths dressed to represent\nHuaxtecs, who in the Codex Borbonicus picture of the festival are shown\nas wearing the cone-shaped Huaxtec cap. She herself wears the Huaxtec\nnose-ornament in common with the octli-gods. She is repeatedly stated\nto have had her \u201chome\u201d in Cuextlan, the Huaxtec country, and there are\ngood grounds for supposing that its inhabitants, of whose religion we\nknow little, had brought the cult of the Earth-mother to such a pitch\nof complex perfection as rendered its absorption of the allied Mexican\ncults merely a matter of time and occasion.\n\nThat she was originally a personification of the maize is also clear.\nIn her songs she is alluded to as \u201cthe yellow bloom\u201d and \u201cthe white\nbloom,\u201d and the references to her dwelling in Tamoanchan, the western\nparadise where the maize was supposed to have had its mythical origin,\nand where she gave birth to Cinteotl, the young maize-god, proves her\nassociation with this food-plant. But she was also the Earth, the\ninsatiable, lustful mother, who gives birth to Cinteotl the young\nmaize-god, who is also the obsidian knife of sacrifice, for the Earth\nis the mother of stone. As Sin, she was also the mother of death, for\nCinteotl in this guise was undoubtedly a god of fatality or doom.\n\nLike many other deities of the earth she may have had an almost\nplutonic significance, for she is called Tlalli Iyallo, \u201cHeart of the\nEarth.\u201d But I think that Seler (Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer, p. 145) has mistaken\nthe true significance of this expression in applying to it the meaning\n\u201cinterior of the earth.\u201d The word \u201cheart\u201d in the Nahua tongue does not\nnecessarily mean \u201cinterior.\u201d True, Tepeyollotl, the Earthquake-god,\npossessed a similar designation, but on the other hand the Quiche Popol\nVuh alludes to the god Hurakan as \u201cThe Heart of Heaven,\u201d and I take the\nexpression to mean in general \u201csoul, spirit,\u201d rather than \u201cinterior.\u201d\nBut, again, deities of grain have very frequently a subterranean\nassociation, and, according to Duran\u2019s description of the feast of the\ngoddess, we find that she was supposed to make her coming known by an\nearthquake shock, and she is ruler of the thirteenth week, ce olin,\nwhich some authorities translate as \u201cearthquake\u201d or \u201cearth-motion.\u201d\n\nAll this notwithstanding, in later times it was as the goddess of\nsensuality and lustfulness that Tlazolteotl made her strongest appeal\nto the Mexican imagination. We have already seen how this transition\ntook place and how this attribute had its inception. In many climes the\nfigure of the fruitful and abundant Earth-goddess has its bestial,\nrevolting, and highly salacious side, and the Mexican earth-deity was\nno exception to the almost general rule. In several pictures her symbol\nis shown as a man devouring excrement (sin). She was the patroness of\nprostitutes, and by a transition, the ethical character of which seems\nto me obscure, she finally became the great pardoner of sexual\nmisdeeds.\n\nProbably because they forfeited their lives in the act of bringing\nforth, she came to be regarded as the chieftainess of those women who,\ndying in childbed, went to inhabit the Ciutlampa, the house of the\nwomen in the west. These female spirits were regarded by the Mexicans\nas the equal of warriors who had died heroically in battle, and issued\ndaily from their paradise to accompany the sun in his afternoon course.\nIt is typical of these Ciuatete\u00f4, or deified women, that in their\njealousy of living people and their offspring, they exerted a noxious\ninfluence upon mortals, especially upon children, at certain seasons,\nand as the interpreter of Codex Telleriano-Remensis states, they are\nidentified with European witches, flying through the air and meeting at\ncross-roads. Now the broom is the symbol of the European witch, as it\nis of Tlazolteotl, and in Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer (sheet 17) we have a\npicture of Tlazolteotl as representative of the Ciuatete\u00f4, naked and\nriding upon a broomstick. In Codex Borgia (sheet 12) and Codex\nVaticanus B (sheet 30) beside her is figured a house with an owl\nstanding at the door, while in front hangs a string of dried medicinal\nherbs, the whole representing the dwelling of a sorceress or\nmedicine-witch, for Tlazolteotl was also patroness of the medical\nwomen, who danced at her festival, and Sahagun (bk. i, c. viii)\nexpressly states that she was venerated by the \u201cphysicians,\u201d that is,\nthe medicine-men and wizards.\n\nProbably by reason of her fecundity Tlazolteotl was also regarded as a\ndivinity who presided over human birth. She is frequently portrayed as\nthe great parturient and represents the womb [185] (Vaticanus B, sheet\n51). But she does not breathe the spirit into the newly-born child or\ntransport it from the upper regions as does Quetzalcoatl, her office\nbeing the lower one of presiding over the child-bed, a task which she\nshares with other Mexican deities of vegetation and production.\n\nLike other goddesses who preside over birth she may also have a lunar\nconnection. It is probable that the Huaxtec nose-ornament which she\nwears in common with the octli-gods is a lunar symbol. [186] In Codex\nBorgia (sheet 55) she is represented as standing opposite the moon, but\nthis may only indicate her connection with night and witchcraft. I am\nof opinion, however, that Seler\u2019s assumption that she is a moon-goddess\nis not altogether capable of proof. On the other hand, goddesses of\nvegetation and childbirth are frequently associated with the moon, and\nhis theory may be perfectly sound. We must remember, however, that in\nhis more recent works, just as the solar school of mythologists was\naccused of \u201cseeing sun-gods everywhere,\u201d Seler has undoubtedly applied\na lunar significance to several deities whose characteristics he\nformerly elucidated in totally different fashion.\n\nThe warlike nature of Tlazolteotl has already been dwelt upon and its\nreason demonstrated in the section dealing with the ochpaniztli\nfestival.\n\n\n\n\nCHICOMECOATL = \u201cSEVEN SNAKE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico.\n\n    Minor Name: Chicomolotl = \u201cSeven Maize-ears.\u201d\n\n    Relationship: Sister of Tlaloc.\n\n    Symbol: The double maize-ear (commaitl).\n\n    Festivals: Uei tozoztli, the fourth month; ochpaniztli, the\n    eleventh month.\n\n    Calendar Place: Seventh day of the seventh week; the day\n    chicomecoatl. (Sahagun states that all days containing a seven in\n    their name were regarded as auspicious on her account.)\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nAubin-Goupil Tonalamatl.\u2014Sheet 7: The goddess is depicted as having a\nred body and facial painting, and wears variegated raiment in which red\nis the preponderating colour. On her head is a large square headdress,\nalso red in colour and decorated with rosettes at the four corners\u2014such\na headdress, indeed, as Tlazolteotl wears at the ochpaniztli festival.\nShe holds in her hand the double maize-ear, which may be regarded as\nher peculiar and distinctive emblem.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014In this codex she is seen wearing red paint and the\nred garment, holding the double maize-ear, and carrying other\nmaize-ears in a receptacle on her back. Seler thinks that her red\ncolour is that of the granular bunch of the young maize-ear which she\nrepresents, and that Tlazolteotl or Teteoinnan, who is painted yellow\nand white, represents the ripe maize-ear.\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014The Sahagun MS. states that Chicomecoatl\u2019s face is coloured\nred and that she wears a paper crown on her head and a collar of green\nprecious stones round her neck. She has an overdress and skirt of\nspring flowers and wears bells and shells on her feet. Her shield has\nthe emblem of the summer flower painted upon its surface, and she\ncarries the double maize-ear in her hand.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe hymn to Chicomecoatl as given in the Sahagun MS. is as follows:\n\n\n    Goddess of the seven ears, arise, awake!\n    For, our mother, thou leavest us.\n    Thou returnest to Tlalocan.\n    Arise, awake!\n    Mother, thou leavest us now,\n    Thou goest to thy home in Tlalocan.\n\n\nWhich may, perhaps, be interpreted thus: The expression \u201cseven ears\u201d is\nan allusion to the seven ears of maize, sprinkled with rubber oil and\nwrapped in paper and cloth, which each maiden in a procession of\nvirgins carried to the temple of the goddess, the cinteopan, at the\nfestival of uei tozoztli (April 27th). The maize is now full grown and\nthe goddess\u2019s labours are over for the time being, so that she is\nenabled to return to Tlalocan, the paradise of her brother Tlaloc.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nThe Uei Tozoztli.\u2014The first festival attributed to Chicomecoatl in the\ncalendar was the uei tozoztli, or the \u201cgreat watch,\u201d so called because\nof the watch or wake kept in the houses of the people, accompanied by a\ngeneral fast. The best accounts of it are those of Sahagun [187] and\nTorquemada. [188] In this rite the goddess was associated with\nCinteotl. After a four days\u2019 fast, certain rushes were stained with\nsacrificial blood and placed upon the images of the gods in both house\nand temple. Branches of laurel and beds or mattresses of hay were\nplaced before the altars, and maize porridge was distributed to the\nyoung men. The people walked in the fields cutting stalks of the young\nmaize, which they bedecked with flowers, placing them before the altars\nof the gods in the calpulli, or common house of the village, along with\nfood-offerings of every kind, baskets of tortillas, or pancakes of\nchian flour and toasted maize mixed with beans, each surmounted by a\ncooked frog. On the back of the frog offered up with the tortillas they\nplaced a joint cut from a maize-stalk filled with small pieces of every\nkind of the food offered up. Thus laden, the frog symbolized the earth,\nbearing her fruits on her back. All this victual was carried in the\nafternoon to the temple of Chicomecoatl, and eaten in a general\nscramble. The ears of maize preserved for seed were carried in\nprocession by virgins to the temple of the goddess, each maiden bearing\nseven ears of maize, sprinkled with ulli gum and wrapped in paper and\ncloth. The legs and arms of these girls were ornamented with red\nfeathers and their faces were smeared with pitch and sprinkled with\nmarcassite. To these the crowd were forbidden to speak, but much\npersiflage was, nevertheless, engaged in. The people then returned to\ntheir houses, and the sanctified maize was placed in every granary and\ncorn-crib, was known as the \u201cheart\u201d thereof, and remained there until\ntaken out to be used as seed. It does not appear that human sacrifice\naccompanied this festival, which seems to have represented ancient\nrustic rites, the ritual of the family and the village, handed down\nfrom very early times.\n\nOchpaniztli (\u201cSweeping of Temples\u201d).\u2014In this festival, held about the\nbeginning of September, the goddess played an important although by no\nmeans the principal part, and as it is fully described in the pages\ndealing with Tlazolteotl, it will suffice here to mention that the\nrites accorded to Chicomecoatl on this occasion appear to have been\nalmost the same as those rendered at her first festival. The nature of\nher connection with the other deities of maize is indicated in the\nintroduction to the section dealing with the earth and grain gods, and\nher participation in the rites of the ochpaniztli perhaps exhibits the\nzealous activity of an ancient cult in rivalry with a later and more\npopular one. It would certainly seem as if Chicomecoatl had been\nrecognized in the ochpaniztli rites as an afterthought and for the\npurpose of placating her priesthood, as much as for the honour of the\ngoddess herself, or that it was a protest on the part of the ministers\nof her cult, who did not desire to see their divinity ignored at a\nseason at which she had probably been worshipped from time immemorial.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThat Chicomecoatl had a priesthood specially consecrated to her is\nmanifest from the accounts of her festivals, and this must have been in\nmost respects similar in organization and character to those of\nCinteotl (the Cinteotzin), Tlazolteotl, and Xipe. That she had also a\ncorps of priestesses or holy women attached to her worship is equally\nclear from the same source. But we learn nothing of their precise\nstatus or polity from any of the old authorities.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES\n\nChicomecoatl appears to have had two temples, both situated within the\nprecincts of the great temple at Mexico. The first was the Chicomecoatl\niteopan (\u201cTemple of Chicomecoatl\u201d) and the other the Cinteopan (\u201cMaize\nTemple\u201d), which, however, must not be confounded with that sacred to\nCinteotl.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nChicomecoatl is obviously the ancient and indigenous maize-goddess of\nthe Mexican Valley, whose worship had existed from early times. The\nstatement by the interpreter in Codex Telleriano-Remensis that she\ncaused famines is most certainly an error and much more applicable to\nCiuacoatl. The identification of her in the same place with\nTonacaciuatl, the female companion of the creative deity, is probably\ncorrect, as she seems to have been an agricultural variant of the old\nearth-mother. Chicomecoatl was the patroness of the food supply, who,\nsays Sahagun, \u201cwas the goddess of subsistence,\u201d and \u201cthe original maker\nof bread and victuals and cookery in general,\u201d and whose sign radiated\ngood fortune and happy influences. In this goddess, as viewed through\nthe medium of the observances practised at her festival, we see,\nperhaps, the old and indigenous earth-goddess as the helper and\nfoster-parent of the younger earth-mother, Tlazolteotl, for the grain\nof the year before was hers and was placed in the granaries to \u201chelp\u201d\nor form a nucleus to the new grain. Again, it was perhaps natural that\nthe elder earth-goddess should preside over the old grain used for\nseed, and the younger goddess over the grain which had not yet come to\nfruition. In many countries two grain-spirits, mother and daughter,\nappear in the agricultural pantheon. In Breton custom the\nmother-sheaf\u2014a figure made out of the last sheaf\u2014bears within it a\nlesser bundle, which is regarded as the unborn daughter; and in\nPrussia, Malaysia, Scotland, and Greece, this double personification of\nthe corn was or is in vogue.\n\n\n\n\nCINTEOTL = \u201cMAIZE-GOD\u201d\n\n\n    Territory: Totonac; Aztec; Xochimilco.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Ce Xochitl = \u201cOne Flower\u201d (date).\n        Chicomoltotzin = \u201cSeven Ears.\u201d\n\n    Relationship: Son of Tlazolteotl; husband of Xochiquetzal.\n\n    Symbol: The god\u2019s head with maize headdress (as in Bologna\n    tonalamatl).\n\n    Festivals: Uei tozoztli; ochpaniztli.\n\n    Compass Directions: North; West.\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Fourth of the Nine Lords of the Night.\n        Seventh of the Thirteen Lords of the Day.\n        (Codex Borbonicus, sheet 20.)\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 52: In this place Cinteotl is figured as a male\ndeity of yellow colour and with a peculiar black, angular, longitudinal\nband on the face and bearing a load of maize-ears on his back. In one\nhand he carries the rain-staff and in the other the throwing-stick.\nSheet 14: In this illustration he is clearly recognized as the\nMaize-god by the maize-ears and the maize-blooms which he wears in his\nfillet or on his head. In other respects his insignia resembles that of\nthe Sun-god in its flame-coloured hair, the jewelled head-strap with\nthe conventional bird\u2019s head on the frontal side, the large gold disk\non his breast, and on the nape of the neck the rosette painted in the\ncolours of the green jewel chalchihuitl.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 20: He wears on his head a notched crown like\nthat of the earth, mountain, and rain gods, except that it is painted\ngreen and yellow, the colours of the maize. It is fastened with a tie\nat the occiput, which adornment is painted in like colours and\nresembles the knot worn by these deities. As with the Rain-god, it\nshows the long, dark hair hanging down below it. On his breast he\nwears, attached to a chain of jewelled beads, an ornament which is\npainted in the colours of the chalchihuitl and from which hang jewelled\nthongs. The loin-cloth is in the colours of the maize, showing\nalternate yellow and green cross-bands.\n\nAubin Tonalamatl.\u2014Sheet 8: Here he is represented opposite Mayauel. On\nhis back he wears a plumed staff with a heart. In his hand he holds the\nquetzal feather-flag.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nCinteotl was regarded by the Mexicans as having been born of the\ngoddess Tlazolteotl in the sacred western region of Tamoanchan (the\nHouse of Birth), which they looked upon as the original home of the\nmaize-plant. A song sung at the atamalqualiztli festival is as follows:\n\n\n    Born is the Maize-god\n    In the House of Descent,\n    In the place where the flowers are,\n    The god One-flower.\n    The Maize-god is born\n    In the place of water and of mist,\n    Where the children of men are made.\n    In the jewel Michoacan.\n\n\nHe is also associated with the flower-gods in certain strophes of the\nsong to these divinities:\n\n\n    On the ball-ground the quetzalcoxcoxtli sings;\n    The Maize-god answers him.\n    Beautifully sings our friend the quetzal,\n    In the twilight of the red maize god.\n\n    My song shall be heard by the lord of the twilight,\n    The god with the thigh-skin face-painting.\n\n    I came to the place where the roads meet,\n    I, the Maize-god.\n    Where shall I now go?\n    Which way shall I take?\n\n\nThis song I would interpret as follows: The game of tlachtli, a\ndescription of hockey, is in some measure associated with the\nmaize-gods. The quetzalcoxcoxtli bird is Xochipilli, the Flower-god,\nwith whom Cinteotl is closely associated, and who is connected with\ngames of all kinds, stone effigies of him being set up in the tlachtli\ncourts. Cinteotl is a god who emanates from the west, and is associated\nwith the twilight. At his festival a piece of skin was stripped from\nthe thigh of the female victim and made into a mask for his priest. The\nplace where the roads meet is evidently the haunting-place of the\nCiuapipiltin or Ciuatete\u00f4, women who died in childbed, of whom\nTlazolteotl, Cinteotl\u2019s mother, was the patroness. The god complains\nthat he has a difficulty in finding his way at the cross-roads. This\nwas the precise reason for which they were made, that the Ciupipiltin\nor haunting mothers should be puzzled by them, or \u201cwandered,\u201d as the\nScottish expression is. Witches all the world over are baffled by\ncross-roads, and formerly the bodies of suicides were buried beneath\nthem, so that, did their spirits arise, they would be puzzled by the\nmultiplicity of directions and be baffled in their intent to haunt the\nliving.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nThe first festival with which Cinteotl was associated was the uei\ntozoztli, held in April. After a four days\u2019 fast, the houses were\ndecked with irises and sprinkled with blood drawn from the ears and the\nfront of the legs, and the nobles and wealthier folk decorated their\nhouses with the boughs of a plant called axcoyatl. [189] Search was\nmade in the fields for the young stalks of maize, which were decked\nwith flowers and placed before the gods, along with food. The goddess\nChicomecoatl was also revered at this festival. At the ochpaniztli\nfestival, too, in honour of his mother Tlazolteotl, Cinteotl was\npeculiarly venerated, and a full account of the proceedings will be\nfound in the pages referring to Tlazolteotl. It is necessary, however,\nto refer in passing to one custom, that in connection with which the\nthigh-skin of the female victim was stripped off and carried to the\ntemple of Cinteotl, where it was made into a mask which the priest of\nthe god placed over his face. [190] He also wore a jacket and hood of\nfeathers, resembling the naualli or bird-disguise of the god\u2014the\ncoxcoxtli, which seems to have represented both Cinteotl and\nXochipilli, and to have formed a kind of bond between them. The crest\nof the hood resembled the comb of a cock, and whilst possibly having\nthe significance of a bird\u2019s comb, was also held to symbolize the\nsharp-cutting flint knife of sacrifice (see Tlazolteotl). Lastly, the\nhorrible relics of the festival were conveyed by the Cinteotl priest\nand a picked body-guard to a hut on the frontier, where they were left,\nfor what purpose I am able to form no definite opinion. [191]\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES\n\nSeveral temples appear to have been dedicated to the worship of\nCinteotl at Mexico, but as the names of these sometimes imply a\ncollective dedication to the maize-gods, it is somewhat difficult to\nascertain precisely which of the edifices was peculiar to Cinteotl.\nHowever, the Iztac cinteotl iteopan, or temple of the deity of white\nmaize, at Mexico, more probably refers to Cinteotl\u2019s place of worship,\nas Sahagun states, than to that of any other deity. Here, says the\nfriar, were sacrificed leprous captives, who were slain during the days\nof fasting in honour of the sun, when that luminary was at its greatest\nheight. [192] In the Cinteopan was to be seen a statue of Cinteotl,\nbefore which captives were sacrificed on the occasion of his festival.\n\nThe temple of Tlatauhqui Cinteotl (red maize) appears to have been the\npreserve of the maize-gods collectively.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThat Cinteotl had a separate and distinct priesthood is manifest from\nallusions to it in accounts of his festivals. Among the Totonacs two\nhigh-priests were especially dedicated to him. These were widowers over\nsixty years of age, who wore jackets made from the skins of jackals,\nwere not permitted to eat fish, and whose duty consisted in the\npreparation of manuscripts and the deliverance of oracular messages.\nThe Totonacs thought human sacrifices unnecessary to him, and offered\nup birds and small animals at his shrine, regarding him as their\nprotector from the more sanguinary deities, says Clavigero. [193]\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nIt would appear from the data at our disposal that Cinteotl was\noriginally a maize-god of the Totonacs, a people allied in race to the\nMaya-speaking Huaxtecs of the east coast. It will be recalled that his\nmother, Tlazolteotl, was of Huaxtec origin. Cinteotl may originally\nhave been regarded by the Maya-speaking coast people as her son, or\nagain the relationship between them may have been symbolic and\nrelatively late in its development. But the myth appears as ancient and\nwell founded, and the corn-mother who has a son or daughter is\nnoticeable in many mythologies.\n\nAlthough Cinteotl is alluded to as a goddess by Clavigero and other\nwriters, it is abundantly clear that his godhead is of the male order,\nas the pictures which represent him prove. Seler lays stress upon his\nabsolute identification with Xochipilli and Macuilxochitl, but although\nresemblances certainly exist, it seems to me that there are as many\npoints of difference between these gods and that the likeness was the\noutcome of later development. Thus it can be shown by Seler\u2019s own\nconclusions that, whereas Xochipilli was the patron of gaming and sport\nand light-hearted amusement, Cinteotl, on the other hand, was symbolic\nof that death which is the offspring of sin. [194]\n\nCinteotl\u2019s mother, Tlazolteotl, the goddess of lust, undoubtedly\ntypifies sin, and her son symbolizes the death which follows it and is\nits wages, the sharp knife of sacrifice. The indented cap he wears is\ntypical of this implement, and was known as itzlacoliuhqui (\u201cfrost\u201d),\nan expression which is also translated as \u201cdeath\u201d and which is\noccasionally employed of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in his phase of god of justice.\n\nBut Cinteotl had another connection with the plutonic, such as is\npossessed by many grain-gods, and must, like Hades and Ishtar, be\nregarded as a deity of the Underworld, the place of the dead, the realm\nin which the seed germinates ere it sprouts above ground. He was the\ntutelary deity of the goldsmiths of Xochimilco, oddly enough, it seems\nto us, until we recall the resemblance between the ripe maize-cob and\nthe work of the native jewellers. [195]\n\nIt is, however, as the young maize-god\u2014the maize in its tender and\nhalf-ripened condition\u2014that he must be chiefly regarded, and that he\nwas looked upon by the ancient Mexicans. He strongly resembles the Maya\ngod E.\n\n\n\n\nCIUACOATL = \u201cSERPENT WOMAN\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Colhuacan and Xochimilco.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Quilaztli = \u201cObsidian Plant\u201d (?).\n        Quauhciuatl = \u201cWoman-eagle.\u201d\n        Yaociuatl = \u201cWoman-warrior.\u201d\n        Tonantzin = \u201cOur Mother.\u201d\n\n    Relationship: Mother of Mixcoatl; sister of the Centzon Mimixcoa.\n\n    Symbol: Obsidian knife.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nGeneral.\u2014In Codex Borgia (sheet 60) she appears as one of the two\nheads, or faces, of Quaxolotl, a female face framed by long, streaming\nhair, with the fleshless under-jaw and the exposed teeth of a dead\nperson\u2019s skull.\n\nThe Sahagun MS. describes her as having a face painted half-red,\nhalf-black, with a thick smear of indiarubber round the lips. She wears\na crown of eagle-feathers and a golden ear-plug. Her overdress is \u201cthe\ncolour of spring flowers\u201d (red), and she also has an undergarment with\na fringe, and a white enagua, or skirt. Her costume is adorned with\nshells and she wears sandals. Her shield is inset with eagle\u2019s\nfeathers.\n\nAn ancient song to her states that she carries a rattle-stick. She has\na shield-device similar to that of Chantico, with whom she seems to be\na parallel.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nIn the \u201cSong of the Earth-goddesses,\u201d Ciuacoatl is alluded to as\nfollows:\n\n\n    The eagle Quilaztli is painted with serpent\u2019s blood;\n    Her crown is made of eagle-feathers.\n    The high cypresses of the Chalmec\u00e2 land shelter her.\n\n    The maize has come;\n    On the fields of the gods\n    She leans on the rattle-staff.\n\n    In my hand rests the agave thorn;\n    On the fields of the gods\n    She leans on her rattle-staff.\n\n    The broom is in my hand;\n    On the fields of the gods\n    She leans on the rattle-staff.\n\n    Thirteen eagles is our mother, goddess of the Chalmec\u00e2;\n    The spear of the prickly plant lays me low;\n    It is my son Mixcoatl.\n\n    Our mother the warrior.\n    The deer from Colhuacan,\n    She is stuck with feathers.\n\n    Morning has dawned\n    The order to the warriors has gone forth.\n    Drag the captives hence,\n    The whole land shall be destroyed.\n    The deer from Colhuacan,\n    She is stuck with feathers.\n    Those who fight bravely in war\n    Are painted with eagle-feathers. [196]\n\n\nThis wild song may be interpreted as follows:\n\nThe aspect of the goddess is described. She rests (as do Uitzilopochtli\nand other gods) under the shade of the cypress trees. The maize is\nabout to be planted, and she bears in her hand the rattle-staff or\nrain-rattle, carried by all the earth- and rain-gods and their priests,\nwith which she brings down the rain by dint of sympathetic magic and\nwhich implement was also symbolic of fruitfulness or sexual union.\n[197] The worshipper takes the agave thorn in his hand wherewith to\npierce his tongue and other members, so that the blood thus obtained\nmay produce rain for the growth of the maize. The broom alluded to is a\nsymbol of the earth-goddesses, and was made of hard, stiff, pointed\ngrass, cut with sickles in the mountainous forests of Popocatepetl and\nAjusco (see Tlazolteotl). \u201cThirteen eagles\u201d is a date in the\ntonalamatl, the last day of the division ce calli. It was connected\nwith the Ciuatete\u00f4, the vengeful women who died in childbed, of whom\nTlazolteotl is the prototype. The \u201cspear of the prickly plant\u201d (cactus)\nis the weapon of Mixcoatl, son of the goddess, and is here probably\nalluded to as the lightning which accompanies the rainfall in Mexico,\nfor Mixcoatl is the \u201cCloud-Serpent,\u201d \u201cthe lightning-god.\u201d Or the\nworshipper may complain of weakness from loss of blood shed as an\noffering by his use of the agave thorn. The warlike nature of Ciuacoatl\nis next alluded to. She was evidently identified at Cuitlauac, and\nXochimilco, with the two-headed deer, an animal frequently connected\nwith the worship of the nomadic Chichimecs, as was Mixcoatl, her son.\nShe is stuck with eagle feathers or down, like the successful warrior\nwho had captured an enemy. The warriors must now depart to seek for\nfurther victims. The whole song is eloquent of the connection of the\nearth-cult with war and human sacrifice.\n\nCiuacoatl is spoken of by Duran and Sahagun as a warrior goddess who\ngave the Mexicans victory over their enemies, and by Torquemada [198]\nas the elder sister of the Mimixcoa, the stellar gods of the steppe.\nShe it was, too, who, according to another myth, pounded the human\nbones brought by Quetzalcoatl from the Underworld into a paste, from\nwhich men were formed\u2014an allusion to the belief current in Mexico that\nman was made, or at least \u201cbuilt up,\u201d from maize. [199] Sahagun says of\nher [200] that she dispensed adverse fortune, poverty, abjectness, and\nmisery. She was wont to appear to men in the guise of a richly dressed\nlady, such as frequented the court. Through the night she wandered,\nhowling and bellowing. Occasionally she was seen carrying a cradle, and\nwhen she vanished, examination showed that the resting-place of what\nwas believed to be an infant contained nothing but an obsidian knife,\nsuch as was used in human sacrifice. [201] There are also indications\nthat she presided over childbirth.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES\n\nCiuacoatl had a temple called the Tlillan Calmecac, or \u201cBlack College,\u201d\nwhere dwelt those priests devoted to her service. [202]\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThe circumstance that Ciuacoatl appears with the skull of a dead person\nleads to the conclusion that, besides being an earth-deity, she had\nphantom or underworld characteristics\u2014a common connection for a\ngrain-goddess. From her hymn we gather that she has a magical influence\nover the plantation and growth of the maize. She is, perhaps, a\nprototype of the Ciuatete\u00f4, the disappointed and vengeful women who had\ndied in their first childbed, and the myth of her cradle containing the\nsacrificial knife is eloquent of the connection of the Earth-goddess\nwith human sacrifice. Her martial character, also, is apparent and is a\nconcomitant of her agricultural and sacrificial significance. From her\nassociation with Mixcoatl, the Mimixcoa, the Chichimec gods, as from\nher name, Quilaztli, and her symbol it is evident that she is connected\nwith the Chichimec or native Indian cult. Her connection with childbed\nis clear from one of the addresses given by Sahagun, who states that\nthe midwife exhorted the woman in childbed to be strong and valiant as\nwas Ciuacoatl. \u201cWho first bore children,\u201d in allusion to a myth\nmentioned by Gama (pt. i, p. 39), who says that she gave birth to two\nchildren, male and female, whence sprung the human race\u2014a story I have\nfailed to trace elsewhere, except in Clavigero.\n\n\n\n\nCOATLICUE = \u201cSERPENT-SKIRT\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico-Tenochtitlan.\n\n    Minor Name: Coatlantonan = \u201cOur Serpent Mother.\u201d\n\n    Relationship: Mother of Uitzilopochtli by Mixcoatl; mother of\n    Coyolxauhqui and the Centzonuitznaua; wife of Tezcatzoncatl or\n    Izquitecatl.\n\n    Festival: Feast of the flower-sellers in the second month,\n    tlacaxipeuliztli.\n\n    Symbol: The eagle\u2019s foot.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014The face of the goddess is painted with white infusorial\nearth of the kind known as ti\u00e7itl. She wears a crown of eagle-feathers\nand a white overdress. Her skirt is formed of serpents, as her name\nimplies. On her feet she wears white sandals and shells. Her shield is\ninset with eagle-feathers, and she bears a serpent-staff in her hand.\n\n\n\n\nSTATUES\n\nMuch argument has circled around the colossal statue of Coatlicue (see\nIntroduction) which formerly adorned one of the entrances to the great\ntemple of Mexico, and which was evidently supported by upright stones,\nso that it formed the key-stone of a gateway where it could be seen by\nall who passed in and out of the temple. It has been assigned to more\nthan one goddess, and when it was disinterred amongst other relics in\nthe course of making new drains in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico in August\n1790, it was placed in the court of the university and there worshipped\nby the Indians, who decked it with flowers. The Mexican antiquaries,\nrelying on a statement by Boturini [203] in which he states that\nUitzilopochtli was accompanied by the goddess \u201cTeoyaomiqui,\u201d regarded\nthe two-faced idol as being bi-sexual and as a composite figure of both\ngods, and this notion was perpetuated by Gama in his Dos Piedras.\nPayne, in his History of the New World, appends a long and very \u201csane\u201d\nnote to his description of it, sneers at the conclusions of the Mexican\nantiquaries, and states, somewhat dogmatically, that it must be\nregarded as a representation of Chicomecoatl. But it is undoubtedly\nCoatlicue. In the first place that goddess had a right to a position in\nthe temple of Uitzilopochtli as his mother, secondly the idol wears the\nskirt of serpents which is implied in her name. But this\nnotwithstanding, the stone figure has obviously a symbolical meaning as\nillustrating the whole circumstances of human sacrifice. The head is\nformed by the junction of the heads of two serpents, which symbolize\nthe two streams of blood welling out from a decapitated body. The\nflayed skin of the victim is hung in front and is shown knotted behind\nas in the statue of Xipe found at the Castillo de Teayo. The cups from\nwhich octli was drunk are stuck in front of the flayed human skin, and\na skull adorns the serpent-skirt before and behind. Through all these\nattributes, however, the personality of the serpent-woman goddess can\nbe sensed as much as observed. [204]\n\nOther statues and paintings of Coatlicue uphold the theory that she is\nrepresented by this idol. One found in the Calle de las Escalerillas,\nand others recovered from the Calle de Coliseo in Mexico City, show her\nas having the face of a skull. In the latter she wears a peculiar flat\nheaddress with maize-like motifs depending from the back, and her hair\nrecalls the ruffled \u201cnight-hair\u201d of Mictlantecutli. Around her body are\nstrange step-motifs which constitute the ends of parallel lines; and\nfrom her ears depend large cotton plugs. She wears a girdle of skulls\nwith serpentine noses. Another relief of her found in the Calle de las\nEscalerillas is, however, much more enlightening than the foregoing. In\nthis spirited work she wears what is evidently a panache of stone\nknives or malinalli grass, the face is that of a skull, she has the\nclaws of a jaguar, and the skirt of entwined serpents is noticeable. Be\nall this as it may, however, the insignia of the goddess is by no means\na fixed quantity, and considerable research is necessary before\nanything like certainty can be arrived at.\n\n\n\n\nMYTH\n\nSahagun (bk. iii, c. i) related of this goddess that near the ancient\ncity of Tulla or Tulan rose the mountain of Coatepec (\u201cSerpent\nMountain\u201d), where lived a woman named Coatlicue, mother of certain\n\u201cIndians\u201d called Cenzonuitznaua. She had a daughter called\nCoyolxauhqui. Coatlicue, who was a widow and very devout, climbed each\nday to the mountain of Coatepec to do penance, and on one occasion, as\nshe reached its summit, a little ball of feathers resembling a roll of\nthread or twine fell upon her. Picking it up, she placed it in her\nbosom, and later was unable to find it. Shortly afterwards she became\nenceinte. Her children, observing her condition, were indignant, and\nCoyolxauhqui advised her brothers to slay their mother for the shame\nshe had put upon them. Her unborn infant whispered to her to be of good\ncheer. But one day her sons armed themselves and prepared to slay her.\nOne of them, however, called Quauitlicac, whispered to the supernatural\nchild that treason was toward, and at the moment when, headed by\nCoyolxauhqui, Coatlicue\u2019s children came to dispatch her, Uitzilopochtli\nwas born, fully armed. Falling upon his brothers and sister with his\nterrible weapon, the xiuhcoatl, or fiery serpent, he speedily\ndispatched them all. [205]\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nTlacaxipeuliztli.\u2014Sahagun (bk. ii, c. 22) relates that on the second\nday of this month the people of the temple quarter of Coatlan offered\nflowers in the temple and made music during the entire day in honour of\nCoatlicue. These flowers were the first-fruits of the year, were\noffered up by the master florists, who had a great devotion to the\ngoddess, and none of the blossoms in their gardens might be smelt until\nthese bouquets had been offered up in the temple of Coatlicue. They\nmade for this feast tamallis called tzatzapaltamalli (\u201csharp-tasting\nherb cakes\u201d).\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nCoatlicue is, in one of her aspects, undoubtedly the flower-covered\nearth of spring, from whom, as it were, the sun (Uitzilopochtli) is\nreborn. Her serpent-skirt is probably symbolic of the circumstance\nthat, at the season which she represents, the earth is clothed with the\nrain as with a garment. The myth which makes her a pious widow is\nobviously of late, and probably of hierophantic, origin. In my view\nUitzilopochtli is chiefly her son in his naualli or disguise of a\nhumming-bird. The humming-bird sucks from the breasts of earth as a\nchild from its mother\u2019s. But the myth is highly conglomerate, and, as\nwe possess it, is obviously the result of the fusion of several varying\nconceptions of the two principal figures. Coatlicue\u2019s appearance as a\nserpent in her great statue which has been described above, and her\nname of Coatlantonan, \u201cOur Serpent Mother,\u201d in my view tend to identify\nher with the earth in its form of dragon, serpent, or cipactli,\nregarding which hypothesis the reader is referred to my remarks in the\nIntroduction.\n\nIt is not improbable that, like Xochiquetzal, Coatlicue is one of those\nmountain goddesses from whose sacred heights the rain descended upon\nthe parched fields. This seems likely from the name of her abode,\nCoatepetl (\u201cSerpent Mountain\u201d), the serpents of which her skirt is\ncomposed being symbolical, perhaps, of the stream flowing from the\ntarns or pools situated on its lower acclivities. That such a mountain\nactually existed in the vicinity of Tollan is proved by the statement\nof Sahagun. Uitzilopochtli (q.v.) is thus the sun which rises out of\nthe mountain, or is \u201cborn\u201d from it, armed with the xiuhcoatl, or\nfire-snake, the red dawn, with which he slays his sister Coyolxauhqui,\nwhose insignia show her to represent the moon, and puts the stars to\nflight.\n\n\n\n\nXOCHIQUETZAL = \u201cFLOWER FEATHER\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Plateau of Anahuac; Tlaxcallan; Tlalhuica.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Ce atl = \u201cOne Water.\u201d\n        Ce Mazatl (Calendar date) = \u201cOne Deer.\u201d\n        Mazateotl = \u201cDeer Goddess.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the twentieth day (xochitl) and of the\n    nineteenth \u201cweek\u201d (ce quauhtli).\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n    Festivals:\n        Tepeilhuitl (Tlalhuica).\n        Quecholli (Tlaxcallan).\n        Chicome xochitl (Mexico).\n\n    Relationship: The first woman, and thus companion of Piltzintecutli\n    (the Sun-god); otherwise, wife of Tlaloc, abducted by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 9: Here the goddess is represented as wearing an\nupper garment of diversified pattern, finished with a variegated\nedging. Her shawl is painted in the chalchihuitl colours, and from it\ndepend two strings or ribbons of a dark shade, completed with a flower.\nHer nose-plate is blue and is formed rather after the fashion of the\nbutterfly design, while her helmet-mask represents a quetzal-bird. In\nsheet 58 she is vis-\u00e0-vis with the Death-god and is garbed like an\nearth-deity with a many-coloured robe. Her hair is dressed like that of\nthe Zapotec women, that is, two tresses are twisted up like horns and\nsecured with parti-coloured bands. On the same sheet (next picture) she\nconfronts one of her servitors or priests (tlamacazque), and her\ngarments in this place are very similar to those already described. In\nthe next illustration the only addition to her costume is a wreath of\nflowers, but under her arm she holds a quetzal-bird and sits opposite a\nred Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. On sheet 59 she is represented in the first place\nopposite the tlamacazque, and in the following picture confronts a\nnaked prostitute. Between these figures is her servitor, surprised in\nthe act of pressing the courtesan\u2019s breasts. This female is\ncharacterized by her wearing of Xochiquetzal\u2019s shawl, hair-dressing,\nand the hieroglyph of the warrior caste (shield and spears) shown above\nher head. In the lowest row of the same sheet the goddess is seen\nopposite the Vulture-god, Tlacacozcaquauhtli. In the following sheets\nof the codex her aspect and garb are practically similar to those\ndescribed above, with the exception of sheet 60, where she appears in\nthe act of parturition, with the double head and certain of the\ninsignia of Quaxolotl, being delivered by Quetzalcoatl in the character\nof Xolotl. In the region of her mouth is an angular line of red.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 42: Here Xochiquetzal is adorned by a wreath\nof flowers and faces her servant. On sheet 41 we observe that her cheek\nis painted with a round red spot, like that of the Sun-god, whilst her\nhead is adorned with quetzal-feathers, and the quetzal-bird is held\nunder her arm. She is ensconced on a jaguar skin, and on her head is\nthe wreath of flowers with two feather tufts, which is especially\ncharacteristic of her. On her face is depicted a red, angular line.\nOpposite is the figure of her priest, and between them is a headless\nwoman, whose head is replaced by a flowering tree. On sheet 39 she is\nshown as wearing a quetzal-bird mask and a blue, step-shaped\nnose-plate, while her face-paint is elaborately executed. In this\npicture is seen issuing from her body a quetzal-feather ornament,\nsymbolic of a newly-born child. In one hand she holds a jewelled\nornament, and in the other an ear of maize, and she wears the opossum\nwristlets applied to women in travail. Her new-born twins are seated\nbeside her. In another part of this codex she is represented as facing\nvarious male deities in characteristic positions, which are evidently\nmore typical of her personality than any insignia.\n\nCodex Laud.\u2014Sheet 38: She is here represented facing the tlamacazque in\na kneeling attitude, with her hair dressed in a peculiar manner. Sheet\n35 shows her similarly represented to her picture in Codex Vaticanus B,\nsheet 39. Her twins are seated one on the instep curve of each foot.\n\nPottery Figures.\u2014Various pottery figures of the goddess found in the\nValley of Mexico are to be seen in the Uhde Collection, Berlin. In one\nof these she is represented holding an infant, and her general attire\nagrees with the manuscript representations of her. Her hair is dressed\nin the Zapotec style, rising up in two horns and secured with plaited\nbands. The shawl or tippet with a V-shape in front is a constant\nfactor, and in one example is scalloped, in another plain, while in the\nthird it ends in the chalchihuitl ornament and a bead or ball-fringing.\nIn the Seler collection is a curious little statuette from Cholula, in\nwhich the goddess is again represented as carrying a child. She wears a\nflat cap, almost like that of a cook or chef, the precise significance\nof which escapes me, unless it be a local headdress, as some other\nexamples in the same collection would seem to prove. In a relief found\nat Zanja de la Piedra Labrada, near Castillo de Teayo, she is\nrepresented opposite Tlaloc, as if to show her connection with rain.\nHer headdress in this place would seem to be a compromise between the\nZapotec hairdressing and a motif representative of florescence. She\nwears the same V-shaped tippet, which is here adorned with three\ntassels, and she has the stepped nose-ornament. In her right hand she\ncarries a sceptre of water-rushes, the same as that held by Tlaloc, and\nin her left the staff commonly seen in the representation of gods in\nthe Sahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio), and which seems to me to be a\ndevelopment of the chicaunaztli, or rain-rattle.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nPerhaps the most important of these is that found in the Sahagun\ncollection of songs or hymns (the ninth item):\n\n\n    Out of the land of the rain and the mist\n    I, Xochiquetzal, come.\n    Out of Tamoanchan.\n    The pious Piltzintecutli weeps;\n    He seeks Xochiquetzal.\n    To the land of corruption I must go.\n\n\nThe goddess here declares that, like other fertility goddesses, she\ncomes from the fruitful supernatural country of Tamaonchan, the home of\nthe maize. Piltzintecutli, the Sun-god, seeks her, but, like Ishtar in\nBabylonian myth, she must betake herself to the Underworld, until it is\nonce more time to resume her growth-assisting labours. We have here\ngood grounds for positing the existence of a popular myth which would\nseem to have recounted how the divine lovers dwelt happily in\nTamoanchan until Xochiquetzal was forced to quit the blest abode or was\ncarried off, and was sought for by the Sun-god, a myth like that of\nProserpine or Orpheus. It may refer to the sun seeking the flower, or\nmay have a bearing upon the myth of Ixnextli, a variant of\nXochiquetzal, who was expelled from Paradise, and of whom the\ninterpreter of Codex Vaticanus A says: \u201cIxnextli, who is the same as\nEve, is always weeping, her eyes dim with ashes, a rose in her hand,\nemblematical of her grief, being in consequence of her having gathered\nit. And accordingly they celebrate a fast every eight years on account\nof this calamitous event; the fast was on bread and water. They fasted\non the eight signs preceding the entrance of the rose, and when that\nsign arrived, they prepared themselves for the celebration of the\nfestival. They affirm that every series of five days comprised in this\ncalendar was dedicated to this fall, because on such a day Eve sinned.\nThey were accordingly enjoined to bathe themselves on this night in\norder to escape disease.\u201d Regarding this myth the interpreter of the\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis says: \u201cThey represented her as Eve always\nweeping and looking at her husband, Adam. She is called Ysnextli, which\nsignifies \u2018eyes blind with ashes\u2019; and this refers to the time\nsubsequent to her sinning by plucking the roses. They accordingly\ndeclare that they are still unable to look up to heaven, and in\nrecollection of the happy state which she lost, they fasted every eight\nyears on account of this fall.\u201d It is significant that the goddess\npictured beside this statement is called \u201cSuchiquezal.\u201d\n\nDiego Mu\u00f1oz Camargo, in his Historia de Tlaxcala, equates Xochiquetzal\nwith Venus and states that: \u201cShe dwells above the nine heavens in a\nvery pleasant and delectable place, accompanied and guarded by many\npeople and waited on by other women of the rank of goddesses, where are\nmany delights of fountains, brooks, flower-gardens, and without her\nwanting for anything, and that where she sojourned she was guarded and\nsheltered from the gaze of the people, and that in her retinue she had\na great many dwarfs and hunchbacks, jesters, and buffoons, who\nentertained her with music and dancing and whom she sent as her\nconfidants and messengers to the other gods, and that their chief\noccupation was the spinning and weaving of sumptuous artistic fabrics,\nand that they were painted so beautifully and elegantly that nothing\nfiner could be found amongst mortals. But the place where she dwelt was\ncalled Tamohuanichan Xochitl ihcacan, Chicuhnauh-nepaniuhcan,\nItzehecaya, that is, \u2018the house of the descent or of birth, the place\nwhere are the flowers, the ninefold enchained, the place of the fresh,\ncool winds.\u2019 And every year she was honoured with a great feast, to\nwhich many people from all parts were gathered in her temple.\u201d He\ncontinues: \u201cThey say that she had formerly been the spouse of the\nRain-god, Tlaloc, but that Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 had abducted her, and brought\nher to the nine heavens, and made her the goddess of love. And then\nthere was another goddess, Matlalcu\u00eay\u00ea, the goddess to whom were\nattributed witchcraft and soothsaying. Her Tlaloc had made his consort\nafter Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 had carried off his wife Xochiquetzal.\u201d [206]\n\nAnother myth, given by Boturini, recounts her temptation of the holy\nascetic Yappan, who dwelt in a desert place in order to lead a\ncontinent and solitary life, so that he might win the favour of the\ngods. He took up his abode on a rock called Tehuehuetl, but the gods\nconceived a doubt of his piety, and sent an enemy of his, Yaotl\n(enemy), to watch his movements. Even this bitter foe found nothing to\ncavil at in his conduct, and women sent by the gods to lead him from\nthe paths of rectitude were sternly repulsed. The divine beings were\nabout to consider his apotheosis, when Xochiquetzal, feeling that her\nreputation as a tempter of men was at stake, angrily assured them that\nshe was able to effect his seduction. Descending to earth, she sought\nout the hermit, whom she assured of her admiration and esteem, and\nasked by what path she might ascend to his rocky seat. All unsuspicious\nof her intent, Yappan descended from his place on the rock and assisted\nher to climb the rugged eminence. Yappan forgot his vow of chastity,\nand when the goddess had departed, found himself deserted by the angry\ngods to the mercies of his enemy, Yaotl, who slew him out of hand. The\ngods transformed the slain man into a scorpion, and Yaotl having also\nslain Yappan\u2019s wife, Tlahuitzin, whom he had abandoned for the life\nascetic, she was transformed into an animal of the same species, and\ncrawling under a stone, found her husband there. But the gods, wrathful\nat Yaotl\u2019s excessive cruelty, changed him into a locust. [207]\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nChicomexochitl (\u201cSeven Flower\u201d).\u2014In the sign ce ocelotl, on the day\nchicomexochitl, the artists united to hold festival to the goddess, and\nthe laundresses, says Sahagun, [208] fasted forty days. \u201cThey joined\ntogether, twenty or more, to obtain a better quality of pictures and\nweaves and to this end offered up quails and incense.\u201d This was one of\nthe movable feasts.\n\nIn an illuminating passage in his disquisition upon the Aubin\ntonalamatl (p. 123) Seler says: \u201cAs I have remarked at the opening of\nthe section, the goddess Xochiquetzal is properly the expression of the\nday-sign xochitl. But owing to the transference of the series of rulers\nof the day-signs to the weeks in the peculiar way affected by the\ncalendar-makers, that is, by a general shifting of one member, [209]\nXochiquetzal has been brought into association with the sign ce\nquauhtli (one eagle). But in Telleriano-Remensis at this week the\nhand-mark [210] which indicates the feast-day proper of the ruler of\nthe week stands at the first day itself\u2014the sign ce quauhtli, that\ninduced the calendar-makers to effect the above-described dislocation\nin the second half of the list of rulers. For more than one reason the\nday ce quauhtli must really have seemed to the priestly savants\nspecially appropriate to the goddess Xochiquetzal, and above all,\nbecause this day was one of the five which fell at the beginning or\nwestern quarter of the tonalamatl disposed in columns of five members.\nHence these five days were collectively regarded as dedicated to the\nearth-goddesses, and as the days in which the ghostly women dwelling in\nthe west, the Ciuatete\u00f4, swooped down upon earth, striking the children\nwith epilepsy and beguiling the men to lust and sin.\u201d These Ciuatete\u00f4\nwere streg\u00e6, witches, succubi, and their characteristics, which are\ntouched upon in the section dealing with Tlazolteotl, will be more\nfully outlined elsewhere.\n\nQuecholli.\u2014The people of Tlaxcallan held a festival to Xochiquetzal in\nthe month quecholli, when the Mexicans celebrated the feast of\nMixcoatl. At the Tlaxcaltec feast numbers of young women were\nsacrificed to the goddess, \u201cto the honour of love,\u201d and the prostitutes\nwere also in the habit of offering themselves for immolation, we are\ninformed by Torquemada, [211] first haling the \u201chonest\u201d women through\nthe mire and subjecting them to the foulest abuse. The Tlalhuica, who\nlived in the hot lands south of Mexico, themselves, like the\nTlaxcaltecs, a people of Nahua race, held a festival in honour of\nXochiquetzal in the month tepeilhuitl, which the Mexicans dedicated to\nthe Tlaloque, gods of rain, as is related by the interpreter of the\nCodex Magliabecchiano. Torquemada, too, [212] states that the\nTlaxcaltecs sacrificed many children to Xochiquetzal and to the\nmountain-gods (Tlaloque) evidently at this season. Xochiquetzal was\nalso connected with the festival of the atamalqualiztli, celebrated\nevery eight years. In the picture of that feast in the Sahagun MS. we\nobserve her seated at a loom. From these considerations it is manifest\nthat the verdurous and \u201cwatery\u201d attributes of the goddess connected her\nwith the Tlaloque, but that she was not actually of their company.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES\n\nIn Tlalhuica, not far from Cuernavaca or Quauhnauac, stands the pyramid\nof Xochicalco, one of the most perfect specimens extant of Nahua\narchitectural skill. There is reason to believe that Xochiquetzal was\noriginally the local deity of one of these mountains the waters from\nwhich irrigate the fields below, [213] and it seems probable that the\nteocalli of Xochicalco typified this eminence. We know that the\nteotlalpan, or \u201cPlace of Divine Earth,\u201d in the sacred precinct at\nMexico, was sacred to Mixcoatl, a deity who was perhaps of Otomi\norigin, and that it was probably symbolic of a mountain in the Otomi\ncountry of which he was the presiding deity, so that the probability is\nborne out by analogy. In the country of the Tlaxcaltecs stood the\nheights of Xochtecatl, \u201cGoddess of the Flowery Land,\u201d a mountain,\naccording to Torquemada, about six miles in circumference, which was\nthe nucleus of a settlement, and was surrounded by graves hewn out of\nthe solid rock. This, perhaps, provides a fuller illustration of the\ntheory advanced above.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThe original home of Xochiquetzal seems to have been among the\nTlalhuica and Tlaxcaltecs. But as the latter were closely connected\nwith the Mexicans racially, there is good reason to believe that she\nwas also an original member of their pantheon. In any case she had a\nplace in the metropolitan calendar, and the contention of the compilers\nof both interpretative codices, as well as of the native author of the\npicture writings in the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas,\nthat she is to be equated with Tonacaciuatl, the female member of the\ncreative pair, seems to have been a later development.\n\nBut Xochiquetzal is more especially the goddess of flowers, the female\ncounterpart of Xochipilli-Macuilxochitl. As has been mentioned, she was\nprobably at first the goddess who presided over some lofty mountain\nwhose streams watered the sun-dried plains beneath and clothed them in\nabundant florescence, perhaps that very mountain of Xochtecatl to which\nallusion has been made, and which stood in Tlaxcaltec territory. As the\n\u201cfeminine\u201d of Xochipilli, however, she certainly partook of his festive\nand frivolous character, and thus presided over the song, the dance,\nand all sportive amusements. By a further slight effort of imagination\nshe came to be regarded as the goddess of illicit love, or of the\nsensuous side of intercourse between the sexes, not so much a goddess\nof degraded animal passion, like Tlazolteotl, as a figure bearing a\nclose resemblance to the Apsarasas of Hindu myth, lovely and\nvoluptuous, and, like them, addicted to the game of throwing the dice\n(patolli). A further step established her as the patron goddess of the\nprostitutes who existed for the pleasure of the unmarried warriors and\nwho resided with them in the great common house of the bachelors. From\nthis circumstance arose the obscene character of the feast of Quecholli\namong the Tlaxcaltecs and the Tepeilhuitl festival among the Tlalhuica.\n\nXochiquetzal was also in some measure the patroness of pregnant women,\naccording to the interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A, and these worshipped\nand sacrificed to her in order that they should not give birth to\ngirls. She is herself figured in Codex Borgia as the great parturient,\nand in Codex Vaticanus B (sheet 39) as has been indicated above.\n\nShe had also, like Xochipilli, an artistic significance, as the\npatroness of weavers and artists. She was revered by the women who\npractised the former art, the invention of spinning and weaving was\nattributed to her, and many kinds of craftsmen paid her honours. She\nhad, moreover, a magical side to her character; in the Aubin tonalamatl\nshe is seated opposite the dancing wizard, and she is furthermore one\nof the Tzitzimim\u00ea, or deities of the darksome night, among whom she is\nsymbolized by the spider.\n\n\n\n\nMACUILXOCHITL = \u201cFIVE FLOWER,\u201d OR XOCHIPILLI = \u201cFLOWER PRINCE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Tehuacan, Cozcatlan, Teotitlan del Camino, Oaxaca,\n    Mexico.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Auia teotl = \u201cGod of Pleasure.\u201d\n        Mazatl = \u201cDeer.\u201d\n        Auiatl = \u201cThe Jovial.\u201d\n\n    Symbol: The sign five-flower.\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Ruler of the eleventh day-sign, ozomatli.\n        Seventh of the thirteen day-lords.\n        Ruler of the twentieth day-count, xochitl.\n\n    Festival: The Xochilhuitl (\u201cFeast of Flowers\u201d), one of the movable\n    feasts.\n\n    Compass Directions: South; West.\n\n    Relationship: Brother of Ixlilton; son of Piltzintecutli.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA (as Macuilxochitl)\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 15: In this place the god wears as breast-ornament\na human lower jaw, which, combined with the green band to which it is\ntied up, may possibly express the day-count malinalli. He has a large\nfeather nape-ornament. The upper part of his face is white, with a dark\nband over the nose and cheek, and white painting over the mouth, in the\nsemblance of an outspread hand. He wears a cap with vertically\nprojecting bands painted in the colours of the green jewel\nchalchihuitl.\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014Here he is represented with a white hand painted on his\nmouth and a feather crown surmounted by a crest.\n\nGeneral.\u2014Like the other gods of dance and sport, Macuilxochitl wears\nthe four balls of the toualli emblem on his shield and sometimes\ncarries the staff with the heart. Like Ixtlilton, he had probably once\na bird\u2019s-head mask, which in the course of his evolution degenerated\ninto a feather crest and a wing on his back. The deterioration of this\nfeature can be observed in the stone effigies of his counterpart\nXochipilli.\n\n\n\n\nSTATUES\n\nA stone figure of Macuilxochitl found in Cuernavaca represents the god\nseated in a squatting attitude, and it is evidently intended to show\nhim as an onlooker at the ball-game. He wears a pointed headdress or\nmitre, on the top of what would seem to be a cotton head-covering. A\nhead of the god in stone is included in the collection of the Natural\nHistory Museum at Vienna. In this the nose-plug is prominent and he\nwears round earrings. The wing-ornament stands well out behind the head\nand the face seems to look out of a bird helmet-mask, on both sides of\nwhich are large, circular holes, through which feathers or cotton\near-plugs fall. The difficulty of working in stone has evidently\nrestrained the sculptor from representing the upper and lower portions\nof the bird\u2019s beak, and the helmet-mask bears a strong resemblance to\nthat of Xochipilli in the Codex Magliabecchiano, if the beak in that\nrepresentation were removed. A statue of the god found in the Calle de\nlas Escalerillas in Mexico City on December 13, 1900, is almost\nidentical with the first of those two statues, and agrees with the\nsecond in that here we have the circular holes at the side of the\nheaddress with the dependent feathers or cotton plug. The best known of\nthe representations of this god, however, is the clay model found by\nSeler at Teotitlan del Camino. It represents Macuilxochitl in a sitting\nposition and is brilliantly coloured. The face of the god looks out of\na bird helmet-mask, highly conventionalized, and which has practically\nlost all its birdlike characteristics. The two circular holes below the\near are, however, still represented. The upper part of the face is\npainted yellow, but under each eye is an oblong patch painted in\nvariegated colours, such as appears on the faces of the gods of grain.\nAround the mouth is a large white patch, in which we may see the white\nhand motif conventionalized. The body-paint is red and the garment\nwhite, except that portion at the neck, which is blue. Small golden\nbells adorn the necklace and wristlets. In this statuette we have\nevidently a very late and highly developed figure of the deity, showing\na considerable departure from the earlier drawings and statues of him.\nIn the Anthropological Museum at Berlin is a stone statue of\nMacuilxochitl, also in a squatting attitude, in which the circular\nmotif above the ear, with its accompanying plug, is strongly in\nevidence. A number of stone statuettes of the god were found at Tepeaca\nin the state of Puebla and are now housed in the Natural History Museum\nat Vienna. These do not differ from the examples already described,\nsave that in one of them the Greek fret-pattern takes the place of the\ncircular ear-plug motif. A stone figure of the god was found amid the\nruins of the Castillo de Teayo, a teocalli, or pyramid, in Vera Cruz.\nIn this, which is also a squatting figure, the god is covered by a\nmantle which is surmounted by the bird\u2019s comb, as seen in\nMagliabecchiano and elsewhere. Around the head are three of the\ncircular holes above mentioned, one above each ear and one at the back\nof the head, from which depend a double strip of cotton or other\ntextile.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA (as Xochipilli)\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 26: In this MS. the god is painted a light\nyellow colour. His light hair is bound with a jewelled strap ornamented\non the frontal side with a conventional bird\u2019s head. Round his head he\nalso wears the fillet of the Sun-god, ornamented with a feather tuft.\nAs a breast ornament he has a large gold disk suspended from a broad\ngold chain, hung with bells. His right hand clasps a bundle of grass,\nand in his left he bears a staff embellished with turquoise mosaic and\nflowers, probably intended for a rattle-stick. Above the twilight\nsymbol of the west in the water are instruments of mortification. On\nsheet 32 he is represented as of a blue colour with a jewelled chain in\nfront of his mouth.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014The description of the god in this MS. is\nsimilar to that just given. In his hand he supports a dish with\nornaments, a bangle for the upper arm, a feather tuft and a neck-chain.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 13: In this codex he is seen seated on a royal\nthrone. His body and the lower part of his face are coloured red, the\nupper facial region is painted yellow, but contains a small,\nrectangular field, half-red and half-white, while round the mouth is\nexecuted a butterfly design, after the manner of Tonacatecutli and the\nmaize-gods. His blue ear-plug has a jewelled thong dependent from it,\nand his nose-plug is reproduced in the colours of the chalchihuitl\njewel. On his head he wears the strap decorated by two large jewelled\ndisks. On the frontal side is the stereotyped bird-ornament, while from\nthe whole, four ends branch off. Surmounting this representation is the\nsymbol of the night-sky, the dusk-enveloped eye. His nape-ornament\nconsists of red and white feathers blended together. On his breast is a\nlarge disk of gold, secured by strings of greenstone beads. His\nloin-cloth is adorned with jewelled disks, and to the back-bow is\nfastened a coxcoxtli bird\u2019s head, which serves as a \u201cmirror-tail,\u201d or\nback-mirror. A portion of the ends of his loin-cloth is coloured like\nthe chalchihuitl jewel. In front of his mouth is a flower from which\ntwo jewelled thongs project.\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\u2014The mantles worn by Xochipilli are alluded to in\nthe MS. which accompanies the paintings in this codex as \u201cmantas de un\nselo se\u00f1or o de Cinco Rosas y manta de Cinco Rosas\u201d (see sheets 5 and\n6). There is also a picture of him on sheet 47. The figure on the red\nquemitl which he wears is similar to that worn on sheet 20 of Codex\nBorbonicus by the god Cinteotl, and is, perhaps, a butterfly motif.\n\n\n\n\nSTATUES\n\nStone effigies of Xochipilli were set up in the tlachtli courts. In the\nMuseo Na\u00e7ional at Mexico there is a stone statue of the god which\nrepresents him as sitting cross-legged, as if watching the ball-game.\nHe wears the mask of a player or dancer. By the aid of such statues of\nXochipilli, which are found in considerable numbers all over the\neastern Mexican slope, the transition from the bird-helmet to the\nrudimentary crest may be studied. [214]\n\n\n\n\nMYTH\n\nThe only mythical matter of importance concerning Macuilxochitl or\nXochipilli is the nineteenth song in the Sahagun collection, which is\nas follows [215]:\n\n\n    SONG OF THE GOD OF MUSIC AND GAMES\n\n    Out of the place of flowers I come,\n    Priest of the Sunset, Lord of the Twilight.\n\n    I come even now, my granddam,\n    Thou of the thigh-skin face-painting,\n    Lady of the Sunset,\n    I, priest of the Sunset, Lord of the Twilight.\n\n    The god of evil omens,\n    The lord Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\n    Shall answer to me, the Maize-god.\n\n    In the temple of the octli-god\n    The rabbit has come to life again.\n    It runs about.\n    By my god was it created.\n    I will bring down the fire-drill, fire will I twirl\n    On the mountain of Mixcoatl in Culhuacan.\n\n    Raising my voice, I strike the little mirror;\n    The little mirror has grown weak\n    In the temple of the octli-god.\n    The white hair grows moist,\n    Ripe has the octli become.\n\n\nI will endeavour to elucidate the above strophes, the obscurity of\nwhich is apparent. The god declares that he comes from Tamoanchan, the\nmythical paradise of flowers and vegetation in the west, and that he is\nthe priest of the sunset and lord of the twilight, both of which are\ncharacteristic of that region. He invokes his mother, or grandmother,\nTlazolteotl, by names with which her worshippers were familiar. He\nwarns Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 that he has the power to avert his evil omens,\nprobably by means of merriment and carousing. The rabbit was the\nMexican symbol of intoxication by octli. This strophe regarding it\ncomes, as it were, from the worshipper, who states that his god\nMacuilxochitl or Xochipilli has created or re-created the rabbit, or\nspirit of the octli beverage. Sahagun calls Xochipilli a god of fire,\nand we know that he was associated with the sacrificial fire-drill,\nwhich was also the symbol of sexual union and licence. Seler thinks\nthat this song shows \u201cthe relation which exists between the pulque\n(octli) gatherings, the deity of feasts and the fire-drill.\u201d [216]\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nXochilhuitl.\u2014Of the feast of flowers over which this god presided\nSahagun says: \u201cThe great folk made a feast, dancing and singing in\nhonour of this sign, decorating themselves with their feathers and all\ntheir grandeur for the areyto. At this feast the king bestowed honours\nupon warriors, musicians, and courtiers.\u201d He states (Lib. II, Appendix\nc, xix): \u201cThey made each year in his honour a feast called\nxochilhuitl.... During the four days which preceded this feast all\nthose who were to take part in it, men as well as women, observed a\nrigorous fast; and if during that period a man had commerce with a\nwoman or a woman with a man, they held that the fast was soiled; that\nthe god held it for a high offence, and that he would visit the\noffenders with maladies in their privy parts.... Before the feast\neveryone deprived himself of the use of chilli pepper. They fed upon a\nkind of broth called tlalcuilolatolli, which is to say, \u2018broth\ndecorated with a flower in the middle.\u2019... Those who fasted without the\nuse of chilli or other savoury things, ate only once a day at midday.\u201d\nThose who did not fast ate fermented bread. The people ornamented\nthemselves with the symbols of the gods \u201cas if they aspired to\nrepresent their images,\u201d and danced and sang to the sound of the drum.\n\nAt midday they beheaded a great number of quails and made offerings of\ntheir blood before the image of the god. They also pierced their ears\nin his presence. Others pierced the tongue with the spines of the\nmaguey, and passed through it a great number of osier reeds. Another\nceremony consisted of making five tamalli (cakes) of maize, which they\ncalled \u201cfasting bread.\u201d These were placed beneath an arrow called\nxochimitl (\u201cflower-dart\u201d) and were offered to the idol as from the\nwhole community. Those who wished to make a separate offering gave the\ngod five tamalli upon a wooden platter, and chilmolli soup in a vase.\nMaize in all shapes and forms was also offered up. On the same day all\nthe great folk in Mexico who lived near the frontiers of an enemy\nbrought the slaves whom they had captured to the capital for sacrifice.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThis god appears to have had a highly developed cult among the peoples\nof Tehuacan, Cozcatlan, and Teotitlan del Camino. He is primarily a god\nof flowers and food, that is of abundance, and as such he equates with\nthe god Cinteotl, with whom some of the sacred hymns even seem to\nconfound him. But there are strong reasons why he should not be wholly\nidentified with Cinteotl, as Seler attempts to do, and as the Mexicans\ncertainly did not do, unless in later times. (See Cinteotl.) It may be,\nhowever, that he was originally a god of vegetation, who later became\nmore especially a god of flowers, the cult of which was one\nparticularly favoured by the people of Mexico. However this may be,\nthere is no doubt that the joyous and sportive side of the god\ndeveloped at the expense of all others, and we find Sahagun speaking of\nhim under his two names as \u201cthe god of those who served for the\namusement or pastime of the great.\u201d [217] He is, indeed, the god of\nmerriment, of dance and sport, of the ball-game, the jester or buffoon,\nand moreover presides over the gambling game of patolli, which he is\nseen patronizing in the Magliabecchiano MS. According to Jacinto de la\nSerna, he is the god of the great gamblers who frittered away their\nsubstance. As the god of sport he is frequently represented by the ape,\nthe beast of mimicry and diversion.\n\nBut he had also a more worthy side, for to artists of all kinds,\npainters, weavers, and musicians in especial, he stood as the patron of\nall artistic effort, and those engaged in it celebrated their worship\nof him at the xochilhuitl festival. Several of the mantle designs in\nthe Codex Magliabecchiano indicate that as a flower-god he was not\nforgotten by the weavers\u2019 caste.\n\nHe has associations with several other gods besides Cinteotl,\nespecially with Ixtlilton (q.v.), who is spoken of as his brother, and\nwith the Ciuatete\u00f4, or deceased warrior women, probably because as a\nfood-god he was supposed to come from the west, the place of plenty,\nwhere they resided, or, more likely, because of the hunger for earthly\nexcitement displayed by these pleasure-starved dead women, debarred\nfrom the sensuous delights of earth. His connection with the octli-gods\nas the god of merriment and abundance of victuals and festive good\nthings is plain; and he is very naturally the male counterpart of the\ngoddess Xochiquetzal (q.v.). As hailing from a locality where planetary\nmythology was in an advanced condition, and where the worship of the\nmorning star was practised, he may have had an astronomic significance,\nbut what this was precisely is by no means clear. We probably assess\nhis nature correctly if we allude to him as a god of pleasure, feast,\nand frivolity.\n\n\n\n\nXIPE TOTEC = \u201cOUR LORD THE FLAYED\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Plateau of Anahuac, Zapotecs, Yopis.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Tlaltecutli = \u201cLord of the Earth.\u201d\n        Anauatl yteuc = \u201cLord of the Seaboard.\u201d\n        Tlatauhqui Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 = \u201cThe Red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2.\u201d\n        Itztapaltotec = \u201cOur Lord of the Flat Stone.\u201d\n        Youallauan = \u201cNight Drinker.\u201d\n\n    Symbol: In Codex Borgia a quail with its head torn off seems\n    symbolical of this god.\n\n    Calendar Place: Lord of the fifteenth day, quauhtli, and of the\n    fourteenth week, ce itzcuintli; with the Fire-god, lord of the\n    twentieth tonalamatl division, ce tochtli.\n\n    Festival: Tlacaxipeuliztli.\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 92: Xipe is depicted in this codex as clothed\nin the flayed skin of the sacrificed human victim, which, after the\ndreadful rite, was drawn over the priest\u2019s body and worn for a number\nof days. The slit eyes of the mask he wears shows that this also is\ncomposed of human skin. He wears a nasal rod and plate having the\ngeneral appearance of the peculiar peaked cap with which he is\nsometimes represented. The ends of his loin-cloth are slit and coloured\nwhite and red. Sheet 62. As ruler of the fourteenth tonalamatl division\nand god of the fifteenth day-count, Xipe is represented on this sheet\nas a red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. The limbless body is red, the costume of the\nsame colour, but with a face-mask of yellow, tinted to represent dead\nhuman flesh, with the chapfallen jaw of the dead, narrow slit eyes, as\non sheet 92, and a red streak running over the eye, the full length of\nthe face, indicative, perhaps, of the place where the operation of\nflaying was commenced. Here the nose-cap is also reminiscent of Xipe\u2019s\npeculiar peaked cap, its ends especially resembling those of that\nheaddress. Two red and white bands, the colours of the roseate\nspoonbill, depend from the ear. The hair is bound by a fillet on which\nare twin ornaments of dull gold, and above this rise two rows of\nquetzal feathers.\n\nCodex Vaticanus A.\u2014Plate xiv, Duc de Loubat\u2019s reproduction: As a\nback-device he wears the three banners which are also shown of him in\nthe picture in Duran\u2019s collection. As god of the fourteenth tonalamatl\ndivision, he holds a shield, banner, and a bundle of spears, while half\nof his shield is painted in dark and light red rings.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 49: In the Codex Borgia, Xipe is shown in his\ncharacter of the patron god of the warrior\u2019s death by combat, or the\nstone of sacrifice. He wears a wig made from the downy feathers of the\neagle, which, however, does not altogether conceal his flame-coloured\nhair, two forelocks of which recall the hairdressing of\nTlauizcalpantecutli, the god of the planet Venus. Underneath is shown\nhis small petticoat or apron of green zapote leaves. From his mouth\nprotrudes a double-jewelled string, which, perhaps, signifies the\nfertilizing rain, for as god of human sacrifice he has a connection\nwith the gods of fertility. He is similarly represented on sheet 25,\nwhere he is also shown as ruler of the fourteenth tonalamatl division,\nand the picture indeed bears a close resemblance to that in Codex\nVaticanus B, except that his breast-ornament, carved from a\nsnail-shell, is attached to his variegated feather necklace. In this\nplace he also wears a feather wig with a red crest made of the plumes\nof the roseate spoonbill, alternating with chalchihuitls on leather and\nthe heads of rattle-sticks.\n\nImage of Xipe found at Castillo de Teayo, showing him dressed in the\nskin of the sacrificed victim.\n\n\n\nCodex Borgia Group Generally.\u2014In this group generally Xipe stands as\nthe representative of the sign of the day quauhtli. His insignia are\nthe same as those of the red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, with striped face-painting,\nbut executed in red and yellow without the human skin, or other special\ncharacteristics, and decorated only with the warrior\u2019s headdress and\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s ring-shaped breast-ornament. The head and neck are\ncovered with cloth, on which are stuck downy feather-balls. He holds in\nsome places a severed arm, which he appears to be smelling or about to\ndevour.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014In this codex Xipe is represented as Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nand has the face-painting of the red phase of that god, with the\nsmoking mirror at his temple, the characteristic white ring, and the\npeculiar form of feather back-ornament, which is to be seen in some\nother Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 pictures of this codex. But he wears on his\nhead-fillet, instead of jewelled disks, an ornament of beaten gold, the\ncrown of roseate spoonbill feathers, the ends of the bands shaped in\nswallow-tailed fashion, and other insignia pertaining to his own\nregular dress. The quetzalcomitl on his back carries a banner painted\nin light and dark red, his especial colours, and he also bears a shield\npainted in light and dark red concentric circles. In this codex he\nholds a fire-pan, painted with large patches of rubber gum, in which is\ninserted the rattle-stick with Xipe\u2019s bands and loops coloured red and\nwhite, or light red and dark red with bifurcated ends.\n\nVienna Codex.\u2014Xipe is represented here in the flayed human skin and\ndesignated by the date \u201cSeven Rain.\u201d\n\nCodex Nuttall (Zouche).\u2014Sheet 83: In this codex there is a good\nrepresentation of the god, especially as regards his headdress. He is\ndepicted as the warrior secured to the stone of combat, whose eye sheds\ntears at the thought of approaching death, and he bears in his hands\nthe b\u00e2tons with which the military victims defended themselves against\ntheir adversaries (see Festival).\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014This describes him as having a brown face covered with the\nfeathers of the quail, and with open lips (chapfallen jaw?). His crown\nhas parted ends, and he wears a wig of curled feathers. He has golden\near-plugs. Round the hips he has a woman\u2019s short skirt of zapote\nleaves, and shells decorate his feet. His shield is red, with\nconcentric circles, and he carries a rattle-staff.\n\n\n\n\nMASKS, VASES, ETC.\n\nThe well-known mask of Xipe in the British Museum represents the mask\nof the sacrificed victim. On the back or inside, the carving of the god\nshows him wearing his full insignia, with the peculiar headdress and\nrattle-staff. Another mask of Xipe in the Bauer collection is of a most\nindividual character. It was found near Tezcuco, and bears both wind\nand serpent symbols. On a stone at Cuernavaca is incised a good\nrepresentation of the shield, darts, and flag of Xipe, with date ce\nocelotl (\u201cone ocelot\u201d). On a cup in the Aldana collection Xipe is seen\nwearing the flayed skin, with a necklace, evidently of intestines. His\nhair is dressed in a manner resembling that affected by the warrior\ncaste, and he carries the rattle-staff.\n\n\n\n\nSTATUES\n\nRepresentations of Xipe in statuary are considerably numerous. Several\nfound in the Valley of Mexico are housed in the Uhde collection,\nBerlin. Two of these represent the god as wearing the victim\u2019s flayed\nskin and one of them is pitted with marks, evidently indicative of\nblood-spots. The crown with feathers of the roseate spoonbill is well\nexemplified in one of these, but in the other a mitre-like headdress\nsuperimposed upon a circular crown, from which depend large ribbons or\npaper ornaments, is noticeable. In another of these figures the\nheaddress is a sort of barret-cap with knobs or studs. Still another\nfigure of the same class shows the god with a very large stepped\nnose-ornament. All carry a rattle-staff and three bear a shield. A most\nstriking statue of Xipe was discovered at the Castillo de Teayo site,\nat Vera Cruz. The head, which is round and bullet-shaped, bears an\nextraordinary resemblance to that of the well-known Egyptian figure of\nthe Sheik-el-Beled in the Boulaq Museum. In this statue the god wears\nthe skin of the victim, and the manner in which it was tied on to the\npriest is well illustrated by the knotting at the back. The faces, of\ncourse, are masks of the sacrificed victim.\n\n\n\n\nELEMENTS OF XIPE\u2019S INSIGNIA\n\nAlthough Xipe is so frequently portrayed as possessing the outward\ncharacteristics of a red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, few of the Mexican deities\npossess insignia so individual, or so rich in manifold elements. The\nXipe dress was a favourite one with Mexican kings and military\nchieftains, and, in the Codex Vaticanus A, King Motecuhzoma II is\nrepresented as wearing the costume on the occasion of his victory over\nToluca. Tezozomoc also states that Axayacatl wore this dress, [218] and\non the eve of a fierce engagement Tlacauepan, brother of Motecuhzoma,\ndonned it at the latter\u2019s special request. The elements of Xipe\u2019s\ncostume are as follows [219]:\n\n(1) The painted crown of feathers of the roseate spoonbill, with\nbifurcated ends.\n\n(2) The gilded timbrel.\n\n(3) The jacket of spoonbill feathers.\n\n(4) The petticoat or apron of zapote leaves, overlapping each other\nlike tiles.\n\n(5) The jaguar or ocelot-skin scabbard.\n\n(6) The round shield covered with red spoonbill feathers, showing\nconcentric circles of darker tints, sometimes noticeably bisected,\none-half of which is again subdivided obliquely into a smaller upper\nportion containing a chalchihuitl on a blue field, and a larger lower\nportion, covered with jaguar or ocelot-skin.\n\nXipe\u2019s dress has three forms:\n\n(1) That of the red god, of the colour of the roseate spoonbill.\n\n(2) That of the blue god, of the colour of the blue cotinga.\n\n(3) As a jaguar or ocelot.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A says of Xipe: \u201cAmongst those who\nbegan to follow the example of Quetzalcoatl and his austerities by\ntheir own acts of penance, Totec is very famous, who, on account of his\nhaving been a great sinner, first stood in the house of sorrow called\nTlaxipuchicalco, where, having completed his penance, he ascended the\nmountain Catcitepulz (\u2018the mountain which speaks\u2019), which mountain was\ncovered with thorns. There continuing his penance, he cried from thence\nvery strongly, reproving his people of Tulan, calling to them to come\nand do penance with him for the enormous guilt which they had incurred\nin forgetting the services and sacrifices of their gods and having\nabandoned themselves so much to pleasure. They say that Totec was\naccustomed to go about clothed in a human skin and so it has been the\ncustom till those times. In the festivals, likewise, which they\ncelebrated to Totec, men clothed themselves in the skins of those whom\nthey had slain in war and in this manner danced and celebrated the\nfestival of the sign dedicated to him (for from him, they say, wars\noriginated), and accordingly they paint him with these insignia, viz. a\nlance, banner, and shield. They hold him in the utmost veneration, for\nthey say that he was the first who opened to them the way to heaven;\nfor they were under this error amongst others; they supposed that only\nthose who died in war went to heaven, as we have already said. Whilst\nTotec still continued doing penance, preaching and crying from the top\nof the mountain which has been named, they pretend that he dreamed this\nnight that he beheld a horrible figure with its bowels protruding,\nwhich was the cause of the great abomination of his people. On this,\npraying to his god to reveal to him what the figure signified, he\nanswered that it was the sin of his people, and that he should issue an\norder to the people, and cause them all to be assembled, charging them\nto bring thick ropes, and to bind that miserable spectre, as it was the\ncause of all their sins, and that, dragging it away, they should remove\nit from the people, who, giving faith to the words of Totec, were by\nhim conducted to a certain wild place, where they found the figure of\ndeath, which, having bound, they dragged it to a distance, and drawing\nit backwards, they fell all into a cavity between the two mountains,\nwhich closed together, and there they have remained buried ever since;\nnone of them having effected their escape, with the exception of the\ninnocent children who remained in Tulan.\u201d\n\nA few lines farther on the interpreter says: \u201cThe two masters of\npenance were Quetzalcoatle and Totec, who was called by another name,\nChipe; who, having taken the children and the innocent people who\nremained in Tulan, proceeded with them, peopling the world, and\ncollecting along with them other people whom they chanced to find. They\nfurther add that, journeying in this manner with these people, they\narrived at a certain mountain, which not being able to pass, they feign\nthat they bored a subterranean way through it and so passed. Others say\nthat they remained shut up and that they were transformed into stones,\nand other such fables.\u201d\n\nThe first part of this myth is, of course, merely \u00e6tiological of the\npractice of making vows to Xipe to capture and immolate an enemy in his\nhonour, as, we shall see in the paragraph dealing with his festivals,\nwas done on that occasion. But I would point out that it possesses some\nimportance as providing further evidence regarding the existence of the\nascetic life in Mexico, most of the myths dealing with which, like that\nunder discussion, are connected with the Toltecs, the people of\nQuetzalcoatl. Xipe, who plays the part of the Toltec Jeremiah, is here\nthe subject of a tale which is also recounted of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, with\nwhom he is frequently confounded or identified, perhaps because both\nwere great gods of the sacrificial stone, or for the reason that\npractically all Mexican cults tended to gravitate towards Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nin late times.\n\nThat portion of the story which details the burial en masse of the\nToltecs is, of course, the widespread tale of the disappearance of the\nold hero-race underground\u2014the fate which overtook Charlemagne and his\npeers, King Arthur and \u201cthe auld Picts\u201d at Arthur\u2019s Seat, near\nEdinburgh, Barbarossa and his men, and many another group of paladins.\nThe whole may allude, in the ultimate, to mound-burial. It is strange\ntoo\u2014or quite natural, as we believe in, or doubt, the penetration of\nAmerica by alien influences\u2014to find in Mexico an incomplete variant of\nthe legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. I should not be surprised to\nfind that Xipe piped the Toltec children into the Underworld, for\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, with whom he was identified, or at least the captive who\nrepresented that god at the Toxcatl festival, and who had a year of\nmerriment in which to prepare himself for his fate, went through the\ncity at intervals, playing upon a flute. This almost universal myth may\nallude to the ancient belief that the souls of the dead travelled with\nthe wind, and were the cause of its sighing and whistling. [220] We\nknow, too, that the whistling of the night wind through the mountains\nwas regarded by the Mexicans as of evil omen, and that Yoalli Eecatl\n(The Wind of Night) was one of the names of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. [221]\n\nThe following song from the Sahagun MS. is in celebration of Xipe:\n\n\n    Wherefore dost thou disguise thyself, O Night-drinker?\n    Put on thy golden garment.\n\n    O my god, thy rich sacrificial water descended;\n    The lofty cypress tree has become a quetzal;\n    That which was a serpent has become a quetzal.\n    The fire-serpent, the famine, has left me.\n\n    It may be that I shall go thence to perish,\n    I, the young maize-plant.\n    My heart is like a chalchihuitl;\n    But I shall yet see gold in that place.\n    I shall be satisfied when I can say\n    The warrior chief is born.\n\n    Let the maize be ready in abundance, O my god.\n    I look towards thy mountain, I, who worship thee.\n\n    I will be satisfied\n    When the maize ripens,\n    When the warrior chief is born.\n\n\nI believe the god to have been called \u201cNight-drinker\u201d from the\ncircumstance that, in the belief of certain barbarous peoples,\nvegetation is more greatly assisted in its growth by night than by day,\nthat it \u201cdrinks,\u201d or is saturated by, the mists and vapours of the\nnight season, which are believed to emanate from the moon. [222]\nIndeed, dew is believed to be caused by the moon, [223] which is\nregarded as the great source of all moisture, as the sun is the great\nsource of all heat. [224]\n\nXipe is here entreated by the young maize-plant to don his golden\ngarment, the rain, as, indeed, one translation of this song states it\nto be, taking a reasonable liberty with the original. When the rain\ncomes the cypress glitters like a quetzal-feather, a Mexican euphuism\nfor a glittering gem, or anything very precious. The xiuhcoatl, or\nfire-serpent, is the terrible weapon of Uitzilopochtli, with which he\nslew his rebellious brothers and sister, the enemies of his mother\nCoatlicue, as Indra slew those of his mother, both of these events\noccurring immediately after the birth of the gods thus compared. (In\nthe case of Indra the weapon was a thunderbolt.) The fire-serpent in\nthis place evidently symbolizes the scorching, torrid heat which brings\nabout famine. If the rain continues not, the maize-plant, the young\nheart of which is green as jadeite, and from which the golden maize\nwill emerge later, may perish. Finally the worshipper (?) states that\nhe will remain unsatisfied until the plumed and full-grown plant,\nsymbolic of the warrior and all that he fights for, has come to\nfruition.\n\nMy reading of this song differs considerably from those of other\nauthorities, but I may, perhaps, be pardoned if I say that I prefer my\nown elucidation as at least more circumstantial and more in line with\nthe facts of Mexican belief.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nTlacaxipeuliztli.\u2014The best description of this festival is that of\nSahagun (bk. ii, c. xxi) who tells us that on the last day of the month\nof that name the Mexicans celebrated a solemn festival to Xipe and\nUitzilopochtli. On the afternoon of the day prior to that on which the\nfeast was to take place they held a solemn areyto, or dance, and they\nwatched all the night in the temple called calpulco [225] with those\nwho were to be sacrificed on the morrow. They shaved the hair from the\ntops of their heads, at the same time drawing blood from their own ears\nto offer to the gods. When daybreak had come, they conducted the\ncaptives to the temple of Uitzilopochtli, where they were sacrificed\nand flayed, from which circumstance the feast took its name. Many of\nthe victims were called Xipeme or Tototectin (plurals of the god\u2019s\nname). The masters of the captives, or those who had captured them in\nwar, formally handed them over to the priests at the foot of the\nteocalli, and these took them by the hair of the head to make them\nmount the steps more quickly. If they refused to walk to the stone of\nsacrifice they were dragged thence. When their hearts had been\nwithdrawn they were offered up to the gods, and the body cast down the\nsteps of the teocalli, where other priests received it for flaying. The\nhearts of the unfortunates thus slaughtered were thrown into a tub of\nwood and took the name of quanochtli, or \u201cnopal wood,\u201d of which the\ntubs were made.\n\nThe flaying process was undertaken by a caste of elderly and probably\ninferior priests, the quaquacuilton. [226] Before the bodies of the\nsacrificed were so treated they were carried to the temple, where the\n\u201cmaster\u201d of the captive had made his vow to capture and consecrate a\nvictim to the god. The body was broken up at this place, and a leg was\ndispatched to court for the table of the king, the remainder being\ndivided among the great, or the master\u2019s parents. The dreadful repast\nwas usually partaken of in the house of him who had taken the captive\nprisoner in war. They cooked the flesh with maize and gave a little to\neach in a small porringer. The dish was called tlacatlaolli, or \u201cman\nand maize.\u201d After having eaten, the feasters became intoxicated on\noctli. On the following day, having watched all the night, they went to\namuse themselves by examining the other captives, and in watching them\nbeing baited on the stone of combat. These latter were known as\nuauantin, \u201cthe pierced,\u201d with reference to the wounds they received.\n[227]\n\nBefore the sacrificial rites took place the captors of the victims\ngathered together, and when the victims had been dispatched the\ncaptors, or certain priests (it is not clear which), drew on the skins\nof the flayed victims, and took up positions on hillocks of hay or\nheaps of chalk or rubbish. Others approached them, and defied them to\ncombat by words and pinches. A skirmish ensued, and those who were\ncaptured did not escape scot-free, being rather roughly handled. This\nmock combat over, the real business of the day began in terrible\nearnest. The wretched captive was secured by one ankle to the\ntemalacatl, or stone of combat, and wooden b\u00e2tons on which eagle-down\nhad been stuck, in imitation of a maquahuitl, or obsidian-edged sword,\nwere placed in his hands. Four warriors now came against the victim,\ntwo of the ocelotl corps of knights and two of the quauhtli or Eagle\nCorps, and having raised their shields and weapons to the sun, one of\nthem attacked the captive tied to the stone. If he defended himself\nwith address, two or even three of his opponents attacked him, and if\nhe still made good his resistance, all four fell upon him,\n\u201cintermingling their blows with dances and numerous poses.\u201d\n\nPrior to the combat a solemn procession was formed to the temalacatl. A\nbody of priests, dressed in the insignia of one or other of the gods in\nwhose honour the festival was held, issued from the yopico (\u201cin Yopi\nland\u201d), the temple of Xipe, followed by the tecutlis, or knights,\nalready alluded to, who flourished their weapons and made a martial\nshow. Arrived at the temalacatl, they marched round it, and seated\nthemselves on carven stools called quecholicpalli (\u201cperch of the strong\nbird\u201d). The priest who took charge of the proceedings was called\nYouallauan (Night-drinker), one of the names of the god, and when all\nwere seated, an orchestra of trumpets, flutes, and conch-shells struck\nup, mingled with whistling and singing. The performers wore on their\nshoulders streamers of white feathers mounted on long staves, which, as\nwe have seen, was part of the Xipe dress, and sat between the priests\nand the stone of combat.\n\nWhen the frightful overture had concluded, a captive was placed on the\nstone by the person who devoted him to sacrifice, and a beaker of octli\nwas given him to hearten him to fight well. This he presented to the\nfour points of the compass, and then sucked its contents through a\nreed. A priest then took up his stand in front of the doomed man, and\nholding a living quail before him as before a god, tore off its head.\nAnother priest clad in a bear-skin secured the captive to the stone and\nhanded him his weapons, and then his captor danced before him, as\nbefore a divinity. The combat then took place, and in the unusual event\nof a victim overcoming the four well-appointed warriors who opposed\nhim, a fifth, who must be a left-handed man, rushed in, raised the\nexhausted victor in his arms and threw him to the ground, where he was\ndispatched by the Youallauan.\n\nThe victim\u2019s heart was then thrown into the wooden tub before alluded\nto, after it had been held up to the sun. Another priest now took a\nhollow reed and introduced it into the opening from which the heart had\nbeen removed. Having drawn off a sufficient quantity of blood, he went\nto offer it up to the sun. The master of the captive who had been slain\nthen filled a bowl with the blood of his victim, which vessel was gaily\ndecorated with feathers and which contained a tube, similarly\nornamented. With this he went the round of the temples, smearing the\nblood upon the lips of the idols with the feathered tube. He next\ndivested himself of the gay feather cloak he wore for the occasion and\ncarried the flayed corpse of his captive, or what remained of it, to\nhis house, after royal and other requirements had been met. As has been\nsaid, he feasted his family and friends on the body, but did not\nhimself partake of it, as he was regarded as the ritual father of the\ndeceased. \u201cThe skin of a victim also belonged to his captor, and this\nhe gave to those who dressed themselves in skins (in consequence of a\nvow), and so attired, paraded the streets of the town. Others wore the\nheads of wolves.\u201d [228]\n\n\u201cWhen the captive had been slain, all who were present, priests,\nwarriors and others, began to dance the areyto round the temalacatl,\nthe captors of the victims carrying the heads of the slain. This\nareyto, or dance, was called motzontecomaitotia (dance with decapitated\nheads). The cuitlachueue (old jackal [229]), godfather of the captives,\ntook in his hands the cords which had held them to the temalacatl and\nraised them to the four cardinal points in sign of adoration. After\nthat \u2018he groaned, he wept for the dead.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe foreigners with whom Motecuhzoma was at war came to assist\nsecretly at the spectacle. These were the men of Uexotzinco, Tlaxcallan\nand Nonoualco, Cempoallan, and many other places. The Mexicans\npretended not to see them, and they were thus able to behold the fate\nreserved for captives in Mexico. When all was over, everyone ate a\ntortilla called uilocpalli, or pigeon-seat, a kind of little pat\u00e9 made\nwith uncooked maize. Next day everyone assisted at an areyto of great\nsolemnity, which was commenced in the royal palace. All were dressed in\ntheir best and carried tamallis and tortillas of roasted maize, called\nmomochtli, which they wore instead of collars and garlands. They\ncarried also red feathers and stalks of maize. The areyto ceased at\nmidday, and the nobles ranged themselves three and three in the royal\npalaces. The king appeared, having upon his right the King of Tezcuco\nand on his left the Lord of Tacuba. A solemn dance then took place,\nwhich lasted until the sun went down, after which they commenced\nanother dance, in which everyone took hands and danced in a serpentine\nfigure. The old soldiers and recruits came to this dance, bringing with\nthem female partners and even public women. This lasted also on the\nplace where the captives had been slain till nearly midnight, and they\ncontinued to celebrate these feasts for nearly twenty days, until they\nhad arrived at the kalends of the month which they called tozoztontli.\u201d\n\nTwenty days after the festival those who wore the skins of the slain\nremoved them, but it would seem, from what Sahagun says, that certain\ndevotees wore these from the festival of tlacaxipeuliztli at the end of\nthat month to the beginning of the following tlacaxipeuliztli. Persons\nafflicted with skin diseases or weak sight frequently made a vow to be\npresent at this ceremony. The devotees then performed ceremonial\nablutions in a bath in the temple, in which water was mixed with maize\nflour, or, more strictly speaking, they were bathed by others. They\nthen shampooed their heads and did penance for the death of the\ncaptive. After this the captor erected a tripod in the court of his\nhouse, on the top of which was a petlatl, or mat rolled into a ball, on\nwhich he placed all the paper ornaments which the captive had worn at\nhis sacrifice. \u201cHe then chose a courageous young man who wore those\npapers, and who took a shield in one hand and a cudgel in the other,\nand went through the streets as if looking for an evil-doer. Everyone\nwas afraid, and cried, \u2018Behold the telzompac (noble one) comes!\u2019 If he\ncaught anyone he took his mantle, and all the spoil he took he brought\nback to the captor. The captor then placed in the middle of the court\nof his house a joist in the form of a column, which indicated that he\nhad made captives in war, and which was the blazon of his honour. Then\nhe took the thigh-bone of the captive, ornamented it with the papers,\nand attached it to the top of the column in his courtyard. He then\ninvited his parents, friends, and the men of his quarter, in presence\nof whom he hung the bone up, and then he gave them to eat and drink.\nFamily songs were sung. All these things were done in the twenty days\nbefore they arrived at the uei tozoztli.\n\nThe goldsmiths, of whose caste Xipe was the patron, probably because\nthe yellow human skin in which he was represented as being clad\ntypified an overlay of gold-foil, held a festival during\ntlacaxipeuliztli in the yopico temple sacred to the god, sacrificing\nand burning victims to him, and covering a human representative of him\nwith ornaments and precious stones, a crown of feathers, golden\nnecklaces and earrings, and scarlet sandals. They then placed him upon\na throne and offered him the first fruits and flowers of the season,\ntogether with bunches of maize-seed.\n\nThe mode of sacrifice by shooting to death with darts or arrows was\nemployed in connection with Xipe as well as in the case of Tlazolteotl\n(q.v.). A captive was secured to a scaffold and shot with darts, so\nthat his blood might fall upon the ground. This usage may be regarded\nas of the nature of sympathetic magic to secure rainfall.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES\n\nAt least three buildings were erected to the honour of Xipe at Mexico.\n[230] The first of these, known as yopico (\u201cin Yopi land\u201d), has already\nbeen alluded to, and was probably the principal place connected with\nhis worship. It was at this temple that the ceremonies of the\ntlacaxipeuliztli festival took place. The second, called yopico\ncalmecac, appears to have been situated in the quarter of Tlatelolco,\nand, as its name implies, was evidently a monastery or place of\ninstruction. At another edifice, the yopoci tzompantli, the heads of\nthe victims slain at the festival of the god were exhibited. In front\nof the first of these stood the temalacatl, the stone to which the\ncaptives were secured when they fought with the Mexican warriors before\nthey were finally sacrificed.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThe Xipe yopico teohua, or priesthood dedicated to the service of Xipe,\nis enumerated among the various classes of priests charged with the\nservice of the gods, [231] and held in their keeping Xipe\u2019s insignia\nand the accessories for his festival. They resided in the yopico\ncalmecac or monastery.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nXipe is pre-eminently a god of seed-time and planting. [232] He is the\nTlaltecutli, or \u201cLord of the Earth,\u201d and in a secondary sense, the god\nof the warrior\u2019s death on the stone of combat, because of the\nassociation between the food-supply and military service for the\npurpose of gaining captives. There can be no question that Xipe was of\nZapotec origin; indeed, that is manifest from the name of his temple,\nYopico, which means the \u201cland of the Yopi\u201d or Tlappeneca, a people of\nZapotec affinities, and his cap was known as yopitzontli, \u201cthe Yopi\nhead.\u201d One of his names was Anauatl itecu, or \u201cLord of the Coastland,\u201d\nand we know from Herrera [233] that he was especially worshipped in the\ndistrict of Teotitlan, which commands the road to Tabasco. Both Sahagun\nand the interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A uphold his alien origin.\n\nJust as the Egyptian priests of Ammon at Thebes once a year killed a\nram, flayed it, and clothed the image of their god in the skin, just as\nthe Celtic priest wore the skin of a bull at certain festivals, so the\nMexicans slew and flayed a man, in whose skin they clothed their\npriests and those who desired to be closely associated with the god.\nThe idea underlying this practice would appear to be the renewal of the\nlife of the deity. It seems to have some bearing on the phenomena of\nthe system known as \u201ctotemism,\u201d regarding the real significance of\nwhich we know so little, despite the seeming erudition which has of\nlate years been lavished upon its consideration, for, as we have seen,\nthe captor of the slain victim was not permitted to eat of his flesh,\nalthough that may only have been taboo to him because he stood to the\ndoomed man in the relation of a sponsor. Xipe represents the earth\n\u201cflayed,\u201d that is bare, and ready for sowing. The flaying of the\ncaptive and the dressing of the god\u2019s representative in the skin may\nhave been of the nature of sympathetic magic, as a suggestion to the\nearth to rehabilitate itself in its covering of yellow maize.\n\nIt is precisely the agricultural god whom in Mexico we must expect to\nfind clothed in all the attributes of the warrior, and truly Xipe does\nnot disappoint us in this respect. He is armed cap-\u00e0-pie, and his dress\nwas the favourite harness of Mexican royalty when it went forth to\nbattle, as witness the Spartan suggestion of Motecuhzoma to his brother\non the eve of a great combat. [234] The Codex Vaticanus A calls him \u201cil\nguerreggiatore attristato.\u201d Thus at his feast the sacrifice takes the\nform of a combat. Indeed, he represents the warrior caste, by the\nefforts of whom the altars of Mexico were supplied with human victims,\nand the maize-crop was consequently secured.\n\nXipe is in some measure associated with that sacred bird the quail,\nwhich has been connected with sacrifice in many lands. This bird\nfrequently takes refuge in the last sheaves of grain in a\nharvest-field, and thus, perhaps, came to symbolize the corn-spirit\ndriven from its last stronghold. In Normandy in the harvest-field the\nreapers pretend to catch a quail and dispatch it. [235] The quail was\nsacrificed to the Tyrian Baal, [236] and is associated by Robertson\nSmith with the god Eshmun-Iolaos. [237] The bird-like character of\nXipe\u2019s dress may assist us in the belief that he was partially evolved\nfrom some bird of the quail species commonly found in the maize-field.\nHe bears a strong resemblance to the Maya god F.\n\nXipe was probably a maize-god of the Yopi who came to partake of the\ncharacter of an Aztec grain-and-sacrifice deity, his own type of\nimmolation, the shooting by arrows, being partially superseded by the\nwarrior\u2019s death upon the temalacatl. It would seem that, as the god of\na people of Nahua race, but older in their occupation of the land than\nthe Aztec\u00e2 and Chichimecs, he probably took much the same line of\ndevelopment after his worshippers settled in the Yopi country as\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 and Uitzilopochtli took in a more northern environment,\nthat the resemblance was recognized by the Aztec\u00e2 (as is shown by his\naffinity with Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, with whom, indeed, he is identified as\nTlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, or \u201cthe Red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u201d), and that under\ntheir guidance his festival took a similar form to that of the gods in\nquestion. His festival is certainly a mytho-dramatic performance\nexplanatory of the preparation of the earth for the sowing of grain,\nthe soil being rehabilitated by the death of the captive warrior.\n\n\n\n\nXILONEN = \u201cYOUNG MAIZE MOTHER\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Originally Huichol tribes; later, Valley of\n    Anahuac.\n\n    Festival: Uei tecuilhuitl, in the eighth month.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014The face is painted half red,\nhalf yellow, and the goddess wears a crown of paper decorated with\nquetzal-feathers. Her collar is of green precious stones and her\noverdress is \u201cthe colour of spring flowers\u201d (red). Her skirt is of the\nsame hue. She wears sandals, and carries a shield with horizontal\nlines. In her hand she holds a red rattle-board.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nThe Uei tecuilhuitl.\u2014The festival to Xilonen was the uei tecuilhuitl,\nor \u201cgreat festival of the chiefs,\u201d which lasted eight days and was\ncelebrated when the maize-plant had almost reached maturity. Our chief\nauthorities for its events are Sahagun [238] and Torquemada. [239] The\nformer states that at this period of the year (June\u2013July) the women\nwore their hair unbound, in order that the maize might be prompted to\ngrow in equal luxuriance. During the days of the festival such persons\nas visited the temple were permitted to drink abundantly of chian\npinolli (a beverage manufactured from the seed of the chian tree,\nmingled with maize-flour and aloe honey) and as much maize-porridge as\ncould be grasped in the hand, to symbolize the plenty which would\nfollow the ripening of the grain. The food thus supplied was the gift\nof the chiefs, from which circumstance the festival took its name.\nDancing commenced each night at sunset, and was accompanied by singing,\nthe scene being illuminated by the glare from burning pine-torches.\n\nThe dancer around whom interest chiefly centred was the xalaquia (\u201cshe\nwho is clothed with the soil\u201d), a slave girl who represented the\ngoddess, wearing her red face-paint, large square headdress and\nvariegated raiment. She was constantly guarded by three old women\ncalled her \u201cmothers,\u201d and was sedulously instructed in the\ndancing-school for the part she had to play. In all likelihood she was\nkept in complete ignorance of her impending fate. Day after day she\ndanced, surrounded by the women of the community, who shook their long\nhair, and it was believed that the maize-crop would be vigorous or the\nreverse as her terpsichorean exertions were spirited or listless. On\nthe last day of the rites, the priestesses of the Maize-goddess,\nattired in her insignia, gathered together in the teopan, or\ntemple-precinct, and accompanied the victim in a performance which\nlasted throughout the night. When day broke, the chief nobles and\nwarriors of Mexico joined the women and danced a solemn areyto, the men\ndancing in front and the women behind them. In this manner they danced\nto the foot of the teocalli of the goddess, which they ascended, the\nvictim being carried on the back of one of the priests, after the\nmanner of a bride being borne to her husband\u2019s house. Arrived at the\nsummit, she was decapitated and her heart offered to the goddess. Until\nshe was sacrificed no one might eat of the new maize, lest it should\nfail to ripen.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThe Cinteotzin (Lord of Maize), says Sahagun, had charge of affairs at\nthe festival of Xilonen (see Cinteotl).\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nXilonen appears to be nothing more than a deification of the young,\ntender ear of the maize-plant. Her name, the season at which her rites\ntook place and the youth of the xalaquia who represented her would seem\nto bear this out. She was originally a goddess of the Huichol tribes,\nand, by some circumstance of evolution or imagery, came to symbolize\nfor the Nahua the maize in the earlier stages of its ripeness, thus to\nsome extent resembling Cinteotl. Payne and also Seler in some places\nseem to confound her festival with that of Chicomecoatl, and offer no\nreasons for thus traversing the statements of the older authorities,\nwhich are definite enough and which in this instance I prefer to\nfollow.\n\n\n\n\nITZPAPALOTL = \u201cOBSIDIAN KNIFE BUTTERFLY\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Originally Chichimec tribes; Mexican Plateau.\n\n    Relationship: Associated with Mixcoatl and the Centzon Mimixcoa;\n    one of the Tzitzimim\u00ea.\n\n    Symbols: The butterfly; Mixcoatl\u2019s stone knife.\n\n    Compass Direction: Earth (?).\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the sixteenth day, cozcaquauhtli; of the\n    fifteenth \u201cweek,\u201d ce calli.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 92: In this representation and on the sheet\ndevoted to the fifteenth tonalamatl division and its ruler, Itzpapalotl\nis depicted as furnished with human teeth, but is predominantly animal\nin form, retaining, however, certain peculiarities which indicate the\nintention that she should be regarded as an insect. She displays a kind\nof butterfly wing, edged round with stone knives. Above her is figured\nthe flowering tree broken in the middle from which blood flows. This\nsymbol denotes the Tamoanchan, or House of Descent, the region of the\nmythical west, home of the maize-plant and seat of the primeval gods,\nwhere the wandering tribes were said to have made a long sojourn. In\nsheet 63 she is represented as standing upon a platform, which seems to\nbe covered with a symbolic leaf\u2014perhaps that on which butterflies are\nmost usually found. She has a dark body edged with white, and the claws\nand face are flecked with ulli rubber gum. The head is an adaptation of\nthat of Tlaloc, and a short, wheel-shaped wing occupies the back from\nnape to tail-root.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 11: In this place the goddess is depicted as a\nwoman with jaguar claws on hands and feet. The facial painting is like\nthat of Tlauizcalpantecutli, but the features are those of the\nDeath-god\u2014a skull with a stone-knife nose. She wears a collar with the\nform and colouring of a butterfly\u2019s wing, and her dress is set with\nstone knives at prominent points. She is accompanied by an animal of\nrapacious aspect, perhaps a jaguar or ocelot.\n\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis.\u2014A butterfly with antenn\u00e6 and wings acts as a\nnaualli, or disguise (a kind of helmet-mask), to a female figure which\nhas death\u2019s-head teeth, animal claws on the hands and feet, and a\nblue-coloured disk on the cheek. As in Codex Borgia, this face has a\nstone knife on the nose, a collar studded with stone knives, and on the\nhead the warrior\u2019s forked heron-feather ornament. The crown is of dark\nfeathers, the sombreness of which is lightened by quetzal plumes and a\nloin-cloth like that of the Ciuatete\u00f4 or Ciuapipiltin, the dead women\nwho had perished in childbed, and who were regarded as partaking of the\nnature of warriors. The end of the loin-cloth and skirt is trimmed with\na hem of teeth. As a back-mirror she wears a death\u2019s-head, below which\nhangs a \u201cstar-skirt,\u201d to the plaited thongs of which rattling\nsnail-shells are attached.\n\nAubin-Goupil Tonalamatl (15th Division).\u2014Here the goddess looks out of\na butterfly helmet-mask. Her face is painted a red colour and she is\ndecorated with dark plumage on arms and legs. She has a snail-shell\nbefore her face, and wears a gold disk on the breast. Opposite her are\na broken tree and a beheaded captive, whose body spouts two streams of\nblood in the shape of snakes\u2019 heads. She is seated on a throne\nornamented with small disks.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014Here the goddess is pictured as a demon of darkness,\ntzitzimitl, who descends from heaven in the form of an eagle.\n\nBas-relief.\u2014A bas-relief, known as the stone of Aristides Martel,\nrepresents the goddess as in the act of flight, and agrees with the\nrepresentations of her in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis and the Codex\nBorbonicus. The face is intended to represent that of an insect with\nround eyes and almost reptilian mouth, and the headdress is flat and\ncovered with feather balls. The hands and feet are furnished with long\nclaws. In this place the feather-marking of the goddess presents a\ndistinctly serpentine appearance and she is surrounded by serpent\nmotifs, between the folds of which is seen the cross-hatching\nsymbolical of these reptiles.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Telleriano-Remensis regards Itzpapalotl as a\nmale deity, probably because, like the Ciuatete\u00f4 or women who died in\nchildbed, who were regarded as the equals of the warriors, she wore a\nmale loin-cloth. He says: \u201cHe was called Xounco and after he sinned\nYzpapalotle. The sign of this name is a Knife of Butterflies, and\naccordingly he is surrounded with knives and wings of butterflies; for\nthey say that he sometimes appears to them, and that they only see feet\nresembling those of an eagle. Yzpapalotle was one of those who fell\nfrom heaven with the rest, whose names are the following: Que\u00e7alcoatle,\nOchululuchesi, Tezcatlipoca, Caleteotle, and Hatzcanpantecoatl.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A also labours under a\nmisapprehension regarding Itzpapalotl\u2019s sex. He states: \u201cYxpapalotl\nsignifies a knife of butterflies. He was one of those gods who, as they\naffirm, was expelled from heaven; and on this account they paint him\nsurrounded with knives and wings of butterflies. They represent him\nwith the feet of an eagle, because they say that he occasionally\nappears to them, and they only see the feet of an eagle. They further\nadd that, being in a garden of great delight, he pulled some roses, but\nthat suddenly the tree broke and blood streamed from it; and that in\nconsequence of this they were deprived of that place of enjoyment and\nwere cast into this world because Tonacatecutli and his wife became\nincensed, and accordingly they came some of them to the earth, and\nothers went to hell. He presided over these thirteen signs; the first\nof which the house (calli) they considered unfortunate, because they\nsaid that demons came through the air on that sign in the figure of\nwomen such as we call witches, who usually went to the highways, where\nthey met in the form of a cross.\u201d\n\nIn the song to Tlazolteotl, the fourth of the Sahagun series, we find\nthe following strophes relating to Itzpapalotl:\n\n\n    The stone-knife butterfly\n    Who hovers over the cactus.\n    Her food is on the Nine Plains,\n    She was nurtured on the hearts of deer,\n    Our mother, the Earth-goddess.\n\n\nThe reference to the Nine Plains alludes to the circumstance that\nItzpapalotl is a goddess of the Chichimec, or hunting people. The two\nfirst lines of this song are translated by Seler as follows:\n\n\n   \u201cO, she has become a goddess of the melon cactus,\n    Our mother Itzpapalotl, the Obsidian Butterfly.\u201d\n\n\nThe inference in these lines seems to be that whereas Itzpapalotl was\nformerly the goddess of a hunting tribe who sacrificed deer to her, she\nhas now become the deity of the cultivated field and a settled\nagricultural community. This hypothesis would appear to gain strength\nfrom the text of the Anales de Quauhtitlan, where Itzpapalotl is spoken\nof as the foundress of the oldest Chichimec kingdom in Nequameyocan,\n\u201cPlace of the Wild Agave.\u201d Camargo states [240] that the tribes issuing\nfrom Chicomoztoc, \u201cThe Seven Caves,\u201d first came to Mazatepec, \u201cThe Deer\nMountain,\u201d then to the province of Tepeueuec, where a victim was\nsacrificed to Itzpapalotl by shooting him with arrows, a circumstance\nwhich in itself proves the goddess to have been associated with the\nearth.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nLike Mixcoatl, with whom she is closely associated, Itzpapalotl appears\nto have been originally one of the ancient stellar and lightning\ndeities of the Chichimec or nomadic tribes of the northern plains.\nLater, on the abandonment of the hunting mode of subsistence and the\nacceptance of a more settled and agricultural mode of life by the\ntribes who worshipped her, Itzpapalotl would appear (as the allusion to\nher in the song to Tlazolteotl seems to show) to have become a goddess\nof the food-supply, the melon-patch, and the maize-crop. She was one of\nthe Tzitzimim\u00ea, or demons of darkness, and as such symbolically took\ninsect shape (cf. Xochiquetzal as a spider), but beneath her butterfly\nform there lurks the symbol of the old, fierce earth-mother with claws\nand merciless, protruding teeth, which were originally evolved from\nthose of the cipactli, or earth-monster. It seems to me also that she\nbears about her the marks of the deer, and at this I am not surprised,\nas I am convinced that in many lands the deer is regarded as a\nsurrogate of the dragon, and is thus frequently associated with fire\nand water. Indeed, in places, Itzpapalotl is tacitly identified with\nthe mythical deer Itzcu\u00eay\u00ea, [241] the captive and wife of Mixcoatl.\n\nThat Itzpapalotl is associated with fire is probable, and we know from\nthe song that she was nurtured on the hearts of deer. From her\nassociation with the obsidian cult and the fact that she is closely\nconnected with Mixcoatl, whose obsidian knife is her symbol, I should\nnot be surprised to find further evidence that she is in some manner\nidentified with the lightning, the heavenly fire, or the stars. Again,\nwe know that the butterfly was in some measure associated with the\nCiuatete\u00f4, the women who died in childbed. We know, too, from Sahagun\u2019s\naccount that at the festival of the Ciuatete\u00f4 the people offered cakes\nstamped with a butterfly and S-shaped cakes to these spirits, to\nrepresent the lightning. In Codex Telleriano-Remensis, Itzpapalotl\nwears the male loin-cloth, like the Ciuatete\u00f4, and in Codex Vaticanus B\n(sheet 92) there is represented near her a flowering tree broken in the\nmiddle and spouting blood, the glyph or symbol of Tamoanchan, the\nparadise of the west, where dwelt the Ciuatete\u00f4. In the Mexican mind\nthe gaudy hues of the butterfly may have become associated with the\nbrilliance of the western sky at sunset, and this may account for the\nconnection which undoubtedly exists between Itzpapalotl and the western\nhome of the Ciuatete\u00f4. Again, the insect may typify the frivolous\nnature of these dead women. [242] However, the precise significance of\nthis goddess is by no means easy to arrive at, and in any case is\ncomposed of elements of considerable obscurity and diversity. [243]\n\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, it may be recalled, is \u201cthe obsidian snake.\u201d His obsidian\nsandals in some MSS. bear the zigzag lines of the snake and, as has\nalready been said, the footgear is frequently eloquent of the name or\ncharacter of a person or divinity in Mexican painting. In Itzpapalotl\nwe seem to see another deity of the obsidian cult. Certain of her\npictures as a butterfly are, as has been indicated, of dragon-like\naspect, and we know that the butterfly is in some countries a surrogate\nof the dragon. Is obsidian to be regarded as the \u201cbones\u201d of the\ncipactli, the earth-beast or dragon?\n\n\n\n\nZAPOTLANTENAN = \u201cMOTHER OF ZAPOTLAN\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico; Zapotlan.\n\n    Symbol: The eagle-feather.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014Behind the region of the chin and\non the front part of the neck the goddess has a black, almost\nbeard-like painting. She wears a crown of paper flecked with ulli gum,\nand decorated at the top with quetzal-feathers. Her collar is of\nchalchihuitl stones and she wears a plain overdress and skirt edged\nwith horizontal bands, connected by slanting strips. Her feet are\nsandalled, and her shield has the insignia of the eagle-feather. In her\nhand she carries the rattle-staff of the Rain-god.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nSahagun states (Appendix to bk. ii) that Zapotlantenan had a special\nhigh-priest, the Zapotlan teohuatzin, who was charged with making all\nthe necessary arrangements for the festival of that goddess, such as\nprocuring a supply of paper, copal, ulli, and odoriferous plants for\nincense. Clavigero says that she was annually honoured with the\nsacrifice of human victims and with particular hymns composed in her\npraise. [244]\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nSahagun states [245] that she was said to have been the inventor or\ndiscoverer of turpentine, which was used in Mexico for medicinal\npurposes, and it seems probable that she may have been revered as a\ngoddess of medicine. Clearly she is also an earth-goddess of the people\nof the populous valley of Zapotlan, on the other side of the Otomi\ncountry, adopted into the Mexican pantheon, but having no place in the\ncalendar.\n\n\n\n\nILAMATECUTLI = \u201cTHE OLD PRINCESS\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Tehuacan (?); Cozcatlan (?); Chichimec.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Citlallinicue = \u201cShe of the Starry Skirt.\u201d\n        Cozcamiauh = \u201cNecklace of Maize.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place: Thirteenth of the lords of the day-hours.\n\n    Compass Direction: The Middle.\n\n    Festival: Tititl (\u201cstretching of limbs\u201d) in the seventeenth month.\n\n    Relationship: Spouse of Iztac Mixcoatl; variant of Tonacaciuatl or\n    Ciuacoatl.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheets 9, 11: In this representation the goddess is shown\nwith hair composed of heron-feathers and wearing a white garment. In\nthe pictures of this codex the contracted corners of her mouth, due to\nold age, are indicated by a ring-shaped ornament worn below the upper\nlip.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014She has a skeleton\u2019s head, which differs from that of\nthe Death-god in that it is coloured yellow, with red lines instead of\nblack, but shows a similarity to it in the ruffled \u201cnight-hair\u201d with\nwhich it is covered. In most of the pictures of her in this codex her\nblue dress is dotted with circular white spots which are perhaps\nintended for stars. This garment is completed with thongs, from which\ndepend snail-shells, a decoration also seen in the rattling girdle\nornaments (citlalicue) characteristic of the Earth and Underworld\ngoddesses.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nAccording to the myth related by Motolinia, [246] Ilamatecutli or\nIlancu\u00eay\u00ea, as he designates her, was the wife of Iztac Mixcoatl (q.v.),\nwith whom she dwelt in Chicomoztoc, \u201cthe land of the seven canes,\u201d the\nmythical officina gentium of the Mexican tribes, whence the aboriginal\nancestors of the several races of Mexico were supposed to have had\ntheir being. By a second wife, Chinamatl, or Chimalmat, Iztac Mixcoatl\nbecame the father of Quetzalcoatl.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nTititl (\u201cStretching of Limbs\u201d).\u2014This festival was held in the Kalends\nof the seventeenth month, probably about December 19. [247] A female\nslave was bought by the authorities and dressed as follows: She wore an\nupper garment or peplum of white stuff and a skirt of the same colour,\nbeneath which showed the citlalicue, or star-skirt, of the goddess, a\ndress sprinkled with stars, cut at the ankles in the shape of many\nthongs, from each of which hung a small shell, so that when she walked\nthese came together and made a rattling sound. Her sandals were white\nand she bore a shield whitened with chalk, having a design of eagle\u2019s\nfeathers in the centre. Fringes of heron\u2019s feathers terminating in\neagle\u2019s plumes hung from the lower edge of the shield. In the other\nhand she carried the tzotozopaztli, a wooden knife, used for pressing\ncloth. Her face was painted black and yellow. Her hair was dressed in\nthe form known as tzompilinalli, or \u201chair tied at the temples,\u201d and\neagle\u2019s plumes fell from it behind.\n\nBefore the victim was dispatched they made her dance to the sound of\ninstruments played by old men, which mingled with the chanting of the\npriests. The wretched woman wept and sobbed as she danced, and as\nevening approached she was taken to the temple of Uitzilopochtli,\naccompanied by all the priests wearing their insignia and the masks of\ntheir gods, one of which was that of Ilamatecutli. On arriving at the\nsummit of the teocalli, or pyramid-temple, she was immediately slain,\nher heart was torn out and she was decapitated. The head was given to\nthe priest attired in the insignia of the goddess, who held it in his\nright hand by the hair, and engaged in a dance, raising and lowering\nthe horrid trophy, and in this solemn measure he was accompanied by the\npriests who represented the other divinities. They then descended the\nsteps of the teocalli in procession, and sought their quarters.\n\nThe priest of Ilamatecutli carried a great cane, the stock of which had\nthree roots. The mask of the goddess which he bore had two faces with\n\u201cgreat mouths, bulging eyes, and surmounted by a crown of paper cut\ninto sharp points.\u201d The priests, disguised as gods, having entered the\ncalpulli, or priests\u2019 quarters, a priest descended from the teocalli\ndressed as a young exquisite, wearing a splendid cloak, his head\ndecorated with white plumes and wearing in place of sandals the hoofs\nof a deer. He carried in his hand a leaf of the maguey, surmounted by a\nlittle paper banner. He proceeded to the quauhxicalco, a place of\nsacrifice principally associated with human offerings to Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nwhere there was a small cage made of pine-wood and covered with paper,\nand known as \u201cthe granary of Ilamatecutli.\u201d The priest laid the\nmaguey-leaf in this receptacle and then set the whole on fire. Seeing\nthis, the other priests rushed to the summit of the teocalli. This\nceremony was known as the xochipayna, or \u201cflower-running.\u201d Placing on\nhigh a flower called teoxochitl, or \u201cblossom of the god,\u201d the first who\ngained the eminence seized upon it and cast it upon the quauhxicalco\nwhere the \u201ccage\u201d burned. Upon the following day the men and boys made\nlittle sacks, which they filled with flowers or paper, and with these\nthey skirmished with one another and beat the young girls who chanced\nto pass by.\n\nThe purpose underlying this celebration is obscure. The costume worn by\nthe victim is, of course, that of the goddess herself, and we may,\nperhaps, infer that the wooden knife she carried, the purpose of which\nwas to press cloth, was symbolical of one of the domestic duties of the\nolder women, whom she appears in a measure to have represented. The\nexercise of dancing to which the victim was subjected seems to bear\nreference to the name of the festival, tititl, the \u201cstretching of\nlimbs,\u201d and its purpose was probably to ensure vigour and \u201cliveliness\u201d\nin the earth or soil, for it was about this period that the winter\nsolstice occurred and the labours of the field were renewed. The\nEarth-mother must, therefore, stretch her limbs ere she once more took\nup the great task of growth. [248]\n\nThe decapitation of the slave girl was probably a dramatic-mythical\nrepresentation of the reaping of the maize. The \u201cgreat cane\u201d borne by\nthe priest of Ilamatecutli was, of course, the magic rain-rattle, so\nprominent an adjunct to many Mexican religious ceremonies. The \u201cyoung\nexquisite\u201d we must surely explain as a representative of vegetation,\nhis deer\u2019s-hoofs sandals having, perhaps, a pluvial significance, or\nelse indicating the swift growth of the maize-plant, which takes but\nfour months to ripen. The burning of the maguey-leaf in the granary\nwould seem to indicate the end of the season of vegetative luxuriance\nand the commencement of that of domestic fires, and the casting of the\nsacred blossom into the flames probably possessed a similar\nsignificance.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nIlamatecutli was unquestionably a goddess of the primeval time, as her\naged appearance in the manuscripts, her association with Iztac\nMixcoatl, the old Chichimec god, and her connection with fire would\nlead us to suppose. She is primarily a goddess of the earth and of\nmaize. Her stellar connection and her name Citlallinicue (Star Skirt)\nare eloquent of her Chichimec derivation, and she may represent the\nstarry night sky, or possibly the Milky Way, just as does her mythical\nhusband, and in this she connects with Tonacaciuatl. As an\nearth-goddess she has also a plutonic significance and can be equated\nwith Mictecaciuatl, mistress of Hades, in this resembling many other\nearth-goddesses. Again, she is the \u201cold goddess\u201d par excellence,\npatroness of old women, and worker at the metate, or stone on which the\nmaize cakes were, and still are, made by Mexican women. Her connection\nwith fire proves her relative antiquity. The circumstance that her mask\nis described as being two-faced leads me to believe that her idol or\nimage had been evolved from the \u201cKirn-baby,\u201d or doll made at harvests\nout of the last sheaf of grain and furnished with a face and hands,\nfrequently with two faces, in order that it should not prove of bad\nomen to those following the image in procession. In this respect\nIlamatecutli is similar to Chicomecoatl (q.v.).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nTHE GODS OF RAIN AND MOISTURE\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY\n\nThe gods of rain proper are clearly to be distinguished from the gods\nof grain and growth, although they were regarded by the ancient\nMexicans as stimulating vegetable plenteousness. That they were\nparamount in the practical theology of the rain-cult [249] is evident,\nfor, whereas Quetzalcoatl was regarded in one of his phases as the\ndeification of the rain-making priest, Tlaloc and the Tlaloqu\u00ea\npossessed the entire disposition of the rainfall. Sahagun\u2019s remarks\nupon Quetzalcoatl make it clear that in this connection he was regarded\nas a wind-god who swept the way clear for the rain-gods, or ushered in\nthe rains. Myth related how Quetzalcoatl, the first discoverer of the\nmaize, was robbed of his find by Tlaloc, who afterwards had the\ngovernance over its growth and distribution. Although the high-priest\nof the Mexican hierarchy was called by the name of Quetzalcoatl, the\nprelate next in importance to him bore the name of Tlaloc.\n\nAlthough Quetzalcoatl was above all regarded by the Aztec\u00e2 as a god of\nwind, evidence is not lacking that to some extent he was looked upon as\na rain-god, or at least a rain-bringing god. But the overwhelming\nsuperiority of the Tlaloqu\u00ea in this cult is witnessed to by the fact\nthat out of eighteen great seasonal festivals, no less than five were\ndedicated to them. [250]\n\nThose of the Tlaloqu\u00ea, or gods of rain, whose names are known were:\nTlaloc, the father of all, Chalchihuitlicue, his wife and sister,\nNappatecutli, god of the mat-makers, who used aquatic reeds in their\nwork, Atlaua, \u201cLord of the Beaches\u201d or lake shores, Uixtociuatl,\ngoddess of salt, and Opochtli, god of fishers and fowlers, and inventor\nof the net.\n\nConcerning the Tlaloqu\u00ea Sahagun remarks: \u201cThe Mexicans take for gods\nall those high mountains from which the rain comes in the rainy season,\nand for each of these they imagine an idol.... They also believe that\ncertain maladies proceeding from cold have their origin in the\nmountains and that these gods have the power to visit them upon them.\nThose who were attacked by such complaints made a vow to this or that\nmountain, whichever chanced to be in the neighbourhood, or that for\nwhich they entertained the most devotion. A similar vow was made by\npersons on the point of being drowned in the rivers or in the sea. The\nmaladies for which they made these vows were gout in the hands, feet,\nor any other part of the body, impotence in any member, or in the\nentire body, rheumatism, the contraction of the members or cramp. Those\nwho were visited with these maladies made a vow to raise a statue to\nthe following gods: to the idols of the volcano called Popocatepetl in\nthe Sierra Nevada, to a mountain named Poyauhtecatl, or any other to\nwhich the feeling of devotion inclined them. When they proposed to\noffer up to the mountain or gods, they made an image in human form, a\nmass called tzoalli.\u201d [251] These the people did not make themselves,\nbut called in the offices of those priests skilled in the making of\nidols, who moulded them out of the paste and gave them teeth of\ncalabash pips and eyes of haricot beans. The rest of the process of\nmanufacture is as described in the account of the festival of the\natemoztli (see Tlaloc). These small figures were known as tepictoton,\nand, like the sacrificial victims to the rain-gods, their hair was\ndressed in two horns or whorls.\n\n\n\n\nTLALOC = \u201cHE WHO MAKES THINGS SPROUT\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Plateau of Anahuac.\n\n    Minor Names: Chicunaui Ocelotl = \u201cNine Jaguar\u201d (or ocelot).\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the seventh day-count, mazatl (deer), and\n    of the seventh tonalamatl division, ce quiautl (one rain).\n\n    Compass Direction: The four quarters in his several aspects.\n\n    Festivals: Atlacahualco, tozoztontli, etzalqualiztli, tepeilhuitl,\n    atemoztli.\n\n    Symbols: His head, with serpentine motif and tusks; the day-sign\n    nine ocelot.\n\n    Relationship: Husband (1) of Xochiquetzal; (2) of Matlalcu\u00eay\u00ea or\n    Chalchiuhtlicue. Father or brother of the Tlaloqu\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nThe evolution of the familiar and characteristic face of Tlaloc is\nperhaps best exemplified in a stone statuette included in the Uhde\ncollection in the Royal Ethnological Museum, Berlin. In this striking\nexample of the Mexican sculptor\u2019s art a representation of the face of\nthe god is skilfully contrived by the arrangement of two snakes or\nserpents, the tails of which form eye-orbits and a species of nose, the\nreptiles\u2019 heads meeting in the region of the mouth, their fangs thus\nserving the god for teeth. It is rarely in aboriginal art that a\nconception so individual and striking is encountered, and great\nimaginative ability must be conceded the sculptor who conceived it. It\nis not known whether the later pictures and carvings of Tlaloc were\nevolved from this effigy, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that\neither from it or similar representations the later conception of him\ncame into being. We observe in the examples shown in the illustrations\nthat the custom of representing divine beings in profile resulted in\nhis case in the survival of a mere ring about the eye and a spirally\nconvoluted band forming the upper lip and depending from it for some\ndistance. These are painted blue in the MSS. More faithfully preserved\nare the long tusk-like teeth, which in certain stone effigies, however,\ndegenerate into several straight, downward strokes. This head of the\nRain-god is almost invariably reproduced as the symbol for the day-sign\natl (water).\n\nRepresentations of Tlaloc in the codices of the Borgia group\noccasionally show a development of the lip-band, which rises upwards\nand includes the nose, thus, perhaps, indicating a transition form. In\nthe Vatican B, Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer, and Laud Codices the prolongation of\nthe lip-band and its serpentine character are apparent, the snake\u2019s\nteeth and eye being clearly visible.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 14: In this place the body-paint of Tlaloc is\ngreen, although, as a rule, it is black elsewhere. The face is\nhalf-black, half-yellow. The eye and lip-bands are blue. The head is\ncrowned with white heron-feathers, such as are worn by the octli gods.\nA fillet surrounds the forehead, and from this spring four rosettes,\nwhich may symbolize the four quarters from which the rain falls. The\nheaddress and its accompanying ornaments are painted in alternate\nstripes, green and white, sprinkled with liquid rubber. A paper tie\nadorns the shoulder, such as was used for the decoration of offerings,\nor in the ceremonial arrangement of the dead. The ear-plug is square,\nto indicate, perhaps, the four quarters. It is in this codex (sheet 12)\nthat we obtain the best evidence of the reflection of the various\npoints of the compass upon the character of the great god of rain.\n\nBut the most important pictures in Codex Borgia relating to Tlaloc are\nthose on sheet 27, which illustrate the cycle of fifty-two years, and\nshow in the four corner compartments the four days which form the\ninitial days of the four quarters of the cycle. They do not, however,\ncommence with ce acatl, \u201cone reed,\u201d ce tecpatl, \u201cone flint,\u201d ce calli,\n\u201cone house,\u201d ce tochtli, \u201cone rabbit,\u201d as might be expected, [252] but\nwith ce cipactli, \u201cone earth-beast,\u201d ce miquiztli, \u201cone death,\u201d ce\nozomatli, \u201cone monkey,\u201d and ce cozcaquauhtli, \u201cone vulture,\u201d for the\nreason that the tonalamatl signs here shown are hieroglyphic of the\nfour quarters of the heavens, rather than allusive to the dates of the\ngrand cycle of fifty-two years. The middle or fifth region, which is\nwithout a hieroglyph, is ascribed to the central figure. The lower to\nthe right represents the east. To it belongs the first division of the\ncalendar, as well as the first day of the great cycle. Tlaloc in this\npicture is painted a dark colour, and wears the cipactli head of the\nfirst calendar division as a helmet-mask. The sky above him is\nfiguratively drawn to represent a cloudy firmament holding rain about\nto fall, and he stands upon the cipactli, or earth-beast, which\nsymbolizes the fruitful earth, from whose body springs the maize-plant,\nrepresented as a tiny head or mask, on each side of which sprout\nleaves. The god empties his jar upon the soil, and its contents are\nseen to be a renewed supply of maize-ears, indicating the bounteous\nnature of the eastern Tlaloc.\n\nThe figure on the upper right shows the deity in his northern aspect.\nThe second division of the tonalamatl and of the cycle are indicated in\nits dating and on its helmet-mask. The yellow colour of the god in this\npicture is supplemented by the symbolism of a bright atmosphere sending\ndown sharp rays of light, shown in conventional form by V-shaped\nemblems stabbing downwards from aloft. Beneath the god are shown three\nvessels filled with the brown-coloured water which falls when the\nRain-god is unpropitious. Indeed, it bears within it the symbols of\ndeath, the death\u2019s-head eye and bony nasal spine. The artistic effort\nis to portray water which has been sucked up by the parched and cracked\nsoil of a Mexican June\u2014water which has been insufficient in quantity,\nor has fallen too late. There are present, too, in the picture, the\nvampire shapes of such insects as devour the maize, each decorated with\nthe death\u2019s-head. But, more fatal sign than all, from the pitcher of\nthe god descends the lightning-axe, wrapped in symbolic fire. The\nnorthern Tlaloc, then, is no deity of plenty, but obviously represents\nthe Rain-god in his most deadly and terrible aspect. The god in his\nwestern complexion is painted blue, and wears as a helmet-mask the sign\nof the third calendar division. A cloudy sky flecked with rain shows\nthe partial descent of the serpent-like showers, and the maize-plants\nbeneath him stand in heavy puddles of water. The southern aspect of\nTlaloc (that on the lower left) is painted red, and the helmet-mask is\nin vulture form, as in consonance with the sign of the fourth calendar\ndivision. From a cloudless sky dart the conventional sun-rays as\ndescribed in the second picture, but beneath the foot of the divinity\nare representations of the maize-plant run to seed. Small animals, the\nfaces of which bear some resemblance to a death\u2019s-head, devour them.\nOnce again the lightning-axe falls from the jar held by the god,\naccompanied by its bright, symbolic flame. The central figure\nrepresents the influence of the Rain-god from the zenith. The Tlaloc\nwho presides over this situation is striped red and white (the colours\nof night and twilight) and he is represented in the normal insignia of\nthe Rain-god. He is accompanied by the signs for day and night, and the\nearth-goddesses cluster around his feet. From the jar he holds are\npoured all manner of warlike implements\u2014the atlatl, javelin, shield,\nand banner.\n\nThe similar fivefold representation of Tlaloc on sheet 28 is believed\nby Seler to illustrate his connection with the Venus period.\n\nCodex Vaticanus A.\u2014Sheet 20: Here Tlaloc is represented with the body\npainted black, the fore-part of the face black and the hinder portion\nyellow. His chin is bearded and the lip-band is prolonged, as described\nabove. In front of his mantle is a stone knife, from which fire issues.\nHis attire is painted in alternate stripes of black and green, flecked\nwith melted rubber. He wears the fillet of Tonatiuh, the Sun-god, and\nthe strips of hide which fall from the panache of feathers on his head\nare also part of the Sun-god\u2019s insignia. He holds a burnt offering of\nfirewood and rubber in his hand, enveloped in a covering painted black\nand green, flecked alternately. The type of the tarns or pools into\nwhich such offerings were cast is depicted in front of him, in the\ndepths of which are seen fishes and snails.\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\u2014Sheet 92: Here he is represented in female\ncostume and, as in the Sahagun MSS., a white circular spot or patch\nwith black dots is visible on the god\u2019s cheek, which, the text implies,\nwas made of the crushed seed of the Mexican prickly poppy (Argemone\nMexicana).\n\nGeneral.\u2014Other details in the costume of the Rain-god are eloquent of\nhis nature and characteristics. In the Borgia group of codices his\ngarment and headdress are dark green, flecked with melted rubber,\nwhilst in those codices from the Mexican country proper we find them\npainted blue, bespotted with the same unpleasant incense. His robe, the\nanachxecilli (\u201cdripping-garment,\u201d \u201ccloud-garment\u201d), is said to be \u201cset\nwith green gems,\u201d and in his ear is a broad plate with a dependent band\non which are worked smaller figures made of chalchihuitl stones. On his\nbreast he wears a wide collar of plaited stuff (reeds?) also enriched\nwith the precious green stone typical of water, and a large gold disk.\n\nIn Codex Vaticanus A, the Codex Magliabecchiano, and the Sahagun MSS.\nwe find him wearing at the nape of his neck a large crescent-shaped\nloop which projects on each side of the head and is secured in the\nmiddle by a rosette, as well as his crown of heron-feathers. In the\nCodex Vaticanus B a large fan-shaped object painted dark green and\nwhite projects behind the head of the god. In Codex Borgia (sheet 14),\ntoo, he wears the headdress of Mayauel, the goddess of the agave plant,\nbut the colours in which it is painted (dark green and white with\nrubber flecking) are his own and not the blue and white of the female\ndivinity.\n\nIn the Codex Magliabecchiano (sheet 77) and on a stone relief in the\nTrocadero Museum, Tlaloc is represented as holding a jug in one hand\nand a staff in the other, the latter of a blue colour and having\nserpentine bands in its length. In Codices Vaticanus B and A he also\nholds this serpentine wand and in the other the incense-pouch marked\nwith a cross, to symbolize the four quarters of the heavens.\nOccasionally he is seen holding the agave thorn or spike and the omitl\nbone, the implements of mortification, as in Codex Borbonicus and Codex\nBorgia (sheet 67).\n\nGama (Dos Piedras, pt. i, p. 101; pt. ii, pp. 76\u201379) states that in\nTlaloc\u2019s left hand was a shield ornamented with feathers. In his right\nwere thin, wavy sheets of gold, representing his thunderbolts, or\nsometimes a golden serpent, representing either the thunderbolt or\nmoisture. On his feet were a kind of half-boots, with little bells of\ngold hanging therefrom. Round his neck was a band or collar set with\ngold and gems, while from his wrists depended strings of costly stones.\nHis dress was an azure smock, reaching to the middle of the thigh,\ncross-hatched all over with ribbons of silver forming squares, and in\nthe middle of each square was a circle of silver, while in the angle\nthereof were flowers, pearl-coloured, with yellow leaves hanging down.\nHis shield was similarly decorated, with feathers of yellow and green,\nflesh-colour and blue, each colour forming a distinct band. The body\nwas naked from mid-thigh down, and of a grey tint, as was also the\nface. This face had only one eye, of a somewhat extraordinary\ncharacter: there was an exterior circle of blue, the interior was white\nwith a black line across it, and a little semicircle below the line.\nEither round the whole eye or round the mouth was a doubled band or\nribbon of blue. In the open mouth were three grinders. The front teeth\nwere painted red, as was also the pendant with its button of gold that\nhung from his ear. He wore an open crown of white and green feathers,\nfrom which depended red and white plumes.\n\nIxtlilxochitl represents him in the month etzalli pictured with a cane\nof maize in the one hand, and in the other an instrument with which he\nis digging the ground, in which he places maize-leaves and a kind of\nfood, like fritters, called etzalli.\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014This states that the god\u2019s face was entirely black with a\nfew spots of salvia chia. The body was also of a dark colour. He wears\na \u201cmist\u201d or \u201ccloud\u201d shirt without sleeves, in the Toltec fashion,\nfalling to the knee, and a cloth is rolled round the hips. The crown is\nof heron-feathers, and the sandals symbolize the foam of water. The\nshield is inset with water-flowers or rushes, and the god carries a\nwhite rush staff.\n\n\n\n\nSTATUARY AND VASES\n\nAs has been said, the vases in the Uhde collection and in the\nAnthropological Museum at Berlin show the Tlaloc face, probably in its\nearlier state of development. In both of these a serpentine motif\narches over the eyes and meets in a knot or twist which forms the nose,\nwhile a separate serpent pattern forms the mouth in a moustache-like\nmanner, the long teeth jutting out from underneath it. Another found in\nthe Calle de las Escalerillas, Mexico City, is identical with these\nlast. A stone slab found at Cerro de Zapotitlan, near Castillo de\nTeayo, and resembling a tombstone, shows the face of Tlaloc very\nclearly, the characteristic feather crown and the long tusk-like teeth\nbeing especially noticeable. Another stone figure found at Teayo is\nfully illustrative of the god\u2019s facial characteristics, but the two\nserpents twining together to form the nose spring upwards and, after\ntraversing the position of the eyebrow, end with their tails above this\nin a flourish. The back-fan is well represented in this figure, which\nhas also a mantle and a waist-belt. In a relief found at Teayo in which\nTlaloc is represented along with Xochiquetzal, we see once more the\nmanner in which the serpentine motifs around the mouth and eyes have\nbecome unified through the exigencies of representation in profile. The\nusual insignia are represented here, such as the necklace, the\nback-fan, and the short tunic; but certain knots or bows on the dress\nlead me to think that what have been commonly taken for sprinklings of\nindiarubber gum (ulli) may be small ornamental knots of some textile\nmaterial. Vases found at Tlaxcallan and in the Mixtec country show\nprecisely the same characteristics.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe myth explanatory of the Tlaloqu\u00ea is found in the Historia de los\nMexicanos por sus Pinturas (c. ii), [253] which tells how the rain-gods\nlived in four chambers surrounding a great court in which stood four\nimmense water-casks. In one of these good water was stored, which\ndescended upon the grain when it was in process of growth. Bad water\nstood in the next, which produced fungus growth, causing the maize to\nturn black. When rain and frost came together it was thought that the\nthird cask had been drawn upon, and the fourth was filled with such\nrain as was followed by no growth, or by such growth as grew sere and\nwithered. Tlaloc, we learn from this account, had created for the\npurposes of rain-making a number of dwarfs who made their homes in the\nfour chambers of his house, and who carried sticks in their hands, and\njars into which they drew water from the great casks. When Tlaloc\ncommanded them to water a certain tract of country they poured water\nfrom the jars they held, and the lightning-flash was supposed to\nproceed from the cracking or breaking of their vessels. This myth is\nrepresented in the Codex Borgia, p. 27, as already described.\n\nAnother piece of mythic information is found in the Song of the\nRain-god, the fourth canticle in Sahagun\u2019s collection, which has been\ntranslated as follows:\n\n\n    I\n\n    Oh, Mexico has done service with the gods,\n    The paper flags fly over the four corners of the heavens,\n    It is no more a time of mourning.\n\n    II\n\n    Oh, Tlaloc (the Rain-god) has been created\n    (I.e. my statue has been set on the temple),\n    My God has become a dark red colour from the blood of the\n    sacrifices.\n    The whole day they took, with the making of rain in the temple\n    court.\n\n    III\n\n    O my Chieftain, the maize-prince,\n    In truth it is your produce;\n    You created it first;\n    And yet they only do insult to you.\n    They can have nothing against you;\n    Distribute thou no offering.\n\n    IV\n\n    But they abuse me (abstain from sacrifice),\n    I am therefore not satisfied,\n    My father, my old priest,\n    The Jaguar-serpent.\n\n    V\n\n    Out of the Tlalocan the turquoise house (the blue house)\n    Came thy father, Acatonal.\n\n    VI\n\n    O go, go down on the mountain Poyauhtlan\n    With the mist rattle-board;\n    Water will be sent from Tlalocan,\n    The country of the rain-gods.\n\n    VII\n\n    O my elder brother Toxcuecuex!\n    I will go; it is enough to make him weep.\n\n    VIII\n\n    O send me to the place that no one knows.\n    Down came his word;\n    I spoke to him, Tetzauhpilli,\n    I will go; that is enough to make him weep.\n\n    IX\n\n    After four years he will be placed over us.\n    Of thee it was said,\n    The place of the fallen,\n    The quetzal feather-house, the place of plenty,\n    And yet he becomes distributer for the Kingdom.\n\n\nIt would be rash to attempt any precise elucidation of this obscure\nsong. Briefly and doubtfully, I may say, it seems to me that its\ntendency is as follows: The song evidently refers to one of the\nfestivals of the Rain-god, probably the atemoztli, when much time was\noccupied in \u201crain-making\u201d ceremonies, as the canticle indicates. The\npious maker of the song had evidently in mind the myth which told how\nTlaloc stole the maize from Quetzalcoatl, an assertion to which he\nobjects (verse iii), and advises the god to withhold his produce. This\nmyth, which is given in the Anales de Quauhtitlan (Codex Chimalpopoc\u00e2),\nthe second or historical portion, states that Quetzalcoatl discovered\nmaize in the mountain Tonacatepetl. To do so, he took the form of a\nblack ant and was led to the spot by a red ant. As he was unable to\nlift the mountain, it was split open by the magical prowess of Xolotl\nin his phase of Nanahuatl and the maize was secured by Quetzalcoatl,\nbut was stolen from him by Tlaloc. In verse iv of the song under\ndiscussion Tlaloc replies in agreement with his servant, whom it is,\nperhaps, that he addresses as Jaguar-serpent, Jaguar (Balam), being a\ncommon designation of priests among the Maya-Quiche. [254] Or it may\nhave reference to the god himself, one of whose names is \u201cNine Jaguar.\u201d\n\nThe god would seem to refer to some unknown myth relating to his own\nparentage in verse v. The name Acatonal (\u201cReed of the Sun\u201d) given to\nhis father seems to have a calendric significance. The ceremony of the\nmist rattle-board, the rattling of which was supposed to bring rain by\nsympathetic magic, was one of the ceremonies connected with rain-making\nat more than one of the festivals of the Tlaloqu\u00ea. Poyauhtlan (\u201cPlace\nof Mugwort\u201d) is a district of Tlalocan, as well as the name of his\ntemple, and Toxcuecuex is Uitzilopochtli. The last verse seems to\nallude to the myth mentioned in the interpretation of Codex Vaticanus\nA, where it is stated that, as no rain had fallen for a period of four\nyears, Quetzalcoatl began to make sacrifices to obtain it, and, the\nworshipper or priest hints, will receive the consequent honour.\n\nAccording to Boturini, quoting Gemelli Carreri (tom. 6, p. 83), Tlaloc\nwas the deity who at the behest of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 raised the earth out of\nthe waters of the universal flood, and who counsels men by his divine\nmessages written in the lightning and the thunderbolt to live wisely\nand morally. Like most of the theories of this writer, this is pure\nallegory. Following the analogy of the calendar stone, we seem to see\nTlaloc as the sun during the period of Naui Quiauitl, or \u201cFour Rain,\u201d\nwhich ended in a universal conflagration. The interpreter of the Codex\nVaticanus A alludes to Tlaloc as feminine, speaks of him as \u201cgoddess of\nwater,\u201d and explains Tlaloqu\u00ea as signifying \u201cfine weather.\u201d Farther on\nhe states that \u201con the 21st of December they celebrated the festival of\nthis god through whose instrumentality they say the earth became again\nvisible after it had been covered with the waters of the deluge; they\ntherefore kept his festival during the twenty following signs, in which\nthey performed sacrifices to him.\u201d\n\nThe abode of Tlaloc was in Tlalocan, the heights on the road from\nTexcuco to Huetzotzinca and Tlaxcallan, a high and shady place. [255]\nThis locality remained verdant and moist because of its proximity to\nthe snowy peaks above it even when the plains beneath languished in\ndrought under merciless sunshine, and it seems natural that it should\nhave appealed to the ancient Mexicans as a fitting abode for the god of\nrain. Of Tlalocan in its more mythical sense, Sahagun (c. ii, Appendix\nto bk. iii) says that there was abundance of all refreshments, green\nmaize, calabashes, and other vegetables and fruits. Here dwelt the\nTlaloqu\u00ea, who resembled the priests who ministered to their idols in\nthat they wore their hair long. The folk who went to that paradise were\nthose who had been killed by lightning, the leprous, gouty, and\ndropsical\u2014any such, in fact, who had died from a \u201cwatery\u201d complaint. In\nTlalocan they enjoyed a perpetual summer.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nQuaitl eloa.\u2014The first annual festival to the Tlaloqu\u00ea was the quaitl\neloa, of which Sahagun says: \u201cIn the first days of the first month of\nthe year, which month was called in some parts of Mexico quavitleloa,\nbut generally atlacahualco, and begins on the second of our February, a\ngreat feast was made in honour of the Tlalocs, gods of rain and water.\nFor this occasion many children at the breast were purchased from their\nmothers; those being chosen that had two whorls in their hair, and that\nhad been born under a good sign; it being said that such were the most\nagreeable sacrifices to the storm-gods, and most likely to induce them\nto send rain in due season. Some of these infants were butchered for\nthis divine holiday on certain mountains, and some were drowned in the\nLake of Mexico. With the beginning of the festival, in every house,\nfrom the hut to the palace, certain poles were set up, and to these\nwere attached strips of the paper of the country, daubed over with\nindiarubber gum, these strips being called amateteuitl; this was\nconsidered an honour to the water-gods. And the first place where\nchildren were killed was Quauhtepetl, [256] a high mountain in the\nneighbourhood of Tlatelulco; all infants, boys or girls, sacrificed\nthere were called by the name of the place, Quauhtepetl, and were\ndecorated with strips of paper, dyed red. The second place where\nchildren were killed was Yoaltecatl, [257] a high mountain near\nGuadalupe. The victims were decorated with pieces of black paper with\nred lines on it, and were named after the place, Yoaltecatl. The third\ndeath-halt was made at Tepetzingo, a well-known hillock that rose up\nfrom the waters of the lake opposite Tlatelulco; there they killed a\nlittle girl, decking her with blue paper, and calling her Quezalxoch,\n[258] for so was this hillock called by another name. Poiauhtla, [259]\non the boundary of Tlascala, was the fourth hill of sacrifice. Here\nthey killed children, named as usual after the locality, and decorated\nwith paper, on which were lines of indiarubber oil. The fifth place of\nsacrifice was the whirlpool or sink of the Lake of Mexico, Pantitlan.\n[260] Those drowned here were called Epcoatl, [261] and their adornment\nepuepaniuhqui. [262] The sixth hill of death was Cocotl, [263] near\nChalcoatenco; the infant victims were named after it and decorated with\nstrips of paper, of which half the number were red and half a tawny\ncolour. The mount Yiauhqueme, [264] near Atlacuioaia, was the seventh\nstation; the victims being named after the place and adorned with a\npaper of tawny colour.\n\n\u201cWhen the procession reached the temple near Tepetzinco, on the east,\ncalled Tozoacab, the priests rested there all night, watching and\nsinging songs, so that the children could not sleep. In the morning the\nmarch was again resumed; if the children wept copiously those around\nthem were very glad, saying it was a sign that much rain would fall;\nwhile if they met any dropsical person on the road, it was taken for a\nbad omen and something that would hinder the rain. If any of the temple\nministers, or of the others called quaquavitli, or of the old men,\nbroke off from the procession or turned back to their houses before\nthey came to the place where the sacrifice was done, they were held\ninfamous and unworthy of any public office; thenceforward they were\ncalled mocauhque, that is to say, \u2018deserters.\u2019\u201d [265]\n\nTozozontli.\u2014The second festival to Tlaloc was tozozontli, of which\nSahagun says:\n\n\u201cThe third month was designated to\u00e7ozontli, the first day of it being\nconsecrated to the festival of the god Tlaloc, who is the divinity of\nrain. Many children were slain on the mountains and offered in\nsacrifice to this god and his colleagues, in order to obtain water. The\nfirst fruits of the flowers of the year were offered in the temple\ncalled Yopico, no one daring to smell a flower until this offering had\nbeen made. The gardeners, who were designated xochimanque, held a\nfestival in honour of their goddess called Coatlicue, also known as\nCoatlan tonan.\n\n\u201cIt was likewise during this month that those who had been wearing the\nskins of the dead since the month previous, now stripped them off and\nthrew them into the basin of the temple styled Yopico. This was done in\nprocession and with great ceremony. They smelt like rotten dogs; and\nafter disrobing they performed devotional ablutions.\n\n\u201cSick people made vows to take part in this procession in the hope of\nbeing cured of their infirmities, and we are assured that many of them\nwere thus restored.\n\n\u201cThe masters of the captives and the people of their houses performed\npenance for twenty days, neither bathing nor washing until the skins of\ntheir victims had been carried to the basin of the temple above\nmentioned, and alleging their penance was in honour of their captives.\n\n\u201cThe period of penance being over, they bathed and washed, and invited\ntheir neighbours and friends to banquets, performing elaborate\nceremonies with the bones of their dead slaves. These twenty days until\nthe following month were entirely spent in singing in the buildings\ncalled cuicacalli, everyone being always seated, without dancing, and\nincessantly chanting the praises of their deities. Other rites were\nperformed, an account of which will be given in the chapter dealing\nwith them.\u201d [266]\n\nEtzalqualiztli.\u2014The third festival to the Tlaloqu\u00ea generally was the\netzalqualiztli. Concerning this feast Sahagun relates:\n\n\u201cOn the first day of this month a festival was held in honour of the\ngods of rain. The priests of these divinities fasted for four days\nprior to the festival, these days consequently being the last four of\nthe previous month. On the occasion of these celebrations the attendant\nsatellites of the idols repaired to Citlaltepec to pull the rushes\nwhich grow very high and very beautifully in a pond called Temilco.\nFrom thence they carried them to Mexico, to decorate the temples. No\none was to be seen on the road which they traversed; everyone took care\nto hide in case they should meet them. But if, unfortunately, the\npriests encountered anyone on the road, they stripped him of\neverything, leaving him naked as a worm, and should he dare to defend\nhimself, he was maltreated and left for dead upon the highway. Even had\nhe carried the treasure of Moteuh\u00e7oma and been robbed of it, it is\nquite certain that no punishment would have fallen upon them, for, in\ntheir capacity as priests of the idols, they were at liberty to do such\nthings and worse without fear of consequences.\n\n\u201cOn the day of the festival of etzalqualiztli, everyone prepared cakes\nor a broth called etzalli, which was considered as a delicacy among\nthem, everybody partaking of them at home, and sharing the repast with\nvisitors. A thousand follies were perpetrated on that day.\n\n\u201cOn the occasion of this festival those priests of the idols who had\ncommitted faults in the exercise of their functions were terribly\npunished on the waters of the lake. They were maltreated to the point\nof being left for dead on the banks of the lake, whither their parents\nor relatives repaired to take them home almost lifeless.\n\n\u201cDeath was also inflicted on a great number of captives and slaves\ndressed in the trappings of the god Tlaloc, in whose temples they were\nslain in their honour; the hearts of those unfortunates were then\nthrown into the gaping hole in the middle of the lake, which was at\nthat time quite visible. [267] Many other rites were performed as\nwell.\u201d [268]\n\nTepeilhuitl.\u2014The fourth festival to the gods of the water-giving\nmountains was the tepeilhuitl. Sahagun says of this:\n\n\u201cDuring this month festivals were held in honour of the high mountains\nwhich were the point of departure of the clouds, and which are very\nnumerous in this land of New Spain. To each of these a statue in human\nform was erected out of a paste called tzoalli, and offerings were made\nto these idols in honour of these mountains.\n\n\u201cSerpents were also made in their honour out of wood or the roots of\ntrees, which were so carved as to terminate in an adder\u2019s head. Long\npieces of wood of the size of a fist were also made, which were called\necatotontin (\u201clittle winds\u201d). They were smoothed on the surface with a\nlump of tzoalli, and were baptized as mountains, being placed upon\nmen\u2019s heads.\n\n\u201cImages were also made in memory of people who had been drowned, or of\nthose who had died such a death as entitled their bodies to be buried\ninstead of being burnt.\n\n\u201cHaving placed the statues just described upon the altars with great\nceremony, tamalli and many other foods were offered to them; hymns were\nchanted, and wine drunk in their honour.\n\n\u201cThe day of the mountain festival having come round, four women and a\nman were slain. One of the women was called Tepexoch, the second\nMatlalque, the third Xochitecatl, the fourth Mayauel; the man bore the\nname of Milnauatl. [269] These women, as well as the man, were decked\nwith paper anointed with ulli gum, and certain females, richly dressed,\ncarried them in litters upon their shoulders to the place where they\nwere to be killed.\n\n\u201cAfter they were slain and their hearts torn out, they were taken\nslowly away, being dragged down the temple stairs to the bottom, where\ntheir heads were cut off and placed upon wooden pikes, while their\nbodies were taken to the calpulli [270] and there divided for eating.\nThe papers with which the statues were decorated were hung up in the\ntemples, after the statues had been broken up for food.\u201d [271]\n\nAtemoztli.\u2014On the sixteenth month, atemoztli, the people celebrated the\nRain-god\u2019s festival in right good earnest. Says Sahagun [272]:\n\n\u201cThe sixteenth month was called atemoztli, that is to say the rain\nmonth, when the thunder and heavy rains began to display themselves.\nThe people said, \u2018Now the Tlaloqu\u00ea come.\u2019\n\n\u201cAt this time the priests began to pray earnestly for rain, doing\npenance the while. Taking their censers of serpent-headed brass, they\nthrew the incense called yiauhtli, they rang little bells attached to\nthe censer, and censed all the statues of the gods and all the quarters\nof the town. As on another occasion, they made images of the mountains\nduring the time they fasted, and prepared the paper usually used in\nthese ceremonies. During five days when they bathed themselves they\npermitted no water to fall upon the head or to go above the neck. They\nalso abstained from women. The night which preceded the atemoztli,\nwhich they celebrated on the twentieth day of the month, they occupied\nin cutting the paper, which they gummed with ulli, and which was then\ncalled teteuitl. These they attached to long poles, which they planted\nin the courts of the houses, where they remained during the day of the\nfeast. The paste images they made represented the mountains surrounding\nthe valley of Anahuac. These were placed in the oratory of the house,\nwhere they were offered food, and people sat in front of them, serving\nthem in tiny vessels full of food, little pots and vessels of cocoa and\nfood, which were offered four times a night. Nor was an offering of\npulque forgotten. They sang all night before these images, and played\non the flute. At daybreak the priests asked the people of the house for\na tzotzo paztli, or weaver\u2019s bodkin, with which they opened the\nstomachs of the images. They also beheaded them and drew out their\nhearts, which they handed to the master of the house in a green\nporringer. They then stripped them of the paper with which they were\ndecked, which they burned in the court of the house along with the\nviands offered to the images.\u201d [273]\n\nCamargo, who had witnessed the festivals to Tlaloc thirty years before\nwriting his book, states that [274] when the rain failed and the land\nwas parched with drought, great processions were made in which a number\nof the hairless edible dogs of the country were carried on decorated\nlitters to a place of sacrifice and there killed and their hearts cut\nout, after which the bodies were eaten with much festivity. This, of\ncourse, related to a period subsequent to the Conquest, when human\nsacrifice was forbidden. He further states that old Aztec priests had\ninformed him that the hearts of the human beings sacrificed to Tlaloc\nwere first held up to the sun, then to the remaining three cardinal\npoints, after which they were burned. Tlaloc was held in high respect,\nand priests alone had the right to enter his temple. Whoever dared to\nblaspheme against him was supposed to die suddenly by a thunderbolt, no\nmatter how clear the sky may have been. The priests, he adds, took good\ncare to retard his festivals until they saw indication of coming rain.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES AND PLACES OF WORSHIP\n\nThe earliest recorded place of worship of this deity is that spoken of\nby Clavigero [275] in one of the few enlightening passages which he\npermits himself, as follows:\n\n\u201cThe native historians relate, that the Acolhuas having arrived in that\ncountry in the time of Xolotl, the first Chichimecan king, found at the\ntop of the mountain of Tlaloc, an image of that god, made of a white\nand very light stone, in the shape of a man sitting upon a square\nstone, with a vessel before him, in which was some elastic gum, and a\nvariety of seeds. This was their yearly offering by way of rendering up\ntheir thanks, after having had a favourable harvest. That image was\nreckoned the oldest in the country; for it had been placed upon that\nhill by the ancient Toltecas and remained till the end of the XVth or\nbeginning of the XVIth century, when Nezahualpilli, King of\nAcollhuacan, in order to gain the favour of his subjects, carried it\naway and placed another in its stead, of a very hard, black stone. The\nnew image, however, being defaced by lightning, and the priests\ndeclaring it to be a punishment from heaven, the ancient statue was\nrestored, and there continued to be preserved and worshipped, until the\npromulgation of the gospel, when it was thrown down and broken by order\nof the first Bishop of Mexico.\u201d\n\nThe principal seat of the worship of Tlaloc was the great temple of\nUitzilopochtli at Mexico, which is fully described in the section which\ndeals with that god.\n\nSahagun speaks (Appendix to bk. ii) of a temple within the sacred\nprecinct of Mexico which was especially dedicated to the Tlaloqu\u00ea. This\nwas the epcoatl (\u201cpearl serpent\u201d), so called, perhaps, from the\ncircumstance that the victims immolated therein were known by the same\nname. It was in this place that the priests fasted and did penance for\nforty days before the feast in honour of their gods. The Mexico\nCalmecac was a school or junior monastery, where those who were\ndestined to become priests of the god received their training. At the\nacatla yiacapan uei calpulli (\u201cchief flowery hall\u201d) the slaves intended\nfor sacrifice to the god were assembled, and here their bodies were\nprepared for the horrid banquet which concluded his festival.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThe Tlaloc Tlamacasque, the second in rank in the Mexican priesthood,\nstood at the head of the ministers of the god. The acolnauacatl\nacolmiztli (\u201che of the puma shoulder\u201d or \u201cdress\u201d) made all arrangements\nfor the festivals of the god, and kept the vestments worn by the king\non these occasions. It is also clear from many passages that the\npriesthood of Tlaloc composed a large and considerable body.\n\n\n\n\nPRAYERS\n\nSahagun [276] gives at great length a most striking prayer to Tlaloc\nmade in time of drought by the priests in hope of rain. It asks for\ncompassion from the Tlaloqu\u00ea, who, along with their sister,\nChalchiuhtlicue, have withdrawn their faces from mankind. It describes\nthe wretchedness of the people, tells how they perish of thirst, and\ndraws a harrowing picture of the sufferings of the children. It\nrequests Tlaloc to assist the god of earth with rain, so that the\nvegetables and plants may grow and not perish. It also asks that the\nrain may be of the kind which assists growth, and that it be not\naccompanied by hail or lightning, the usual manifestation of the wrath\nof the Tlaloqu\u00ea. \u201cYou who are gods of the water, who dwell at the east,\nwest, north, and south of the world, who inhabit the subterranean\nplaces, the air, the mountains and the profound caverns, hasten to the\nconsolation of man.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThere is less doubt concerning the character of Tlaloc than that of any\nother Mexican deity. The representations of him in the manuscripts, the\nprayers offered up to him, the myths which seek to explain him, all\nmake it clear that he is the god of the rain-cult par excellence, to\nwhom even Quetzalcoatl, the deified rain-maker, in time becomes merely\n\u201ca sweeper of the ways.\u201d The etymological derivation of the name has\nbeen frequently essayed. Tlaloc, says Seler, is a noun derived from the\nverb tlaloa, \u201cto hasten,\u201d which in its reflexive sense means \u201cto shoot\nup,\u201d \u201cto sprout,\u201d so that the name really conveys the sense of \u201cHe who\nmakes things sprout,\u201d \u201cHe who hastens growth.\u201d He is, indeed, the god\nof rain, of moisture, who dwells on the mountain peaks, and manifests\nhimself in the lightning and the thunder, both of which are symbolized\nin the serpentine folds of his countenance and in its darksome hues.\nHis progeny are the Tlaloqu\u00ea, who dwell on every mountain top, dwarfish\nservants who pour forth the rain out of the great jars which stand in\nhis courtyard. \u201cWhen they beat these with the sticks they carry, it\nthunders, and when it lightens a piece of the jug falls.\u201d [277]\n\nThe name Tlaloc was specially given by the Mexicans to a mountain to\nthe east of Tezcuco, near the pass which led to Huetzotzinco, and here\nit was that his most ancient idol was found by the immigrant tribes.\nThe mountains Popocatepetl and Teocuinaui were also especially sacred\nto him. He possessed, as will have been observed, both beneficent and\nterrible aspects, and was the striker, the slayer, as well as the giver\nof bounteous food-supplies. That his cult was an ancient one in Mexico\nis proved by the numerous finds of his images among remains of\npre-Aztec date at Teotihuacan, at Teotitlan in the Huaxtec country, at\nQuiengola in the Zapotec district, and at Quen Santo in Guatemala.\n\nTlaloc denotes the four quarters from which the rain comes, as his\nsymbolism abundantly shows, and the learned priests of Mexico\nundoubtedly regarded him as the personification of the tlequiauitl, or\nfire-rain, the disaster which closed one of the epochs of the\nprehistoric world. He is further analogous to the Maya Chac and God B.\n\nHis chief significance for the ancient Mexicans was as the great god of\nthe rain-cult, the rain itself, and the thunderstorm which brings the\nrain. In his serpentine form we may, perhaps, see a reminiscence of the\nmythical beast of dragon or serpentine form known to many mythologies\nas the \u201cwater-provider,\u201d which must be slain by the sun-hero ere the\nrain-flood is released to assist the growth of the crops. None of the\nmyths relating to him serve to assist such a hypothesis; but certain\npaintings in the codices appear to relate to some such myth, and page\n74 of the Maya Dresden Codex, which relates to the deluge caused by the\nwater-sun, shows a great serpent vomiting water upon the earth, showing\nthat in Central America the rain was supposed to emanate from a monster\nof this description. [278]\n\nIt is significant that Tlaloc wears Toltec dress, and from this and\nfrom his name \u201cNine Jaguar\u201d we may be justified in concluding that he\nis in a sense to be regarded, like Quetzalcoatl, as the Toltec priest.\nBalam, the Maya-Quiche word for jaguar, signifies also \u201cpriest,\u201d and\nthat the title was superadded to the serpentine conception of him is\nshown by the expression \u201cJaguar-serpent,\u201d by which he is alluded to in\nthe hymn quoted above. The Poyauhtlan was not only his temple, but a\ndistrict of Tlalocan, where he was supposed to hold sway. This I would\ntranslate \u201cPlace of the Mugwort,\u201d or \u201cAbsinthe,\u201d and it is clear that\nhe, as well as Chalchihuitlicue, his spouse, has some mysterious\nconnection with this plant, which has been shown by Dr. Rendel Harris\nto have been the especial medicine-plant of the Greek Artemis. It is\nstrange, too, to find both the god and his victims, like the\ndragon-gods of China, connected with the pearl.\n\nTlaloc is also god of the four quarters or four \u201cweathers.\u201d The seventh\nday-sign, mazatl (\u201cdeer\u201d), which he takes, is appropriate, as the deer\nsymbolizes the quest for water and vegetation. His association with the\ndog, the lightning-beast, is also significant. Indeed in Codex Bologna\nTlaloc is frequently symbolized by the lightning-flash alone.\n\n\n\n\nCHALCHIHUITLICUE = \u201cSHE OF THE JEWELLED ROBE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico (worshipped at Tlaxcallan as Matlalcu\u00eay\u00ea,\n    \u201cShe of the Blue Robe\u201d).\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Acuecueyotl = \u201cWater which makes Waves.\u201d\n        Apo\u00e7onallotl = \u201cFoam of the Water.\u201d\n        Ahuic = \u201cMotion of Water.\u201d\n        Aiauh = \u201cFog.\u201d\n        Atlacamani = \u201cStorm.\u201d\n        Xixiquipilihui = \u201cRising and Falling of the Waves\u201d (Clavigero).\n        Macuilxochiquetzalli = \u201cFive times Flower-feather\u201d (Boturini).\n\n    Calendar Places:\n        Ruler of the fifth day (coatl).\n        Ruler of the fifth week (ce acatl).\n        Lord of the sixth night.\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n    Festivals: Atlcahualco; ce atl (movable feast).\n\n    Relationship: Wife of Tlaloc, sister of the Tlaloqu\u00ea; mother of the\n    Centzon Mimixcoa.\n\n    Symbol: The chalchihuitl stone.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nGeneral.\u2014In Codex Borgia (sheet 14) she is depicted wearing a blue,\nstepped nose-ornament and a serpent helmet-mask. In the Codex\nFej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer is seen a jaguar\u2019s ear behind the serpent\u2019s eye in more\nthan one representation of her helmet-mask. In Codex Borgia she wears a\nlarge golden disk (teocuitla-comalli) suspended by a jewelled band. Her\nrobe has a broad hem, in which the colours of the hieroglyph\nchalchihuitl, green and red, with a white fringe, are reproduced, thus\nforming a kind of pictograph of her name. The same purpose is served by\na large blue disk in the middle of the skirt. [279] In Codex Vaticanus\nB she holds the bone-dagger and agave spike for ceremonial\nblood-letting. She stands on foaming water, on which floats a\nburnt-offering of firewood and rubber.\n\nIn the Aubin tonalamatl she is pictured as standing in a stream, down\nwhich swirl away a jewel-box, an armed man, and a woman.\n\nVariations.\u2014The representations of Chalchihuitlicue in the Codex Borgia\ngroup, where she is dressed in the snake-helmet, are substantially\ndifferent from her appearance in the Aubin tonalamatl, the Codex\nBorbonicus, and elsewhere.\n\nIn the Codex Borbonicus (sheet 5) the insignia of the goddess is\nheavily spotted, the significance being by no means plain. [280] The\nrepresentation in the Sahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio) also\ndiffers, and in this the goddess is seen holding a rattle and wearing\nwhat seems to be an interesting variant of the jewel hieroglyph.\n\nIn Codex Borgia (sheet 57) she is represented along with her spouse\nTlaloc, the chalchihuitl jewel in the form of a two-handed pitcher\nseparating them. The gods hold chains of jewels representing the four\nkinds of maize\u2014yellow, blue, red, and green\u2014and a naked human being\nissues from the pitcher, symbolizing the growth of the maize. [281]\n\nOther interesting variations in connection with this goddess are those\nfound in Codex Vaticanus B and Codex Borgia (sheet 17), in both of\nwhich she is seen suckling a human being. In the former she wears on\nthe head two bunches of quetzal-feathers, usually part of the insignia\nof Xochiquetzal, and she is only to be recognized by the symbol beside\nher, a variant of the element chalchihuitl.\n\nSahagun describes her as follows in the Biblioteca del Palacio MS.:\n\u201cThe face is yellow, with a red pattern superimposed. She wears a\ncollar of green precious stones, and a crown of paper adorned with a\nquetzal-feather. The tunic and skirt are painted with water lines, and\nshe wears shells. Her sandals represent the foam of water. On her\nshield is painted the emblem of a water flower, and she carries the\n\u201cmist rattle-staff.\u201d Statuettes of Chalchihuitlicue are fairly common.\nOne found in the Valley of Mexico agrees to some extent with her\nappearance in the Aubin tonalamatl, but not with that in Codex Borgia.\nShe wears the tasselled shawl and the chalchihuitl emblem adorns her\ndress. Two other stone figures of her in the Uhde collection at Berlin\nand one in the Christy collection at London are eloquent of her\ninsignia. In all of these she wears the tasselled shawl, and in the\nChristy example and one of the Uhde figures the large back-bow is well\nexemplified, as are the two plaits of hair descending at the back. In\nthe other Uhde specimen the plates are shown as part of a knot of the\ncotton headdress, which is in all cases fringed with balls. In all\nthree figures large, full bands of some material descend over the ear.\nA stone figure of her, found at the Castillo de Teayo in Vera Cruz and\nnow in the National Museum at Mexico, depicts her with a square\nheaddress, from which radiate what are evidently the feathers of\naquatic birds. She wears the V-shaped shawl or tippet and a skirt, on\neach side of which the chalchihuitl emblem is shown and which is\nfringed with shells. Teobert Maler reproduces another stone figure of\nher wearing a high headdress of feathers and a necklace and wristlets\nof chalchihuitls.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that\n\u201cChalchiuhtli, who presided over these thirteen days, saved herself in\nthe deluge. She is a woman who remained after the deluge. Her name\nsignifies the \u2018Woman who wears a dress adorned with precious stones.\u2019\nThey here fasted four days till death. They paint her holding in one\nhand a spinning-wheel, and in the other a wooden instrument, with which\nthey weave; and in order to show that of the sons which women bring\nforth some are slaves and others die in war, and others in poverty,\nthey paint her with a stream as if carrying them away, so that whether\nrich or poor all were finally doomed.\u201d The interpreter of Codex\nVaticanus A says that she is the same as the virgin Chimalman, who was\nthe mother of Quetzalcoatl. The myth to which this passage alludes is\ndealt with in the section relating to Quetzalcoatl. Sahagun (bk. i, c.\nii) calls the goddess the sister of the Tlaloqu\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nChalchihuitlicue was adored at the etzalqualiztli festival to the\nTlaloqu\u00ea (see Tlaloc) and at the feast ce atl (\u201cone week\u201d), when, says\nSahagun, \u201cher festival was celebrated by all who in any way dealt in\nwater, or had any connection with it, water-sellers, fishers and the\nlike. These dressed and ornamented her image and made adorations in the\nhouse named calpulli. The great lords and rich merchants at the birth\nof one of their children paid the greatest attention to this sign, and\nthe day and hour at which the child was born. They at once inquired of\nthe astrologers what fortune the child might expect to encounter, and\nif the sign was propitious, they had the infant baptized without delay,\nwhereas if it were the opposite they waited until the nearest day which\nhad a propitious sign. Food and drink were distributed freely to all.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nVeytia [282] states that King Nauhyotl instituted a college of priests\nexpressly for the service of this goddess. These were celibate and wore\nlong and ample robes of a sombre colour. They went bare-footed in the\nsanctuary, fasted frequently, and were given to penitence and\ncontemplation. Their high-priest was called Achcauhtli, [283] and the\nentire cult was modelled on that of Quetzalcoatl. This did not prohibit\nthem, however, from the sacrifice of human beings.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nChalchihuitlicue was the female counterpart of Tlaloc, and the goddess\nof water and moisture. Sahagun (bk. i, c. ii) says of her: \u201cShe was\nsupposed to have her existence in the sea, the rivers and lakes, and\nhad power to take the lives of those who ventured upon them, and to\nraise tempests.\u201d\n\nThe name means \u201cShe whose raiment consists of green gems,\u201d or \u201cShe of\nthe jewelled robe,\u201d and is allegorical of the brilliant surface of\nflowing rather than stagnant water. She is, says Seler, \u201can appropriate\nrepresentative of the sign \u2018Snake.\u2019 For the moving, flowing water has\neverywhere and at all times been likened to the serpent. In cultural\ncentres which are dedicated to the Water-goddess\u2014the Pilon de Azucar,\nfor instance, which has been explored by Hermann Strebel\u2014the ground\nswarms as well with images of snakes as of frogs.\u201d [284]\n\nIn Codex Borgia she is seen with a bunch of dried herbs above her,\nevidently indicating that she had a medicinal side to her character.\nCertain pictures of her\u2014that, for instance, in the Aubin tonalamatl\nalready described\u2014seem to point to her as the goddess of change in\nhuman affairs, of speedy ruin, and this conception was, no doubt,\nbrought about by the ever-changing character of the element she\nsymbolized. She is, indeed, the goddess of water in its mutable and\nkaleidoscopic form.\n\nThere is, however, every reason to believe that she had a still more\nprofound significance in Mexican theology, and this is made clear if we\nexamine the prayer to her preserved by Sahagun in which she seems to\nrepresent the purifying and cleansing influence of water as an agency\nto wipe away the original sin with which it was thought man came into\nthe world.\n\nThat the goddess had also a lunar significance is plain from the\nallusion to her as the mother of the Centzon Mimixcoa, or stars of the\nNorthern Hemisphere, and the great importance attached to the prayers\noffered up to her in connection with child-bearing. As has been hinted,\nshe had also a medicinal aspect. The child sacrificed to her at the\netzalqualiztli festival was slain at the hill known as Yauhqueme\n(\u201ccovered with mugwort\u201d), and, as instanced in the case of Tlaloc, this\nplant is the especial medicine-herb of the Greek Artemis. In Codex\nBorgia, indeed, she is associated with a herb which may possibly be the\nmugwort or wormwood, and Seler thinks she is to be regarded as the\ngiver of \u201chealing draughts of physic.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nUIXTOCIUATL = \u201cSALT WOMAN\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Originally the eastern sea-coast.\n\n    Relationship: Elder sister of the Tlaloqu\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014The goddess is painted yellow and\nwears a crown of paper or cotton, adorned with quetzal-feathers and a\ngolden ear-plug. Her overdress and skirt are painted with wavy lines of\nwater and she wears sandals. Her shield is entirely white and she bears\na rush staff in her hand, from which depend strips of cotton or paper.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nTecuilhuitontli.\u2014\u201cThe seventh month\u201d (says Sahagun, bk. ii, c. vii)\n\u201cwas designated tecuilhuitontli, the first day of which was dedicated\nto the goddess of salt, who was styled Uixtociuatl. She was termed the\nelder sister of the god Tlaloc. A woman was slain in her honour, robed\nwith the same ornaments as were worn by the images of this divinity.\n\n\u201cThe night preceding this festival, the women, old, young, and\nchildren, gave themselves up to singing and dancing, marching in a\nring, linked by cords which they each held by an end, which they called\nxochimecatl, and which were garlanded with the absinthe flowers of the\ncountry, called iztauhyatl. Old men led the songs and dances, while in\nthe midst of the ring stood the poor woman doomed to death, richly\ndressed in the manner of the image of the goddess. All the women, in\ncompany with her who was to die, watched, sang and danced the whole of\nthe night preceding the festival. Day having dawned, all the priests\nassumed their ornaments, and partook in a solemn dance, all those who\nassisted carrying in their hands flowers called cempoalxochitl. Dancing\nall the way, they brought several captives to the temple of Tlaloc, in\nthe midst of whom walked the woman who was to die, dressed as the image\nof Uixtociuatl. Before she was sacrificed, the captives were first put\nto death. [285]\n\n\u201cSeveral other ceremonies were conducted during this festival and there\nwere frequent scenes of debauchery.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that Yxcuina, as he\nnames the goddess, was the protector of adulterers and \u201cthe goddess of\nsalt and of dissolute persons.\u201d He further relates that they put\nadulterers to death before her image. The interpreter of Codex\nVaticanus A adds that she was the wife of Mictlantecutli, lord of the\nrealm of the dead. One of the women given as consorts to the victim\nsacrificed at the principal feast of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 was called after the\ngoddess.\n\nThe salt-supply was regarded as an indispensable alimentary feature in\nMexico, and the relative importance of the worship of Uixtociuatl can\nreadily be gathered from this circumstance. Her connection with\nlustfulness had probably a physiological basis, and perhaps owed its\nexistence to the saline odour which emanates from the excretions of the\nprivy parts. There is a distinct resemblance between her name and that\nof the absinthe plant.\n\n\n\n\nATLAUA = \u201cLORD OF THE LAKE BEACHES\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Chinampanecs of Cuitlauac.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nThe lower parts of his extremities are striped blue, like those of\nUitzilopochtli. In the Sahagun MS. (Palacio) he wears the domino mask\nedged round with small white circles (the \u201cstellar face-painting\u201d) and\nthe mouth and chin are blackened or reddened. The headdress resembles\nthe flag used as Uitzilopochtli\u2019s symbol for the panquetzaliztli\nfestival. He carries the shield of Uitzilopochtli, with the five balls\nof eagle\u2019s down, one half of the weapon being coloured red, like blood,\nand in his right hand he holds an instrument which, from comparison\nwith another Sahagun MS. (Bib. Laurenz.) we know to be a rattle. In\nthis picture symbols expressive of singing flow from his mouth.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nHe was a god of the inhabitants of the floating gardens of Lake\nXochimilco, the tribe known as the Chinampanecs, and from the \u201cstellar\nface-painting\u201d he wore he must at some time have been identified by one\nof the early hunting tribes with one or other of the stars. His\npossession of Uitzilopochtli\u2019s shield is perhaps further proof of his\nstellar association. He may have been one of the Centzonuitznaua (see\nUitzilopochtli\u2014\u201cMyths\u201d).\n\n\n\n\nNAPATECUTLI = \u201cFOUR TIMES LORD\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Shores of Lake Texcuco.\n\n    Relationship: One of the Tlaloqu\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014The body-paint is black, but a\nplaster of salvia chia is worn on the face underneath the eyes. The god\nwears a paper crown sprinkled with rubber gum, and a tuft of paper at\nthe back of the head, from which quetzal-feathers depend. Two long\nstrips of paper hang from under the crown down the back of the neck,\nand these are also sprinkled with rubber gum. Across the right shoulder\nis slung a band of paper, and an underdress of the same material\nsurrounds the hips, and these are also sprinkled with gum. Sandals are\nworn, and the shield is decorated with the water-rose motif. A rush\nstaff is carried in the hand, from which strips of paper hang, daubed\nwith melted indiarubber.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nSahagun says that Napatecutli \u201cwas the god of men who make mats out of\naquatic reeds, and was one of the Tlaloqu\u00ea. He was the inventor of\nmat-making, and was adored by those who made the low chairs called\nicpalli, and the hurdles of reeds which are called tolcuextli. He made\nthe reeds to grow and caused the showers that made them spring, and\nthey prayed him for rain and reeds. When they sacrificed a slave to him\nthey dressed him in the god\u2019s garments, placing in his hands a green\nvase filled with water, with which he besprinkled all with the aid of a\nbranch of willow, as if he were blessing them. Then, in the course of\nthe year, whenever one of this trade wished to feast this divinity, he\nacquainted the priests with his intention, who chose a priest, dressed\nhim in the attributes of the god, like his image, and conducted him,\nasperging him on the way, with a branch of willow dipped in water.\nArrived at the house, they prayed him to extend his favours to the\ndwelling, and the feast was celebrated, the \u2018god\u2019 eating and drinking\nwith the rest. This was done with the desire to recompense the god, and\nwhen they had spent all they had, they said: \u2018I care not if I am\nwithout means, so long as my god is satisfied with this feast. He may\ngrant me more, he may leave me in misery, so long as his will is\naccomplished.\u2019 So saying, they covered the representative of the god\nwith a white mantle, who returned with his companions. The householder\nthen feasted privately with his parents. The mat-makers plenished and\nornamented the temple of their god with reeds and plants, and anything\nthey placed in the temple was of the best workmanship.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nMATLALCU\u00caY\u00ca = \u201cSHE OF THE BLUE ROBE\u201d\n\n(Variant of Chalchihuitlicue)\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Tlaxcallan.\n\n    Relationship: Second consort of Tlaloc.\n\n\n\n\nAPPEARANCE\n\nShe is recognized by her tasselled head-band and cape, and often by a\nstepped nose-ornament.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nA variant of Chalchihuitlicue. She was believed to preside over a\nmountain near Tlaxcallan. One of the women sacrificed to Tlaloc at the\ngreat festival to the mountain-gods was called after this goddess.\n\n\n\n\nOPOCHTLI = \u201cTHE SOUTHERN,\u201d \u201cLEFT-HANDED,\u201d OR \u201cTHE WIZARD\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: The shores of Lake Texcuco.\n\n    Relationship: One of the Tlaloqu\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nThe Sahagun MS. describes the insignia of this god as follows: He is\npainted black and has a patch or spot made from crushed seeds on his\nface. His crown is cut out of paper, and from it rise plumes of\nheron-feathers, mingled with those of the quetzal bird. He has a band\nmade of paper round his shoulders, a loin-cloth and white sandals. His\nshield bears the solar emblem and he carries a rattle-staff in his\nhand.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nSahagun (bk. i, ch. 17) says of Opochtli, that he is one of the\nTlaloqu\u00ea. To him was attributed the invention of fishing-nets and of\nthe minacachalli, or three-pronged harpoon, an instrument recalling the\nclassical trident, which was also used for spearing birds. He it was\nwho originally contrived the nets used by the fowler to ensnare the\naquatic birds which frequented the banks of Lake Texcuco, and the\npaddle was likewise his invention. Of all the Tlaloqu\u00ea he appears to\nhave been the most practical, as well as the most closely identified\nwith human pursuits, and naturally he figured as the patron of the\nfisher, the fowler, and those generally who plied their occupation on\nthe water of the lake or on its shores. Upon the occasion of his\nfestival they offered him food and octli, the ears of maize, flowers,\nand burned tobacco before him as an incense, as well as copal and the\nabsinthe herb. They also placed before him toasted maize. The older\npriests chanted his praises and filed before his idol in procession. As\nwe have seen in the case of Uitzilopochtli, the word opochtli may\nsignify \u201cwizard,\u201d and I believe that the net, which would appear to a\nprimitive people an apparatus of the most ingenious kind, would be\nregarded by them as the invention of a magician. Opochtli would almost\ninevitably come to be connected with the Tlaloqu\u00ea because of the\nemployment of his invention to catch fish and snare the aquatic birds\nwhich rested on the shores of Lake Texcuco.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nTHE FIRE-GODS\n\n\nXIUHTECUTLI = \u201cLORD OF THE YEAR\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship:\n        Mexico.\n        Toltec.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Tzoncaztli = \u201cThe Yellow-haired.\u201d\n        In Xiuhtetzaqualco maquitoc = \u201cHe who enters the Blue Stone\n        Pyramid.\u201d\n        Yei itzcuintli = \u201cThree Dog.\u201d\n        Cuezaltzin = \u201cThe Flame.\u201d\n        Chicunaui tecutli = \u201cNine Lord.\u201d\n        Ueueteotl = \u201cThe Old God.\u201d\n        Tlatic paque = \u201cLord of the Earth\u2019s Surface.\u201d\n        Tota = \u201cOur Father.\u201d\n        Tloque Nahuaque = \u201cLord of the Close Vicinity.\u201d\n        Tlalxictentica = \u201cDweller in the Navel of the Earth.\u201d\n        Ixco\u00e7auhque = \u201cThe Yellow-faced.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Ruler of the ninth day-count, atl (water).\n        Ruler of the ninth tonalamatl division, ce coatl.\n        Ruler of the twentieth tonalamatl division, ce tochtli.\n        First of the nine lords of the night.\n        First of the thirteen lords of the day.\n\n    Festivals:\n        Xocohuetzi, in the tenth month.\n        Izcalli, in the eighteenth month.\n        The day ce itzcuintli (\u201cone dog\u201d) (movable feast).\n\n    Compass Direction: Lord of the Middle and of the four quarters.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 19: In this place he is represented standing\nbefore a temple with a bundle of firewood and a rubber ball in his\nhand. The temple contains implements of war. He is painted red, with\nthe lower part of the face blackened by melted rubber and a black\ncross, the foot of which rests on a level with his eye. The fillet\nround his head is a strap set with jewelled disks. On the necklace is\nseen a blue bird (cotinga, or humming-bird). That part of his face\nwhich is not black, and which in the Codex Borgia is painted a red\ncolour like the rest of the body, is on sheet 89 painted yellow, with\nslender thread-shaped longitudinal stripes of red. On sheet 57 he is\nseen as in the ninth day-count\u2014red, and with red and black\nface-painting and flame-coloured hair, with the cotinga bird flying\ndown on the frontal side of the fillet, and with arrow-shaft feathers\nin the crown. At the nape of the neck can be seen a short crest of red\npoints enclosing three tufts of red feathers, which, perhaps, originate\nin the xiuhcoatl, or fire-snake worn in the Mexican MSS. proper by the\nFire-god on his back as a disguise (cf. Codex Borbonicus). He has here\nthe scorpion and atltlachinolli \u201cspear-throwing and fire\u201d sign, and is\nseated on a royal throne, with an abundance of food before him, which\nprobably symbolizes wealth. He also wears a breast-ornament of blue\nturquoise mosaic with golden bells. He sometimes wears the priest\u2019s\ntobacco-calabash as a sign of wealth or abundance.\n\nAubin-Goupil Tonalamatl.\u2014Sheet 20: He holds the copal bag in one hand\nand in the other two agave-leaf spikes with flowers (blood) at the\nupper end. Before the face of the Fire-god we see a sea-snail\u2019s shell,\nwhich is, perhaps, symbolic of fire shut up or enclosed in the house.\nBefore him, too, is a vessel with offerings or sacrificial balls. Below\nis an agave spike with the flower-emblem of blood. Beside it are the\nsymbol of midnight, the eye enveloped in darkness, and a tuft of\nquetzal-feathers\u2014all symbolic of the midnight penance.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 14: In this codex the representation of the\nFire-god is in many respects similar to that in Vaticanus B. The face\nand body-paint are red. The jewelled fillet is ornamented with the\nconventional representation of a cotinga bird in the attitude of flying\ndown such as may be observed in the figures allied with the Fire-god,\nand which is also seen in reliefs at Chichen-Itz\u00e0, Yucatan. In the\nfillet are placed two arrow-shafts, which represent the two wooden\nfire-disks\u2014an ornament that is called \u201carrow-wig\u201d or \u201cspear-wig.\u201d Above\nthis is seen a tiara, which broadens as it rises upwards. Xiuhtecutli\nwears attached to a long pendant necklace a square plate of blue\ncolour, made of turquoise mosaic. In some places he wields the\n\u201cshooting implement,\u201d the throwing-stick, or the blue throwing-stick,\nxiuhatlatl, fashioned in the form of a snake. The scorpion is\nfrequently placed beside the god, symbolizing, perhaps, the stinging\ncharacter of fire.\n\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis.\u2014He holds in one hand the xiuhatlatl, the\nthrowing-stick painted blue, decked with turquoise mosaic and having a\nfigure on the top, probably intended for a snake. In the other hand he\nhas a staff, which at the upper crutch-like end shows an animal\u2019s head,\nand the lower a snake\u2019s tail-rattles.\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\u2014The Fire-god is here seen in a dancing or\nfighting attitude. The dragon-mask lies behind the neck, and he wears a\nyellow and red hat resembling an inverted cone, with a serpent motif in\nfront. The face-paint is yellow for the upper part of the face, the\nmouth-region red and the lower posterior part black. His tunic is\nwhite, with a blue sash or centre-piece, and he wears the yellow\nbreast-ornament. In one hand he carries the atlatl, or spear-thrower,\nand in the other a white, unpainted shield.\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014Sahagun, describing Xiuhtecutli under his minor name of\nIxco\u00e7auhque (\u201cThe Yellow-faced\u201d), says that he is painted red and\nblack, and is smeared with indiarubber on lips and chin. He wears a\nheadband set with precious stones and a paper crown with a plume of\nquetzal-feathers. He carries on his back his fire-snake dress and round\nhis shoulders is slung a band of bark paper. On his feet he wears bells\nand shells. His shield is ornamented with precious stones, and in one\nhand he carries an instrument the use of which is apparently\ndivinatory.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nA song given by Sahagun has reference to the Fire-god.\n\n\n    SONG OF THE YELLOW-FACED\n\n    (The Fire-gods)\n\n    O, in Tzommolco my father shall I dishonour Thee? (i.e. withhold\n    the sacrifice);\n    In Tetemocan shall I dishonour Thee?\n\n    2\n\n    O my master, in the Temple of Mecatlan the yucca Tree shakes (the\n    kettle-drum made out of wood from the Yucca tree);\n    In Chicueyocan in the house of the masked, the masked dancers have\n    come.\n\n    3\n\n    In Tzommolco they have begun to sing,\n    In Tzommolco they have begun to sing;\n    Why do they not come here?\n    Why do they not come here?\n\n    4\n\n    In Tzommolco men shall be given (sacrificed);\n    The sun has risen,\n    Men shall be given.\n\n    5\n\n    In Tzommolco song now comes to an end.\n    Without trouble he has become rich;\n    He has become lord.\n    His mercy is wonderful.\n\n    6\n\n    O, little woman, hold speech (give warning),\n    Mistress of the mist house, from the door hold speech.\n\n\nSahagun says of him [286]:\n\n\u201cHe had other names\u2014Ixcozauhqui, \u2018Yellow-face,\u2019 and Cuezaltzin, or\n\u2018Flame.\u2019 They called him also Ueueteotl, or \u2018Very Old God,\u2019 and they\nsaid that the fire was his father. They celebrated his feast at the end\nof the month called izcalli, and dressed the idol in his robes and\nornaments. He wore the robes of a king.\u201d\n\nIn the Sahagun Mexican MS. he is described as \u201cthe mother of the gods,\nthe father of the gods, who dwells in the navel of the earth, who\nenters the Turquoise Pyramid ... the Old God, the Fire-god.\u201d [287]\n\nSahagun [288] also alludes to the god in the prayer of the merchants,\nwhich says: \u201cSit still on thy throne, noble Lord, thou that in the\nnavel of the earth hast thy seat, Lord of the Four Quarters.\u201d\n\nIn this prayer he is also frequently addressed as \u201cLord of the With and\nthe By\u201d (the contiguous neighbourhood), \u201cthe Lord of Heaven, the Lord\nof the Surface of the Earth.\u201d\n\nSahagun in a prayer to Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 alludes to Xiuhtecutli as \u201cthe\nancient god, who is father and mother to thyself, and is god of fire,\nwho stands in the midst of flowers, in the midst of the place bounded\nby four walls, who is covered with shining feathers that are as wings\u201d\n[289]; and in another prayer to Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, speaks of Xiuhtecutli as\n\u201cthe ancient god, the father of all the gods, the god of fire, who is\nin the pond of water among turrets surrounded with stones like roses,\nwho is called Xiuhtecutli, who determines, examines, and settles the\nbusiness and law-suits of the nation and of the common people, as it\nwere washing them with water.\u201d [290]\n\nClavigero says of Xiuhtecutli:\n\n\u201cXiuhtecutli (master of the year and of the grass) was among these\nnations the god of fire, to whom they likewise gave the name of\nIxcozauhqui, which expresses the colour of fire. This god was greatly\nrevered in the Mexican empire. At their dinner they made an offering to\nhim of the first morsel of their food, and the first draught of their\nbeverage, by throwing both into the fire; and burned incense to him at\ncertain times of the day. In honour of him they held two fixed\nfestivals of the most solemn kind, one in the tenth, and another in the\neighteenth month; and one movable feast, at which they created the\nusual magistrates and renewed the ceremony of the investiture of the\nfiefs of the kingdom. He had a temple in Mexico, and some other\npalaces.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nXocohuetzi.\u2014Sahagun\u2019s account of this festival is substantially as\nfollows [291]:\n\nA great tree of five and twenty fathoms long was cut down and the\nbranches lopped off except a few at the top. The tree was then dragged\nby ropes into the city, great precautions being taken against damaging\nit. The women met the procession, giving those who had helped cocoa to\ndrink. The tree, which was called zocotl, was received into the court\nof a teocalli with acclamation, and there set up in a hole in the\nground and allowed to remain for twenty days. On the eve of the\nfestival they lowered the tree gently to the ground by means of ropes\nand trestles made of beams lashed together. It was dressed until quite\nsmooth, and where the branches had been left, near the top, a\ncross-beam of five fathoms long was secured by ropes. On the summit of\nthe pole a statue of the god Xiuhtecutli was set, made out of the dough\nof wild amaranth seeds, and decorated with white papers. To the head of\nthe image were affixed pieces of paper instead of hair, bands of paper\ncrossed the body from each shoulder, on the arms were pieces of paper\nlike wings painted over with figures of sparrow-hawks, a maxtli of\npaper covered the loins, and a kind of paper garment covered all. Great\nstrips of paper, half a fathom broad and ten fathoms long, floated from\nthe feet of the image, and into his head were stuck three rods with a\ntamalli, or small cake, on the top of each. Ten ropes were then\nattached to the middle of the tree, and the structure was reared into\nan upright position and there secured with great uproar.\n\nThose who had captives to sacrifice came decorated for dancing, the\nbody painted yellow (the colour of the god), and the face vermilion.\nThey wore the red plumes of the parrot arranged to resemble a\nbutterfly, and carried shields covered with white feathers. Each danced\nside by side with his captive. These had the body painted white, and\nthe face vermilion, save the cheeks, which were black. They were\nadorned with papers, and they had white feathers on the head and\nlip-ornaments of feathers. At set of sun the dancing ceased, the\ncaptives were shut up in the calpulli and watched by their owners, not\nbeing permitted to sleep. About midnight every owner shaved away part\nof the hair from the scalp of the head of his captive, which, being\nfastened with red thread to a little tuft of feathers, he put in a\nsmall case of cane and attached to the rafters of the house, that\neveryone might see that he was a valiant man and had taken a captive.\nThe knife with which this shaving was accomplished was known as the\nclaw of the sparrow-hawk. At daybreak the captives were arranged in\norder in front of the tzompantli, where the skulls of the sacrificed\nwere spitted in rows. A priest walked along the row of captives, taking\nfrom them certain little banners that they carried and all their\nraiment or adornment, which he burnt in a fire. While they stood naked\nand waiting for death, another priest, carrying in his arms the image\nof the god Paynal and his ornaments, ran up with this idol to the top\nof the teocalli known as Tlacacouhcan, where the victims were to die.\nHe descended, then returned to the summit, and as he went up for the\nsecond time, the owners took their slaves by the hair and led them to\nthe place called Apetlac, where they left them. The priests who were to\nperform the sacrifice then descended from the teocalli bearing bags of\na narcotic incense called yauhtli (absinthe, wormwood, or mugwort),\nwhich they threw by handfuls into the faces of the victims to mitigate\ntheir death-agonies. Each captive was then bound hand and foot and\ncarried up to the top of the teocalli. On the summit a great fire\nburned. Upon this the priests cast the captives, who, when\nhalf-roasted, were dragged out with the aid of grappling-hooks and\nsacrificed by having their hearts torn out. The statue of Paynal was\nthen carried away to its own temple and all returned home. The young\nmen and boys with the women began at midday to dance and to sing in the\ncourtyard of Xiuhtecutli. Suddenly they made in a body for the place\nwhere the tree already described had been raised. At a given signal all\nmight attempt to scale the pole to reach the dough image at the top.\nThe first youth at the top seized the idol of dough, took the shield\nand the arrows, the darts and the tamalis from the head of the statue,\nthen threw the crumbs with the plumes of the image down into the crowd,\nwho fought and scrambled for them. When the successful youth descended\nfrom the pole with the weapons of the god, he was received with\nacclamations and carried up to the teocalli Tlacacouhcan, to receive\njewels and a rich mantle which no one else might wear, and the honour\nof being carried to his house by the priests, amid the music of horns\nand shells. Then the people seized the ropes fastened to the tree and\ndragged it down.\n\nIzcalli.\u2014The following is a digest of Sahagun\u2019s description of this\nfestival [292]:\n\nAnother feast of the god of fire was held in the month yzcalli, the\neighteenth month; it was called motlaxquiantota, that is to say, \u201cour\nfather the fire roasts his food.\u201d An image of the god of fire was made,\nby tying a frame of hoops and sticks together and covering them with\nhis ornaments. On the head of the image was placed a mask of turquoise\nmosaic, banded across with rows of green chalchihuitls. Upon the mask\nwas put a crown fitting to the head below, wide above, and covered with\nrich plumage. A wig of reddish hair was attached to this crown so that\nthe locks flowed from below it, behind and around the mask. A robe of\nfeathers covered the front of the image and fell over the ground before\nthe feet. The back of the image was probably left unadorned and was\nconcealed by a throne covered with a jaguar-skin. Before this statue\nnew fire was made at midnight with the fire-stick. The spark obtained\nwas put on the hearth and a fire lit. At break of day boys and youths\ncame with game and fish that they had captured on the previous day.\nWalking round the fire, they gave it to certain old men that stood\nthere, who, taking it, threw it into the flames before the god, giving\nthe youths in return certain tamalis made for this purpose by the\nwomen. To eat these tamalis it was necessary to strip off the\nmaize-leaves in which they had been wrapped and cooked; these leaves\nwere not thrown into the fire, but were all put together and thrown\ninto water. After this all the old men of the quarter in which the fire\nwas drank octli and sang before the image of Xiuhtecutli till night.\nThis was the tenth day of the month, and completed that part of the\nfeast which was called vauquitamalqualiztli.\n\nOn the twentieth and last day of the month was made another statue of\nthe Fire-god, on a frame of sticks and hoops. They placed on the head a\nmask with a ground of mosaic with small pieces of the shell called\ntapaztli, composed below the mouth of black stones, banded across the\nnostrils with black stones of another sort, and the cheeks made of a\nstill different stone called tezcapuchtli. As in the previous case,\nthere was a crown on this mask, and over all and over the body of the\nimage costly and beautiful decorations of feather-work. Before the\nthrone on which this statue sat there was a fire, and the youths\noffered game to and received cakes from the old men with various\nceremonies, the day closing with the drinking of octli by the old\npeople, though not to the point of intoxication.\n\nThe festivals of this month were usually without human sacrifices, but\nevery fourth year was an exception to this. In such a year, on the\ntwentieth and last day of the month, men and women were slain as images\nof the god of fire. The women who had to die carried all their apparel\nand ornaments on their shoulders, and the men did the same. They were\ndecorated to resemble the god of fire; they ascended the teocalli,\nwalked round the sacrificial stone, and then descended and returned to\nthe place where they were to be kept for the night. Each man had a rope\ntied round the middle of his body, which was held by his guards. At\nmidnight the hair of the crown of the head of each was shaven off\nbefore the fire and kept for a relic, and the head itself was covered\nwith a mixture of resin and hen\u2019s feathers. After this the victims\nburned their clothing, or gave it away to their keepers, and as the\nmorning broke they were decorated with papers and led to the place of\nsacrifice with singing and dancing. These festivities went on till\nmidday, when a priest of the temple, arrayed in the ornaments of the\ngod Paynal, came down, passed before the victims, and then went up\nagain. They were led up after him in the order in which they had to\ndie. There was then a grand dance of the nobles, led by the king\nhimself, each dancer wearing a high-crowned paper coronet, a kind of\nfalse nose of blue paper, earrings of turquoise mosaic, or of wood\nwrought with flowers, a blue, flowered jacket, and a mantle. Suspended\nfrom the neck of each was the figure of a dog made of paper and painted\nwith flowers. In the right hand was carried a stick shaped like a\nchopping-knife, the lower half of which was painted red and the upper\nhalf white. In the left hand was carried a little paper bag of copal.\nThe dance was begun on the top of the teocalli, and finished by the\ndancers descending and going four times round the courtyard of the\ntemple, after which all entered the palace with the king. This dance\ntook place only once in four years, and none but the king and his lords\ncould take part in it. On this day the ears of all children born during\nthe three preceding years were pierced with a bone awl, and the\nchildren themselves passed near or through the flames of a fire. There\nwas a further ceremony of taking the children by the head and lifting\nthem up, \u201cto make them grow,\u201d and from this the month took its name,\nyzcalli, meaning \u201cgrowth.\u201d\n\nCe itzcuintli.\u2014Of this movable feast Sahagun says [293]:\n\n\u201cThey said that the sign ce itzcuintli was the sign of fire, and on it\nthey made a great feast to Xiuhtecutli, god of fire, to whom they\noffered copal incense and numbers of quails. They decked his image with\npaper of different kinds and many rich ornaments. Then the great made\nhigh celebration of the event in their houses. It was under this sign\nthat they made election of the king and the consuls, which was\ncelebrated in the fourteenth temple by banquets, dances, and great\nliberality. It was at those feasts that war upon enemies was\nproclaimed.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLE\n\nSahagun states [294] that the tzommolco was the temple of Xiuhtecutli.\nAt the foot of the steps of this temple was a terrace to which several\nsteps gave access, and upon this certain female slaves were\noccasionally sacrificed.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nThe Ixcocauhqui Tzommolco teohua appear to have been the especial\npriests of Xiuhtecutli. [295]\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nAlthough Xiuhtecutli undoubtedly appeared to the Mexicans as the\npersonification of fire, it was more as that element in its primeval\nand original form, its chaotic and elemental shape. He is, indeed, the\npre-solar fire which existed before the creation of the sun or moon,\nand just as the gods of water ruled over moisture wherever it was to be\nfound, so was Xiuhtecutli imagined as holding sway over fire, whether\nit came from the heavens above or the earth beneath. Thus we find him\nspoken of by Sahagun as dwelling in the navel of the earth, where the\nvolcanic fires have their origin, and as having his place above in what\nappears to be a species of cloud-castle, for the Mexican word for\n\u201cembattlement\u201d is derived from that for \u201ccloud.\u201d [296] He is also\ncalled \u201cHe who entereth the blue stone pyramid,\u201d which is, of course,\nthe sky.\n\nHe corresponds to the hour before sunrise, which makes it clear that\nhis prehistoric precedence to the sun was insisted upon in the list of\nthe day-hours. The texts dwell upon his antiquity, for he is, indeed,\nthe Old God, the god who existed before the foundations of the world,\nfather and mother of the gods, and in this I think I see a reference to\nthe shaping nature of fire, its moulding or creating influence, as\nobserved in many mythologies. But in most pantheons fire-gods undertake\nthe work of the smith, and this seems to have given rise to the idea of\ntheir creative capacity. That particular craft, however, was unknown in\nMexico, and I am therefore at a loss to understand this particular\nphase of Xiuhtecutli, unless it be that as fire was regarded by the\nMexicans as a symbol of renewal or rebirth (from the fact that fresh\nfuel was capable of adding renewed life to a dying fire), and that the\nidea of creation had no place in their minds except as a renewal of the\nuniverse, it may have been that they regarded that element as a vehicle\nor a symbol of recreation. Out of this conception, too, arose the\nbelief that Xiuhtecutli renewed the year, from which circumstance he\ntakes his title \u201cLord of the Year.\u201d Izcalli, too, the name of one of\nhis festivals, means \u201cgrowth,\u201d or perhaps \u201ccontinuance,\u201d and seems to\nbe connected in some manner with this belief.\n\nHis rulership of the ninth day and the ninth week, of which the symbol\nis atl, water, seems directly opposed to all our ideas of his\ncharacter, but, as Seler points out, the Mexicans thought of water\n\u201cprimarily as a derivative concrete element, which originally means\nsomething like \u2018the shooting thing,\u2019 derived from the verb a, which was\nin fact used in the sense of \u2018to shoot, to throw the spear.\u2019\u201d It is\nalso connected with the symbol tlachinolli, which Seler [297] states\nmeans \u201cspear-throwing and firebrand,\u201d that is, \u201cwar.\u201d In the Codex\nBorgia group, too, where the Fire-god is pictured as ruler of the ninth\nday, we find equivalents to this symbol, which undoubtedly connect him\nwith the destruction which follows upon war, and there are also\npictorial indications, such as the throne with the jaguar-skin\ncovering, which associate him with the idea of justice, of law-giving,\nand, again, with that of sustenance.\n\nAs Lord of the Middle, of the Centre, too, he is undoubtedly ruler of\nthe domestic hearth, which in the houses of the Mexicans was situated\nin the middle of the dwelling. He was also thought of as the \u201cLord of\nWealth,\u201d especially that hoarded in the house by careful housekeeping\nand foresight, and diligent workmanship in the fields. [298]\n\n\n\n\nCHANTICO = \u201cIN THE HOUSE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Xochimilco.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Quaxolotl = \u201cTwo-headed.\u201d\n        Chicunaui itzcuintli = \u201cNine Dog.\u201d\n        Papaloxaual = \u201cButterfly Painting.\u201d\n        Tlappapalo = \u201cShe of the Red Butterfly.\u201d\n        Yei Cuetzpalin = \u201cThree Lizard.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the eighteenth tonalamatl division, ce\n    eecatl.\n\n    Compass Direction: The west.\n\n    Festival: Chichunaui itzcuintli, the day \u201cnine dog.\u201d\n\n    Symbol: The eagle\u2019s foot.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014The lower half of her face is black, daubed with rubber,\nand the upper half is red. She has a golden ear-plug. She wears a red\ngarment and her hair is bound up in a fillet of cotton rags. On her\nback she wears the arrow-like device meiotli. Her overdress is \u201cthe\ncolour of spring flowers.\u201d In one hand she holds a feather staff, the\npaper covering of which is painted with the acute-angled figure which\ndenotes cotton, and in the other she bears the shield with the device\nof the eagle\u2019s foot. Sahagun says her priest had to keep in readiness\nfor her festival red and black pigments, a robe, white sandals, and\nsmall shells.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014In this MS. she is represented with a yellow face and a\nyellow body. She wears a red tippet, white skirt, and a step-shaped\nnose-ornament, while her head is wrapped round with a red cloth edged\nwith white shell disks, a feather decoration surmounting the cloth.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Here she has a yellow face with two red cross-lines\nlike the narrow black stroke on the face of the Fire-god.\n\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis.\u2014Her face is painted yellow, disposed in a\nnumber of fields, each containing a ring in the centre. She has the\nlong tusk of a carnivorous beast. She wears golden pendants in nose and\nears, possibly a symbol of the solar pictograph, and on her head she\nwears the water-and-fire symbol tlachinolli. She wears the maxtlatl of\nthe men, to symbolize her warlike nature, with a death\u2019s-head behind\nher girdle.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014The lower half of her face is painted black, and the\nupper red, like that of Xiuhtecutli. She wears a blue nose-plug, the\ndecoration of the dead warriors. On her head she has the water-and-fire\nsymbol.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis regards Chantico as a\nmale god, and states that:\n\n\u201cChantico or Cuaxolotle presided over these thirteen signs and was lord\nof Chile, or of the yellow woman. He was the first who offered\nsacrifice after having eaten a fried fish; the smoke of which ascended\nto heaven, at which Tonacatecotle became incensed and pronounced a\ncurse against him that he should be turned into a dog, which\naccordingly happened, and they named him on this account Chantico,\nwhich is another name for Miquitlantecotle. From this transgression the\ndestruction of the world ensued. He was called Nine Dogs from the sign\non which he was born.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A deals with Chantico in almost\nthe same words:\n\n\u201cChantico, they say, was the first who offered sacrifice after having\neaten a fried fish, and that in consequence of the presumption of\noffering sacrifices without having fasted, Tonacatecutli became\nincensed and pronounced a curse against him that he should be changed\ninto a dog, which is an animal of a very voracious nature; and\naccordingly they named him Nine Dogs.\u201d\n\nThis myth should be compared with that of Nata and Nena in the chapter\non Cosmogony.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nChicunaui itzcuintli (\u201cNine Dog\u201d).\u2014Sahagun [299] states that the\nlapidaries of Xochimilco who cut precious stones adored, among others,\nthis goddess and made a feast to her on the above sign. They attributed\nto her the articles of feminine toilet, and ornamented her with golden\nearrings and a butterfly nose-plug of the same metal. At her festival\nfour captives represented Chantico, Naualpilli, [300] Macuilcalli,\n[301] and Cinteotl, and were dressed in their insignia. Duran (who\nconfounds Chantico with Tlazolteotl) states that at this feast these\ncaptives were cast into a fire exactly as at the xocohuetzi festival to\nXiuhtecutli (q.v.), and that after the offering the priests mortified\nthemselves by letting the resin from burning copal torches drop on\ntheir limbs.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLE AND PRIESTHOOD\n\nThe idol of Chantico was kept in close confinement in the dark Tlillan,\nand was not visible to the vulgar gaze. Sahagun states that she had a\ntemple in Mexico called Tetlanman, and priests who lived in the\nTetlanman Calmecac, [302] and that the office of these priests, the\ntecamma teoua, was the furnishing of paint, feathers, and other\nnecessaries for the feast of the goddess.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nLike Xiuhtecutli, the character of Chantico is expressed by a watery\nsign, that of quiauitl (rain). This, however, is really connected with\nthe old mythic fire-rain at the end of the water-sun age, when fire\nfell from heaven and \u201cthe foam-stones foamed up and the rocks became\nred.\u201d\n\nThe goddess must be regarded as the consuming fire, as is proved by an\naccount of her image by Duran, representing her with open jaws and\nhungry fangs. It is because of this, too, that she came to be connected\nwith the dog, [303] the biting animal, and that her festival is held on\nthe date chicunai itzcuintli, \u201cnine dog.\u201d\n\nShe is further the volcanic fire which is hidden in the centre of the\nearth, and which was symbolically represented by the fire shut up in\nthe tlillan temple or sacred edifice, and this plutonic significance is\nperhaps the reason why the interpreters speak of her as having the\ncharacteristics of Mictlantecutli, the god of Hades; but they speak of\nher as well as the \u201cYellow Woman.\u201d Her butterfly names also have\nreference to the flitting shapes seen in flame.\n\nShe is the patroness of chilli pepper, which was naturally associated\nwith the fiery element and was therefore connected with the end of a\nperiod of fasting, the Mexicans regarding abstinence from this\ncondiment as equivalent to a fast. The myth which speaks of her as\nhaving been punished for eating fish before a sacrifice is also\neloquent of this relationship, and also by its reference to her\ntransformation into canine form connects her further with the dog and\nmakes her a patroness of the nanualtin, or wizards, who on the day\nitzcuintli (\u201cdog\u201d) had especial power to transform themselves into\nanimals.\n\nHer name \u201cIn the House\u201d alludes, of course, to her character as a\ngoddess of the domestic hearth. She was also the patroness of the\ngoldsmiths and jewellers of Xochimilco, who of all crafts required the\nassistance of her element.\n\n\n\n\nQUAXOLOTL = \u201cSPLIT AT THE TOP\u201d (FLAME)\n\n\n    Relationship: A variant of Chantico.\n\n    Festival: Ce xochitl, \u201cone flower.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nShe is so called because she wears Xolotl\u2019s decoration on her head. The\ndouble face of Xochiquetzal in Codex Borgia (sheet 60) is regarded by\nSeler as that of Quaxolotl\u2014the goddess parting into two heads. She is\nalso the goddess who has borne twins.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nQuaxolotl is a variant of Chantico. The name, which signifies \u201csplit at\nthe top,\u201d seems to signify the kind of flame which bifurcates or splits\ninto two tongues. She is thus connected with things double, and is the\ngoddess who has borne twins. Sahagun, who calls her Quaxolotl-Chantico,\n[304] thereby identifies her with that goddess, and states that she was\nhoused in the twenty-ninth temple in the great court at Mexico, the\nTetlanman, which he distinguishes from that of Chantico proper, the\nTetlanman Calmecac, the twenty-seventh. He states that slaves were\nsacrificed here on the sign ce xochitl, \u201cone flower,\u201d and perhaps this\nfixes the date of the festival of the goddess.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nTHE OCTLI OR PULQUE (DRINK) GODS\n\n\nGENERAL\n\n\n    Name: Centzon Totochtin = \u201cFour Hundred Rabbits.\u201d\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico generally.\n\n    Festival: The day ome tochtli (\u201ctwo rabbit\u201d) in the sign ce mazatl\n    (\u201cone deer\u201d), a movable feast.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nThe constituent elements of the insignia of the octli-gods may be\ngenerally described as follows:\n\n(1) A two-coloured face-painting, the front half of the facial profile\n(i.e. the middle part of the face) being painted red in its entire\nlength, both sides at the temples black (or dark green), or else black\nwith longish yellow spots.\n\n(2) A nasal plate, handle-shaped, the ends involuted outwardly, or\ncrescent-shaped, the golden Huaxtec nose-ornament, yaca-metztli. It is\nusually marked on all articles dedicated to the octli-gods.\n\n(3) A four-cornered ear-pendant, which agrees substantially with that\nof the Rain-god.\n\n(4) A neck-ornament falling far down, loose in texture, made of\nmalinalli grass fibre.\n\n(5) A crown of heron-feathers, such as is worn by the Rain-god, but\nhere combined with the cuecaluitoncatl, Quetzal\u2019s neck-ornament made of\ndark feathers, with some projecting arara plumes.\n\n(6) A stone axe as a weapon.\n\nThe most striking of these objects are the first two. So characteristic\nare they of the octli-gods, that a juxtaposition of red and black lines\non a tilmatli is explained in the Codex Magliabecchiano as \u201cmanta de\ndos conejos,\u201d or shoulder-covering of the Two-rabbit octli-god. [305]\n\n\n\n\nALLUSIONS TO THE OCTLI-GODS IN GENERAL\n\nSahagun, speaking of the octli-gods, [306] says that Tezcatzoncatl\n[307] was the parent or brother of the rest, who were called\nYiauhtecatl, Izquitecatl, Acolua, Tlilhua, Patecatli, Toltecatl,\nPapaztac, Tlaltecayoua, Ome tochtli, Tepuztecatl, Chimapaleuecatl, and\nCohuatzincatl.\n\nOne of the hymns in Sahagun\u2019s collection alludes as follows to the\noctli-gods:\n\n\n    In Colhuacan in fear\n    Fear has his home.\n\n    The God in the Palace, Tezcatzonco,\n    He was dealt with, therefore he wept (the fire wept?).\n    Not so, not so (shall it be) (saith he)\n    The God was dealt with, therefore he wept.\n\n    The God in the Palace Axalaco,\n    He was dealt with, therefore he wept.\n    Not so, not so (shall it be) (saith he)\n    The God was dealt with, therefore he wept.\n\n\nI have followed Seler\u2019s translation of this hymn, but, like him, can\nglean little from it. It seems to me to allude vaguely to the cutting\nof the agave-plant, and the consequent withdrawal of the sap from which\noctli is made.\n\nA report on the Huaxtec territory dated 1579 evidently relates to the\noctli-gods. It states that:\n\n\u201cThey related another fable, that they had two other effigies as gods,\none called Ometochtli, who is the god of wine; the other Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nwhich is the name of the most exalted idol worshipped by them, and with\nthese they had painted the figure of a woman named Hueytonantzin, that\nis, \u2018our great mother,\u2019 because they said she was the mother of all\nthose gods or demons. And those four above-mentioned male demons, they\nrelated, had killed this great mother, founding with her the\ninstitution of human sacrifice, and taking her heart out of her breast\nand presenting it to the sun. Similarly, they related that the idol\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 had killed the god of wine with his consent and\nconcurrence, giving out that in this way he gave him eternal life, and\nthat if he did not die, all persons drinking wine must die; but that\nthe death of this Ometochtli was only like the sleep of one drunk, that\nhe afterwards recovered and again became fresh and well.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nThe principal festival of the octli-gods was ome tochtli (\u201ctwo\nrabbit\u201d), and this calendrical name became in a measure deified as a\nseparate god, who was the same as Tepoxtecatl. [308] Sahagun says of\nthis festival:\n\n\u201cIn the sign ce ma\u00e7atl, on the second day called ome tochtli, they made\na great feast to the god Izquitecatl, who is the second god of wine,\nand not only to him, but to all the gods of wine, who were very\nnumerous. They ornamented his image in the temple, offered him food,\nand made songs and played on instruments in his presence. They placed a\ngreat jar of octli in the court of the temple, and whoever wished drank\nfrom it. The duty of replenishing the jar was given to the men who cut\nthe maguey. They carried to the house of the god the first-fruits of\nthe first sap, which they drew from it.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS IN GENERAL\n\nWhen a man was intoxicated with the native Mexican drink of octli, a\nliquor made from the juice of the Agave Americana, he was believed to\nbe under the influence of a god or spirit. The commonest form under\nwhich the Drink-god was worshipped was the rabbit, that animal being\nconsidered as utterly devoid of sense. This particular divinity was\nknown as Ometochtli. The scale of debauchery which it was desired to\nreach was indicated by the number of rabbits worshipped, the highest\nnumber, four hundred, representing the most extreme degree of\nintoxication. The chief octli-gods apart from these were Patecatl and\nTequechmecauiani. If the drunkard desired to escape the perils of\naccidental hanging during intoxication, it was necessary to sacrifice\nto the latter, but if death by drowning was apprehended, Teatlahuiani,\nthe deity who hurried drunkards to a watery grave, was placated. If the\ndebauchee wished his punishment not to exceed a headache, Quatlapanqui\n(The Head-splitter) was sacrificed to, or else Papaztac (The\nNerveless). Each trade or profession had its own Ometochtli, but for\nthe aristocracy there was one only of these gods, Cohuatzincatl, a name\nsignifying \u201cHe who has Grandparents.\u201d Several of these drink-gods had\nnames which connected them with various localities; for example,\nTepoxtecatl was the octli-god of Tepoztlan. The calendar day\nOmetochtli, which means \u201ctwo rabbit,\u201d because of the symbol which\naccompanied it, was under the special protection of these gods, and the\nMexicans believed that anyone born on that day was almost inevitably\ndoomed to become a drunkard. All the octli-gods were closely associated\nwith the soil and with the Earth-goddess. After the Indians had\nharvested their maize they drank to intoxication, and invoked one or\nother of these gods. On the whole it is safe to infer that they were\noriginally deities of local husbandry who imparted virtue to the soil\nas octli imparted strength and courage to the warrior.\n\nMany of the titles of these deities are derived from place-names, as\nAcolua, Calhuatzincatl, Chimalpanecatl, etc., and this widespread\ndenomination would seem to show that their worship must have been\nestablished at an early period, and that each seems to represent a\nsection of the population of Mexico. Their relation with the moon is\nplain\u2014a rabbit dwelt therein, and they were rabbit-gods.\n\nThey seem to have been connected in a measure with the cult of fire.\nVetancurt states that the natives in his day, when they had brewed the\nnew octli, and it was ready to be drunk, first built a fire, walked\nround it in procession, and threw some of the new liquor into the\nflames, chanting the while an invocation to Tezcatzoncatl to descend\nand be present with them. [309] Duran says that \u201cthe octli was a\nfavourite offering to the gods, and especially to the god of fire.\u201d\nSometimes it was placed before a fire in vases, sometimes it was\nscattered upon the flames with a brush, at other times it was poured\nout around the fireplace. [310] Sahagun also states that the liquor was\npoured on the hearth at four separate points. [311] Jacinto de la Serna\ndescribes the same ceremony as current in his day. [312] The invocation\nran: \u201cShining Rose, light-giving Rose, receive and rejoice my heart.\u201d\n\nMay not this connection with fire have arisen out of some such train of\nthought as connected the lightning with the sacred oak of Zeus? In his\nAscent of Olympus, Dr. Rendel Harris has shown that the oak was\nregarded as the \u201canimistic repository of the thunder,\u201d and therefore of\nthe heavenly fire. May not the ubiquitous and overshadowing\nmaguey-plant, from which the octli sap was taken, have had a like\nsignificance for the Mexicans?\n\nThe principal octli-gods may now be examined more particularly.\n\n\n\n\nTEZCATZONCATL = \u201cMIRROR COVERED WITH STRAW\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Chichimec territory.\n\n    Relationship: Husband of Coatlicue.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nA stone figure of this god from Tacubaya shows him in the recumbent\nposition often observed in the statues of the octli-gods, and holding a\nlarge octli jar on his stomach. A headdress resembling that of an Arab\ncovers the head, and from underneath it descend the strands of what\nseems to be a wig. What appears to be a serpent motif, the ends of\nwhich are square in form, encircles the eyes almost like a pair of\nspectacles, and he wears the usual lunar nose-plug of the octli\ndeities. An elaborate necklace, wristlets, and leg-pieces of precious\nstones are worn, and the underside of the statue is incised to\nrepresent the ripples of water and is covered with representations of\nmarine animals and shells.\n\n\n\n\nMYTH\n\nA passage in a report on the Huaxtec territory, dated 1579, states that\nTezcatzoncatl was killed and revived by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, by which act the\ndrunkard\u2019s sleep became harmless in the future for men. The passage\nruns:\n\n\u201cThey related that the idol Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 had killed the god of wine\nwith his consent and concurrence, giving out that in this way he gave\nhim eternal life, and that if he did not die, all persons drinking wine\nmust die; but that the death of this Ometochtli was only like the sleep\nof one drunk, that he afterwards recovered and again became fresh and\nwell.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nAllusion is made to Vetancurt\u2019s mention of a special ceremony to\nTezcatzoncatl on the preceding page.\n\n\n\n\nPRIESTHOOD\n\nSahagun says [313] that a priest called by the same name as the god was\ncharged with the preparations for the festival of tepeilhuitl, in which\nfour victims, one of whom bore the name of Mayauel, an octli-goddess,\nwere slain. (See Tlaloc\u2014Festivals.)\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nTezcatzoncatl appears to have been the god of intoxication par\nexcellence, father of the other octli-gods, to whom special invocation\nwas made when the new liquor was brewed.\n\n\n\n\nTEPOXTECATL = \u201cHE OF THE AXE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship:\n        Chichimec quarter of Amantlan, Mexico.\n        Tepoxtlan in Cuernavaca.\n\n    Symbol: The copper axe.\n\n\n\n\nAPPEARANCE AND INSIGNIA\n\nIn the Codex Magliabecchiano, Tepoxtecatl is pictured as wearing the\npeculiar nose-plug of the octli-gods, the motif of which reappears on\nhis shield. He is crowned with a panache from which leaves sprout, and\nlunar and stellar symbols appear here and there in his insignia. He\ncarries the copper axe symbolical of the octli-gods, and wears the\nmalinalli herb necklace.\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLE\n\nThe best-known temple of Tepoxtecatl is that at Tepoxtlan so fully\ndescribed by Seler (see Bulletin 28 of U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, pp.\n341 ff.), and Professor Marshall H. Saville (Proc. of Amer. Assoc. for\nthe Advancement of Sciences, vol. viii of the Bulletins of the American\nMuseum of Natural History).\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nTepoxtecatl was the octli-god of the Chichimec people of the quarter,\nor barrio, of Amantlan, in the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. His idol\nwas placed beside that of others in the holy place of that quarter,\nwhich boasted another octli-god, Macuil tochtli. One of the captives\nslain in the month tepeilhuitli, at the temple called Centzon totochtin\ninteopan, was named after him. The interpreter of the Codex\nMagliabecchiano, speaking of Tepoxtecatl, says: \u201cThis is the\nrepresentative of a great iniquity which was the custom in a village\nnamed Tepoxtlan; namely when an Indian died in a state of intoxication\nthe others of this village made a great feast to him, holding in their\nhands copper axes, which were used to fell wood.\u201d\n\nThe question arises: in what manner was the axe connected with the\noctli-god? The axe is, of course, the implement of the Tlaloqu\u00ea, or\nrain-gods, and of the Chac, or rain-gods of Yucatan. Therefore, I take\nit, the axe of Tepoxtecatl gives him a certain pluvial significance,\nwhich the octli-gods as strengtheners of the soil, the deities who gave\n\u201ccourage\u201d to the earth, undoubtedly possessed.\n\n\n\n\nPATECATL = \u201cHE FROM THE LAND OF THE MEDICINES\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Originally the Huaxtec country.\n\n    Relationship: Husband of Mayauel.\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Lord of the twelfth day, malinalli.\n        Lord of the eleventh \u201cweek,\u201d ce ozomatli.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 57: He sits opposite Tlazolteotl and wears a\ncrescent-shaped Huaxtec nasal ornament, and on his breast a remarkable\ncomma-shaped curved ornament which is, perhaps, a piece of a large\nspiral snail\u2019s shell, and which is peculiar to Patecatl and\nTlazolteotl. He has the half-black, half-light face of the octli-gods.\nHe wears Quetzalcoatl\u2019s fan-like nape adornment, the fillet of unspun\ncotton distinctive of Tlazolteotl, and an ear-plug of the same\nmaterial. He holds a stone hatchet, which is the symbol and weapon of\nthe octli-gods, painted blue to indicate nephrite or some such stone.\nSheet 13: He wears a fillet which affects the form of the Mexican royal\ncrown, consisting of white fur with an ape\u2019s head set on the frontal\nside, evidently a barbaric ornament peculiar to the district whence he\ncame.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 35: Here he wears a wedge-shaped Huaxtec\ncap, painted blue and red, and a disk-shaped shell on his breast. His\nearring is formed of a trapeze-and-ray motif, like those on the stone\nhead of Coyolxauhqui. The ends of his loin-cloth are rounded like\nQuetzalcoatl\u2019s. Sheet 90: He wears a breast-ornament consisting of a\nblack, leaf-shaped, obsidian knife.\n\nAubin Tonalamatl.\u2014He holds in his left hand some spikes of the\nagave-leaf, and in his right hand Quetzalcoatl\u2019s throwing-stick, which\nis involuted snail-fashion at the end and painted with a stellar\ndesign. An eagle and jaguar stand before him holding paper flags, these\nsymbols of the warrior signifying the courage-giving nature of octli\ndrink. They are in sacrificial array, with the sacrificial cord round\ntheir necks and the sacrificial flag in their claws. The half-night and\nhalf-day symbol is above them, signifying the time of the octli orgies.\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\u2014Instead of the stone axe he holds in his hand\nQuetzalcoatl\u2019s throwing-stick, and also wears his shell breastplate.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A says: \u201cPatecatl was the\nhusband of Mayaguil (Mayauel), the woman with four hundred breasts, who\nwas metamorphosed into the maguei plant or vine, and was properly the\nroot which they put into the water or wine which distils from the\nmaguei in order to make it ferment. And the unhappy man to whose\nindustry the art of making wine by causing fermentation by means of\nthis root was due, was afterwards worshipped as a god.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that:\n\u201cPatecatle was the god of these thirteen days, and of a kind of root\nwhich they put into wine (the opactli or peyote); since without this\nroot no quantity of wine, no matter how much they drank, would produce\nintoxication. Patecatle taught them the art of making wine, for wine\nwas made according to his instructions; and as men when under the\ninfluence of wine are valiant, so they supposed that those who were\nborn during this period would be courageous. They considered these\nthirteen days all as fortunate, for Patecatle, the god of wine, the\nhusband of Mayaquel, who was otherwise called Cipaquetona, he who was\nsaved from the deluge, ruled over them. They placed the eagle and the\nlion near him as a sign that their sons would be valiant men.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nPatecatl was originally a Huaxtec god. Tradition said that the tribal\nancestor of this people was the first drunkard. In the Sahagun MS.\nPatecatl is called \u201cthe finder of the stalks and roots of which octli\nis made,\u201d that is those roots which were added to the octli to enhance\nits intoxicating or narcotic strength. Motolinia states that those\nroots were called oc-patli or octli-medicine, and the interpreter of\nthe Codex Magliabecchiano confirms the passage, as do the interpreters\nof the Codex Vaticanus A and the Codex Telleriano-Remensis.\n\nI fail to find corroboration elsewhere of the interpreter\u2019s statement\nthat Patecatl was \u201csaved from the deluge.\u201d He seems to me to bear a\ngeneral resemblance to Apollo, as recently explained by Dr. Rendel\nHarris, [314] that is, he seems to have been named in accordance with\nsome conception of him in which he was thought of as coming from a\n\u201cLand of Medicines\u201d (in his case the Huaxtec country, which was also\nthe Tlillan Tlapallan, the \u201cLand of Writing\u201d or of Civilization). The\nherbal conception of many Greek and other deities\u2014that is, their actual\ndevelopment from plants, the evolution of the god from the medicinal\nherb\u2014is now well authenticated, as can be seen from a perusal of Dr.\nHarris\u2019s remarkable work. Nor is the proven development of many deities\nfrom mineral substances any less remarkable.\n\n\n\n\nMAYAUEL = \u201cSHE OF THE MAGUEY-PLANT\u201d\n\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Ce Quauhtli = \u201cOne Eagle.\u201d\n        Cipactonal = \u201cCipactli Sun.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the eighth day, tochtli; of the eighth\n    week, ce malinalli.\n\n    Symbols: The agave-plant; the octli jug or vase.\n\n    Compass Direction: The lower region, or south.\n\n    Relationship: One of the octli-gods and the Tzitzimim\u00ea; wife of\n    Patecatl.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 12: She is painted yellow, the women\u2019s colour, and\nis seen issuing from an agave-plant. In sheet 16 she has the general\naspect of Tlazolteotl, and her hair is bound up with a band of unspun\ncotton, a plug of which also hangs from her ear. About the mouth she is\npainted with black rubber, and as a nasal ornament wears the golden\ncrescent. Her face is white, and her tippet and skirt are painted in\nthe semblance of water and both garments have a fringe of snail-shells.\nShe suckles a fish. Sheet 68: In this place she is represented as ruler\nof the eighth week. She has a two-coloured face-painting, the upper\nhalf yellow, and the lower green or blue. The octli colour is\nrepresented in her garments, which are white. In the pictures of the\nBorgia group generally she is shown wearing the blue indented\nnose-plate which is assigned to Xochiquetzal. In Codex Borgia generally\nshe wears as a back-device a quemitl after the style of Tlaloc, but\ncoloured white and blue or green. On her flame-coloured locks she\nsometimes wears a jewelled chain with a conventional bird\u2019s head\ndecorating the front of it, while the feather-tuft on her head\nresembles that worn by the Sun-god in Codex Borgia (sheet 15), and is\nintended to symbolize the fiery nature of the octli liquor.\n\nAubin Tonalamatl.\u2014Sheet 8: She is painted the colour of the\nMaize-goddess and her maidens\u2014red. As a headdress she wears a bandage\nwith a neck-loop formed and coloured like that of the goddess\nChalchihuitlicue, and connected with a high crown. She bears a copal\nincense bag.\n\nCodex Vaticanus A.\u2014She is shown with the upper half of her face yellow\nand the lower blue, thus depicting the typical two-coloured\nface-painting of the octli-gods. On her head she wears the\ncharacteristic octli-god\u2019s headdress, also worn by Tlaloc, and holds a\ndrinking-vessel brimming with octli.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014Her face is blue with a few oblique lines after the\nstyle of the warrior\u2019s face-paint. She wears as a headdress a bandage\nof unspun cotton (usually the characteristic of Tlazolteotl), spindles\nin her hair, a quail\u2019s wing and long plumes of a yellow colour. In her\nhand she bears a bunch of octli-wort, a root which, if added to the\nagave liquor, makes its powers of intoxication more potent.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheets 31 and 89: She is represented wearing the\nheaddress typical of Tlaloc and of the octli-gods\u2014a bandage coloured\nwhite and blue, with knots to the right and left, which leaves these\ntips or tippets sticking out. Two large white and blue rosettes with\nsimilarly coloured tassels depend by strings from the right and left of\nthis bandage.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 28: Clothed in a yellow-striped tippet\nlike that of Chalchihuitlicue, with a border painted in the colours of\nthe jewel, she lies in her agave-plant. She is crowned with a wreath of\nflowers and wears a blue skirt.\n\nCodex Laud.\u2014Sheet 9: The agave-plant rises from a turtle resting upon a\ndragon. Adjacent to this lie a copper hatchet and a throwing-weapon,\nwhile in her hand she holds an octli bowl ornamented with gems and\nflowers.\n\nSecondary Aspects.\u2014She is very often suggested by the octli jug, which\nin the Borgia group is represented as a big two-handed vessel standing\non serpentine coils, while to it are attached votive papers of the type\nfrequently offered to the Tlaloqu\u00ea, and bannerets are placed on the\nsides, on which the V-shaped point is depicted. The night-and-day\nsymbol surmounts the whole. Though she is spoken of as having many\nbreasts, the goddess is very rarely depicted in this manner.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A says of her:\n\n\u201cThey feign that Mayaguil was a woman with four hundred breasts, and\nthat the gods on account of her fruitfulness changed her into the\nmaguei, from which they make wine.\u201d\n\nHe also speaks of her as the mother of Cinteotl, remarking that all the\ngods had their origin from the vine which bears the grape (the\nmaguey-plant).\n\nThe third interpreter of Codex Telleriano-Remensis calls her \u201cMayaquel,\nwho was otherwise called Cipaquetona\u201d (Cipactonal), and wife of\nPatecatl.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nMayauel, as her name implies, is primarily a deity of the maguey-plant.\nBut evidence is not wanting that she also partakes of the nature of the\nEarth-goddess, as her occasional appearance in the insignia of\nTlazolteotl and her wearing of the colours of the Maize-goddess would\nseem to show. As the wife of Patecatl, the god \u201cfrom the land of\nmedicines,\u201d she bears the ropes which symbolize the octli-wort, the\nplant which gave a narcotic quality to the octli drink, and which was\nthought of as strangling or choking the drunkard. Her bounteousness of\nfertility was symbolized by the possession of four hundred breasts, and\nin this she resembles the old mother-goddess of Asia Minor. She has\nalso affinities with Xochiquetzal and Cipactonal.\n\n\n\n\nTOTOLTECATL = \u201cHE OF TOLLAN\u201d\n\n\n    Relationship: One of the octli-gods.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014The deity wears a paper crown\nsurmounted by a panache of heron-feathers and a nose-plug like that\nworn by the other octli-gods. His wig or hair falls over his shoulders.\nThe upper part of his body is nude, but he wears a red-bordered cloth\nround the head. His shield is a peculiar one, and Sahagun calls it a\n\u201cshield of the boat.\u201d In shape it is almost like a modern door, and\nfrom it depends what seem to be paper strips. He wears bands of some\ntextile material, which are tied behind with knots round the leg, and\nhe is shod with sandals. In his hand he carries the obsidian axe\ntypical of the octli-gods. He seems to have been a drink-god of the\nToltecs.\n\n\n\n\nMACUILTOCHTLI = \u201cFIVE RABBIT\u201d\n\n\n    Area: Mexico.\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n    Symbol: Five tochtli sign.\n\n    Relationship: One of the Uitznaua.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nGeneral.\u2014In both Codex Vaticanus B and Codex Borgia he is painted a\nyellow colour, but in Borgia very deep yellow, almost brown, to\ndistinguish the rectangularly bordered yellow field which is seen in\nthe neighbourhood of the eye, and is characteristic of all the gods of\nthe \u201cMacuil\u201d series. In Codex Vaticanus B this process is reversed, the\nyellow field being painted a darker, greyer shade. In this MS., too,\nthe god resembles Macuil Cozcaquauhtli, but has a bundle of stone\nknives before his mouth, and he wears at the frontal side of the\nhead-fillet a flower, from which stone knives project. On his breast is\nseen the eye, the original form of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s white ring, and on\nhis upper arm he has a large armlet, painted a blue colour.\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014The Sahagun MS. describes him as having the hand motif in\nthe region of the mouth. On the head is a feather helmet surmounted by\na comb of feathers, and he wears a necklet of animal claws. A\nred-bordered cloth is twisted round the hips. The sandals are white.\nThe shield, which is described as a \u201csun-shield,\u201d is red, and has claw\nornaments. The god carries an obsidian axe, and a staff with a heart\ninset and painted with quetzal-feathers.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nFrom his possession of the hand-symbol in the region of the mouth,\nMacuiltochtli, the \u201cFive Rabbit,\u201d seems to me to be in some measure\nequated with the gods Macuilxochitl and Xolotl, and thus partakes with\nthem of the quality of a deity of pleasure and conviviality.\n\n\n\n\nTOTOCHTIN\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014The face is painted in two different colours, and the head\nis surmounted by a crown of feathers. The god wears the half-moon\nnose-plug of the octli-gods, and an ear-plug made of paper. On his back\nhe wears the wing of the red guacamayo, and he has a feather collar. A\nnet cloth decorated with the figures of scorpions is hung round his\nhips. On his feet he wears bells and shells, and the sandals peculiar\nto the octli-gods. The shield common to the octli-gods hangs on his\narm, and he carries in his hand the obsidian or copper axe with which\nthey are usually represented.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nSahagun (bk. i, c. xii) alludes to Totochtin as \u201cthe god of wine.\u201d He\nseems to me to be a personification of the Centzon Totochtin (four\nhundred or \u201cinnumerable\u201d octli-gods), a figure in which the entire body\nof drink-gods seem to have become merged in the Aztec mind.\n\n\n\n\nTOMIAUHTECUTLI = \u201cLORD OF THE MAIZE-FLOWER\u201d\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014The god is painted black and on his face is a plaster of\nsalvia chia. He wears a crown of paper and another of heron-feathers,\nvariegated with plumes of the quetzal. Around his shoulders is cast a\nband of paper, and his loin-cloth is of the same material. On his feet\nhe wears shells and white sandals. His shield is decorated with a\nwater-rose, and in his hand he bears a rush-staff.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThis god was connected with the flowering of the maize, on which\noccasion, during the month tepeilhuitl, octli was drunk and his\nfestival celebrated. (See Sahagun, Appendix to bk. ii.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nSTELLAR AND PLANETARY DEITIES\n\n\nTONATIUH = \u201cTHE SUN\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Plateau of Anahuac.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Piltzintecutli = \u201cYoung Prince.\u201d\n        Totec = \u201cOur Chief.\u201d\n        Xipilli = \u201cThe Turquoise Prince.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Third of the nine lords of the night.\n        Ruler of the nineteenth day-count, quiauitl.\n        Ruler of the day-sign ce xochitl.\n\n    Compass Direction: Upper region; the heavens; lord of the east.\n\n    Symbol: The sun-disk, which he usually wears as a back-ornament.\n\n    Festivals: The fourth day, nauollin, in the sign ce ocelotl\n    (movable feast).\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 9: His nose-plug has the colours of the\nchalchihuitl. The ornament attached to the nape and back is a large\nrosette or disk painted in the chalchihuitl colours, as is the wrap\nwhich falls over the back. The ends of the loin-cloth also show the\nelements of this hieroglyph, and such a loin-cloth painting was usually\nindicative of the rank of the wearer in ancient Mexico. On his breast\nis a large gold disk. From his hollow ear-plug depends a jewelled band,\nand his collar consists of a solar disk (?). Sheet 70: in this picture\nhe is seated on a platform covered with a jaguar-skin. His face-paint\nand body-paint are yellow, with a rectangular stripe from the end of\nthe nose-plug and above the eye across the forehead. His hair or wig is\nyellow, and is held by a jewelled band ornamented with a bird\u2019s head.\nHis headdress is further equipped with eagle\u2019s feathers, and three\ntasselled cords edged with cotton hang from it. On his breast lies the\nsolar disk. The head of a grey parrot protrudes from his back, and on\nthe face is a small red disk. Sheet 14: Here he is depicted as a red\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2 with the face-paint of the Sun-god, but is without the\nsmall red disk on the face, having instead the small, four-cornered\nwhite-and-red patch characteristic of the Maize-god, of Xochipilli and\nTonacatecutli.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 20: Here he is painted with flame-coloured\nhair, bound by a fillet, on the front of which is the usual bird\u2019s-head\nornament. His panache consists chiefly of two eagle\u2019s feathers, from\nwhich hang two long bands, one side of which is hairy as if formed of\nskin, and this may be taken as a characteristic sign of him in the MSS.\nof the Codex Borgia group. His nose-plug has a plate depending from it,\nwhich falls over the mouth, as in some representations of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nand on his breast he wears an ornament which recalls that worn by the\nFire-god in this codex. In this MS., as in Codex Borgia, he is\nrepresented as standing before a temple, with a burnt-offering of wood\nand rubber in his hand, and here the temple is painted in the\nchalchihuitl colour-elements, and its roof covered by jewelled disks.\nSheet 94: In this picture he is shown as wearing a long, flame-like\nbeard, which strongly resembles that worn by Quetzalcoatl and\nTonacatecutli in some MSS., save that it is the colour of fire.\n\nAubin-Goupil Tonalamatl.\u2014Sheet 10: In this manuscript the upper portion\nof the face is light red, and the lower a darker red. The outer corner\nof the eye is encircled by three red lines, which are rounded. He wears\na jewelled fillet, feathered crown, collar, breast-ornament,\nbutterfly\u2019s wing neck-ornament, the net-pouch of the hunting tribes,\nand the sword-fish pattern sword.\n\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis.\u2014The face is yellow with no lines. He wears\nthe fillet with turquoise jewels, and a wheel-shaped ornament at the\nnape of the neck, probably symbolic of the solar disk. Elsewhere in\nthis MS. he is red, wears the solar disk on his back, and holds the\ncotinga bird in one hand and a shield and a bundle of spears in the\nother.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014The face is half yellow, half red, and is surmounted\nby a flame-coloured wig bound by the jewelled fillet with its usual\nornament. Elsewhere in this codex he represents the sun by night, with\nthe body and upper part of the face dark, no nasal rod, but a crescent\nlike that of the Earth-goddess and the octli-gods. The sea-snail\u2019s\nshell is above him, and the symbol of the eye in a dark patch.\n\nGeneral.\u2014As second member of the third row in Codex Borgia, Vaticanus\nB, and Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer, he is recognized by his red body and\nface-painting, and flame-coloured hair bound up by a jewelled chain or\nstrap, with the conventional bird figure on the frontal side.\n\n\n\n\nWALL-PAINTINGS\n\nSeveral lively paintings decorate the friezes executed on the walls of\nthe palaces at Mitla, where the insignia of the god are given in the\nmanner familiar throughout Mexico. The fillet with the bird\u2019s-head\nfrontal ornament, the peculiar disposition of the panache, and the\nnecklace typical of the deity are all reproduced, and here serve to\nprove the widespread character of his worship.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe myths dealing with the origin of the sun and the several epochs in\nwhich he reappeared under different forms have already been given in\nthe chapter on Cosmogony, and in the pr\u00e9cis of the opening chapters of\nthe Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas. The myths relating to\nhis paradise have also been dealt with in that chapter.\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A says:\n\n\u201cIt was Tonatiuh they affirm who conducted to heaven the souls of those\nalone who died in war; and on this account they paint him with these\narms in his hands. He sits as a conqueror, exactly opposite to the\nother who is near him, who is god of hell. They allege that the cause\nof winter being so disagreeable is the absence of the sun, and that\nsummer is delightful on account of its presence; and that the return of\nthe sun from our zenith is nothing more than the approach of their god\nto confer his favours on them.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVALS\n\nNauollin.\u2014One of the feasts of the Sun-god was held at the ceremony\nknown as nauollin (the \u201cfour motions,\u201d alluding to the quivering\nappearance of the sun\u2019s rays) in the Quauhquauhtinchan (House of the\nEagles), an armoury set apart for the military order of that name. The\nwarriors gathered in this hall for the purpose of dispatching a\nmessenger to their lord the sun. High up on the wall of the principal\ncourt was a great symbolic representation of the orb, painted upon a\nbrightly coloured cotton hanging. Before this copal and other fragrant\ngums and spices were burned four times a day. The victim, a\nwar-captive, was placed at the foot of a long staircase leading up to\nthe stone on which he was to be sacrificed. He was clothed in red\nstriped with white and wore white plumes in his hair\u2014colours symbolical\nof the sun\u2014while he bore a staff decorated with feathers and a shield\ncovered with tufts of cotton. He also carried a bundle of eagle\u2019s\nfeathers and some paint on his shoulders, to enable the sun, to whom he\nwas the emissary, to paint his face. He was then addressed by the\nofficiating priest in the following terms: \u201cSir, we pray you go to our\ngod the sun, and greet him on our behalf; tell him that his sons and\nwarriors and chiefs and those who remain here beg of him to remember\nthem and to favour them from that place where he is, and to receive\nthis small offering which we send him. Give him the staff to help him\non his journey, and this shield for his defence, and all the rest that\nyou have in this bundle.\u201d The victim, having undertaken to carry the\nmessage to the Sun-god, was then dispatched upon his long journey.\n\nOme acatl or Toxiuhilpilia.\u2014This great solar festival was celebrated\nonce in fifty-two years only, and signified the \u201cbinding of the years,\u201d\nthe end of the solar cycle, when, it was believed, the \u201cold\u201d sun died\nand a new luminary would take its place, or the world would be plunged\ninto darkness. Says Clavigero:\n\n\u201cThe festival, which was celebrated every fifty-two years, was by far\nthe most splendid and most solemn, not only among the Mexicans, but\nlikewise among all the nations of that empire, or who were neighbouring\nto it. On the last night of their century, they extinguished the fire\nof all the temples and houses, and broke their vessels, earthen pots,\nand other kitchen utensils, preparing themselves in this manner for the\nend of the world which at the termination of each century [sic] they\nexpected with terror. The priests, clothed in various dresses and\nensigns of their gods and accompanied by a vast crowd of people, issued\nfrom the temples out of the city, directing their way towards the\nmountain Huixachtla, near to the city of Itztapalapan, upwards of six\nmiles distant from the capital. They regulated their journey in some\nmeasure by observation of the stars, in order that they might arrive at\nthe mountain a little before midnight, on the top of which the new fire\nwas to be kindled. In the meantime the people remained in the utmost\nsuspense and solicitude, hoping on the one hand to find from the new\nfire a new century granted to mankind, and fearing on the other hand\nthe total destruction of mankind if the fire by divine interference\nshould not be permitted to kindle. Husbands covered the faces of their\npregnant wives with the leaves of the aloe, and shut them up in\ngranaries; because they were afraid that they would be converted into\nwild beasts and would devour them. They also covered the faces of\nchildren in that way, and did not allow them to sleep, to prevent their\nbeing transformed into mice. All those who did not go out with the\npriests mounted upon terraces, to observe from thence the event of the\nceremony. The office of kindling the fire on this occasion belonged\nexclusively to a priest of Copolco, one of the districts of the city.\nThe instruments for this purpose were, as we have already mentioned,\ntwo pieces of wood, and the place on which the fire was produced from\nthem was the breast of some brave prisoner whom they sacrificed. As\nsoon as the fire was kindled they all at once exclaimed with joy; and a\ngreat fire was made on the mountain that it might be seen from afar, in\nwhich they afterwards burned the victim whom they had sacrificed.\nImmediately they took up portions of the sacred fire and strove with\neach other who should carry it most speedily to their houses. The\npriests carried it to the greater temple of Mexico, from whence all the\ninhabitants of that capital were supplied with it. During the thirteen\ndays which followed the renewal of the fire, which were the intercalary\ndays, interposed between the past and ensuing century to adjust the\nyear with the course of the sun, they employed themselves in repairing\nand whitening the public and private buildings, and in furnishing\nthemselves with new dresses and domestic utensils, in order that\neverything might be new, or at least appear to be so, upon the\ncommencement of the new century. On the first day of that year and of\nthat century, which, as we have already mentioned, corresponded to the\n26th of February, for no person was it lawful to taste water before\nmidday. At that hour the sacrifices began, the number of which was\nsuited to the grandeur of the festival. Every place resounded with the\nvoice of gladness and mutual congratulations on account of the new\ncentury which heaven had granted to them. The illuminations made during\nthe first nights were extremely magnificent; their ornaments of dress,\nentertainments, dances, and public games were superiorly solemn.\u201d [315]\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nIn my view the sun-god Piltzintecutli is merely a personification of\nTonatiuh, the sun. As has already been said, solar worship in Mexico\nseems to have been developed at a comparatively late period. In the\nmyths regarding the origin of the sun given by Olmos and Sahagun, it is\nclear that he is regarded more as a luminary than as a god. The name\nTonatiuh, indeed, means nothing more than \u201csun,\u201d and although one of\nthe sacrificed gods was believed to have given him life, and he\nafterwards acts as a living being, he does not seem to possess the same\nqualities of personality as his later form, Piltzintecutli. The\nexpression \u201cTonatiuh\u201d seems to have been regarded as a divine\nplace-name, a paradise to which those warriors fared who died in\nbattle.\n\nTonatiuh was known as the Teotl, that is as the god par excellence, but\nthis does not by any means imply that the Mexicans regarded him as the\nhighest form of deity known to them. I think it rather means that the\npriests, having arrived at the conclusion that the tonalamatl and the\ncalendar hinged, so to speak, upon the solar periods, came very\nnaturally to regard the sun as the centre or hub of the intricate\nsystem which they had built up through generations. The very name\nTeotl, too, shows that, in later times at least, the sun was regarded\nas a deity, perhaps because he occupied the vault of the sky \u201cwhere the\ngods live.\u201d\n\nBut above and beyond this we have to regard Mexican sun-worship from an\nentirely different point of view. There is abundant evidence that the\nhunting tribes of the northern steppes, the Chichimec immigrants,\npossessed a primitive sun-worship of their own. It may be, indeed, that\nit was from this that the worship of Tonatiuh sprang, and not from the\nconsideration of calendric science; but the criteria we possess\nregarding this part of the question is at present much too scanty to\npermit of more precise statement. But if we know that sun-worship\nobtained among the nomadic tribes of northern Mexico, we are somewhat\nignorant of the precise form it took. One thing, however, seems\ncertain, and that is that it was founded on the belief that the sun\nexisted on the blood of animals, preferably deer, and that when these\nwere scarce, on the blood of human beings. If blood-offerings to the\nsun were to cease, it was thought that the luminary would grow weak,\nfail, and become extinguished, or else would visit his wrath upon\nhumanity in some such manner as we read of in those myths which recount\nthe recurrent catastrophes of fire, wind, deluge, and earthquakes which\nthe wrathful luminary brought upon mankind. I would, therefore, date\nthe introduction of the solar worship proper into Mexico, and\nconsequently that of human sacrifice, from the period of entry of those\nnorthern Chichimec peoples, who, entering the Valley of Mexico at an\nepoch shortly after the disintegration of the Toltec civilization,\nadopted an agricultural existence, and finding the supply of wild\nanimals insufficient to meet the requirements of sacrifice, instituted\nthe occasional immolation of human beings. This custom seems, indeed,\nto have already obtained in the case of the ritual of some of the\nnative gods, for example, Tlaloc and the Earth-mother, and it may be,\nindeed, that the northern nomads drew the inspiration which prompted\nthem to this evil practice from their more civilized neighbours. But it\nis even more probable that, as the various Mexican peoples were for the\nmost part of cognate origin and contiguous civilization, the practice\nof human sacrifice had been common to all of them in a more or less\nmodified form for some generations, and only received an impetus after\nthe Chichimec immigration. Against this view may be quoted the myth\nwhich refers the introduction of human sacrifice to a group of Huaxtec\nearth-goddesses, Tlazolteotl and her sisters. But it seems to me that\nthis Maya people were by no means so prone to the custom, and that in\nthis instance Tlazolteotl has been confounded with some of her Mexican\nforms. The process by which blood was thought of as being transformed\ninto rain has already been fully described, and it but remains here to\nindicate that Tonatiuh is, in places, closely identified with the sign\natl, water, and is indeed one of the four rulers of the week beginning\nwith the day \u201cone rain,\u201d probably because of the early belief that on\none occasion the sun \u201cdrank up\u201d all the water on earth and later\ndisgorged it in floods.\n\nFor the reason that he was regarded as existing on blood, the sun was\nthought of as the great patron of warriors, and has an intimate\nconnection with both Uitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. But if we seek\nfor evidence which would seem to exalt him above the greater gods in\nMexico, and place him in a central and pre-eminent position in the\npantheon, we will be disappointed. [316] At the same time we must\nrecollect that the two deities just mentioned, and even Quetzalcoatl in\na measure, possessed a solar connection, and in the offering of the\nhearts of all victims to his glowing face we may probably see a\nsurvival or a reminiscence from a period when he was perhaps the\ncentral figure in the pantheon of the Chichimec nomads.\n\nThere is also plenty of evidence that the sun must be classed with\nXiuhtecutli and the other gods of fire, as is shown by the great fire\nfestival which took place every fifty-two years. But the lack of data\nregarding the sun as a personalized deity rather than a divine luminary\nplaces us at a disadvantage in attempting to assess his precise nature\nand status in the Mexican pantheon, and considerable research is\nrequired before this can be essayed with any degree of confidence.\n\n\n\n\nMETZTLI = \u201cTHE MOON,\u201d OR TECCIZTECATL = \u201cHE FROM THE SEA-SNAIL\u201d\n\n\n    Symbol: Bone-surrounded disk set in the night-sky, containing a\n    rabbit.\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Ruler of the sixth day-count, miquiztli.\n        Ruler of the sixth tonalamatl division, ce miquiztli.\n        Ruler of the fifth night-hour.\n\n    Compass Direction: South.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014In this codex he is shown as a female, old, with the\ngobber tooth or lip contraction indicative of extreme age. He is\npainted yellow, the colour of women. The white of the clothing\nexpresses the relatively dull hue of the luminary when compared with\nthe sun.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Here he is old and white-haired, and is pictured as\na priest with the marine snail\u2019s shell on his brow. The body-colour is\nblue, as is the face, on sheet 30, but on sheet 88, half-blue,\nhalf-red, as in the Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer picture of Mixcoatl. On sheet\n30 he is figured with a long beard and wears Xochipilli\u2019s ornaments.\n\nAubin Tonalamatl.\u2014In this place he is represented by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 24: Here he is pictured as an old god with\na long beard. The body-colour is blue, and the face half-blue,\nhalf-red, like that of Xolotl in the same MS. He wears the sea-snail\nshell on his fillet.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe principal myths relating to the origin of the Moon-god have already\nbeen given in the chapter on Cosmogony.\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A states that:\n\n\u201cThey believed that the moon presided over human generation, and\naccordingly they always put it by the side of the sun. They placed on\nits head a sea-snail, to denote that in the same way as this marine\nanimal creeps from its integument or shell, so man comes from his\nmother\u2019s womb.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis says:\n\n\u201cMeztli was otherwise named Tectziztecatl; because in the same way that\na snail creeps from its shell, so man proceeds from his mother\u2019s womb.\nThey placed the moon opposite to the sun, because its course\ncontinually crosses his; and they believed it to be the cause of human\ngeneration.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nTecciztecatl is \u201cthe Man in the Moon,\u201d the spirit who dwells in or\nanimates the luminary of night. He is frequently depicted as an old man\nor priest, with staff in hand, and is the wizard, or naualli, who lurks\nwithin the moon-cave, or house, for so the moon seems to have appeared\nto the Mexicans. It seems also to have been regarded or symbolized as a\nsnail-shell, and it is probable that the curved shape of it in its\nearliest phase, no less than its gradual growth, brought about this\nconception. This in turn created the train of thought which resulted in\nits being regarded as the symbol of conception and birth\u2014its growth and\ngradual rotundity, as well as its symbolic connection with the snail\nassisting the idea. As the wizard of night concealed within his cavern,\nTecciztecatl was identified with Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, the sorcerer par\nexcellence, the magician who held sway over the dreaded hours of\ndarkness. The moon had also a connection with Chalchihuitlicue and the\noctli-gods, which is dealt with in the sections relating to those\ndeities.\n\n\n\n\nMIXCOATL, IZTAC MIXCOATL, OR CAMAXTLI AS MIXCOATL = \u201cCLOUD SERPENT\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Chichimec country; Mexico-Tenochtitlan;\n    Tlaxcallan.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Iztac Mixcoatl.\n        Camaxtli.\n\n    Relationship: One of the Tzitzimim\u00ea; father of Uitzilopochtli;\n    husband of Itzcu\u00eay\u00ea.\n\n    Festival: Quecholli, the fourteenth month.\n\n    Compass Direction: North.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 25: In this manuscript Mixcoatl\u2019s almost nude\nbody is striped with white, as in the case of some of the stellar\ndeities, and he has the half-mask stellar face-painting about the eye.\nHis hair curls up above the brow, is covered with downy white feathers,\nand he wears a forked heron-feather tuft on the head. On sheet 37 his\neffigy is accompanied by the symbolical weapons of war.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 50; right-hand corner, lower portion: The\nrepresentation in this place is almost identical with that in Codex\nVaticanus B, sheet 25. On sheet 15 the god has the implements of war\nand a small hand-flag, and wears a blue metal breast-plate set in gold,\nfrom which depends a chalchihuitl jewel.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 41: Mixcoatl is here depicted with\nbody-colour half-blue, half-red, the black domino-stellar painting\nabout the eye, his hair puffed up above the brow and surmounted by the\nwarrior\u2019s adornment. The body-painting in this place is merely a\nvariant of the striped colour, perhaps indicating the twilight. As god\nof the hunting tribes, he is naked like the hunter, and has an ear-plug\nmade from a deer\u2019s foot. He is armed with a throwing-stick (atlatl).\n\n\n\n\nWALL-PAINTINGS\n\nOn the west side of the court of Palace I at Mitla are certain\nfragments, some of which undoubtedly represent Mixcoatl in his\ndifferent phases. In the first of these he is represented as wearing a\nwhite wig surmounted by tufts of down in which arrows are stuck. On his\nface he has the familiar \u201cdomino-painting,\u201d he is bearded, and his\nnose-plug is of a peculiar character, somewhat unfamiliar and\nexpressing a serpentine motif. He wears a collar with sharp stellar\nedges. The fifth figure to the right from this once more represents him\nin the same guise, only that in his left hand he holds the atlatl, or\nspear-thrower. His peculiarly stellar character has not been lost upon\nthe artist who executed these paintings, as the stellar eye-motif\ndecorates the top of the frieze on which they appear. Not far away is\nseen the deer usually associated with him.\n\n\n\n\nSTATUARY AND PAINTINGS\n\nAn interesting stone figure of Mixcoatl was discovered in the ruins of\nthe Castillo de Teayo, to the west of the pyramid. It is made of\nsandstone, and the frontal aspect shows the god wearing a high panache\nof feathers, a headdress flanked by tufts or puffings of some textile\nmaterial from which feathers depend, and an elaborate necklace. The\nskirt, the upper part of which is V-shaped, hangs down to the ankles,\nand is tied up behind in a double knot. In his left hand he carries the\nbag which holds obsidian arrow-heads, his invariable symbol, and in the\nright the S-formed lightning symbol, with which he is often\nrepresented, as in the Codex Magliabecchiano. Another relief from the\nsame site shows him carrying the same symbols. His hair is decorated\nwith feather-balls, as in the Codex Magliabecchiano and Duran\u2019s\nillustration. In a painting from Teopancaxo he wears a peculiar\nheaddress from which falls behind a large panache of feathers, and\nwhich seems to be decorated with down; a horizontal band crosses the\nface beneath the eye and covers the whole of the nose. In one hand he\ncarries the lightning symbol, from which spring serpentine streaks of\nlightning, and in the other a small shield like a sunflower and three\narrows with blunt ends.\n\n\n\n\nAS IZTAC MIXCOATL = \u201cWHITE CLOUD SERPENT\u201d\n\n\n    Minor Names: Ce eecatl = \u201cOne Wind.\u201d\n\n    Relationship:\n        Husband of Ilancu\u00eay\u00ea and progenitor of the Xelhua national\n        ancestors, Tenoch, Ulmecatl, Xicalancatl, Mixtecatl, Otomitl.\n        Husband of a second wife, Chimamatl, by whom he had a son,\n        Quetzalcoatl.\n\n    Compass Direction: Upper region.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 32: He has the head of a deer. He carries\nfor a staff the neck of a long-billed, white bird, a heron. Before him\nstands a dish containing an eye and a feather ornament, reproducing in\nform and colour the warrior\u2019s forked heron-feather adornment. Sheet 6:\nHe is painted a yellow colour, thin and with wrinkled skin, his face\nlooking out of the open throat of a bird, which has a feather crest\ncurling up and a variegated rosette on its beak. In one hand he holds a\nbone dagger, in the other a staff tied round with a white-fringed\ncloth. As hieroglyph is shown beside him the day ce eecatl, \u201cone wind.\u201d\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 60: Here he is represented as having heron-feather\nhair and beard, and a ring-shaped appendage below the upper lip\nindicative of age. He is dressed as a priest, with tobacco-calabash on\nback and red patch on temple. He holds in one hand a staff bent like a\nheron\u2019s neck, and in the other a bunch of malinalli grass. Sheet 24:\nThe representation here is almost identical, except that the staff has\na heron\u2019s head and that a bone piercer is worn behind the ear. In both\npictures he wears a curious back device, recalling that on the\nrattle-staff of Quetzalcoatl. In some places he wears a helmet-mask\nlike the head of a deer.\n\n\n\n\nAS CAMAXTLI\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Tlaxcallan and Huexotzinco.\n\n    Festival: Ce tecpatl (movable feast).\n\n    Relationship: Brother of Uitzilopochtli, and probably a local\n    variant of him.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nFace-paint.\u2014He wears the domino face-paint, like Uitzilopochtli and\nMixcoatl, and a nose-plug.\n\nThe body is striped with red and white, in which circumstance he agrees\nwith Mixcoatl and Tlauizcalpantecutli, the morning star. He wears a\nheaddress seemingly of feathers, and in Duran his hair is long and he\nwears a knitted loin-cloth. A dead rabbit, or its skin, is slung across\nhis breast. In the Humboldt MS. (Roy. Lib. of Berlin) his headdress\nperhaps represents the symbol of hieroglyphic expression for the phrase\natl tlachinolli (water and fire) used in the sense of \u201cwar.\u201d\n\nWeapons, etc.\u2014He carries the atlatl, or spear-thrower, and net-bag of\nthe wild hunting tribes, bow and arrows, sometimes tipped with down,\nalso a bag or pouch, in which he carries his arrowheads of obsidian.\nLike Mixcoatl he is sometimes clothed in the device of the two-headed\ndeer, in which he went to war.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nMixcoatl has already been alluded to in the pr\u00e9cis of the early\nchapters of the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas given in the\nchapter on Cosmogony, where the circumstances of his birth are touched\nupon. In chapter x of the same work he is identified with Amimitl,\nanother Chichimec deity, seemingly without reason. The Anales de\nQuauhtitlan speaks of him as one of the three who \u201csought the\nhearth-stone,\u201d and as one of the priests of the Fire-god. As Iztac\nMixcoatl, according to Motolinia, [317] he dwelt with his wife,\nIlancu\u00eay\u00ea, in Chicomoztoc, the \u201cLand of the Seven Caves,\u201d the primeval\nland of the tribes, and from them sprang the forefathers of the\nnatives. By a second wife, Chimamatl, he begot the god Quetzalcoatl. In\nthe Tlaxcaltec legend reproduced in the Historia de los Mexicanos por\nsus Pinturas, [318] mention is made of a two-headed deer which fell\nfrom heaven and was honoured as a god by the people of Cuitlauac, and\nit is told how, clothed in its form or disguise, Camaxtli or Mixcoatl\nsubdued the surrounding tribes.\n\nIztac Mixcoatl was, indeed, the Chichimec Adam, the father of the\ntribe. A hymn to the gods of the hunt, of whom Mixcoatl was the chief,\nis as follows:\n\n\n\n    SONG OF THE CLOUD-SERPENTS\n\n    I\n\n    Out of the seven Caverns he sprung (was born).\n\n    II\n\n    Out of the land of the prickly plant he sprung.\n\n    III\n\n    I came down (was born)\n    I came down\n    With my spear made of the prickly plant\n    I came down\n    I came down\n    With my spear of the prickly plant.\n\n    IV\n\n    I came down\n    I came down\n    With my net bag.\n\n    I seize him\n    I seize him\n    And I seize him, and he is seized.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nThe great festival of Mixcoatl was the hunt-drive in the month\nquecholli. Sahagun says of this observance [319]:\n\n\u201cQuecholli was the name of the fourteenth month, Mixcoatl being\nhonoured with festivals. Arrows and darts for use in war were made, and\nmany slaves were slaughtered in honour of this god. During the five\ndays spent in making the arrows, everyone slit their ears and rubbed\ntheir temples with the blood thus drawn. Penance was supposed to be\nthus performed before the deer-hunting commenced. Those who did not\nslit themselves were deprived of their cloaks as tribute. During these\ndays no man cohabited with his wife, and the aged abstained from the\nuse of pulque, as penance was being performed. The four days employed\nin the making of arrows and darts being ended, smaller arrows were made\nand tied in bundles of four to which were added four pine torches.\nThese were placed as offerings upon the graves of the dead, besides two\ntamalli to each bundle. These remained for a day upon the tombs and\nwere then burned during the night, other ceremonies being held as well\nin honour of the dead.\n\n\u201cOn the tenth day of this month the Mexicans and the Tlatelulca\nresorted together to the mountain of Cacatepec, which they called their\nmother. On reaching it they constructed thatched huts, lighted large\nfires, and spent the day in absolute idleness.\n\nNext morning they breakfasted and went out together into the country.\nThere they spread themselves out in a circular line, in which were\nenclosed a large number of animals\u2014deer, rabbits, and others; they\ngradually approached them so as to enmesh them in a small space, and\nthe hunt then began, each one taking what he could.\n\n\u201cAfter the hunt, captives and slaves were slaughtered in the temple\ncalled Tlamatzinco. They were bound hand and foot and were carried up\nthe temple stairs in the same fashion as a deer is carried by its four\nlegs when taken to the butcher. They were put to death with great\nceremony. The man and the woman who represented the image of Mixcoatl\nand his companion were slain in another temple, which was called\nMixcoateopan. Several other rites were performed.\u201d\n\nOf this festival Acosta gives a slightly different version:\n\n\u201cThe feast they made was pleasant and in this sort: They sounded a\ntrumpet at break of day, at the sound whereof they all assembled with\ntheir bows, arrows, nets, and other instruments for hunting; then they\nwent in procession with their idol, being followed by a great number of\npeople to a high mountain, upon the top whereof they had made a bower\nof leaves, and in the middest thereof an altar richly decked, whereupon\nthey placed the idol. They marched with a great bruit of trumpets,\ncornets, flutes and drums, and being come unto the place they environed\nthis mountain on all sides, putting fire to it on all parts: by means\nof which many beasts flew forth, as stags, conies, Hares, foxes and\nWoolves, which went to the top flying from the fire. These hunters\nfollowed after with great cries and noise of divers instruments,\nhunting them to the top before the idol, whither flew such a great\nnumber of beasts, in so great a press, that they leaped one upon\nanother, upon the people, and upon the altar, wherein they took great\ndelight. Then took they a great number of these beasts, and sacrificed\nthem before the idol, as stags and other great beasts, pulling out\ntheir hearts as they use in the sacrifice of men, and with the like\nceremony: which done they took all their prey upon their shoulders, and\nretired with their idol in the same manner as they came, and entered\nthe city laden with all these things, very joyfully with great store of\nmusic, trumpets, and drums until they came to the temple where they\nplaced their idol with great reverence and solemnity. They presently\nwent to prepare their venison wherewith they made a banquet to all the\npeople; and after dinner they made their plays, representations and\ndances before the idol.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTEMPLES\n\nMixcoatl\u2019s temples in Mexico were the Mixcoapan tzompantli and the\nMixcoateopan. In the first were preserved the heads of the victims\nsacrificed to the god. The ceremony of quecholli was commenced in the\nlatter.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nMixcoatl was primarily the great god of the Chichimecs and the Otomies,\na god of the wild hunting tribes of the plains to the north. Numbers of\nthese had settled in Mexico City and elsewhere within Anahuac, to which\nthey had carried his worship with them. The tribal legends connected\nwith him seem to imply that he was regarded in one of his phases, that\nof Iztac Mixcoatl, as the Chichimec Adam or Abraham, and he is even\nalluded to as the \u201cfather\u201d of Quetzalcoatl and \u201cbrother\u201d of\nUitzilopochtli. The probabilities are that he was the god of a section\nof the Nahua who entered Mexico proper before the advent of the\nworshippers of Uitzilopochtli, and as he had similar characteristics to\nthe latter deity, he became connected with him in the popular\nimagination.\n\nMixcoatl seems to me one of that large class of conceptions which recur\nso frequently in all mythologies\u2014the rain- and lightning-bearing cloud,\nwhich in the mind of the savage takes the form of a great monster, a\ndragon or serpent, vomiting fire and discharging water. The name\nMixcoatl means \u201cCloud-serpent\u201d and serves to substantiate this\nconception of him. But in the eyes of a hunting people he came, like\nother deities of the kind, to be regarded as the great hunter who casts\nthe thunderbolt, the lightning-arrow, and therefore as the god-like\nprototype of the savage sportsman. Mixcoatl\u2019s possession of the\nobsidian arrow-head, which became personified in Itzpapalotl, gives\nfurther weight to this idea.\n\nBecause he partook of the attributes of a sky-god, Mixcoatl almost\ninevitably became identified with the stellar deities dwelling in the\nheavens above. He is, indeed, Chief of the Centzon Mimixcoa, which has\nbeen translated \u201cThe Four Hundred Northerners,\u201d the host of stars to\nthe north of the Equator, in contradistinction to the Centzon Uitznaua,\nor \u201cFour Hundred Southerners,\u201d who were scattered by Uitzilopochtli\nimmediately after his birth. But here a question of some difficulty\narises. Uitznaua may correctly be translated \u201csoutherners,\u201d whereas\nMimixcoa can scarcely be rendered otherwise than as the plural of\n\u201ccloud-serpent.\u201d The insignia of these latter deities, however, are\ncertainly stellar. They wear the stellar face-mask and are in every way\nto be connected with the stars. It is clear, too, that Mixcoatl in one\nof his manifestations must be connected with the morning star. But I\ntake this connection, as in the case of Quetzalcoatl, to have arisen at\na period comparatively late. Again, we frequently find in Mexican myth\nthat the stars are regarded as serpentine in character, and indeed, as\nin the case of the Tzitzimim\u00ea, partake of insect characteristics.\n\n\u201cMixcoatl\u201d is the expression in use at the present time among the\nnatives of Mexico for the tropical whirlwind [320]\u2014obviously a much\nlater conception of his nature, and one more intimately connected with\nthat of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, as I have attempted to show in the passages\nrelating to that god, and to Quetzalcoatl. There is, indeed, a strong\nresemblance between Mixcoatl and Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, both of whom are\nconnected with obsidian, and carry the hunter\u2019s bag of obsidian darts.\n\nMixcoatl\u2019s festival is obviously one of considerable antiquity. As\npractised in Mexico-Tenochtitlan it was obviously a reminiscence of the\ngreat communal hunt. Its sacrifice of women in the place of deer, the\nvictims being \u201ccarried up the temple stairs in the same fashion as a\ndeer is carried by its four legs when taken to the butcher,\u201d is\nobviously a substitution in more civilized times of human for deer\nsacrifice, either because the animals of the hunt were not so easily\nobtained or for the reason that the idea of human sacrifice had so\nthoroughly interpenetrated Mexican religious usage as to render the\nolder form unacceptable, merely retaining its broader characteristics.\nIt has also a strong resemblance to those medicine-hunts until recently\npractised by the Indians of North America, and in the Zu\u00f1i mysteries of\nto-day, a procuring of magical virtue for the arrows which were made\nduring the first five days of the festival, and smaller models of which\nwere offered up on the graves of the dead. Mixcoatl\u2019s wife Itzcu\u00eay\u00ea is\na deer and, as we have seen, the deer was the disguise of his\nsurrogate, Camaxtli. The deer is the animal connected in the barbarian\nmind with the quest for water or food. Where the deer migrated in\nsearch for these the savage must follow. The animals which compose the\nstaple food-supply of savages are frequently regarded as their gods. In\nAmerica, on the introduction of later anthropomorphic deities, the\nanimal forms are frequently conceived of as the mates of these\u2014perhaps\none explanation of the belief in descent from animal forms.\n\nBecause of his connection with the lightning Mixcoatl was also god of\nthe fire-twirler, the apparatus with which fire was made, and he\nappears in this character during the fire festival.\n\n\n\n\nTLAUIZCALPANTECUTLI = \u201cLORD OF THE HOUSE OF THE DAWN\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico; Toltec (?).\n\n    Calendar Place: With the Fire-god, lord of the ninth week, ce\n    coatl. Twelfth of the thirteen lords of the day-hours.\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n    Relationship: Variant of Quetzalcoatl.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nGeneral.\u2014In the Codex Borgia (sheet 25) he is painted as having a\nwhite-and-red-striped body, and the black face with white-spotted\nquincunx peculiar to him in his special form as evening star. The hair\nis yellow, the locks rising in curls above the brow, and bound by a red\nfillet. We can probably recognize him in the figure seen in sheet 19 of\nCodex Vaticanus B, which bears a strong resemblance to that found on\nsheet 57 of the same MS., confronting the Fire-god; but in the first\ninstance he is not shown with the black \u201chalf-mask\u201d painting about the\neye. He has, however, the same warlike implements\u2014shield, spears, and\natlatl\u2014as in Codex Borgia, as well as a pouch for obsidian arrow-heads\nand a small sacrificial flag. He is, however, almost universally\nrepresented with a white or white-and-red-striped body and\nface-painting, and the deep black \u201chalf-mask\u201d edged with small white\ncircles which is usually shown in the pictures of Mixcoatl, Paynal, and\nAtlaua, and which is described as \u201cthe stellar face-painting called\ndarkness.\u201d He frequently wears long, tapering oval ornaments attached\nto red leather thongs in place of the chalchihuitl jewels which so\noften depend from the dress of the other gods, and the band which\nsupports these has four diverging ends terminating in a bunch of\nfeathers, as with Tonatiuh, Ueuecoyotl, and Xochipilli. The crown is\ngenerally composed of black feathers having white spots, alternating\nwith longer yellow or red plumes. On the breast is seen an ornament\nlike that of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. In Codex Borbonicus and Borgia he is\naccompanied by the insignia of those warriors who died by sacrifice,\nthe blue crown with the three-cornered frontal plate, the axe-shaped\nblue ear-plug, the blue nose-plug, the white paper shoulder-tie, and\nthe small blue dog which accompanied the dead man on his way to the\nregion of Mictlan.\n\nOn the five sheets of Codex Vaticanus B which indicate the periods of\nthe planet Venus we observe Tlauizcalpantecutli depicted five times,\nand have thus a most favourable opportunity for studying his various\nattributes. All of these pictures represent him in the form of the\nevening star, with the quincunx of white spots on the dark background\nof his face. He is depicted as half-black, half-white, the body, upper\narms, and knees being black, but the forearms, thighs, and lower part\nof the legs white and striped with yellow longitudinal lines, like the\nstriping on Uitzilopochtli\u2019s body. Under the eye is a motif which\nrecalls the blue snake-band round the mouth of Tlaloc, but it is yellow\nin colour, and forms a kind of coil in the middle of the face over the\nnose. A tassel or other ornament falls from it, the whole recalling\ncertain Maya types. The hair is flame-coloured, curls upward, and is\nbound with the usual fillet studded with white slicings from\nmussel-shells, and the black, white-tipped feathers, previously alluded\nto, and intermingled with eagle-plumes, crown the head. The breast is\ncovered with the white eye-ring, also described above, and which is\ncharacteristic of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. Accompanying the picture is the emblem\nof the stellar eye, which in this place is almost certainly intended to\ndepict the planet Venus. The god holds in one hand the atlatl, or\nspear-thrower, and in the other a bundle of darts, to symbolize his\nnature as a shooting god.\n\nIn those pictures in Codex Borgia where the god is represented as\ncasting his spear at various mythological figures, his insignia is in\nagreement with that portrayed in Codex Vaticanus B. But of the five\nfigures in which he is shown as the spear-thrower, in one only is he\ndepicted with white, red-striped limbs, the remaining figures being\ncoloured green, yellow, brown, and blue. Nor has the face the\ncharacteristic painting known as \u201cstellar\u201d and frequently described on\nthose pages, but is skull-shaped, and represented as swallowing blood\nand a human heart. He holds, however, the usual spear-thrower, shield,\nhand-flag, and the hunter\u2019s net-bag. The Codex Borgia pictures show,\ntoo, the incidence of the god\u2019s other attributes, the oval, egg-shaped\nornaments and the white-tipped black feathers, which, however, are here\nconsiderably shorter, and spread over the crown of the head only. Here\nalso the first of the five figures is red-striped, the others being\nblue, red, and yellow, and red-striped. Like the figures in Codex\nBologna, the first has the head of a skull painted with the face-paint\nof Tlauizcalpantecutli, with the quincunx of five disks on a dark\nground. The other four figures wear masks, that part of their faces\nwhich is visible being coloured like the body and having the quincunx\nof five white disks. The second figure wears an owl naual, or mask, the\nthird that of a dog, the fourth a rabbit-mask, and the fifth, like the\nfirst, a dead man\u2019s skull, which, however, is portrayed in its natural\ncolour and has no face-paint. The owl-mask of the second figure and the\nskull-mask of the fifth show that they represent the sequence of five\nperiods of the planet Venus, five time-counts based on its period of\nvisibility, and that, moreover, these figures are to be referred\nrespectively to the compass directions, east, north, west, south,\nbelow. The Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry figure differs from the other\nrepresentations, the face being painted white with yellow stripes, like\nthe rest of the body and limbs. But that this figure is in reality\nidentical with those of the other manuscripts is proved by the quincunx\nof white spots disposed in the same manner as in the Codex Vaticanus B\nfigure, by the three curly locks on the brow, and by the star-like eye\nworn by the god on his breast. In Codex Borgia are shown a sacrificial\ncord and two small paper flags. In Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry we see a shield with\nfeather appendage, and one paper flag, which is evidently intended to\nappear in the ritual of the death by sacrifice. Tlauizcalpantecutli was\nfor the Mexicans an indication of the warrior\u2019s death, that is,\nsacrificial death.\n\nIn Codex Telleriano-Remensis the hair is plastered with white downy\nfeathers, and round the neck is slung the aztemacatl, the heron-feather\ncord, the whole indicating the insignia of the victim about to be\nsacrificed after ceremonial combat. He wears a skull as helmet-mask in\nthis MS. In the Aubin-Goupil tonalamatl Tlauizcalpantecutli wears a\nrod-shaped nose-plug and the blue breast-plate of the Fire-god.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThis god, as Seler indicates, [321] is a variant of the planet Venus,\nthe morning star, who was regarded as the shooting god and who was\nperhaps identical with Mixcoatl. The Anales de Quauhtitlan says that:\n\u201cWhen he appears he strikes various classes of people with his rays,\nshoots them, sheds his light on them,\u201d and these several types of\npeople thus shot are clearly to be seen in Codex Borgia, and in the\ncorresponding places of the other manuscripts, where their sequence is,\nhowever, varied. That they stand in relation to the quarters of the\nheavens there can be no doubt, but these quarters vary with the several\ncodices. Thus in Codex Borgia we find the jaguar occupying the north,\nwhile in Vaticanus B and Bologna we find it occupying the fifth or\ndownward direction, and in this varying arrangement we probably see\ndifferences of local conception. The deities or figures at which the\ngod hurled his spear are the jaguar, or Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, Chalchihuitlicue,\nthe black Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 (probably as Tepeyollotl), Cinteotl, the\nTlatouani, or King, and the Yayotl, or the symbol of war; but these do\nnot agree with the \u201cclasses of people\u201d shot by the god as given by the\nAnales de Quauhtitlan, which states \u201cthat in the sign cipactli he\nshoots old men and women, in the sign coatl he shoots the rain, for it\nwill not rain, in the sign atl, the universal drought, in the sign\nacatl, kings and rulers, and in the sign olin, youths and maidens.\u201d\n\nThis seems to me to indicate not so much that the god was identical\nwith Mixcoatl, as Seler states, although he may have had connections\nwith this deity, but that he typifies in some manner the evil\ninfluences of the rays of the planet Venus at certain times of the\nyear. We know that the Mexicans, like many other peoples, believed that\nthe stars emanated influences good and bad, and as Seler himself states\nin his essay on \u201cThe Venus Period in Picture-Writing,\u201d [322] \u201cit is\npossible that we have on these pages simply an astrological speculation\narising from superstitious fear of the influence of the light of this\npowerful planet. By natural association of ideas the rays of light\nemitted by the sun or other luminous bodies are imagined to be darts or\narrows which are shot in all directions by the luminous body. The more\nthe rays are perceived to be productive of discomfort or injury, so\nmuch the more fittingly does this apply. In this way the abstract noun\nmiotl or meyotli with the meaning \u2018ray of light\u2019 is derived from the\nMexican word mitl, \u2018arrow\u2019 ... thus miotli is the arrow which belongs\nby nature to a body sending forth arrows, a luminous body.... When the\nplanet appeared anew in the heavens, smoke-vents and chimneys were\nstopped up lest the light should penetrate into the house.... It is\nhardly possible to see anything else in these figures struck by the\nspear than augural speculations regarding the influence of the light\nfrom the planet suggested by the initial signs of the period.\u201d Seler\nalso points out that we possess the analogy of the periods in which the\nCiuatete\u00f4, or \u201cspectre women,\u201d send down similar baleful influences\nfrom above.\n\n\n\n\nCOYOLXAUHQUI = \u201cPAINTED WITH BELLS\u201d\n\n\n    Relationship: Daughter of Coatlicue, sister of Uitzilopochtli and\n    the Centzonuitznaua.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nStone-head from Great Temple of Mexico.\u2014This represents her as having\non both cheeks the sign for \u201cgold\u201d and \u201cbells,\u201d hence the face of this\nhead is really painted (xauhqui) with bells (coyolli). As a\nnose-ornament she has a peculiar pendant, consisting of a trapezoidal\nfigure and a ray, the motif of which is partially repeated in her\nearrings. Her headdress is a small, close-fitting cap, the front of\nwhich is embroidered in a downy feather-ball pattern.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe myth which describes her enmity to her mother, Coatlicue, and her\nslaughter by her brother Uitzilopochtli, has already been recounted in\nthe section dealing with the latter god.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nCoyolxauhqui\u2019s insignia, as seen in the stone head of her from the\ngreat Temple of Mexico, is unquestionably that of a lunar goddess.\nMoreover, the terms of the myth referred to above make it plain that\nshe represented the moon, who is \u201cslain\u201d by the first blow of the\nxiuhcoatl, or fire-snake (the dawn). The fact that she was the only\nsister of the four hundred stars, Centzonuitznaua, probably implies her\nlunar significance.\n\n\n\n\nTZITZIMIM\u00ca = \u201cMONSTERS DESCENDING FROM ABOVE\u201d\n\n\n    Minor Name: Petlacotzitzquique = \u201cUpholders of the Cane Carpet.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCertain wall-paintings at Mitla afford a good representation of the\nTzitzimim\u00ea, who are represented as pulling the sun out of his cave by a\nrope. In this case their character as stellar deities or demons is well\nexemplified. The face often resembles that of a death\u2019s-head and the\nhair is puffed up in wig fashion. In Codex Borgia the Tzitzimim\u00ea are\nrepresented as female figures with death\u2019s-heads and jaguar-claws.\n\nThe insects pictured in the Codex Borbonicus are unquestionably\nrepresentations of the Tzitzimim\u00ea gods in their demon forms.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A equates them with the gods of\nMictlampa, or Hades, but his contemporary who edited the Codex\nTelleriano-Remensis says of them:\n\n\u201cThe proper signification of this name is the fall of the demons, who,\nthey say, were stars; and even still there are stars in heaven called\nafter their names, which are the following: Yzcatecaztli, Tlahvezcal\npantecuvtli, Ceyacatl, Achitumetl, Xacupancalqui, Mixauhmatl,\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, and Contemoctli. These were their appellations as gods\nbefore they fell from heaven, but they are now named Tzitzimitli, which\nmeans something monstrous or dangerous.\u201d\n\nTezozomoc mentions them in his Cronica Mexicana in connection with the\nbuilding of the great temple at Mexico. He states that their images\nwere at one period still necessary for the completion of the building,\nand alludes to them as \u201cangels of the air, holding up the sky,\u201d and\n\u201cthe gods of the air who draw down the rains, waters, clouds, thunders\nand lightnings, and who are placed round Uitzilopochtli.\u201d He further\nsays that these \u201cgods of the signs and planets\u201d were brought to the\nsacred edifice and placed round the idol of Uitzilopochtli.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThe Tzitzimim\u00ea are obviously stellar deities. A myth seems to have\nexisted that they had been cast out of heaven, and may perhaps be\nequated with that relating to Xochiquetzal. I think, too, that it had a\nconnection with the myth which told how Uitzilopochtli routed the\nCentzonuitznaua, his brothers, who were also stellar deities or demons\nof darkness. That the Tzitzimim\u00ea were so regarded was probably because\nthey were seen during the night, or perhaps during eclipses. The list\nof them includes many of the great gods, especially those who had an\nuncanny significance, as Tepeyollotl, Mictlantecutli, Tlazolteotl,\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, and Itzpapalotl. The Tzitzimim\u00ea are equated by Seler with\nthe Sky Supporters. [323]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nGODS OF DEATH, EARTH, AND THE UNDERWORLD\n\n\nMICTLANTECUTLI = \u201cLORD OF MICTLAMPA\u201d (REGION OF THE DEAD)\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexican Plateau.\n\n    Calendar Places:\n        Lord of the tenth day-count, ce tecpatl, and of the tenth week.\n        Eleventh of the thirteen lords of the day and fifth of the nine\n        lords of the night.\n\n    Symbol: Skull, or bunch of malinalli grass.\n\n    Compass Direction: North.\n\n    Relationship: Husband of Mictecaciuatl; one of the Tzitzimim\u00ea.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 14: This is one of the most striking\nrepresentations of the Death-god which has come down to us. Here he is\ndepicted as a skeleton with a skeleton\u2019s thorax and a skull for head,\nthe arms and legs painted white with yellow spots picked with red, to\nsymbolize the bones of a newly flayed person. He has a large rosette at\nthe occiput and a flag, both painted in alternate white and red\ncross-bands, and this motif is carried out in the ends of the\nloin-cloth, and in the extremities of other bands and stripes. He\npresents a burnt-offering. The symbolic crossways and the owl are\nfigured before him, the death-bird being surrounded with paper flags,\nthe decoration of corpses prepared for cremation. Sheet 15: On this\nsheet he wears the death-symbols. At the nape of the neck he has a\npaper rosette, decorated with red and white cross-bands, the paper flag\npainted in the same way, broken in the middle and bent, and an ear-plug\nconsisting of a human hand. His symbol in this place is a bunch of\nmalinalli grass. Sheet 79: In this representation of the Death-god we\nfind the invariable skeleton head, but the body is painted, like that\nof the priests, in black. The nape-ornament is of paper, and the\near-plug is a human hand. The screech owl\u2019s wing also appears. Opposite\nhim is a corpse wrapped up in a cloth and corded with strings, a paper\nflag, used in the decoration of corpses prepared for cremation, and a\ncross, apparently made of knotted sheets of cloth or paper. His hair or\nwig is black and curly, some of the curls ending in eye-like circles\nwith red centres. In this picture he sits opposite Tonatiuh, the\nSun-god, and thus, perhaps, represents night in its black aspect, the\neyes in his wig, as elsewhere, symbolizing the stars. Sheet 57: Here he\nis placed opposite the Death-goddess and wears the usual insignia. The\nground on which their seats are placed is not simply yellow, as in the\nother sections, but consists of alternate fields of malinalli grass and\nfragments of skulls in the style of the hieroglyph of arable land. Both\npresent each other with a naked human figure, symbolic of human\nsacrifice. Between them stands a receptacle painted black and studded\nwith eyes, with red bands in the middle and yellow border. On the left\nof this stands a dish filled with blood and smoking hearts, on which\nthe goddess is pouring fire from a vessel. On the right projects the\nbody and tail of a dragon, which is seized by the god. In the centre is\nseen a skull swallowing a man who is falling headforemost into its\nthroat, and above all is pictured the moon, without, however, the usual\nrabbit appearing in its circumference.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 37: Here Mictlantecutli is placed opposite\nthe Death-goddess. He has the usual insignia, but wears black garments,\ndecorated with eyes and crossbones. His seat is made of ribs and a\npiece of skull, and he holds a dragon in both hands. Between him and\nhis mate a man sinks into the yawning jaws of the earth, and above it\nis a dish with a stone sacrificial knife.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 21: He has the usual skeleton head, but in the\narms and legs the bony structure is merely indicated by a yellow colour\nand a black design. He is clothed with a jacket of green malinalli\nblades and wears in his ear a strip of unspun cotton. He has as\nback-device a pot, in which three flags are stuck. Sheet 34: In this\nsheet he is represented much as in Codex Borgia, sheet 15. Sheet 58:\nHere he is pictured as a black god, with a skull for head and seated on\na chair made of blood, bones, and malinalli grass. He has the\nnape-shield and the flag inclining forward, and a nose like a\nsacrificial stone knife.\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\u2014Mictlantecutli is represented more than once in\nthis codex, importantly on pages 73 and 79. In the first instance he is\ndepicted with blue-grey body and enormous claws on hands and feet, the\nhead plastered with the yellow patches and bloodstains he frequently\nshows. The head is that of a skull, with protruding yellow nasal-bone,\nbut the ground-colour is blue, not bone-colour. He wears the\n\u201cnight-hair\u201d occasionally associated with him, and his coiffure is\ndecorated with small, black, festal bannerets, interspersed with what\nappear to be stellar eye-motifs. His maxtli appears to consist of a\nrope or twisted piece of cotton, and he wears wristlets and anklets of\nbright red cotton. The necklace is reminiscent of that worn by several\nof the Maya deities. He sits in the portal of a temple, and before him\nsquat a number of men and women, regaling themselves on human flesh\nfrom several earthen vessels containing a head, a leg, and an arm. The\nsecond picture exhibits the penance done before him. In this place he\nis painted brown, with the same enormous talons, the death\u2019s-head face,\n\u201cnight-hair\u201d and bannerets (yellow), without, however, the\naccompaniment of the stellar eye-ornaments. These, however, appear to\nbe reproduced upon the wrists, knees, and one ankle, and, perhaps, make\nthis phase of the god a parallel to the Greek Argus, the \u201ceye-spotted\u201d\nnight. On the breast depends an ornament which is not sufficiently\nclear to justify its description. On page 82 the god is depicted as\nwearing a garment covered with crosses, and on page 88 as standing on\nthe skull-altar (see Tezcatlipoc\u00e2). His wavy hair is surrounded by a\nred and yellow cotton fillet, and he is being anointed by a priest from\na vessel of blood, whilst other priests stand before him with pots full\nof blood and human hearts. He wears a curious blue necklace almost of\nthe \u201cmasonry\u201d type seen in Egyptian, Greek, and Asiatic deific\nornaments, and a cotton garment with red bows. A cotton web depends\nfrom his blue ear-plug.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A says of Mictlantecutli: \u201cHe\ndescends for souls as a spider lowers itself with its head downwards\nfrom the web.\u201d Later on he states that \u201che is the great lord of the\ndead below in hell, who alone after Tonacatecutli was painted with a\ncrown.... They painted this demon near the sun, for in the same way as\nthey believed that the one conducted souls to heaven, so they supposed\nthat the other carried them to hell. He is here represented [that is in\nthe codex] with his hands open and stretched towards the sun to seize\non any soul that might escape from him.\u201d Later he states that Ixcuina,\n\u201cthe goddess of salt, dirt, and immodesty,\u201d was the wife of\nMictlantecutli. The commentator of Codex Telleriano-Remensis seems to\nregard Mictlantecutli as rescuing souls from the realm of the dead. He\nsays: \u201cThey place him opposite to the sun to see if he can rescue any\nof those seized upon by the lord of the dead.\u201d The two interpretative\ncodices were almost certainly edited, if not copied one from the other,\nby the same hand, and it is such passages as this which show the great\ndubiety existing in the minds of the priestly commentators regarding\nthe precise nature of the Mexican deities.\n\nSahagun in the Appendix to his third book, the first chapter of which\ntreats of burial, gives a prayer or address to the dead which mentions\nMictlantecutli, and which states that he and his wife Mictecaciuatl\nawait the deceased, who goes to dwell among the shadows, \u201cwhere there\nis no light or window.\u201d It is further explained that when he arrived in\nthe realm of the god of the dead (which has already been described in\nthe chapter on Cosmogony), he makes him an offering of the papers which\nhe carries, of faggots or torches of pinewood, and of perfumed reeds,\ncotton, mantles, and costly apparel.\n\nBoturini and Brasseur give a great deal of matter regarding this god\nwhich is absolutely worthless, as does Leon y Gama, and the deity has\nbeen in some manner confounded with a god Teoyaomiqui, who seems to be\nquite supposititious in character and never to have had no other\nexistence in the minds of Gama and his copyists.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nMictlantecutli, it would seem, is neither more nor less than a god of\nthe dead, that is, his original conception was probably that of a\nprince of Hades, a ruler of the realm of the departed, who in time came\nto possess the terrific aspect and the punitive attributes of a deity\nwhose office it was to torment the souls of the erring. The fact that\nhe presides over the eleventh hour\u2014the hour of sunset\u2014shows that he was\nin a measure identified with the night, as certain aspects of his\ninsignia would appear to show. In a manner he must be regarded as the\nearth, which in its form of the grave, yawns or gapes insatiably for\nthe bodies of the dead. (See Mictecaciuatl.) He appears to have\nanalogies with the Lords of Xibalba, or the Place of the Dead, alluded\nto in the Popol Vuh, of the Quiches of Guatemala. [324]\n\n\n\n\nMICTECACIUATL = \u201cLADY OF THE PLACE OF THE DEAD\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexican Plateau.\n\n    Minor Name: Chicunaui cipactli = \u201cNine Earth-monster.\u201d\n\n    Relationship: Wife of Mictlantecutli.\n\n    Calendar Place:\n        Ruler of the tenth day-count, itzcuintli.\n        Fourth of the four guardians of the Third Venus Period,\n        denoting the north.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 90: She has a skull for head, with round eye\nand marked supraciliary arch, tousled, dark hair studded with eyes\nsymbolizing night and stars. The skull and body are painted yellow, and\none breast is showing. Her wig has eyes for ornaments, and she wears\nthe nape-ornament of paper usually placed on corpses. Her earring is\nalso fashioned after the eye-motif. The feather balls at her wrists are\nset with eye-like jewels. She is engaged in thrusting a mummy-pack into\nthe yawning jaws of the earth.\n\nCodex Bologna (Cospi).\u2014Sheet 27: The date \u201cnine earth-monster\u201d\n(chicunaui cipactli) stands here beside Mictecaciuatl as her\nhieroglyphic name.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 57: Here she is represented opposite\nMictlantecutli. She has a wig decorated with stars. The face is human,\nbut the fleshless lower jaw resembles the sign malinalli. Her nape\nornament of paper is painted red and white, and her costume is red with\nwhite cotton borders and an upper border of variegated white and\nyellow.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nSee Mictlantecutli.\n\n\n\n\nTEPEYOLLOTL = \u201cHEART OF THE MOUNTAINS\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Tierras Calientes.\n\n    Relationship: One of the Tzitzimim\u00ea.\n\n    Symbols:\n        A cave (see Codex Borgia, sheet 2).\n        A marine shell (Codex Borbonicus). See also Seler, Gesammelte\n        Abhandlungen, vol. i, p. 606, for glyph in Codex Bologna\n        (Cospi).\n\n    Calendar Place: Eighth of the lords of the night; ruler of the\n    third day, and of the third week, ce mazatl.\n\n    Compass Direction: South.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nIn Codices Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer and Vaticanus B the face-paint of this god\nis red, and in the latter MS. has the alternate red and yellow\ncross-bars of the red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. In Codex Borgia the body is painted\nblack, but in this MS., as well as in the Aubin tonalamatl, the upper\npart of the face resembles that of Quetzalcoatl in its decoration, the\nprofile being of a light colour, while the temporal region is painted\ndifferently, these colours in the Aubin tonalamatl being separated by a\nblack line. But whereas the temporal colouring in the Vienna MS. is\ngreen, in Codex Borgia it shows the alternate black and yellow of\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s face-paint. In Codex Borgia, sheet 14, a beard is worn\nand a plug is in the nostrils. The region of the mouth has the painting\nof a jaguar\u2019s skin. The hair is puffed up in two pads, symbolic,\nperhaps, of the mountainous region with which the god is connected. In\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis he wears the broad necktie of the rain-gods,\nonly painted in green and not in blue, and in Codex Borgia shows\nTlaloc\u2019s colours in the loin-cloth, fillet, and neck-ornament. In this\nMS., too, he is represented as blowing the conch-shell, and here, as\nwell as in Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer, he stands before a building which has\nthe cone-shaped, high-pitched straw roof of the houses in the tierras\ncalientes, crowned with a jagged motif. As ruler of the third day-sign\nand third week he is represented as a jaguar pure and simple in the\nAubin tonalamatl, Telleriano-Remensis and Borbonicus codices, which is\nmerely a disguise for the personality of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, as is shown by\nthe face of that god looking out from the jaguar\u2019s head in\nTelleriano-Remensis.\n\nIn Codex Borbonicus he is more unmistakably represented as\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2, for the hands and feet projecting from underneath the\njaguar skin are striped like those of that god, and one of the feet\nwears Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s sandal, the itzcoatl (or obsidian snake), whilst\nthe other is torn off and replaced by his smoking mirror. The jaguar of\nCodex Borbonicus has other portions of the insignia of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\nabout him, such as the aztaxelli, or feather head-ornament, and the\nanauatl, or white mussel-shell ring. In the Codex Borbonicus a large\nmarine shell or conch-shell appears to be symbolical of Tepeyollotl.\nThe god is alluded to by Sahagun as among the unlucky symbols. He\nfigures as one of the faces of the double-headed Quaxolotl.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A says:\n\n\u201cThey considered Tepeyolotli the lord of these thirteen signs in which\nthey celebrated his festival, during the four last of which they\nfasted, out of reverence, on account of the earth\u2019s having remained\nafter the deluge. But as its conditions were disordered or filthy, they\ndid not consider the sacrifices of these signs as good or clean, but,\non the contrary, as unclean, and they applied to them an appellation\nwhich in common phraseology we might explain by the term \u2018sacrifices of\nfilth.\u2019 These last four signs in which they fasted were likewise out of\nreverence and in honour of Suguequezal (Xochiquetzal), the wife of\nTonacatecotle, whose name signifies the lifting up or raising up of the\nRoses, for they say that goddess caused the earth to flourish. This\nproper name might be written Tiscuelutli, which is the Heart of the\nMountain, which means the echo.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis says:\n\n\u201cThe name refers to the manner in which the earth was preserved after\nthe deluge. The sacrifices of these thirteen days were not deemed good;\nthey might be interpreted in Spanish \u2018sacrifices of dung.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe sign under which number one is written caused paralysis and evil\nhumours. Two was appropriated to drunkards; and three was applied to\nthe earth. Tepeolotlec presided over those thirteen days in which they\ncelebrated a festival; and during the last four days of which (where\nthe hands are marked) they fasted. Tepeolotlec means Lord of Animals.\n\n\u201cThe four days of the fast were in honour of Suciquecal, who was the\nman who remained in the earth which we now inhabit. Tepeolotlec is the\nsame as the echo of the voice when it reverberates in a valley from one\nmountain to another. They bestowed the appellation of the tiger on the\nearth because the tiger is a very courageous animal, and they say that\nthe deluge ceased at the reverberation caused by the echo in the\nmountains.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThe commentators of the Interpretative Codices briefly explain\nTepeyollotl as \u201cecho\u201d and \u201cearth.\u201d As Seler states, [325] it is most\nprobable that he is a cave-god, an alien barbaric deity, perhaps\nidentical with the god whom the Maya tribes of Chiapas called Votan or\n\u201cheart.\u201d Seler also believes him to be Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in his form as an\napparition. [326] It is strange that it is only in the works of the\ninterpreters that he is mentioned at all, and we can discover no\nprecise locality where his worship was celebrated. The interpreters\nalso designate him \u201cLord of the Animals,\u201d and add that the name of\njaguar is given to the earth, because the jaguar is the wildest of\nbeasts. It may be as Seler declares, that \u201cin order to understand and\nexplain this figure we have to start from the jaguar (ocelotl).\u201d The\nIndians of the Vera Paz district in Guatemala, when they met this\nbeast, instead of attacking him or running away, knelt down and began\nto confess their sins, [327] and it is probable that some such species\nof worship was paid Tepeyollotl, who by his mouth-painting, and as\nruler of the third day-sign and third week, in the Codex Borgia, is\ncertainly depicted as a jaguar. But it seems possible, too, that this\nbeast, perhaps because it dwelt in caves, and because of its terrible\nnightly roaring, may have symbolized for the Mexicans the earth itself\nin its dangerous aspect of earthquake. [328] The Nagualists, a\npolitico-religious secret society of post-Conquest origin, paid\nespecial reverence to the jaguar, whom they regarded as a beast-patron\nor totemic guardian. It is clear that their conception of him arose out\nof that of Tepeyollotl.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nVARIANTS OF THE GREAT GODS\n\n\nITZTLI = \u201cSTONE KNIFE\u201d (OBSIDIAN)\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico.\n\n    Calendar Place: Second of the nine lords of the night.\n\n    Compass Direction: East.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheet 19: He looks out from the open jaws of a stone\nknife, which is designed with teeth and the socket of an eye above\nthem. Otherwise he is pictured as a black Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 with the yellow\ncross-bands on his face. The smoking mirror, the badge of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2,\nis clearly to be discerned. The clouds of incense reach a great height,\nand are set with feather-work. He wears the blue nose-rod from which a\nlittle plate falls over the mouth, and he has a white breast-ring.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 14: In this place he is represented with his hair\nbrushed up on one side, over the brow, the warrior\u2019s hairdressing, and\nthe forked heron-feather ornament in his hair, part of the warrior\u2019s\ndancing attire. The smoking mirror at the temple is given with great\nclearness.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 2: The one foot exhibited as missing or\ntorn off is stuck in the throat of a stone knife. The body-paint has\nperhaps been forgotten here, and the facial painting differs from\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s usual adornment, being perhaps reminiscent of that of\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2-Itzlacoliuhqui. The head and neck are wrapped in a cloth\nwith a fringed hem, and which must be regarded as decked with feather\nballs on the surface as in the picture of the red Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in\nBorgia (sheet 11). He is associated with the crossway in all MSS.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThis deity is a surrogate of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in his guise of the obsidian\nknife of sacrifice, and as such is, of course, representative of the\nparamount connection of that god with the obsidian cult alluded to in\nthe Introduction. He is, indeed, nothing more or less than a\npersonalization of the obsidian knife; his name implies this and the\npicture of him in Codex Vaticanus B (sheet 19), where he is seen\nlooking out of the jaws of an obsidian knife disguise, affords absolute\nproof, if more were required, of the identification.\n\n\n\n\nITZTLACOLIUHQUI-IXQUIMILLI = \u201cTHE CURVED OBSIDIAN KNIFE,\u201d \u201cTHE BLIND\nONE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico-Tenochtitlan.\n\n    Minor Names: Cipactonal.\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the thirteenth day, acatl; and of the\n    twelfth week, ce cuetzpalin.\n\n    Compass Direction: South.\n\n    Relationship: Variant of Cinteotl: son of Tlazolteotl.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014The god is indicated by a bundle having a peculiar object\nwith two black, longitudinal stripes for a head. At the eye-level a\nbandage is worn, and the whole is crowned with a hair wig and bound\nwith a double-jewelled fillet. The crown of the \u201chead\u201d is also\nindicated by two longitudinal stripes which terminate in an involuted\npeak, curving backwards. Two malinalli (grass) stripes are worn as a\nbreast-ornament, and the lower extremities are draped with a flowing\ncloth.\n\nGeneral.\u2014The head is more elaborately shown in the Mexican MSS. proper.\nThrough the peak is thrust a carefully inserted arrow and its anterior\nedge is evenly notched. In Codex Telleriano-Remensis and Codex\nBorbonicus the face of this personage, who is called by the\ninterpreters \u201cthe curved sharp stone,\u201d Itztlacoliuhqui, is decorated\nwith the gold crescent nasal ornament of Tlazolteotl and the\noctli-gods. That this figure is the god of avenging justice is\nindicated by its bandaged eyes, which recall the appearance of\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2-Ixquimilli, or Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 as god of the thirteenth\nday-count. The stone and club were used for punitive purposes, so the\nfigure symbolic of \u201cjustice\u201d was thus represented as a hard stone.\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Itztlacoliuhqui is shown here as of a blue\ncolour, and his face is painted with blue and white cross-bands instead\nof yellow and black, like Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. He wears Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s\nbreast-ornament, while in his hair is the forked adornment of\nheron-feathers.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A says:\n\n\u201cYtzlacoliuhqui signifies the lord of sin or of blindness, and for this\nreason they paint him with his eyes bandaged. They say that he\ncommitted sin in a place of the highest enjoyment and delight, and that\nhe remained naked; on which account his first sign is a lizard, which\nis an animal of the ground naked and miserable. He presided over these\nthirteen signs, which were all unlucky. They said likewise that if\nfalse evidence should be adduced on any one of these signs it would be\nimpossible to make the truth manifest. They put to death those who were\ntaken in adultery before his image if the parties were married; as this\nnot being the case, it was lawful for them to keep as many women or\nconcubines as they pleased. Ytzalcoliuhqui is a star in heaven which as\nthey pretend proceeds in a reverse course; they considered it a most\nportentous sign, both as concerned with nativities and war. This star\nis situated at the south.\u201d\n\nThe interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis says:\n\n\u201cYtzlacoliuhqui, the lord of sin. Ytzlacoliuhqui was the lord of these\nthirteen days. They say he was the god of frost. They put to death\nbefore his image those who were convicted of adultery during these\nthirteen days; this was the punishment of married persons both men and\nwomen, for, provided the parties were unmarried, the men were at\nliberty to keep as many concubines as they pleased.\n\n\u201cYtzlacoliuhqui was the lord of sin or of blindness, who committed sin\nin paradise; they therefore represented him with his eyes bandaged, and\nhis day was accordingly the lizard and, like the lizard, he is naked.\nHe is a star in heaven which ... proceeds in a backward course with its\neyes bandaged. They considered it a great prognostic.\n\n\u201cAll these thirteen days were bad, for they affirmed that if evidence\nshould be adduced in these days it would be impossible to arrive at\njustice, but they imagined that justice would be perverted in such a\nmanner that unjust condemnations would ensue, which was not the case in\nthe days immediately following, when if evidence was adduced they\nsupposed that justice would be made apparent. They believed that those\nwho were born on the sign dedicated to him would be sinners and\nadulterers.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThis deity is a variant of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 in his character of the\nobsidian knife, the god of the stone and therefore of blood, avenging\njustice, of blinding, of sin, of cold. The obsidian stone was regarded\nas the instrument of justice, as has already been stated in the section\non Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. The figure became a general symbol of all things hard,\nand is therefore explained by the authors of the Interpretative Codices\nas \u201cthe god of cold.\u201d Frost, ice, or low temperature is in the Sahagun\nMS. symbolized by a man wearing the headdress of this deity, which was\nalso worn by Uitzilopochtli at the ochpanitztli festival, when the\nknife of sacrifice had such free play. The manner in which the god is\nrepresented in Codex Borbonicus as blindfolded is probably a late\nconception of him as the god of justice. But he seems also to have had\na stellar connection which is a little vague.\n\n\n\n\nPAYNAL = \u201cTHE HASTY\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico, Tlaxcallan.\n\n    Relationship: Precursor or forerunner of Uitzilopochtli.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014He has the stellar face-painting, and wears a many-pointed\ncrown of yellow feathers, the lower part of which is white. The front\nof this white portion ends in three small globes or bells. At the back\nis a bow, and he is furnished with an ear-plug and nose-plug of\nturquoise. On the head he wears a shell ring like Uitzilopochtli and\nQuetzalcoatl, and he holds a narrow striped banner ending in a sort of\nfleur-de-lis motif. The shield is blue, inlaid with turquoise mosaic.\nHe has a peculiar skirt with a train marked with cross-hatchings. The\nbanner he carries is a golden one, and he also bears the fire-drill. On\nhis face is painted a chaffinch, which composes his face-mask.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nSee Uitzilopochtli.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nSeler identifies the god with the morning star. Sahagun calls him \u201cthe\nmessenger\u201d or \u201cpage\u201d of Uitzilopochtli. He acted as \u201cforerunner\u201d of\nthat god at the panquetzalitztli festival, thus perhaps signifying the\nmanner in which the morning star precedes the sun. But I think the\nchaffinch painted upon his face and his general birdlike appearance may\njustify us in concluding that he was developed from some such form. The\nmyth which alludes to Uitzilopochtli as a \u201clittle bird\u201d which led the\nAztec\u00e2 into Mexico may be a confused form of an older story in which a\nhero of the name of Uitzilopochtli may have been spoken of as accepting\nthe augury and following the flight of a little bird.\n\n\n\n\nYACATECUTLI = \u201cLORD WHO GUIDES,\u201d OR \u201cGUIDANCE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Plateau of Anahuac (worshipped by Mexican\n    merchants while at home and when travelling).\n\n    Festival: Panquetzalitztli.\n\n    Symbol: The merchant\u2019s staff.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014The ground of the face-painting\nis white, but portions of the face, especially the forehead, nose, and\nchin, and the region in front of the ears, are brilliantly coloured.\nThe hair is puffed up and is bound with bands of quetzal-feathers. The\near-plugs are of gold. The large mantle which almost covers the body is\ndecorated with the cross-hatching symbolic of water and has the red rim\nof the eye-motif. The shield bears the Greek key motif, such as is seen\nin the tribute-lists of the Codex Mendoza. In his hand the god bears\nthe bamboo staff of the merchant or traveller, which typifies his\nnature and which was worshipped, as being symbolic of him, by all\ntraders.\n\n\n\n\nFESTIVAL\n\nPanquetzalitztli.\u2014Yacatecutli, says Sahagun, [329] was the first\nmerchant and prototype of traffickers, so was chosen by the merchants\nas their god. They dressed his statue with paper and greatly venerated\nthe staff he carried, which was of massive wood, or else of dark cane,\nvery light, but strong, such as the merchants carried on their\njourneys. He had four brothers and a sister, also reverenced by\ntraders. He was usually depicted as a man on a journey, equipped with\nsuch a staff as has been mentioned.\n\nArrived at the place where they were to pass the night, the merchants\nlaid their staves in a heap and drew blood from their ears and limbs,\nwhich they offered to it, burning incense before it, and praying for\nprotection from the dangers of the road. At the festival of\npanquetzalitztli, thousands of members of the powerful Pochteca, or\nmerchant guild, proceeded to the vicinity of Tochtepec, where they\ninvited the Tlatelolcans of that place to a festival in honour of\nYacatecutli. They decorated his temple and spread mats before his\nimage. Then they opened the bundles in which they had brought presents\nand ornaments for the god, and placed them, along with their staves,\nbefore his idol. If a merchant laid two staves at the feet of the god,\nthat signified that it was his intention to sacrifice two slaves, a man\nand a woman, in his honour; if four, he would devote two wretched\ncreatures of either sex. These slaves were covered with rich mantles\nand paper. If the staff represented a male slave, it was also equipped\nwith the maxtli, or loin-cloth, but if a female, the uipilli, or\nchemise, and the cueitl, or skirt.\n\nThe Mexican merchants then accompanied their Tlatelolcan confr\u00e8res to\nthe villages, where they feasted, drank cocoa, and smoked. Quails were\nthen decapitated, their heads thrown into the fire, and incense was\noffered to the four cardinal points. An address was delivered by one of\ntheir number practised in oratory. The magnificence of this festival,\nwith its richly jewelled accessories, was probably unsurpassed in\nMexican ritual, as on this occasion the Pochteca employed their entire\nstock of trinkets and ornaments for the temporary decoration of the\nvictims. Yacatecutli was also associated in worship with Coyotlinauatl,\ngod of the guild of feather-workers of the quarter of Amantlan.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nBancroft [330] connects Yacatecutli with the Fire-god, with whom,\nindeed, Clavigero would seem to equate him, and in describing the\nreturn of the gods in the twelfth month, Sahagun makes both deities\narrive together. Xiuhtecutli was certainly the god who was believed to\nsettle disputes at law, but I am unable to connect Yacatecutli with him\nin any satisfactory manner. Yacatecutli, \u201cthe lord who guides,\u201d seems\nto me a mere deification of the merchant\u2019s staff, an artificial deity\ninvented as the patron of a caste in an environment where it was not\ndifficult to invent gods. By this I do not mean to convey the\nimpression that the staff was necessarily his earliest form, but that,\nwhatever his primitive shape, the merchant\u2019s stick came to symbolize\nhim.\n\nThe names of Yacatecutli\u2019s brothers and sister seem to me to allegorize\nthe circumstances of the travelling merchant\u2019s career in the same\nmanner as the names of the companions of a folk-tale hero may have a\nbearing upon his story.\n\nThus Chiconquiauitl (\u201cSeven-rains\u201d or \u201cAll-weathers\u201d) may portend the\nvaried climatic conditions which the chapman has to face; Xomocuitl\n(\u201cCaught-drake\u201d) the kind of fare he may expect in an unfrequented\ncountry; Naxtit (\u201cFour-feet\u201d) may typify endurance in walking;\nCochimetl, (Sleeping-maguey) may apply to the leaves of the\nmaguey-plant which shaded the traveller from the heat during his\nnoonday siesta, or from the wind if he used them to construct a\ntemporary shelter, as was often done; Yacapitzanac (\u201cSharp-nose\u201d) needs\nlittle explanation in connection with the peddler\u2019s calling, and the\nname of the one goddess of the series, Chalmecaciuatl, is evidently\nthat of a tribal deity of the Chalmeca, with whom the Mexicans traded.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nMINOR DEITIES\n\n\nXOLOTL = \u201cDOUBLE\u201d\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Plateau of Anahuac.\n\n    Minor Names:\n        Chicuei Mazatl = \u201cEight Deer.\u201d\n        Chicunaui Coatl = \u201cNine Serpent.\u201d\n\n    Calendar Place: Ruler of the seventeenth day-count, olin; of the\n    sixteenth tonalamatl division, ce cozcaquauhtli.\n\n    Compass Direction: East.\n\n    Relationship: Twin brother or variant of Quetzalcoatl.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014In the picture of Xolotl on the left side of the middle\nlower part of sheet 55 a resemblance to Quetzalcoatl is noticeable. On\nhis head is the peculiar wedge-shaped Huaxtec hat, painted half-red and\nhalf-blue, which is one of Quetzalcoatl\u2019s characteristics. The bone\ndagger symbolic of self-torture and penance, and the snail-shell\narmlets he wears, are also reminiscent of Quetzalcoatl\u2019s insignia. His\nface-painting, however, differs from that usually worn by Quetzalcoatl\nin Codex Borgia, as the front portion of his face is blue and the part\nnear the ears red. His body-paint is blue. Nor does he have a large\nbeard or fan-shaped nape-ornament, but is shown wearing the Wind-god\u2019s\nbreast-ornament made from a sliced snail-shell. He also shows a\nlikeness to Quetzalcoatl in the manner in which his loin-cloth and\nfillet are rounded off. As a travelling god, Xolotl is depicted in\nCodex Borgia as holding a fan similar in its three-flapped wedge-shape\nto that of the other peripatetic deities, except that it has a handle\nshaped like a bird\u2019s head and is seemingly composed of blue\ncotinga-feathers. His travelling pack is symbolized by a flowering\ntree, which he bears on his back, while his travelling staff is painted\nturquoise colour, is decorated with the chalchihuitl ornament, and is\ncompleted with a flower. In the picture to the right of sheet 36 Xolotl\npresents almost a new aspect, although certain of his attributes bear\nsome resemblance to those which we have already observed as being\npeculiar to him. He still carries a travelling-staff with a jewelled\nhead, but in this representation its general character is more that of\nthe rattle-stick. His body-paint remains the same and he retains his\nblue feather fan. His pack is distinguished by a flower to serve as a\nconnection with the florescent tree carried by him, as described\nelsewhere. In this sheet he is represented as wearing a long beard and\nhis face-paint in the region of the mouth is white. His face is altered\nby a peculiar type of nose, which gives him a disfigured appearance.\nThe god of monstrosities on sheet 10 of Codex Borgia has a similar\npatch of white about his mouth, resembling in shape a human hand, a\nsymbol which also characterizes the face-painting of Macuil Xochitl.\nElsewhere in this MS. he is represented as crooked-limbed and\nblear-eyed.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014In this MS. Xolotl is represented as having a dog\u2019s\nhead and again appears in the garb and ornaments of Quetzalcoatl. In\nCodex Borgia his ears have a rim of yellow, evidently intended to\nrepresent dead flesh, while in Codex Vaticanus the canine character is\nindicated by the cropped ears. In the nostrils is a blue plug, the\nornament of the deceased warrior, denoting that this is the dog which\naccompanies his master to Mictlampa, Place of the Dead, and assists him\nto swim the river which encircles it. This distinguishing plug is seen\nin Codex Vaticanus, but not in Codex Borgia. The rest of the god\u2019s\nattire is exclusively that worn by Quetzalcoatl, as described in the\nspace devoted to that god.\n\nAubin Tonalamatl.\u2014In this MS. he again takes on a canine appearance and\nis clothed in many respects like Quetzalcoatl. This frequent similarity\nin dress between the gods may have its origin in the diverse meaning of\nthe word coatl, which, besides meaning \u201csnake,\u201d also denotes \u201ccomrade\u201d\nor \u201ctwin.\u201d This dog-like creature is usually portrayed as of a dark\ncolour, black, with the distinctive cropped ear, while in Codex Borgia\nhe is depicted with jaguar-claws. Xolotl has the face-painting of\nQuetzalcoatl in the Mexican MSS. proper, that is in the middle front it\nis yellow and black at the sides. He wears the two-coloured white and\nbrown (jaguar-skin) head-loop with rounded-off ends, which latter form\nis also continued in the loin-cloth. Both these articles of dress he\nhas in common with Quetzalcoatl.\n\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis.\u2014Here he is depicted with Tlazolteotl\u2019s\nspindles in his hair and an ichcaxochitl of unspun cotton, as well as\nthe head-loop previously described. Only in this MS. is he so adorned.\nThe instrument of self-mortification, the bone dagger, juts out from\nabove his forehead, whence issues a trickle of blood, sometimes\ndelineated symbolically as a feather-ball string completed with a\nflower, and at others represented as real blood. He grasps an obsidian\nknife, which implement also projects from his mouth along with a\nflower, while a copal bag is portrayed in front of him. In some MSS.,\nas in Codex Telleriano-Remensis and Vaticanus A, he is represented as\nwearing a mask on his girdle.\n\n\n\n\nWALL-PAINTINGS\n\nXolotl seems to be represented on one of the wall-paintings at Mitla,\nwhere he is characterized by the physiognomy of an animal with\nprojecting upper teeth. He wears Quetzalcoatl\u2019s conical cap of\njaguar-skin and his necklace of snail-shells. The dog\u2019s ears seem in\nthis place to be merged into tufts of feathers.\n\n\n\n\nPOTTERY FIGURES\n\nTwo small pottery figures of Xolotl found in the Valley of Mexico\ninsist strongly upon his animal character, but in neither of these is\nthe precise bestial type ascertainable. The first shows a face ending\nin a blunt snout and surmounted by a kind of wig, with ear-pieces\nrising on either side. What seems to be a collar of feathers surrounds\nthe neck. In the other he is represented as a little bear, or dog,\nwithout clothing, but having Quetzalcoatl\u2019s sliced snail-shell\nbreast-ornament. A stone head of him found in the Calle de las\nEscalerillas in Mexico City on 29th October 1900 shows a blunt, almost\nape-like animal face with large powerful molar teeth, dog-like canines,\nand large, sharp fangs, not unlike those with which Tlaloc was usually\nrepresented. Incised lines represent powerful muscular development in\nthe region of the nose and jaws. The type is only generally and not\nparticularly bestial, and it would seem that it was the aim of the\nsculptor to represent a ferocious animal countenance without laying\nstress upon the peculiarities of any one species.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nThe most important of the myths relating to Xolotl are those given by\nSahagun and Olmos, which have already been described at length in the\nchapter on Cosmogony. The Codex Vaticanus A says of him: \u201cThey believe\nXolotle to be the god of monstrous productions and of twins, which are\nsuch things as grow double. He was one of the seven who remained after\nthe deluge, and he presided over these thirteen signs which they\nusually considered unlucky.\u201d The Codex Telleriano-Remensis describes\nhim in verbiage almost identical.\n\nJuan de Cordova in his Zapotec Grammar writes: \u201cWhen a solar eclipse\noccurred then they said that the world is coming to an end, and that\nthe Sun-god wanted war, and that they would kill one another, whoever\nwas first able to do this. Likewise they said that the dwarfs were\ncreated by the sun, and that at the time (that is during the eclipse)\nthe Sun-god wanted the dwarfs as his property. And therefore wherever\ndwarfs or undersized persons were found in a house the people fell upon\nand killed them, and they hid themselves in order not to be killed, so\nthat during that time few escaped from their fate.\u201d\n\nOne of the hymns or songs given in the Sahagun MS. says of Xolotl:\n\n\n    Old Xolotl plays ball, plays ball\n    On the magic playing-ground.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThe Mexican game of tlachtli symbolized the movements of the moon (but\nmore probably of both sun and moon). This, perhaps the favourite\nMexican amusement, was a ball-game, played with a rubber ball by two\npersons one at each end of a T-shaped court, which in the manuscripts\nis sometimes represented as painted in dark and light colours, or in\nfour variegated hues. In several of the MSS. Xolotl is depicted\nstriving at this game against other gods. For example, in the Codex\nMendoza we see him playing with the Moon-god, and can recognize him by\nthe sign ollin which accompanies him, and by the gouged-out eye in\nwhich that symbol ends. Seler thinks \u201cthat the root of the name olin\nsuggested to the Mexicans the motion of the rubber ball olli and, as a\nconsequence, of ball-playing.\u201d It seems to me to have represented both\nlight and darkness, as is witnessed by its colours. Xolotl is, indeed,\nthe darkness that accompanies light. Hence he is \u201cthe twin\u201d or shadow,\nhence he travels with the sun and the moon, with one or other of which\nhe \u201cplays ball,\u201d overcoming them or losing to them. He is the god of\neclipse, and naturally a dog, the animal of eclipse. Peruvians, Tupis,\nCreeks, Iroquois, Algonquins, and Eskimos believed him to be so,\nthrashing dogs during the phenomenon, a practice explained by saying\nthat the big dog was swallowing the sun, and that by whipping the\nlittle ones they would make him desist. The dog is the animal of the\ndead, and therefore of the Place of Shadows. [331] Thus also Xolotl is\na monster, the sun-swallowing monster, like the Hindu Rahu, who chases\nthe sun and moon. As a shadow he is \u201cthe double\u201d of everything. The\naxolotl, a marine animal found in Mexico, was confounded with his name\nbecause of its monstrous appearance, and he was classed along with\nQuetzalcoatl merely because that god\u2019s name bore the element coatl,\nwhich may be translated either \u201ctwin\u201d or \u201csnake.\u201d Lastly, as he was\n\u201cvariable as the shade,\u201d so were the fortunes of the game over which he\npresided.\n\nAt the same time he seems to me to have affinities with the Zapotec and\nMaya lightning-dog peche-xolo [332] and may represent the lightning\nwhich descends from the thunder-cloud, the flash, the reflection of\nwhich arouses in many primitive people the belief that the lightning is\n\u201cdouble,\u201d and leads them to suppose a connection between the lightning\nand twins, or other phenomena of a twofold kind. As the dog, too, he\nhas a connection with Hades, and, said myth, was dispatched thence for\nthe bones from which man was created.\n\nHe is also a travelling god, for the shadows cast by the clouds seem to\ntravel quickly over plain and mountain. As the monstrous dwarf, too, he\nsymbolized the palace-slave, the deformed jester who catered for the\namusement of the great, and this probably accounts for the symbol of\nthe white hand outspread on his face, which he has in common with\nXochipilli and the other gods of pleasure. He bears a suspicious\nresemblance to the mandrake spirits of Europe and Asia, both as regards\nhis duality, his loud lamentation when as a double-rooted plant he was\ndiscovered and pulled up by the roots, and his symbol, which may be a\nreminiscence of the mandrake.\n\n\n\n\nIXTLILTON = \u201cTHE LITTLE BLACK FACE\u201d\n\n\n    Minor Name: Tlaltetecuin = \u201cHe who strikes the Earth.\u201d\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexican Valley.\n\n    Relationship: Brother of Macuilxochitl.\n\n    Symbol: The toualli, the four balls or beads, seen in the Sahagun\n    MS. and in the Codex Magliabecchiano (sheet 63) as a shield-device.\n\n    Calendar Place: Day ome tochtli.\n\n    Compass Direction: South.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\u2014Sheet 24: Here the god is represented opposite\nMacuilxochitl. He wears on his head a white-fringed cloth, such as is\nworn by Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, having on the top a bunch of downy feathers with\na crest of four plumes ending in white tips. He has a collar made of\nvertebr\u00e6 or animals\u2019 claws, and on the upper arm a ring, furnished on\none of its sides with a projection tapering to a point. The body is\nwhite and the face is painted black and white round the mouth. Seler in\nhis Commentary on this MS. (p. 127) thinks that the white ball or disk\ncovered with a radial design, and held by the god in his right hand, is\nperhaps a symbol for ilhuitl (\u201cday,\u201d \u201cfeast\u201d), and should be compared\nwith the parti-coloured, whorl-like disk which the dancer in Codex\nTelleriano-Remensis (sheet L, verso 1) holds in his hand, and which\nrepresents the sign of the eighth annual feast, the ueitecuilhuitl. The\ncrest worn by him, which is composed of black feathers, is the crest\nembellished with quetzal-feathers and stone knives, as in the Sahagun\nMS. and the Codex Magliabecchiano.\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheet 62: In this representation he faces the goddess\nXochiquetzal. He wears the face- and body-paint of a priest, with a\nwhite angular patch about the mouth, sprinkled with ulli gum. His crest\nis similar to that described above. The breast-ring seems to be\nimbedded in a motif bearing a resemblance to the tlachinalli\nfire-and-water symbol, and its significance in this place is hard to\ndefine. From the wrists droop elaborate feather ornaments, depending\nfrom a bracelet of stone knives. We seem to see the Dance-god in this\nplace in his ceremonial condition, as the ruler of the dance which\npreceded human sacrifice. Sheet 64 shows him similarly attired, but\nwithout the priest\u2019s body-paint. He seems about to enter the\ndance-house of the warriors, and a courtesan bears him company.\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\u2014Sheet 4: Here he is shown opposite Ueuecoytl, the\ncoyote god, engaged in the motions of the dance. Perhaps this position\nis more eloquent of motion than any other in the Mexican MSS. In this\nplace he appears to be almost identified with Macuilxochitl (q.v.), to\nwhose statuettes in the Museo Nacional de Mexico, the figure bears a\nstrong resemblance.\n\nSahagun MS.\u2014The face-paint is black and the god wears a feather comb\nset with flint knives. He has a collar of animal claws, most of which\nare those of the jaguar, and on his back he wears a wing-fan with the\nsun-banner fixed on it. Round his shoulders is a paper with the\nsun-signs painted on it. His feet are ornamented with bells and shells,\nand he wears \u201csun-sandals.\u201d On his arm he carries a solar shield and in\nhis hand he bears a staff with a heart.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nPractically all that is known regarding this god is recounted by\nSahagun, who says of him: \u201cThey made to this god an oratory of painted\nplanks, a sort of tabernacle, in which his image was placed. He had in\nthis oratory many jars full of water, and covered with plates, and this\nwater was called tilatl, or black water. When an infant fell ill they\ntook it to the temple of Ixtlilton and opened one of these jars, made\nhim drink it, and the malady left him. If one wished to give a feast to\nthe god he took his image home. This was neither painted nor\nsculptured, but was a priest who wore the ornaments of the god. During\nthe passage he was censed with copal. Arrived at the house, he was met\nwith singers and dancers, which dancing is different in a manner from\nours.\n\n\u201cI speak of that which we call areyto, and which they call\nmaceualiztli. They assembled in great numbers, two and two or three and\nthree, and formed a circle. They carried flowers in the hand, and were\ndecorated with plumage. They made at the same time a uniform movement\nwith their bodies, also with their feet and hands, in perfect\ncombination and very worthy to be seen. All their movements accorded\nwith the music of the drums. They accompanied the instruments with\ntheir sonorous voices, singing in accord the praises of the god to whom\nthey made the festival. They adapted their movements to the nature of\ntheir songs, for their dances and their intonation varied considerably.\n\n\u201cThe dance continued, and the \u2018god\u2019 himself, having danced for a long\ntime, descended to the cave where the octli was stored in jars. He\nopened one of these, an operation which was known as tlayacaxapotla\n(\u2018the new opening,\u2019 or \u2018the opening of the new\u2019). Then he and those who\naccompanied him drank of the octli. They then went to the court of the\nhouse, where they found three jars filled with the black water, which\nhad been covered for four days. He who played the r\u00f4le of god opened\nthese, and if he found them full of hairs, dust, charcoal, or any other\nuncleanness, it was said that the man of the house was a person of\nvicious life and bad character. Then the god went to the house, where\nhe was given the stuff called ixquen, for covering the face, in\nallusion to the shame which covered the master of the house.\u201d [333]\n\nFrom the foregoing it is clear that Ixtlilton was a god of medicinal\nvirtue, the deity who kept men in good health or who assisted their\nrecovery from sickness, therefore the brother of\nXochipilli-Macuilxochitl, god of good luck and merriment. His temple,\ncomposed of painted boards, would seem to have borne a resemblance to\nthe hut of the tribal medicine-man or shaman. A sacrifice was made to\nhim when the Mexican child first spoke.\n\n\n\n\nOMACATL = \u201cTWO REEDS\u201d\n\nSahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).\u2014The regions of the forehead,\nnose, and mouth are \u201cfestively\u201d painted. He wears a feather helmet and\na crown of spear-shafts. His overdress has the cross-hatching which\nusually indicates water, and is edged with red, decorated with the\neye-motif. Before him is a small shield with a plain, white surface,\nits lower rim edged with white feathers or paper, and in his hand he\ncarries the \u201cseeing\u201d or \u201cscrying\u201d implement, that some of the other\ngods, noticeably Tezcatlipoc\u00e2, possess. [334]\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThis god appears to have been partly of a convivial nature and presided\nover banquets and festivities generally. On the occasion of a public or\nprivate rejoicing he was borne thither by certain priests. If the\nbanquet was suitable he praised the host, but otherwise rebuked him,\nand it is said that, if irritated in any way, he would turn the viands\ninto hair (as did certain of the fairies of Brittany, when annoyed or\ninsulted). The night before a festival a cake like a large bone was\nmade, and this, it was feigned, was a bone of the deity himself. This\ncake was eaten and octli was drunk, after which spines of the maguey\nwere thrust into the stomach of the idol. There can be little doubt\nthat, as Sahagun states, [335] Omacatl was solely and simply a god of\nfestivities.\n\n\n\n\nCIUATETE\u00d4 = GODDESSES\nCIUAPIPILTIN = PRINCESSES\n\n\n    Area of Worship: Mexico.\n\n    Calendar Place: Supposed to descend to earth on initial days of\n    third tonalamatl quarter.\n\n    Festival: First day of ce mazatl (movable feast); ce quiauitl\n    (movable feast); ce ozomatli (movable feast).\n\n    Compass Direction: West.\n\n    Relationship: Frequently associated with the Uitznaua.\n\n\n\n\nASPECT AND INSIGNIA\n\nCodex Borgia.\u2014Sheets 47\u201348: Five figures here represent the Ciuatete\u00f4\nand are dressed in the style of Tlazolteotl, with the fillet and\near-plug of unspun cotton, and the golden nasal crescent worn by that\ngoddess and the octli-gods. In each case the eye has been gouged out\nand hangs out of the socket, as with Xolotl. They wear on their heads a\nfeather ornament like the heron-feather plume of the warrior caste, but\nconsisting of five white feathers or strips of paper above a bunch of\ndowny feathers. At the nape of the neck the figures wear a black vessel\nas their device, in which lies a bunch of malinalli grass. The upper\npart of the body is naked, and round the hips is wrapped a skirt\nshowing cross-bones on its surface and a border painted in the manner\nof the variegated coral snake. The resemblance between all five figures\nis close. Only the face-, arm-, and leg-painting is different. In the\ncase of the first the colour is white striped with red, in the second\nblue, in the third yellow, in the fourth red, and in the fifth black.\nAll hold in one hand a broom of malinalli grass, and in the other a\nblack obsidian sacrificial knife, a bone dagger, and an agave-leaf\nspike, both furnished with a flower symbolic of blood. They inhale the\nsmoke which ascends from a black incense or fire-vessel standing on the\nground before them. A rubber ball lies in the vessel of the first\nfigure; with the second the vessel is replaced by a cross-way, and the\nascending smoke by a centipede issuing from the mouth of the goddess.\nWith the third a skeleton is seated in the dish, holding a heart in one\nhand and a sacrificial knife in the other. The ascending smoke is\nreplaced by two streams of blood passing into the mouth of a skeleton,\none of which comes from the mouth of the figure, the other from her\nright breast. With the fourth figure are represented a bunch of\nmalinalli grass and a variegated snake. Nothing here enters the mouth\nof the Ciuatete\u00f4, but from it issues a similar snake, and another hangs\non each of her arms. Before the last figure, in the dish is perched a\nscreech-owl, and a stream of blood passes from the mouth of the figure\nto that of the owl.\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\u2014Sheets 77\u201379: Five figures are here also depicted\nwhich bear a resemblance to Tlazolteotl, but are without the golden\nnasal crescent. With the last four the same curling locks of hair are\nseen as in the case of the Codex Borgia figures, but the first figure\nis pictured with the hair bristling up on one side, as worn by the\nwarrior caste. The eye too is hanging out, and the headdresses and\nnape-vessels resemble those in Codex Borgia. In the majority of cases\nthe skirt is white with two diagonal red stripes crossing each other.\nOnly with the first figure is it painted red with white cross-bones.\nThe last figure has a skirt made of strips of malinalli grass fastened\nby a girdle made of a skeletal spinal column, on which is set a dead\nman\u2019s skull as back-mirror. All five wear the men\u2019s loin-cloth besides\nthe skirt. They carry the symbols of sacrifice and mortification as in\nthe Codex Borgia, and similar incense-vessels stand before them.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS\n\nSahagun says of the Ciuatete\u00f4:\n\n\u201cThe Ciuapipiltin, the noble women, were those who had died in\nchildbed. They were supposed to wander through the air, descending when\nthey wished to the earth to afflict children with paralysis and other\nmaladies. They haunted cross-roads to practise their maleficent deeds,\nand they had temples built at these places, where bread offerings in\nthe shape of butterflies were made to them, also the thunder-stones\nwhich fall from the sky. Their faces were white, and their arms, hands,\nand legs were coloured with a white powder, ticitl (chalk). Their ears\nwere gilded and their hair done in the manner of the great ladies.\nTheir clothes were striped with black, their skirts barred in different\ncolours, and their sandals were white.\u201d He further relates (bk. vi, c.\nxxix) that, when a woman who had died in her first childbed was buried\nin the temple-court of the Ciuatete\u00f4, her husband and his friends\nwatched the body all night in case young braves or magicians should\nseek to obtain the hair or fingers as protective talismans.\n\n\n\n\nNATURE AND STATUS\n\nThat the witches\u2019 sabbath was quite as famous or infamous an\ninstitution in ancient Mexico as in medi\u00e6val Europe is testified to by\nthe numerous accounts of the missionary chroniclers, which are further\ncorroborated by the native manuscripts. But in the days prior to the\ncoming of the Spaniards, it was thought of as being celebrated by the\ndead rather than the living. The Ciuatete\u00f4, or haunting mothers, were\nthose women who had died in their first child-bed, and who, out of envy\nfor their more fortunate sisters and their offspring, continued to\nhaunt the world at certain fixed periods, wreaking their spite upon all\nwho were so unlucky as to cross their path. They are represented in the\nancient paintings as dressed in the garments and insignia of the\ngoddess Tlazolteotl, the witch par excellence, with a fillet and\near-plug of unspun cotton, a golden crescent-shaped nasal ornament,\nempty eye-sockets, and the heron-feather headdress of the warrior\ncaste, for the woman who died in child-bed was regarded as equally\nheroic with the man who perished in battle. The upper parts of their\nbodies were nude, and round the hips they wore a skirt on which\ncross-bones were painted. They carried the witch\u2019s broom of malinalli\ngrass, a symbol of death, and they are sometimes associated with the\nsnake, screech-owl, and other animals of ill-omen. The face was thickly\npowdered with white chalk, and the region of the mouth, in some cases,\ndecorated with the figure of a butterfly. These furies were supposed to\ndwell in the region of the west, and as some compensation for their\nearly detachment from the earth-life, were permitted to accompany the\nsun in his course from noon to sunset, just as the dead warriors did\nfrom sunrise to noon. At night they left their occidental abode, the\nCiutlampa, or \u201cPlace of Women,\u201d and revisited the glimpses of the moon\nin search of the feminine gear they had left behind them\u2014the spindles,\nwork-baskets, and other articles used by Mexican women. The Ciuatete\u00f4\nwere especially potent for evil in the third quarter of the\nastrological year, and those who were so luckless as to meet them\nduring that season became crippled or epileptic. The fingers and hands\nof women who had died in bringing forth were believed by magicians,\nsoldiers, and thieves to have the property of crippling and paralysing\ntheir enemies or those who sought to hinder their nefarious calling,\nprecisely as Irish burglars formerly believed that the hand of a corpse\ngrasping a candle, which they called \u201cthe hand of glory,\u201d could ensure\nsound sleep in the inmates of any house they might enter.\n\nSays Sahagun: \u201cIt was said that they vented their wrath on people and\nbewitched them. When anyone is possessed by the demons, with a wry\nmouth and disturbed eyes, with clenched hands and inturned feet,\nwringing his hands and foaming at the mouth, they say that he has\nlinked himself to a demon; the Ciuatete\u00f4, housed by the crossways, have\ntaken his form.\u201d\n\nFrom this and other passages we may be justified in thinking that these\ndead women were also regarded as succubi, haunters of men, compelling\nthem to dreadful amours, and that they were credited with the evil eye\nis evident from the statement that their glances caused helpless terror\nand brought convulsions upon children, and that their jealousy of the\nhandsome was proverbial.\n\nThe divine patroness of these witches (for \u201cwitches\u201d they are called by\nthe old friar who interprets the Codex Telleriano-Remensis), who flew\nthrough the air upon their broomsticks and met at cross-roads, was\nTlazolteotl, a divinity who, like all deities of growth, possessed a\nplutonic significance. The broom is her especial symbol, and in Codex\nFej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer (sheet 17) we have a picture of her which represents\nher as the traditional witch, naked, wearing a peaked hat, and mounted\nupon a broomstick. In other places she is seen standing beside a house\naccompanied by an owl, the whole representing the witch\u2019s dwelling,\nwith medicinal herbs drying beneath the eaves. Thus the evidence that\nthe haunting mothers and their patroness present an exact parallel with\nthe witches of Europe seems complete, and should provide those who\nregard witchcraft as a thing essentially European with considerable\nfood for thought. The sorcery cult of the Mexican Nagualists of\npost-Columbian times was also permeated with practices similar to those\nof European witchcraft, and we read of its adherents smearing\nthemselves with ointment to bring about levitation, flying through the\nair, and engaging in wild and lascivious dances, precisely as did the\nadherents of Vaulderie, or the worshippers of the Italian Aradia.\n\nThere are not wanting signs that living women of evil reputation\ndesired to associate themselves with the Ciuatete\u00f4. Says the\ninterpreter of Codex Vaticanus A: \u201cThe first of the fourteen day-signs,\nthe house, they considered unfortunate, because they said that demons\ncame through the air on that sign in the figures of women, such as we\ndesignate witches, who usually went to the highways, where they met in\nthe form of a cross, and to solitary places, and that when any bad\nwoman wished to absolve herself of her sins, she went alone by night to\nthese places, and took off her garments and sacrificed there with her\ntongue (that is, drew blood from her tongue), and left the clothes\nwhich she had carried and returned naked as the sign of the confession\nof her sins.\u201d\n\nThe temples or shrines of the Ciuatete\u00f4 were situated at cross-roads,\nthe centres of ill-omen throughout the world. That they had a\nconnection with the lightning is shown by the fact that cakes in the\nshape of butterflies and \u201cthunder-stones\u201d were offered them. But they\nwere also connected with baneful astral or astrological influences, and\nare several times alluded to in the Interpretative Codices in this\nconnection. The seasons at which they were most potent for evil were\nthose connected with the western department of the tonalamatl, the five\ndays which compose the first column of the third quarter disposed in\ncolumns of five members, ce mazatl, ce quiauitl, ce ozomatli, ce calli,\nce quauhtli.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\nTHE TONALAMATL AND THE SOLAR CALENDAR\n\n\nTHE TONALAMATL\n\nA Thorough knowledge of the tonalamatl is essential in order to grasp\nthe fundamentals of Mexican religion, but its significance has perhaps\nbeen heightened by the difficulties which certainly attend its\nconsideration. I have endeavoured to present the subject here as simply\nas possible, and to keep all distracting side-issues for later\nconsideration and away from the main proof. Most of these, indeed, have\nbeen created by writers who have too closely identified the tonalamatl\nwith the solar calendar, and have added to the obscurity of the subject\nby the introduction of abstruse astronomical hypotheses which have only\na problematical connection with it. [336]\n\nThe word tonalamatl means \u201cBook of the Good and Bad Days,\u201d and it is\nprimarily a \u201cBook of Fate,\u201d from which the destiny of children born on\nsuch and such a day, or the result of any course to be taken or any\nventure made on any given day, was forecasted by divinatory methods,\nsimilar to those which have been employed by astrologers in many parts\nof the world in all epochs. The tonalamatl was, therefore, in no sense\na time-count or calendar proper, to which purpose it was not well\nsuited; but it was capable of being adapted to the solar calendar. It\nis equally incorrect to speak of the tonalamatl as a \u201critual calendar.\u201d\nIt has nothing to do directly with ritual or religious ceremonial, and\nalthough certain representations on some tonalamatls depict ritual\nacts, no details or directions for their operation are supplied.\n\nThe original tonalamatl was probably a day-count based on a lunar\nreckoning. The symbols appear to have been those of the gods or other\nmythological figures. Thus cipactli was merely the earth-monster,\nquauhtli the eagle, a surrogate for the Sun-god, and so on. Later the\ntonalamatl lost its significance as a time-count when it was superseded\nas such by the solar calendar. It then took on the complexion of a book\nof augury, so that the temporal connection it had with the gods was\naltered to a purely augural one. The various days thus became\nsignificant for good or evil according to the nature of the gods who\npresided over them, or over the precise hour in which a subject was\nborn or any act done. As in astrology, a kind of balance was held\nbetween good and evil, so that if the god presiding over the day was\ninauspicious, his influence might, in some measure, be counteracted by\nthat of the deity who presided over the hour in which a child first saw\nthe light or an event occurred.\n\n\n\nDAY-SIGNS\n\nThe tonalamatl was composed of 20 day-signs or hieroglyphs repeated 13\ntimes, or 260 day-signs in all. The origin of these has already been\ntreated of by Seler in Bulletin 28 of the Bureau of American Ethnology,\npp. 38 ff. These 260 days were usually divided into 20 groups of 13\ndays each, sometimes called \u201cweeks.\u201d To effect this division the\nnumbers 1 to 13 were added to the 20 day-signs in continuous series as\nfollow:\n\n\n               no.   name.           sign.\n\n                 1   cipactli        crocodile\n                 2   eecatl          wind\n                 3   calli           house\n                 4   cuetzpallin     lizard\n                 5   coatl           serpent\n                 6   miquiztli       death\u2019s-head\n                 7   mazatl          deer\n                 8   tochtli         rabbit\n                 9   atl             water\n                10   itzcuintli      dog\n                11   ozomatli        monkey\n                12   malinalli       grass\n                13   acatl           reed\n                 1   ocelotl         ocelot\n                 2   quauhtli        eagle\n                 3   cozcaquauhtli   vulture\n                 4   ollin           motion\n                 5   tecpatl         flint knife\n                 6   quiauitl        rain\n                 7   xochitl         flower\n\n\nand so on. It will be seen from this list that the fourteenth day-sign\ntakes the number 1 again. Each of the day-signs under this arrangement\nhas a number that does not recur in connection with that sign for a\nspace of 260 days, as is proved by the circumstance that the numbers\n[337] of the day-signs and figures (20 to 13), if multiplied together,\ngive as a product 260, the exact number of days in the tonalamatl.\n\nThe combination of signs and figures thus provided each day in the\ntonalamatl with an entirely distinct description. For example: the\nfirst day, cipactli, was in its first occurrence 1 cipactli; in its\nsecond 8 cipactli; in its third 2 cipactli; in its fourth 9 cipactli,\nand so on.\n\nNo day in the tonalamatl was simply described as cipactli, coatl, or\ncalli, and before its name was complete it was necessary to prefix to\nit one of the numbers from 1 to 13 as its incidence chanced to fall.\nThus it was designated as ce cipactli (one crocodile) or ome coatl (two\nsnake) as the case might be. Each of the 20 groups of 13 days (which\nare sometimes called \u201cweeks\u201d) was known as a division by the name of\nthe first day of the group, as ce cipactli (one crocodile), ce ocelotl\n(one ocelot), ce mazatl (one deer), and so on. A model tonalamatl would\nthus have appeared as follows:\n\n\n        Ce Cipactli\n        (1)     cipactli\n        (2)     eecatl\n        (3)     calli\n        (4)     cuetzpallin\n        (5)     coatl\n        (6)     miquiztli\n        (7)     mazatl\n        (8)     tochtli\n        (9)     atl\n        (10)    itzcuintli\n        (11)    ocomatli\n        (12)    malinalli\n        (13)    acatl.\n\n        Ce Ocelotl\n        (1)    ocelotl\n        (2)    quauhtli\n        (3)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (4)    ollin\n        (5)    tecpatl\n        (6)    quiauitl\n        (7)    xochitl\n        (8)    cipactli\n        (9)    eecatl\n        (10)   calli\n        (11)   cuetzpallin\n        (12)   coatl\n        (13)   miquiztli\n\n        Ce Mazatl\n        (1)    mazatl\n        (2)    tochtli\n        (3)    atl\n        (4)    itzcuintli\n        (5)    ocomatli\n        (6)    malinalli\n        (7)    acatl\n        (8)    ocelotl\n        (9)    quauhtli\n        (10)   cozcaquauhtli\n        (11)   ollin\n        (12)   tecpatl\n        (13)   quiauitl\n\n        Ce Xochitl\n        (1)    xochitl\n        (2)    cipactli\n        (3)    eecatl\n        (4)    calli\n        (5)    cuetzpallin\n        (6)    coatl\n        (7)    miquiztli\n        (8)    mazatl\n        (9)    tochtli\n        (10)   atl\n        (11)   itzcuintli\n        (12)   ocomatli\n        (13)   malinalli\n\n        Ce Acatl\n        (1)    acatl\n        (2)    ocelotl\n        (3)    quauhtli\n        (4)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (5)    ollin\n        (6)    tecpatl\n        (7)    quiauitl\n        (8)    xochitl\n        (9)    cipactli\n        (10)   eecatl\n        (11)   calli\n        (12)   cuetzpallin\n        (13)   coatl\n\n        Ce Miquiztli\n        (1)    miquiztli\n        (2)    mazatl\n        (3)    tochtli\n        (4)    atl\n        (5)    itzcuintli\n        (6)    ocomatli\n        (7)    malinalli\n        (8)    acatl\n        (9)    ocelotl\n        (10)   quauhtli\n        (11)   cozcaquauhtli\n        (12)   ollin\n        (13)   tecpatl\n\n        Ce Quiauitl\n        (1)    quiauitl\n        (2)    xochitl\n        (3)    cipactli\n        (4)    eecatl\n        (5)    calli\n        (6)    cuetzpallin\n        (7)    coatl\n        (8)    miquiztli\n        (9)    mazatl\n        (10)   tochtli\n        (11)   atl\n        (12)   itzcuintli\n        (13)   ocomatli\n\n        Ce Malinalli\n        (1)    malinalli\n        (2)    acatl\n        (3)    ocelotl\n        (4)    quauhtli\n        (5)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (6)    ollin\n        (7)    tecpatl\n        (8)    quiauitl\n        (9)    xochitl\n        (10)   cipactli\n        (11)   eecatl\n        (12)   calli\n        (13)   cuetzpallin\n\n        Ce Coatl\n        (1)    coatl\n        (2)    miquiztli\n        (3)    mazatl\n        (4)    tochtli\n        (5)    atl\n        (6)    itzcuintli\n        (7)    ocomatli\n        (8)    malinalli\n        (9)    acatl\n        (10)   ocelotl\n        (11)   quauhtli\n        (12)   cozcaquauhtli\n        (13)   ollin\n\n        Ce Tecpatl\n        (1)    tecpatl\n        (2)    quiauitl\n        (3)    xochitl\n        (4)    cipactli\n        (5)    eecatl\n        (6)    calli\n        (7)    cuetzpallin\n        (8)    coatl\n        (9)    miquiztli\n        (10)   mazatl\n        (11)   tochtli\n        (12)   atl\n        (13)   itzcuintli\n\n        Ce Ozomatli\n        (1)    ozomatli\n        (2)    malinalli\n        (3)    acatl\n        (4)    ocelotl\n        (5)    quauhtli\n        (6)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (7)    ollin\n        (8)    tecpatl\n        (9)    quiauitl\n        (10)   xochitl\n        (11)   cipactli\n        (12)   eecatl\n        (13)   calli\n\n        Ce Cuetzpallin\n        (1)    cuetzpallin\n        (2)    coatl\n        (3)    miquiztli\n        (4)    mazatl\n        (6)    tochtli\n        (6)    atl\n        (7)    itzcuintli\n        (8)    ocomatli\n        (9)    malinalli\n        (10)   acatl\n        (11)   ocelotl\n        (12)   quauhtli\n        (13)   cozcaquauhtli\n\n        Ce Ollin\n        (1)    ollin\n        (2)    tecpatl\n        (3)    quiauitl\n        (4)    xochitl\n        (5)    cipactli\n        (6)    eecatl\n        (7)    calli\n        (8)    cuetzpallin\n        (9)    coatl\n        (10)   miquiztli\n        (11)   mazatl\n        (12)   tochtli\n        (13)   atl\n\n        Ce Itzcuintli\n        (1)    itzcuintli\n        (2)    ocomatli\n        (3)    malinalli\n        (4)    acatl\n        (5)    ocelotl\n        (6)    quauhtli\n        (7)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (8)    ollin\n        (9)    tecpatl\n        (10)   quiauitl\n        (11)   xochitl\n        (12)   cipactli\n        (13)   eecatl\n\n        Ce Calli\n        (1)    calli\n        (2)    cuetzpallin\n        (3)    coatl\n        (4)    miquiztli\n        (5)    mazatl\n        (6)    tochtli\n        (7)    atl\n        (8)    itzcuintli\n        (9)    ocomatli\n        (10)   malinalli\n        (11)   acatl\n        (12)   ocelotl\n        (13)   quauhtli\n\n        Ce Cozcaquauhtli\n        (1)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (2)    ollin\n        (3)    tecpatl\n        (4)    quiauitl\n        (5)    xochitl\n        (6)    cipactli\n        (7)    eecatl\n        (8)    calli\n        (9)    cuetzpallin\n        (10)   coatl\n        (11)   miquiztli\n        (12)   mazatl\n        (13)   tochtli\n\n        Ce Atl\n        (1)    atl\n        (2)    itzcuintli\n        (3)    ocomatli\n        (4)    malinalli\n        (5)    acatl\n        (6)    ocelotl\n        (7)    quauhtli\n        (8)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (9)    ollin\n        (10)   tecpatl\n        (11)   quiauitl\n        (12)   xochitl\n        (13)   cipactli\n\n        Ce Eecatl\n        (1)    eecatl\n        (2)    calli\n        (3)    cuetzpallin\n        (4)    coatl\n        (5)    miquiztli\n        (6)    mazatl\n        (7)    tochtli\n        (8)    atl\n        (9)    itzcuintli\n        (10)   ocomatli\n        (11)   malinalli\n        (12)   acatl\n        (13)   ocelotl\n\n        Ce Quauhtli\n        (1)    quauhtli\n        (2)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (3)    ollin\n        (4)    tecpatl\n        (5)    quiauitl\n        (6)    xochitl\n        (7)    cipactli\n        (8)    eecatl\n        (9)    calli\n        (10)   cuetzpallin\n        (11)   coatl\n        (12)   miquiztli\n        (13)   mazatl\n\n        Ce Tochtli\n        (1)    tochtli\n        (2)    atl\n        (3)    itzcuintli\n        (4)    ocomatl\n        (5)    malinalli\n        (6)    acatl\n        (7)    ocelotl\n        (8)    quauhtli\n        (9)    cozcaquauhtli\n        (10)   ollin\n        (11)   tecpatl\n        (12)   quiauitl\n        (13)   xochitl\n\n\n\n\nTHE DAY-GODS\n\nEach of the day-signs of the tonalamatl was presided over by a god who\nwas supposed to exercise a special influence over it. These patron gods\nwere as follow:\n\n\n               Day-sign        Patron God\n               Cipactli        Tonacatecutli\n               Eecatl          Quetzalcoatl\n               Calli           Tepeyollotl\n               Cuetzpallin     Ueuecoyotl\n               Coatl           Chalchihuitlicue\n               Miquiztli       Tecciztecatl\n               Mazatl          Tlaloc\n               Tochtli         Mayauel\n               Atl             Xiuhtecutli\n               Itzcuintli      Mictlantecutli\n               Ozomatli        Xochipilli\n               Malinalli       Patecatl\n               Acatl           Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 (or variant)\n               Ocelotl         Tlazolteotl\n               Quauhtli        Xipe\n               Cozcaquauhtli   Itzpapalotl\n               Olin            Xolotl\n               Tecpatl         Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 (or variant)\n               Quiauitl        Chantico\n               Xochitl         Xochiquetzal\n\n\nThere are slight divergencies from the standard list in some of the\ncodices, but such are usually accounted for by the interpolation of\nvariant phases of the deities given. Illustrations of these signs will\nbe found in the several codices.\n\n\n\n\nGODS OF THE \u201cWEEKS\u201d\n\nEach of the 20 tonalamatl divisions, or \u201cweeks\u201d of 13 days each, as\nthey are sometimes erroneously but usefully designated, had also a\npatron god of its own which ruled over its fortunes. The initial days\nof these \u201cweeks\u201d gave the name to the entire \u201cweek,\u201d therefore the\ndesignation of the 20 weeks was the same as that of the 20 day-signs;\nbut the \u201cweeks,\u201d or rather the week-names, did not follow each other in\nthe same incidence as the days, as will be seen from the foregoing\ntable. The patron gods of the 20 weeks were, however, the same as those\nof the 20 days, with this exception, that whereas the gods of the first\n10 day-signs were taken also as the rulers of the first ten weeks,\n[338] the god of the eleventh day, Xochipilli, was allowed to drop out,\nthe god of the twelfth day, Patecatl, taking his place, the god of the\nthirteenth day taking the twelfth place, and so on, the deficiency in\nthe twentieth place being made up by adopting Itztli and Xiuhtecutli as\njoint gods of the twentieth \u201cweek.\u201d The list of gods of the \u201cweeks\u201d\nwould thus be as follows:\n\n\n              1   Ce cipactli        Tonacatecutli\n              2   Ce ocelotl         Quetzalcoatl\n              3   Ce mazatl          Tepeyollotl\n              4   Ce xochitl         Ueuecoyotl\n              5   Ce acatl           Chalchihuitlicue\n              6   Ce miquiztli       Tecciztecatl\n              7   Ce quiauitl        Tlaloc\n              8   Ce malinalli       Mayauel\n              9   Ce coatl           Xiuhtecutli\n             10   Ce tecpatl         Mictlantecutli\n             11   Ce ozomatli        Patecatl\n             12   Ce quetzpallin     Itzlacoliuhqui\n             13   Ce ollin           Tlazolteotl\n             14   Ce itzcuintli      Xipe Totec\n             15   Ce calli           Itzpapalotl\n             16   Ce cozcaquauhtli   Xolotl\n             17   Ce atl             Chalchiuhtotolin\n             18   Ce eecatl          Chantico\n             19   Ce quauhtli        Xochiquetzal\n             20   Ce tochtli         Xiuhtecutli and Itztli\n\n\n\n\n\u201cLORDS OF THE NIGHT\u201d\n\nBesides the patron gods of the days and the weeks there were nine\n\u201cLords of the Night,\u201d which, I am inclined to think with Seler, were\nnot \u201clords\u201d or governors of nine consecutive nights, but of nine hours\nof each night. Perhaps the best example of these is in the tonalamatl\nof the Aubin collection, where they are displayed in continuous and\nunbroken squares in the same small, square compartments as the\nday-signs and ciphers, and occupy the third and second last vertical\nrow of the upper and the third cross-row of the lower half. In Codex\nTelleriano-Remensis and Codex Vaticanus A they form a special series\nabove or else facing the day-signs. We also find them displayed on\nsheet 14 of Codex Borgia, on sheets 19\u201323 of Codex Vaticanus B, and on\nsheets 2\u20134 of Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer. We know the names of these gods\nfrom the first interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A, who gives them as\nfollows, with their influences:\n\n\n                   1   Xiuhtecutli        Good\n                   2   Itztli             Bad\n                   3   Piltzintecutli     Good\n                   4   Centeotl           Indifferent\n                   5   Mictlantecutli     Bad\n                   6   Chalchihuitlicue   Indifferent\n                   7   Tlazolteotl        Bad\n                   8   Tepeyollotl        Good\n                   9   Tlaloc             Indifferent\n\n\nGama describes these nine gods as Acompa\u00f1ados (Companions) and as\nSe\u00f1ores de la Noche (Lords of the Night), and from his obscure\nrendering of Cristoval de Castillo, as well as from the Manuel de\nMinistros de Indios of Jacinto de la Serna, we gather that they held\nsway over the night from sunset to sunrise. The Mexicans divided the\nnight into nine hours, and it is obvious from the astrological point of\nview that the Mexican soothsayers who used the tonalamatl must have\nfound it necessary to estimate not only the \u201cfate\u201d of the several days,\nbut also that of the several hours and times of the day and night.\n[339]\n\n\n\n\nTHE LORDS OF THE DAY-HOURS\n\nThis of course applies with equal force to the thirteen so-called\n\u201cLords of the Day,\u201d who almost certainly acted as gods of the thirteen\nhours of the day. They were [340]:\n\n\n                         1   Xiuhtecutli\n                         2   Tlaltecutli\n                         3   Chalchihuitlicue\n                         4   Tonatiuh\n                         5   Tlazolteotl\n                         6   Teoyaomiqui\n                         7   Xochipilli\n                         8   Tlaloc\n                         9   Quetzalcoatl\n                        10   Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\n                        11   Mictlantecutli\n                        12   Tlauizcalpantecutli\n                        13   Ilamatecutli\n\n\nSeler, in his Commentary on the Aubin Tonalamatl, gives the following\ntable of the gods of the night and day hours:\n\n\n                                 (Noon)\n                         7. Xochipilli-Cinteotl\n                      6. Teoyaomiqui    8. Tlaloc\n                 5. Tlacolteotl         9. Quetzalcoatl\n            4. Tonatiuh                    10. Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\n      3. Chalchiuhtlicue          (Day)         11. Mictlantecutli\n   2. Tlaltecutli                             12. Tlauizcalpantecutli\n1. Xiuhtecutli                                         13. Ilamatecutli\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\nIX. Tlaloc                                               I. Xiuhtecutli\n   VIII. Tepeyollotl             (Night)                   II. Itztli\n    VII. Tlacolteotl                   III. Piltzintecutli-Tonatiuh\n            VI. Chalchihuitlicue                IV. Cinteotl\n                           V. Mictlantecutli\n                               (Midnight)\n\n\nThis casts light on the method of augury of the priests. Thus the hour\nof noon was auspicious because it was connected with the mystic number\n7, and 9 was a number of good augury with sorcerers because it gave the\nnumber of the underworlds and of the night-hours. [341]\n\n\n\n\nTONALAMATL FESTIVALS\n\nAlthough the tonalamatl has been called the \u201critual calendar,\u201d most of\nthe feast-days theoretically vested in the \u201cmonths\u201d of the solar\ncalendar and were called after them; but certain of the festivals\nappear to have been connected with the tonalamatl, to have vested in\nit, so to speak. We know these by their names, as they are called after\nthe several tonalamatl dates on which they fall. Thus a festival taking\nthe name of a day-sign theoretically belongs to the tonalamatl, and one\ncalled after a month-name to the solar calendar proper. Moreover, the\nformer were known as \u201cmovable,\u201d the latter as \u201cfixed,\u201d feasts.\nOccasionally these clashed, as Sahagun states, with the result that the\ntonalamatl feasts usurped the place of the calendar celebrations. [342]\n\n\n\n\nRECAPITULATION\n\nRecapitulating, we find:\n\n1. That the tonalamatl was a \u201cBook of Fate,\u201d and not in itself a\ncalendar or time-count.\n\n2. That it was composed of 20 day-signs, repeated 13 times, or 260\nday-signs in all.\n\n3. That these were usually divided into 20 groups of 13 days each,\nerroneously but usefully called \u201cweeks.\u201d The initial days of these\n\u201cweeks\u201d gave the name to the entire \u201cweek.\u201d\n\n4. To effect this division the numbers 1 to 13 were added to the 20\nday-signs in continuous series.\n\n5. That by this arrangement each day-sign had a number that did not\nrecur in connection with that sign for a space of 260 days.\n\n6. That the name of a day-sign in the tonalamatl was not complete\nwithout its accompanying number.\n\n7. Each of the day-signs of the tonalamatl was presided over by a god\nwho was supposed to exercise a special influence over it. (See list.)\n\nEach of the 20 tonalamatl divisions or \u201cweeks\u201d had also a patron god of\nits own. (See list.)\n\n8. Besides the patron gods of the days and \u201cweeks\u201d there were:\n\n    (a) Nine \u201clords\u201d or patron gods of the night-hours.\n    (b) Thirteen \u201clords\u201d of the day-hours.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TONALAMATL AND THE SOLAR CALENDAR\n\nIt will be asked: \u201cIn what manner did the soothsayers reconcile the\ndays of the tonalamatl with those of the calendar?\u201d By what method did\nthey find such and such a day in the tonalamatl in the tonalpohualli,\nor solar calendar? How was the one adjusted to the other? In order to\nreply clearly to this question, it will first be necessary to describe\nbriefly the nature of the Mexican solar calendar or time-count proper.\nThe Mexican solar year consisted of 365 days, divided into 18 periods\nof 20 days each, called cempohualli, or \u201cmonths,\u201d and one period of 5\ndays, known as nemontemi, or \u201cuseless\u201d or \u201cunlucky\u201d days.\n\nThe Cempohualli.\u2014The names of the 18 cempohualli, or \u201cmonths,\u201d were\n[343]:\n\n\n  Month              Seasonal Character            Presiding God\n  Atlacahualco       Ceasing of rain               Tlaloqu\u00ea\n  Tlacaxipeuliztli   Seed time                     Xipe\n  Tozoztontli        Rain desired                  Tlaloqu\u00ea\n  Ueitozoztli        Worship of new maize          Chicomecoatl\n  Toxcatl            Commencement of rainy         Uitzilopochtli and\n                     season                        Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\n  Etzalqualiztli     Rain desired                  Tlaloc\n  Tecuilhuitontli    Rain desired                  Uixtociuatl\n  Ueitecuilhuitl     Adoration of the ripening     Xilonen\n                     maize\n  Tlaxochimaco       First-flowering               Uitzilopochtli\n  Xocohuetzi         Heat for ripening             Xiuhtecutli\n  Ochpaniztli        Refreshment of the            Tlazolteotl\n                     Earth-mother\n  Teotleco           Return of the gods from       Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\n                     rest\n  Tepeilhuitl        Rain                          Tlaloc\n  Quecholli          Rain                          Mixcoatl\n  Panquetzaliztli    Winter solstice               Uitzilopochtli\n  Atemoztli          Rain                          Tlaloqu\u00ea\n  Tititl             The season of sereness        Ilamatecutli\n  Izcalli            Toasting of the corn supply   Xiuhtecutli\n\n\nEight out of eighteen of these festivals are thus connected with the\nappeal for rain, or the celebration of its appearance. The remainder\ncelebrate the growth of the maize in its various stages, rejoice at the\nappearance of these blossoms which were so dear to the Mexican heart,\nare held in honour of the Earth-mother, or mark the solstices.\n\nTo the combination of the tonalamatl and the solar calendar the\ntonalamatl contributed the names of the days, and the solar calendar\nthe divisions of the year in which the days found positions. The\ntonalamatl and the solar year thus went side by side, each recommencing\nwhenever it reached its own limits. The days in the solar year were\nknown by the names of the days in the tonalamatl which were affixed to\nthem. Thus it is plain that 105 of the 260 tonalamatl day-names had to\nbe repeated in the solar year of 365 days.\n\n\n\n\nNAMES OF THE YEARS\n\nThe year was known by the tonalamatl sign of the day with which it\nbegan. As there were 20 day-signs, and 5, the least common multiple of\n365 and 20, goes into 20 exactly 4 times, the year could begin with one\nof the four signs only. These were Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, Tochtli.\n\nEach month of a given year began with the same tonalamatl day-sign. The\n20 day-signs always occupied the same position in all the months of a\ngiven year, as there were 20 days in a Mexican month. But since the\nlast month was followed by the 5 nemontemi, or \u201cunlucky\u201d days, it\nfollows that each year began with a day-sign five days later than the\nlast. Also, since 365, the number of days in a year, is divisible by 13\nwith 1 as remainder, it follows that each year began with a day-number\none in advance of the last.\n\nThe commencement of the year coincided with the commencement of the\ntonalamatl once in four years.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CALENDAR ROUND\n\nFifty-two years made up what has been called by modern students the\nCalendar Round, and by the Mexicans was known as xiuhmolpilli or\ntoxiuhmolpio, \u201cyear bundle\u201d or \u201cour years will be bound.\u201d The Mexicans,\ndiffering in this from the Maya, never progressed beyond the Calendar\nRound in the development of their chronological system, as is proved by\nthe fact that dates of precisely the same designation occurred at\nintervals of every 52 years.\n\nThe four signs which alone might commence the year\u2014acatl (reed),\ntecpatl (flint), calli (house), tochtli (rabbit), took the numbers 1 to\n13 continuously. The numbering of the years thus provided that every\none of the 52 years of the xiuhmolpilli (or Calendar Round) was\ndistinguished from every other. The whole cycle of 52 years was thus\ndivided into four quarters of 13 years each. These year-names were each\nreferred to a particular quarter of the heavens, the acatl years to the\neast, tecpatl to the north, calli to the west, and tochtli to the\nsouth. The computation began in the east with the acatl years,\nstrangely enough with 2 acatl, the cycle thus closing with 1 tochtli.\nThe Aztecs believed that the current epoch had begun with the year 1\ntochtli, for it was in this period that the world had undergone\nreconstruction. Not until this was completed could the first cycle of\n52 years be begun. Therefore 2 acatl is the opening year of the first\nand of all following cycles, and is usually represented by the picture\nof a fire-drill. The years had also colours and patron gods of their\nown as follows: acatl\u2014yellow (gods Tonatiuh and Itztli); tecpatl\u2014red\n(god Mictlantecutli); calli\u2014blue (earth-goddesses); tochtli\u2014white\n(Tlaloc).\n\nArranged in tabular form, this would appear as follows:\n\n\n          Year-name   Direction   Colour   Patron God\n          Acatl       East        Yellow   Tonatiuh and Itztli\n          Tecpatl     North       Red      Mictlantecutli\n          Calli       West        Blue     Earth-goddesses\n          Tochtli     South       White    Tlaloc\n\n\n\n\nTHE NEMONTEMI\n\nThe five nemontemi, or \u201cuseless\u201d days, were evidently a later\ninterpolation, introduced at a period when it was discovered that an\noriginal time-count of 360 days did not fulfil the solar round. They\nwere counted and distinguished, however, in precisely the same manner\nas the other days, that is the numerals and hieroglyphs of the\ntonalamatl were adjusted to them as well as to the rest, except that\nthey had no \u201clords\u201d or rulers of day or night. They were regarded as\nmost unlucky and no business of any kind was transacted upon them, only\nthe most necessary offices of life being undertaken whilst they lasted.\nThey are in no sense to be regarded as intercalary days, for, despite\nclassical statements to the contrary, the Mexicans were ignorant of the\nmethods of chronological intercalation, and a study of the tonalamatl\nwill show that the introduction of any intercalary period would render\nit nugatory and destroy that ability to return into itself which is one\nof its chief characteristics. These nemontemi did not always fall in\nthe same period of the solar year, but were sometimes placed before\nQuaitleloa, now before Tititl, now before Atemoztli, or elsewhere, as\nthe priestly authorities decided. For the Mexican year of 365 days was\nshort of the true solar year by six hours and some minutes, therefore\nin the course of years the festivals became displaced and their\nchronological revision and balance became necessary and could be\neffected by the shifting of the nemontemi.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VENUS PERIOD\n\nTo F\u00f6rstemann and Seler is due the discovery that the Mexicans\npossessed a system of computing time based upon the synodic revolution\nof the planet Venus. The Venus period or \u201cyear\u201d comprised 584 days. It\nwould seem as if the Maya and Mexicans had striven to discover a common\nmeasure for the numbers 584, 365, and 260. Five synodical revolutions\nof Venus are equivalent to eight solar years (5 \u00d7 584) = 2,920 = (8 \u00d7\n365), but the number 2,920 is not divisible by 260, the number of days\nin the tonalamatl. Any accord between the two periods is not possible\nuntil the sum of 104 years is reached, that is to say, 65 Venus periods\nare equal to 146 tonalamatl periods both of which contain 37,960 days.\n\nLike the tonalamatl, the Venus period was productive of sacerdotal\nspeculation, commencing with the day cipactli. At the end of six\nperiods the Venus \u201cyear\u201d recommenced with the same sign affected by a\ndifferent figure. At the end of thirteen periods the sign differed, but\nthe figure was the same. The question has been learnedly discussed in\nits entirety by Seler, to whose work the reader is referred. [344]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS RELATING TO THE TONALAMATL\n\n\nBulletin 28 of the Bureau of American Ethnology has several papers by\nSeler and F\u00f6rstemann on the tonalamatl.\n\nMorley, \u201cAn Introduction to the Study of Maya Hieroglyphs\u201d (Bulletin 57\nof the Bureau of American Ethnology). (Washington, 1915.)\n\nBowditch, Maya Numeration, Calendar and Astronomy. (Cambridge, Mass.,\n1910.)\n\nPayne, History of the New World, vol. ii, pp. 310\u2013332.\n\n\n\nThe beginner is strongly advised to peruse these works before\napproaching the subject in the pages of the older Spanish writers, most\nof whom possessed very hazy notions regarding it. By far the best\ntextbook is that of Morley, who, although dealing with the Maya\ncalendar at much greater length, writes with great clarity upon the\nMexican system, which is indeed identical with the Maya tonalamatl in\nits simpler manifestations. Bowditch\u2019s book is more for advanced\nstudents of the Maya hieroglyphical system, the senior wranglers of the\nsubject, so to speak. But in places he dwells upon the Mexican\ntonalamatl in an illuminating and suggestive manner. The papers of\nSeler and other German writers on the tonalamatl, although most\nvaluable, by no means possess the admirable clarity and simplicity of\nMorley\u2019s invaluable essay. A good short article on the calendar is that\nof Dr. Preuss in Dr. Hastings\u2019 Encyclop\u00e6dia of Religion and Ethics,\nvol. iii, pp. 124 ff.\n\nA useful essay on the tonalamatl is that of de Jonghe, \u201cDer\nalt-mexikanische Kalendar,\u201d in Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Ethnologie, 1906; and in\nthe Journal des Am\u00e9ricanistes de Paris, New Series, vol. iii (Paris,\n1906), pp. 197\u2013228.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MEXICAN RELIGION\n\n\nThe works contained in this bibliography are included because they\nrefer to the religion of ancient Mexico. It must be distinctly\nunderstood that it does not aim at providing a comprehensive list of\nworks on Mexican history or arch\u00e6ology or on the religion of the Maya.\nIt is believed that no work of importance, old or new, which deals with\nMexican religion has been omitted. The books contained in the first\npart are arranged in accordance with an estimate of their degree of\nimportance to the student. Those in the second part are alphabetically\narranged. The bibliography at the end of the appendix on the Tonalamatl\nshould also be consulted.\n\n\n\n\nPART I\n\n(Works written by the earlier Spanish authors)\n\n\nBernardino de Sahagun, Historia Universal de Nueva-Espa\u00f1a. (Mexico,\n1829; London, 1830\u2014in vol. vi of Lord Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities of\nMexico.) French translation by Jourdanet and Sim\u00e9on (Paris, 1880).\n\nJ. Torquemada, Monarquia Indiana. (Madrid, 1723.)\n\nTorribio de Benavente (Motolinia), Historia de los Indios de\nNueva-Espa\u00f1a. In Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities of Mexico, vol. ix, pp. 469\nff.; see also L. G. Pimentel, Memoriales de Fray Torribio de Motolinia\n(Paris, 1903), which contains materials not in the Historia. See also\nIcazbalceta.\n\nFernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, in vol. ix of\nKingsborough\u2019s Antiquities of Mexico (London, 1830\u20131848). Edited by\nAlfredo Chavero (Mexico, 1891); Historia Chichimeca, in vol. ix of\nKingsborough\u2019s Antiquities of Mexico. Edited by Chavero (Mexico, 1892).\n\nDiego Mu\u00f1oz Camargo, Historia de Tlascala. Edited by A. Chavero.\n(Mexico, 1892.)\n\nFrancesco Saverio Clavigero, Storia Antico del Mexico. (Cesena, 1780.)\nEnglish translation by Charles Cullen, 2 vols. (London, 1787.)\n\nLorenzo Boturini Benaduci, Idea de una Nueva Historia General de la\nAmerica Septentrional. (Madrid, 1746.)\n\nAntonio de Herrera, Historia General de los Indios Occidentales\n(1601\u20131615, 5 vols. folio; Madrid, 1728\u20131730). English translation by\nStevens (London, 1725\u20131726\u2014considerably abridged).\n\nJos\u00e9 de Acosta, Historia Natural y Moral de Las Yndias. (Seville,\n1580.) English translation in Purchas his Pilgrimes.\n\nFrancisco Lopez de Gomara, Cronica de la Nueva-Espa\u00f1a. (Medina, 1553;\nAntwerp, 1554; Mexico, 1836.) English translation, The Pleasant History\nof the Conquest of the West Indies. (London, 1578.)\n\nAntonio Leon y Gama, Descripcion de las Dos Piedros. (Mexico, 1792.)\n\nGonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, Historia General y Natural de las\nIndias Occidentales. (1535, vol. i only.) (Madrid, 1851\u20131855, 4 vols.)\n\nJacinto de la Serna, Manuel de Ministros de Indios para el Conocimiento\nde sus Idolatrias, y Extirpacion de Ellas. (Madrid, 1892.)\n\nAugustin Vetancurt, Teatro Mexicana. (Mexico, 1697; 1870\u20131871.)\n\nM. F. de E., Veytia, Historia Antigua de Mejico. (Mexico, 1836.)\n(Partly in Kingsborough, vol. viii.)\n\nThere may also be consulted:\n\nB. de Las Casas, Historia de las Indias.\n\nThe best edition is that of Madrid (5 vols., 1875\u20131876).\n\nBernal Diaz del Castillo, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de\nNueva-Espa\u00f1a. Translated by A. P. Maudslay as The True History of the\nConquest of Mexico. (Hakluyt Society, London, 1908.)\n\nIt gives but little information regarding Mexican religion.\n\nHernan Cort\u00e9z, Cartas de Relacion. English translation by F. A. MacNutt\nunder the title of The Five Letters of Cort\u00e9z to the Emperor Charles V.\n(New York, 1908.)\n\nA. Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities of\nMexico, vol. vii, contains much valuable mythical material; also edited\nby Orozco y Berra. (Mexico, 1878.)\n\nDuran, Historia de las Indias (ed. Ramirez, 2 vols., Mexico,\n1867\u20131880).\n\nIt is full, valuable, and sometimes indispensable.\n\nHistoria de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, in Annals of the Mexican\nMuseum, vol. ii. Translated by T. Phillips, Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., vol.\nxxi.\n\nAnnales de San Anton, Mu\u00f1on Chimalpahin. (Paris, 1889, translated by R.\nSim\u00e9on.)\n\nOf considerable use as regards myth.\n\nAnales de Quauhtitlan (or Codex Chimalpopoc\u00e2) in Anales del Museo\nNacional de Mexico, end of tom. iii.\n\nThevet, \u201cHistoire de Mechyque\u201d (in Journ. Soc. Amer. de Paris, 1905,\npp. 1\u201341).\n\nG. de Mendieta, Historia Ecclesiastica Indiana. (Icazbalceta, Mexico,\n1870.)\n\nG. Icazbalceta, Nueva Coleccion de documentos para la historia de\nMexico (Mexico, series i, vol. i, 1858; vol. ii, 1866; series ii,\nMexico, 1886\u20131892).\n\nThe first volume of series i contains Motolinia\u2019s Hist. de los Indios,\nand the third volume of the second series the work of Pomar y Zurita.\n\nTernaux-Compans, Voyages, Relations et M\u00e9moires originaux pour servir \u00e0\nl\u2019histoire de la d\u00e9couverte de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique. (Paris, 1837\u20131841, 20 vols.)\n\nThis contains Mendieta, Tezozomoc, Ixtlilxochitl, Camargo, etc.\n\nNavarrete, Coleccion de los Viages y descubrimientos. (Madrid,\n1825\u20131837, 5 vols.)\n\nMany texts and rare works are also to be found in Lord Kingsborough\u2019s\nAntiquities of Mexico (London, 1830\u20131848), especially Dupaix, Monuments\nof New Spain (in vols. iv and vi); translation of the text of the\ninterpretative codices (see Appendix of this work), Sahagun (in vol.\nviii), Veytia, Historia del origen de las Gentes que Poblaron La\nAmerica Septentrional (in vol. viii). Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana (in\nvol. ix), Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca (in vol. ix), Pimentel,\nRitos, Antiguos, Sacrificios, etc. (in vol. x).\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\n(Works written from 1800\u20131920)\n\n\nAlexander, Hartley Burr, Latin-American Mythology. (Boston, 1920.)\n\nAnales del Museo Nacional de Mexico. Tom. i, Mexico, 1877. (In\nprogress.)\n\nBancroft, Hubert Howe, The Native Races of the Pacific States, 5 vols.\n(New York and London, 1875\u20131876.)\n\nThis great compilation is admirable as a painstaking pr\u00e9cis of the\nextensive sources relating to Mexican and Mayan history and religion,\nbut its author and his assistants confined themselves to collection and\ncompilation alone, and ventured upon no critical treatment of the\nsubject, for which task, they admit, they were not equipped.\n\nBatres, L., Arch\u00e6ological Explorations in Escalerillas Street, City of\nMexico, Year 1900. (Mexico, 1902.)\n\nBeuchat, H., Manuel d\u2019Arch\u00e9ologie Am\u00e9ricaine (Am\u00e9rique\nPr\u00e9historique\u2014Civilisations disparues). (Paris, 1912.)\n\nA useful if somewhat condensed review of American arch\u00e6ology. Chapitre\niv, livre ii, gives a short and not very thorough account of the gods,\nrites, priesthood, and magic of the ancient Mexicans. Chapitre v deals\nwith the Calendar, and chapitre vi is useful for reference regarding\nthe manuscripts and writing. There is a good bibliography.\n\nBrasseur de Bourbourg, E. C., Histoire des nations civilis\u00e9es du\nMexique et de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique Centrale durant les si\u00e8cles ant\u00e9rieurs \u00e0\nChristophe Colomb. 4 vols. (Paris, 1857\u20131859.)\n\nThe Abb\u00e9 Brasseur\u2019s idea was to explain American mythology as the\napotheosis of history. But he unearthed many priceless materials, some\nof which are included in this work.\n\nBrinton, Daniel Garrison, American Hero Myths (Philadelphia, 1882);\n\u201cWere the Toltecs an Historic Nationality?\u201d (Proc. Am. Phil. Soc.,\nxxiv, pp. 229\u2013241, 1887); Essays of an Americanist (Philadelphia,\n1890); The Myths of the New World (3rd edition, revised) (Philadelphia,\n1905).\n\nBrinton\u2019s books are all well written, but his ideas regarding mythology\ngenerally are now a little out-of-date. His works, however, will repay\nperusal. The student must be on his guard against Brinton\u2019s\netymologies, as his knowledge of the native languages, though\nextensive, was not exact.\n\nCharency, H. de, Le Mythe de Votan, \u00e9tude sur les origines Asiatiques\nde la Civilisation Am\u00e9ricaine. (Alen\u00e7on, 1871.)\n\nCharnay, D\u00e9sir\u00e9, Les anciennes Villes du nouveau monde. (Paris, 1885.)\nEnglish translation as Ancient Cities of the New World. (London, 1887.)\n\nCharnay\u2019s acquaintance with Mexican arch\u00e6ology and mythology was\nelementary.\n\nChavero, Alfredo, Mexico a traves de los siglos, tom. i; Historia\nantigua y de la Conquista. (Barcelona, 1884.)\n\nThis enthusiastic and painstaking antiquary did much for the\nelucidation of all subjects relating to ancient Mexico, especially as\nregards the discovery and criticism of ancient works and manuscripts.\nBut his zeal frequently betrayed him into somewhat fanciful\nexplanations.\n\nChevalier, M., Le Mexique Ancien et Moderne. (Paris, 1886.)\n\nCongr\u00e8s international des Am\u00e9ricanistes\u2014comptes rendus. (Biennially,\n1878 ff.)\n\nDieseldorff, E. P., \u201cCuculcan\u201d (Zeit. f\u00fcr Ethnol., xxvii, Verhand., pp.\n780\u2013873).\n\nGamio, Manuel, \u201cInvestigaciones Arqueologicas en Mexico, 1914\u20131915\u201d\n(Proc. Nineteenth Int. Cong. of Amer., Washington, 1915). (Washington,\nD.C., 1917.)\n\nHaebler, K., Die Religion der Mittleren Amerika. (M\u00fcnster, 1899.)\n\nHamy, Galerie Am\u00e9ricaine du Mus\u00e9e d\u2019ethnographie au Trocad\u00e9ro. (Paris,\n1897.)\n\nHumboldt, Alexander von, Vues des Cordill\u00e8res. (Paris, 1816.) English\ntranslation by Helen Williams, 1815.\n\nJoyce, Thomas Athol, Mexican Arch\u00e6ology: an Introduction to the\nArch\u00e6ology of the Mexican and Mayan Civilizations of pre-Spanish\nAmerica. (London, 1914.)\n\nChapters ii, iii, and iv give a useful summary of Mexican Mythology,\nthe Calendar and Calendrical Feasts, and Writing, Priesthood, Medicine,\nand Burial.\n\nJournal de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Am\u00e9ricanistes de Paris (passim), tom. i.\n(Paris, 1896.) (In progress.)\n\nM\u00fcller, J. G., Geschichte der Amerikanischen Urreligion. (Berlin,\n1867.)\n\nAn industrious compilation, which must be used with caution. Its\nquotations are nearly all at second-hand and its hypotheses are not a\nlittle strained.\n\nNadaillac, Marquis de, Prehistoric America (trans.). (London, 1885.)\n\nVery much in the nature of a popular presentation of the subject.\n\nNuttall, Zelia, The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World\nCivilizations. (Papers, Peabody Mus., ii, 1901.)\n\nOrozco y Berra, Historia antigua y de la Conquista de Mexico. 4 vols.\n(Mexico, 1880.)\n\nPayne, Edward James, History of the New World called America. (London,\n1892\u20131899.)\n\nThis exhaustive work, which deals with the evolution of culture on the\nAmerican continent, is admirably conceived, and is obviously the result\nof much thought and research. As regards mythology, however, the\nauthor, although well versed in the early writings relating to Mexico,\nseems to have been unacquainted with those of modern specialists on the\nsubject, and this, of course, limits his outlook. Nor does he display\nany acquaintance with the Mexican native codices.\n\nPe\u00f1afiel, A., Monumentos del arte Mexicano antiguo, 3 vols. (Berlin,\n1890.) Destruccion del templo mayor de Mexico y los monumentos\nencontrados en la ciudad en la excavaciones de 1897 y 1902. (Mexico,\n1910.)\n\nPrescott, W. H., History of the Conquest of Mexico. (New York, 1843.)\n\nThe few pages in which Prescott describes the religion of ancient\nMexico are now quite useless for the purposes of the serious student.\n\nR\u00e9ville, A., Les Religions du Mexique, de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique Centrale et du\nP\u00e9rou. (Paris, 1885.) English translation as Origin and Growth of\nReligion as Illustrated by the Native Religions of Mexico and Peru\n(Hibbert Lectures), 1884.\n\nA sketchy and inaccurate account, showing only a second-hand\nacquaintance with the subject.\n\nRobelo, C. A., Diccionario de mitologia Nahoa in Annals of the Mexican\nMuseum, vols. ii\u2013v, Second Series. (Mexico, 1905.)\n\nSaville, M. H., \u201cThe Plumed Serpent in Northern Mexico.\u201d (The\nArch\u00e6ologist, vol. ii, pp. 291\u2013293.)\n\nSeler, Eduard, Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur Amerikanischen Sprach- und\nAltertumskunde, 5 vols. (Berlin, 1902\u20131915.)\n\nThis monumental work, comprising almost the entire output of its\nlearned author, is indispensable for the study of Mexican arch\u00e6ology\nand religion.\n\nSpence, Lewis, The Civilization of Ancient Mexico (Cambridge Manuals of\nScience and Letters). (London, 1911.) The Myths of Mexico and Peru.\n(London, 1913.)\n\nThe former work is a digest of the strictly verifiable material of\nMexican history and religion; the latter a sketch of the subject on\npopular lines.\n\nSpinden, Herbert J., A Study of Maya Art (Memoirs of the Peabody\nMuseum, Harvard, vol. vi). (Cambridge, Mass., 1913.)\n\nThis admirable work, which is chiefly concerned with the subject-matter\nand development of Maya art, touches in places upon the forms and\ninsignia of the Mexican deities.\n\nStrebel, H., Alt-Mexico, Arch\u00e4ologische Beitr\u00e4ge, 2 vols. (Hamburg and\nLeipzig.)\n\nTylor, E. B., Anahuac or Mexico and the Mexicans. (London, 1861.)\n\nVeytia, M., Historia antigua de Mexico. (Mexico, 1836.)\n\nWesselhoeft, Selma, and Parker, A. M., Mexican and Central American\nAntiquities, Calendar Systems and History. Twenty-four papers by Eduard\nSeler, E. F\u00f6rstemann, Paul Schellhas, Carl Sapper, and E. P.\nDieseldorff, translated from the German, under the supervision of\nCharles P. Bowditch. Bulletin 28 of the Bureau of American Ethnology,\nWashington, 1904.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE CODICES RELATING TO MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY\n\n\nI. INTERPRETATIVE CODICES\n\nCodex Vaticanus A (3738) or Codex Rios.\n\n(A) Reproduced in vol. ii of Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities of Mexico,\n1830. Translation of the Interpretation in vol. vi, pp. 155\u2013420.\n\n(B) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat. (Rome, 1900.)\n\n\nCodex Telleriano-Remensis.\n\n(A) Reproduced in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities, vol. i. Translation of\nthe Interpretation in vol. vi, pp. 95\u2013153.\n\n(B) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat (Paris, 1899), with commentary by\nE. T. Hamy.\n\n\nCodex Magliabecchiano.\n\n(A) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat. (Rome, 1904.)\n\n(B) Reproduced by Zelia Nuttall as The Book of the Life of the Ancient\nMexicans. (Berkeley, California, 1903.)\n\n(This codex is accompanied by a contemporary gloss in Spanish.)\n\n\n\n\nII. THE CODEX BORGIA GROUP\n\nCodex Borgia.\n\n(A) Reproduced in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities, vol. iii.\n\n(B) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat. (Rome, 1908.)\n\n(C) Commentary in German by Dr. E. Seler, Eine altmexikanische\nBilderschrift, with plan. (Berlin, 1904.)\n\n(D) Reproduced in the Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, vol. v, pp.\n1\u2013260, with Spanish translation of Seler\u2019s essay by T. Lares.\n\n\nCodex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer.\n\n(A) Reproduced in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities, vol. iii.\n\n(B) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat. (Rome, 1901.)\n\n(C) Commentary (Der Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer) by Dr. E. Seler, with plan.\n(Berlin, 1901.)\n\n(D) English translation of above by A. H. Keane. (Berlin and London,\n1901\u20131902.)\n\n\nCodex Bologna or Cospi.\n\n(A) Reproduction in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities, vol. ii.\n\n(B) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat. (Rome, 1899.)\n\n(C) Commentary by Seler (Die Mexikanischen Bildenhandschrift von\nBologna) in his Gesammelte Abhandlungen, vol. i, pp. 341\u2013351.\n\n\nCodex Vaticanus B.\n\n(A) Reproduced in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities, vol. iii.\n\n(B) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat (Rome, 1896), with commentary by\nSe\u00f1or F. Paso y Troncoso.\n\n(C) Commentary in German (Der Codex Vaticanus B) by Dr. E. Seler, with\nplan. (Berlin, 1902.)\n\n(D) English translation of above by A. H. Keane. (Berlin and London,\n1902\u20131903.)\n\n\nCodex Laud.\n\nReproduction in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities, vol. ii.\n\n\n\n\nIII. UNCLASSIFIED CODICES\n\nThe Aubin-Goupil Tonalamatl.\n\n(A) Reproduced by the Duc de Loubat, with commentary by E. Seler.\n(Paris, 1900.)\n\n(B) English translation of above by A. H. Keane, with reproduction.\n(Berlin and London, 1901.)\n\n\nCodex Vienna, Vindobonensis, or Indi\u00e6 Meridionalis.\n\n(A) First reproduced in part by Olaus Wormius, Museum Wormianum.\n(Leyden, 1655, p. 383.)\n\n(B) Reproduced in Kingsborough\u2019s Antiquities, vol. ii.\n\n(C) Commentary in E. Seler\u2019s Gesammelte Abhandlungen.\n\n\nCodex Zouche or Nuttall.\n\nReproduced with commentary by Zelia Nuttall. (Peabody Museum\npublication.) (Cambridge, Mass., 1902.)\n\n\nCodex Borbonicus.\n\nReproduced by the Duc de Loubat, with commentary by E. T. Hamy. (Paris,\n1899.)\n\n\nSee also on the subject of the codices generally:\n\nAubin, M\u00e9moire sur la peinture didactique des anciens Mexicains (Revue\nOrientale et Am\u00e9ricaine). (Paris, 1860, pp. 224\u2013255.)\n\nBoban, Catalogue raisonn\u00e9 de la Collection Aubin-Goupil. (Paris, 1889.)\n(With an atlas in which many MSS. are reproduced in phototype.)\n\nLehmann, W., \u201cLes peintures Mixteco-zapot\u00e8ques\u201d (Journ. Soc. Amer. de\nParis, N.S., tom. ii). (Paris, 1905, pp. 241\u2013280.)\n\nAntig\u00fcedades mexicanas, publicadas por la junta Colombina de Mexico.\n(Mexico, 1892.) Atlas with plates.\n\nPaso y Troncoso, Catalogo de Mexico en la Exposicion de Madrid.\n(Mexico, 1892.)\n\nPe\u00f1afiel, Monumentos del arte mexicana antigua. (Berlin, 1890.)\n\nChavero, Pinturas jeroglificas, 2 parts. (Mexico, 1900\u20131901.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGLOSSARY\n\n\nFor the convenience of readers a glossary of the Mexican words most\nfrequently employed in this work is appended:\n\n\nanauatl        Ring of white mussel-shell.\nareyto         Sacred dance; a word of Antillean origin, introduced by\n               the Spanish conquerors of Mexico.\natlatl         Spear-thrower.\naztaxelli      Forked heron-feather plume.\ncalpulli       Augmentative of calli, house, signifying \u201cquarter,\u201d\n               \u201cdistrict.\u201d\nchalchihuitl   Green stone\u2014jadeite, turquoise, emerald\u2014and precious or\n               semi-precious stones of a green colour.\nchicauaztli    The rattle-staff, associated with the water and\n               fertility deities.\ncueitl         Skirt, petticoat.\nmaxtli         Loin-cloth.\nnaualli        Disguise, magical form or shape.\nnequen         Robe.\noctli          The fermented juice of the Agave americana. The modern\n               term is pulque, a word of Argentine origin.\npiloechmilli   \u201cFace-painting of children.\u201d\nquauhxicalli   \u201cCup of eagles\u201d; stone vase in which the hearts of\n               sacrificed victims were placed.\nquetzalli      Feather-plumes of the quetzaltototl or Trogon pavoninus,\n               a bird indigenous to Mexico, the plumes of which were\n               greatly prized by the natives.\ntamalli        Maize-cake (same as Spanish corrupted form tamale).\ntecutli        Noble, lord, person of quality.\nteocalli       Pyramid-temple.\nteopan         Temple precinct.\nteotl          God.\ntelpochcalli   House of the youths, the place of instruction for boys\n               in training for the priesthood.\nteueuelli      Shield with eagle\u2019s-down feathers.\ntilmatli       Mantle or cloak.\ntlachtli       A ball-game, a kind of hockey.\ntlachinolli    Fire-and-water symbol.\ntonalamatl     Book of Days: an arrangement of signs indicating lucky\n               and unlucky days, adapted to the calendar.\ntoualli        Four balls or beads as a shield device.\nulli           Indiarubber.\nxiuhcoatl      Fire-snake.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] See Bibliography for description of this and all other works\nalluded to throughout the work.\n\n[2] Motecuhzoma described his faith to Cort\u00e9z in almost precisely\nsimilar terms. See Bernal Diaz, True History of the Conquest of Mexico,\nMaudslay\u2019s translation. London, 1908.\n\n[3] Especially in The Civilization of Ancient Mexico, 1911.\n\n[4] See Seler, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, passim.\n\n[5] See Appendix, The Tonalamatl and the Solar Calendar.\n\n[6] A Study of Maya Art, 1913, p. 225.\n\n[7] See his commentaries on the several codices, passim.\n\n[8] See Torquemada, bk. vi, c. 24.\n\n[9] Sahagun, III, c. 4; Anales de Quauhtitlan.\n\n[10] On Quetzalcoatl generally see Sahagun, passim; Torquemada, vol. i,\np. 254; Motolinia, tom. i, pp. 10\u201311; and Mendieta, passim.\n\n[11] Consult bibliography to chapter ix of H. B. Alexander\u2019s North\nAmerican Mythology. Boston, 1916.\n\n[12] Sahagun, bk. vi, c. viii.\n\n[13] See appendix on Tonalamatl.\n\n[14] See chapter on Cosmogony.\n\n[15] Seler, Codex Vaticanus B, 1902\u20133, p. 174.\n\n[16] In many cosmogonies\u2014Hindu, Babylonian, Chinese, Scandinavian, for\nexample\u2014the earth is formed from the remains of a slain monster or\nliving being.\n\n[17] See section on Tlaloc.\n\n[18] Payne in his History of the New World called America, vol. i,\n1892, pp. 424 ff., was the first to indicate the \u201cfetishtic\u201d nature of\nthis statue, which he identifies as that of Chicomecoatl. He pours the\nvials of scorn upon \u201cthe Italian dilettante Boturini\u201d for his\nidentification of the block as Uitzilopochtli-Teoyaomiqui. He further\nstates that it \u201chas no limbs,\u201d but its large, scaly dragon-legs are at\nleast as obvious as his lack of success in giving the sculpture its\nproper name.\n\n[19] See my article \u201cCherokees\u201d in Hastings\u2019 Encyclop\u00e6dia of Religion\nand Ethics, vol. iii, p. 504.\n\n[20] See Brinton, Nagualism.\n\n[21] Anales de Quauhtitlan (Brasseur, Hist. Nat. Civ. de Mex., vol. i,\npp. 400 ff.).\n\n[22] Codex Vaticanus, 1902\u20133, p. 75.\n\n[23] For much Mexican star-lore of value see Seler\u2019s Venus Period in\nthe Picture-Writings of the Borgia Codex Group, translated into English\nin Bulletin 28 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 355 ff. For the\nmyth see section on Cosmogony.\n\n[24] Bk. ii, c. 4.\n\n[25] See Appendix on Tonalamatl.\n\n[26] Sahagun, bk. ii, Appendix.\n\n[27] Clavigero, Storia del Messico, vol. i, bk. vi, p. 257 (English\ntranslation).\n\n[28] The native name for Mexico, signifying \u201cPlace upon the water.\u201d\n\n[29] Monarq. Ind., tom. ii, p. 525.\n\n[30] Hist. Mex., tom. i, pp. 291\u20132.\n\n[31] See the section on Tlaloc.\n\n[32] Notes on the Shushwap People of British Columbia, \u201cProceedings and\nTransactions of the Royal Society of Canada,\u201d 1891, vol. ix, sect. ii.\nMontreal, 1892.\n\n[33] Sahagun, Hist. Gen., bk. ii, c. xiv.\n\n[34] Hist. de Tlaxcallan, c. v.\n\n[35] See Section on Itzpapalotl.\n\n[36] See chapter on Cosmogony.\n\n[37] See Sahagun, bk. i, c. 6.\n\n[38] See chapter on Cosmogony.\n\n[39] Torquemada, bk. viii, c. 13.\n\n[40] Although some of the old authors, Bernal Diaz for instance, say\nexplicitly that the gods of one city were not recognized in another, in\neffect they were, only under other names.\n\n[41] Translation in Kingsborough, vol. vi, p. 198.\n\n[42] Op. cit., p. 207.\n\n[43] L. Spence, The Popol Vuh (1908), description of bk. i; Brasseur de\nBourbourg, Le Vuh Popol, Paris, 1861.\n\n[44] An important work republished with a Latin translation by Dr. W.\nLehmann under the title of Traditions des anciens Mexicains (Jour. Soc.\nAmer. Paris, n.s., vol. iii. Paris, 1906. pp. 239\u2013298).\n\n[45] Kingsborough\u2019s translation, vol. vi, p. 171.\n\n[46] Chavero\u2019s edition, Mexico, 1892, p. 21.\n\n[47] See the Popol Vuh, bk. i., for a Quiche analogy to this tale of\nhuman degradation.\n\n[48] Chavero\u2019s edition, Mexico, 1891, pp. ii ff.\n\n[49] Hist. de Tlaxcala, in Ternaux-Compan\u2019s Voyages, tom. lxxxvi, p. 5;\nalso edition by A. Chavero, Mexico, 1892.\n\n[50] Hist. Antigua de Mexico, bk. i, c. 4.\n\n[51] First Relacion.\n\n[52] Historia Eccles.\n\n[53] A variant myth makes Quetzalcoatl the god who seeks bones in the\nunderworld from which to make the human race. As he returns, the bones\ndrop to earth and quails gnaw them. Ciuacoatl pounds them into a paste\nfrom which men are formed. The Anales de Quauhtitlan makes the gods\ncreate man from the cinders of the worlds destroyed in the four epochs.\n\n[54] Probably because of his status as god of twins and of duplicates\nof all kinds.\n\n[55] Obviously this sacred bundle is in the same category with the\n\u201cmedicine-bundle\u201d of the North American Indian tribes, and it would\nseem that from such a form certain of the Mexican gods were evolved.\n\n[56] Bk. vii, c. 2.\n\n[57] For further information regarding this incident see Boturini,\nIdea, section iii, 14, \u201cTlatocaocelotl.\u201d\n\n[58] These metamorphoses, or at least the first two, are obviously\nfounded upon Xolotl\u2019s dual characteristic as a twin. The resemblance\nbetween his name and that of the little amphibious animal axolotl is\ndue to the monstrous character of both.\n\n[59] Hist. du Tlaxcallan in Ternaux-Compan\u2019s Nouvelles Annales des\nVoyages (tom. xcix, p. 129).\n\n[60] Hist. Antig. de Mexico, tom. i, p. 7.\n\n[61] Storia Antica del Messico, tom. ii, p. 7.\n\n[62] Hist. Eccles, p. 81.\n\n[63] Curtin, Creation Myths of Primitive America, Intro., p. 35.\n\n[64] Relaciones (Chavero\u2019s edition; Mexico, 1891), p. 11. Hist.\nChichimeca (Chavero\u2019s edition; Mexico, 1892), p. 21.\n\n[65] Among the American races the soul was thought of as residing in\nthe bones. See Brinton, Myths of the New World, pp. 295 ff., 299, 321.\n\n[66] Anales de Quauhtitlan.\n\n[67] Translation of interpretation in Kingsborough, vol. vi, p. 127.\n\n[68] P. 120.\n\n[69] See Rady y Delgado\u2019s reproduction of this Codex, Madrid, 1892.\n\n[70] The colours associated with the points of the compass were: East,\nyellow; north, red; west, blue; south, white.\n\n[71] For the further relation of the gods to time and space see the\nappendix on the tonalamatl.\n\n[72] See myth of the creation of the four supporters, supra.\n\n[73] Humming-birds. The warriors seem to have been metamorphosed into\nthe naualli or bird-disguise of Uitzilopochtli, the humming-bird god of\nwar.\n\n[74] Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas. I believe these\ndifferent heavens to have resulted from the clashing and mingling of\nrival cults.\n\n[75] As it has been found impossible to include every illustration from\nthe codices which is mentioned in the text, those pictures not supplied\nmay be consulted in the reproductions of the codices themselves. A full\nbibliography of the codices will be found at the end. When the letter K\nappears with reference to a codex, its reproduction in Kingsborough\u2019s\n\u201cMexican\u201d antiquities is implied.\n\n[76] This stellar mask is so called from being worn by the stellar\ndeities. It is usually connected with the red-and-white striped\npainting of the body. The Sahagun Aztec MS. calls it \u201cface-cage\nmarking\u201d and \u201cface-star marking which is called darkness,\u201d the former\nreferring to stripes over the face, the latter to the mask design,\nwhich seems to me to symbolize night surrounded by the \u201ceyes\u201d of the\nstars.\n\n[77] Hist. Nat. Ind., pp. 352 ff., English translation in Purchas his\nPilgrimes, bk. v, c. 9. Maclehoses\u2019 edition.\n\n[78] Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. i, pp. 396\u2013398.\n\n[79] Gage\u2019s trans. of Herrera, in New Survey, pp. 116\u2013117; for Spanish\ntext, see Hist. Gen., tom. i, dec. ii, bk. vii, c. xvii.\n\n[80] Monarq. Ind., tom. i, p. 293.\n\n[81] Quarter, district.\n\n[82] House of the youths, where the acolytes or junior priests resided.\n\n[83] Governors.\n\n[84] Vassals, burghers.\n\n[85] Dance.\n\n[86] This custom was in vogue among certain prehistoric races, and is\nstill practised on the death of a relative by African bushmen, who\nfirst remove a finger-joint.\n\n[87] More correctly quauhxicalli, a stone vase for the reception of the\nhearts of victims, from quauh (tli) \u201ceagle,\u201d and xicalli, \u201ccup.\u201d\n\n[88] Monarq. Ind., tom. ii, p. 73.\n\n[89] Hist. Mex., English translation by C. Cullen (London, 1787), vol.\ni, bk. vi.\n\n[90] Idea de una Hist., pp. 60\u201361.\n\n[91] Bk. i, c. i.\n\n[92] So Uitzilopochtli addresses his half-brother. \u201cUncle\u201d among the\nancient Mexicans was an honorific title.\n\n[93] Bk. iii, c, i, par. i.\n\n[94] Monarq. Ind., tom. i, p. 294.\n\n[95] See chapter on Cosmogony.\n\n[96] Sahagun, Appendix to bk. iii, c. ix.\n\n[97] Hist. Nat. Ind. in Purchas his Pilgrimes, bk. v, c. xiii. See also\nManuel Gamio, Proc. 19th Cong. Amer., Washington, 1915, for account of\ndiscoveries when the foundations of this temple were partly laid bare\nin 1913.\n\n[98] C. i.\n\n[99] Sahagun, bk. ii, c. xxxiv; Uitzilopochtli himself, as we shall\nsee, was oracular. In this case I take it that the octli distilled from\nthe plant conferred the boon of oracular speech.\n\n[100] The first pulque or octli, which was called uitztli, was offered\nat this festival as first-fruits to Uitzilopochtli. The spirit\ndistilled from the pulque is still known as mexcal or mescal, and is\nprobably identical with the fiery fluid given to the braves in the\nservice of the god before going into battle.\n\n[101] Bull. of U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, No. 28, p. 210.\n\n[102] Monarq. Ind., tom. ii, p. 41.\n\n[103] The Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas calls\nUitzilopochtli omitecilt. I think this should be read ome tecitl,\n\u201ctwice-wizard,\u201d but it may read ome tecutli, \u201ctwice-lord.\u201d But the\nlatter is certainly a title of Tonacatecutli, the creative deity.\n\n[104] Bk. i, c. i.\n\n[105] Sahagun, bk. ii, c. xxiv.\n\n[106] As does an Egyptian sun-god.\n\n[107] The Centzonuitznaua appear to be the same as the Tzitzimim\u00ea, whom\nTezozomoc calls the \u201cgods of the air who bring the rains, floods,\nthunderclaps, and thunders and lightnings and had to be placed round\nUitzilopochtli\u201d in order to complete the construction of the great\nteocalli of Mexico. These \u201cgods of the signs and planets,\u201d in other\nwords the stars, were regarded as demons of darkness, thinks Seler,\n\u201conly because during a solar eclipse the stars became visible in the\nday sky.\u201d I think it much more probable that they were looked upon as\ndemons of darkness because they peopled the darkness every night.\n\u201cThese,\u201d says the interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, \u201care\nthe sons of Citlalicue.\u201d Now, Citlalicue means \u201cStarry-skirt,\u201d and I\nthink that here we are not very far from Coatlicue, \u201cSerpent-skirt.\u201d We\nknow, too, that Citlalicue, like Coatlicue, was connected with the\ncipactli, the earth-beast, and with Chicomecoatl (\u201cSeven Serpents\u201d).\nThe later fusion of Citlalicue with her husband Citlaltonac or\nTonacatecutli, lord of the heavenly vault, as has been shown in the\nremarks on these gods, would give her stellar attributes; hence the\nseeming discrepancy between her and Coatlicue.\n\n[108] Appendix to bk. ii.\n\n[109] Hist. de los Indios de la Nueva Espa\u00f1a, tom. ii, p. 240.\n\n[110] See Rendel Harris, The Ascent of Olympus, passim. In his Ascent\nof Olympus Dr. Rendel Harris has shown that the sacred oak of Zeus was\nregarded as \u201cthe animistic repository of the thunder, and in that sense\nthe dwelling-place of Zeus ... that the woodpecker who nested in it ...\nwas none other than Zeus himself, and it may turn out that Athena, who\nsprang from the head of the thunder-oak, was the owl that lived in one\nof its hollows\u201d (p. 57).\n\nIn the same way, it may be that the maguey plant may have been regarded\nby the Mexicans as a repository of thunder and the heavenly fire.\nOctli, its sap, was connected with fire (see octli gods, \u201cNature and\nStatus\u201d), and Uitzilopochtli was the humming-bird who dwelt among its\nleaves. He springs from his mother\u2019s body fully armed, as does Athena\nfrom the head of Zeus. A similar train of thought appears to be present\nin both ideas.\n\n[111] Manuel de Ministros, p. 35.\n\n[112] Commentary on Codex Vaticanus B, p. 91.\n\n[113] Maguey is an Antillean word imported into Mexico by the\nSpaniards, but the use of a post-Columbian word does not exclude the\npossibility of a synonymous pre-Columbian form.\n\n[114] Manuel de Ministros, p. 37.\n\n[115] Myths of the New World, pp. 129 ff.\n\n[116] Hist. Nat. Ind., c. ix, bk. v (English translation from Purchas\nhis Pilgrimes).\n\n[117] Obviously an error for tlachialoni.\n\n[118] More probably like a jaguar, one of the forms of the god.\n\n[119] See pr\u00e9cis in chapter on Cosmogony.\n\n[120] The Morelosia hua\u00f1ita of the family Styraci\u00f1es.\n\n[121] Inga circinalis.\n\n[122] Paper hand.\n\n[123] Face of the temple.\n\n[124] Young brother.\n\n[125] Hist. Gen., bk. i. c. iii.\n\n[126] Hist. Nat. y Moral, c. ix.\n\n[127] Hist. Mex., English translation, vol. i, bk. vi, p. 243.\n\n[128] Hist. Gen., bk. iii, c. vi\u2013ix.\n\n[129] These both mean the same thing, \u201cshield of precious stones.\u201d\n\n[130] Diccionario Universal, Appendix, s.v.\n\n[131] See ante, Aspect and Insignia.\n\n[132] Commentary C. Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer, p. 34.\n\n[133] See the Stone of Tizoc for examples of this practice.\n\n[134] This figure conventionally represents the turkey and strikingly\nexhibits the large red wattles and lobe of that bird. In most of the\nMSS. it wears Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s smoking mirror at the temple, the\nwarrior\u2019s headdress of heron-feathers, and in Codex Borbonicus it\nappears as a naualli or disguise of the god, having his crown painted\nwith stars and his anauatl or ring of mussel-shell. On sheet 6 of Codex\nFej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer the bird appears as an image of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 and is\nrepresented along with the signs of mortification and blood-letting, as\nit is on sheet 17 of the Aubin tonalamatl, where it wears the\nbone-piercer in its ears and a red robe edged with blue and brown.\nIndeed, it represents the blood-offering connected with the worship of\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2. The turkey-cock\u2019s foot, too, is sometimes symbolic of the\ngod, and the interpretative codices tell us that \u201cof the demons we\noften see nothing more than a cock\u2019s or eagle\u2019s foot.\u201d The turkey-cock\nis to be conceived as representative of rain, which was believed by the\nNahua to be nothing else than the magically altered blood he shed in\npenitence or sacrifice. It may be that the red wattles and lobe of the\nturkey suggested the idea of blood, and that the shades in his plumage\nwere equally suggestive of water. Thus it would come to be regarded as\nthe blood shed by the stone knife of sacrifice. It is also obvious that\nTezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s patronage of slaves, who were strictly regarded as his\nproperty, arose out of the idea that those unfortunates, whenever used\nfor the purposes of sacrificial ritual, constituted the \u201cfood\u201d of the\nobsidian knife.\n\n[135] Bk. xi, c. 8, \u00a7 5.\n\n[136] Bernal Diaz also states that the eyes of Tezcatlipoc\u00e2\u2019s idol were\n\u201cmirrors.\u201d See ante, \u201cAspect and Insignia.\u201d\n\n[137] In the myth which recounts his discomfiture of the Toltecs it\nwill be recalled that he rained stones upon them. See also Introduction\nfor identification of obsidian with wind and breath.\n\n[138] Gomme, Ethnology in Folklore.\n\n[139] Myth, Ritual, and Religion, vol. i, p. 266.\n\n[140] See Itzlacoliuhqui, pp. 341 ff.\n\n[141] See my article on \u201cCherokee Religion\u201d in vol. iii, Encyclop\u00e6dia\nof Religion and Ethics.\n\n[142] Brinton, Myths of the New World.\n\n[143] Sahagun, bk. xii, c. iv.\n\n[144] Bk. iii, c. ii.\n\n[145] Bk. xi, c. xlvii.\n\n[146] Bk. v, c. ix.\n\n[147] Seler, The Wall-paintings of Mitla, Bull. 28, Bureau of American\nEthnology.\n\n[148] \u201cThe swift ones who serrate the teeth.\u201d\n\n[149] \u201cMount of the crier.\u201d\n\n[150] Sahagun\u2019s statement that the draught would make Quetzalcoatl\nremember those evils is obviously a slip which even his copyist\nTorquemada is capable of avoiding.\n\n[151] Bk. iii, c. 3 and 4.\n\n[152] The names throughout the myth merely describe the incident which\ntook place at the locality alluded to.\n\n[153] Sahagun, bk. iii, c. xii, xiii, xiv.\n\n[154] Monarq. Ind., tom. ii, pp. 48\u201352.\n\n[155] Monarq. Ind., tom. i, pp. 254\u2013256.\n\n[156] Hist. de los Indios.\n\n[157] Hist. Ecles., pp. 82, 86, 92\u201393, 97\u201398.\n\n[158] Hist. Ecles., p. 82.\n\n[159] A Lacandone Indian tribe near Palenque.\n\n[160] Land of Chivim.\n\n[161] The myths relating to him under the name of Tohil appear to me to\nidentify Tohil more with Tezcatlipoc\u00e2. See Brassuer, Le Vuh Popol,\npassim.\n\n[162] The circumstance that the two high-priests of Mexico, the\npontiffs of the cults of Uitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, had the name\nQuetzalcoatl prefixed to their official descriptions merely indicates\nthat it had passed into a sacerdotal title. They were in no special\nsense attached to the worship of the god.\n\n[163] He was, of course, all of these, but as regards the two latter,\nin a subsidiary sense only.\n\n[164] Spanish, hurican; French, ouragan; English, hurricane.\n\n[165] Sahagun reverses the process by calling Quetzalcoatl \u201ca man who\nbecame a god,\u201d bk. i, c. v.\n\n[166] See my article on these books in vol. iii of Hastings\u2019\nEncyclop\u00e6dia of Religion and Ethics.\n\n[167] This, too, accounts for his identification with the planet Venus,\nwhich also had a calendric connection, and therefore as the herald of\nthe dawn, and the child of the virgin goddess Chimalman or\nChalchihuitlicue in her guise as Moon-goddess.\n\n[168] Votan was likewise a builder of subterranean houses and was\nworshipped in caves. The god of the rain-cult is, indeed, regarded as\nmaster of the streams which flow under the earth. See Brinton,\nNagualism, p. 41.\n\n[169] A generic name for green precious or semi-precious\nstones\u2014turquoise, jadeite, nephrite, emerald, etc.\n\n[170] In Kingsborough, Antiquities of Mexico, vol. vi.\n\n[171] On this identification see also Torquemada, bk. vi, c. xix.\n\n[172] Codex Telleriano-Remensis.\n\n[173] Seler, Codex Vaticanus B, p. 132.\n\n[174] Spence, Popol Vuh. London, 1908.\n\n[175] Tonalamatl of the Aubin-Goupil Collection, 1900\u20131901.\n\n[176] This circular patch with the centre punched out is worn by the\nwomen of more than one Asiatic country.\n\n[177] Sahagun, Bks. viii and x.\n\n[178] By Seler, in Commentary on Aubin Tonalamatl, p. 93.\n\n[179] Sahagun, bk. i, c. xii.\n\n[180] As regards these translations of hymns throughout the work, some\nhave been translated by me from the Mexican originals, others have been\ntranslated from the German of Seler. Like that authority I have not\nreceived any enlightenment from Brinton\u2019s \u201ctranslations\u201d in his Sacred\nChants of the Ancient Mexicans.\n\n[181] Bk. ii, c. xxx; see also Torquemada, bk. x, c. xxxv.\n\n[182] Pyramid temple.\n\n[183] Seler, Commentary on Vaticanus B, p. 262, believes the ceremony\nto refer to the parturition of the goddess, who gives birth to\nCinteotl, although he at first elucidated the ceremony as here\nindicated. Seler confounds the postures of sexual intercourse and\nparturition.\n\n[184] See picture in Codex Borbonicus.\n\n[185] As do Aphrodite, and other goddesses of love.\n\n[186] It is equally the symbol of the fertility-pot.\n\n[187] Bk. ii, c. xxiii.\n\n[188] Lib. x, c. xiii.\n\n[189] A species of wild laurel.\n\n[190] The custom of wearing a mask of the deity worshipped (in this\ncase the slain woman represented the goddess) is widespread.\n\n[191] Sahagun, bk. ii.\n\n[192] Appendix to bk. ii.\n\n[193] Who, like several of the older Spanish authorities, regarded\nCinteotl as a goddess, a belief now exploded. See vol. i, bk. vi\n(English translation).\n\n[194] It might be quoted against this view that the lewd life of\npleasure of which Xochipilli and Macuilxochitl are the representatives\nresults in that death which is the child of sin, and that these gods\nare therefore \u201cbrothers\u201d to Cinteotl in this especial connection.\nSeler, Comm. Codex Fej.-Mayer, p. 66; Comm. Codex Vat. B, pp. 207\u2013208.\n\n[195] Sahagun, bk. ix, c. xvii.\n\n[196] Sahagun MS.\n\n[197] At the festival of Demeter, with whose worship the serpent was\nconnected, the earth was struck with rods by the priest who called upon\nthe goddess. This is also done during the act of divination among the\nZulus, when they call upon spirits. See Callaway, Izinyanga Zokubula,\np. 362.\n\n[198] Lib. ii, c. ii.\n\n[199] Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ. du Mex. (quoting a\nCakchiquel MS.), vol. i, p. 248.\n\n[200] Bk. i, c. vi.\n\n[201] Sahagun, bk. i, c. vi.\n\n[202] Idem, bk. 2, Appendix.\n\n[203] Idea, p. 27; vol. i, pp. 419 ff.\n\n[204] See Introduction, pp. 14, 16.\n\n[205] See Uitzilopochtli, pp. 73 ff.\n\n[206] Bk. i, c. xix.\n\n[207] Idea, pp. 63\u201366. This myth seems to me to show vestiges of a\nbelief in the theory of the transmigration of souls, and to indicate\nthat the ascetic, almost on the borders of what is known in Buddhistic\nbelief as \u201carahatship,\u201d or promotion to a higher life, was condemned\nfor his lapse to recommence existence once more under a low form of\nlife.\n\n[208] Bk. i, c. xix, appendix.\n\n[209] See Appendix in the Tonalamatl, \u201cDay-signs.\u201d\n\n[210] A diacritical point.\n\n[211] Bk. x, c. xxxv.\n\n[212] Bk. x, c. xxxi.\n\n[213] Seler, Commentary on Aubin Tonalamatl, p. 119.\n\n[214] Seler, Commentary on Codex Vaticanus B, p. 161.\n\n[215] But see the song to Cinteotl in the portion dealing with that\ngod, which in a manner refers to Xochipilli.\n\n[216] Commentary on Aubin Tonalamatl, p. 87.\n\n[217] Bk. i, c. xiv.\n\n[218] Cronica Mexicana. See picture of Axayacatl in Boban\u2019s catalogue\nof the Goupil collection, Paris, 1891, pp. 14, 15.\n\n[219] The best authority on Xipe\u2019s costume is Sahagun (Mexican MS.).\n\n[220] Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 417 ff.\n\n[221] Sahagun, bk. v, c. xiii.\n\n[222] Werenfels, Dissertation upon Superstition, p. 6 (London, 1748).\nBancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. ii, pp. 719 ff.\n\n[223] Roscher, \u00dcber Selene und verwandtes (Leipzig, 1890), pp. 49 ff.\n\n[224] Pliny, Nat. Hist., vol. ii, p. 223; Payne, Hist. New World, vol.\ni, p. 495.\n\n[225] Or calpulli, a muster-place at several festivals.\n\n[226] \u201cThey who seize the head,\u201d alluding to the custom of taking the\nvictims by the hair.\n\n[227] Sahagun states that the \u201chair\u201d of the uauantin was kept as a\ntrophy. This seems to me analogous to the North American Indian custom\nof scalping, which is sometimes spoken of as \u201closing one\u2019s hair,\u201d a\nphrase which, through its use among American border fighters, has\npassed into slang.\n\n[228] Tezcatlipoc\u00e2 took the form of a coyote and lay in wait for\ntravellers. Sahagun, bk. v, c. xiii.\n\n[229] Or coyote.\n\n[230] Sahagun, bk. ii, Appendix.\n\n[231] Sahagun, bk. ii, Appendix.\n\n[232] Seler, Commentary on Codex Vaticanus B, p. 175.\n\n[233] Decade iii, lib. iii, c. xv.\n\n[234] Tezozomac, Cronica Mexicana, c. xci.\n\n[235] J. Lec\u0153ur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand, vol. ii, p. 240.\n\n[236] Athen\u00e6us, vol. ix, 47, p. 392 d.\n\n[237] Religion of the Semites, new edition, 1914, p. 469.\n\n[238] Bk. ii. c. viii.\n\n[239] Bk. x, c. xix.\n\n[240] Hist. de Tlaxcallan, c. v.\n\n[241] This deer is two-headed; so is Quaxolotl a variant of Chantico,\nthe Fire-goddess, with whom Itzpapalotl seems to have many points of\nresemblance.\n\n[242] See Xochipilli.\n\n[243] In some myths of the Old World the butterfly is the soul or\nghost. This would explain her connection with the Ciuatete\u00f4, or dead\nwomen.\n\n[244] Vol. i, bk. vi (English translation).\n\n[245] Bk. i, c. ix.\n\n[246] Hist. de los Indios de la Nueva Espa\u00f1a (Epistola Proemial).\n\n[247] Sahagun, bk. ii., c. xxxvi; Torquemada, bk. x, c. xxix.\n\n[248] It occurred to the writer that the expression tititl may have had\nreference to the act of sexual impregnation, as in the case of\nTlazolteotl (q.v.), who \u201cwidens herself, stretches herself out\u201d at the\nfoot of the teocalli of Uitzilopochtli, when she is impregnated by that\ndeity. This consideration scarcely seems to apply to the present\ninstance, however, and that indicated above appears preferable.\n\n[249] See remarks upon the Tlaloc cult in the Introduction.\n\n[250] See my remarks upon Quetzalcoatl in the section which deals with\nhim, and where he is identified with the trade-wind which brings the\nrain.\n\n[251] Bk. i, c. xxi.\n\n[252] See Appendix, the Tonalamatl and the Solar Calendar.\n\n[253] See digest of the passage in chapter on Cosmogony, p. 49.\n\n[254] See Spence, The Popol Vuh. London, 1908.\n\n[255] Sahagun (bk. x, c. xxviii, \u00a7 10) states that Tlalocan was in the\nOlmec or Mixtec country; but Camargo (Hist. de Tlaxcallan, Nouvelles\nannales des Voyages, 1843, tom. 99, pp. 135\u2013137) is a better authority\non this particular subject.\n\n[256] Wood-mountain.\n\n[257] Place of Might.\n\n[258] Flower-feather.\n\n[259] Place of Darkness.\n\n[260] Beside the stalle (or banner).\n\n[261] Pearl-serpent.\n\n[262] Rows of pearls.\n\n[263] Servant.\n\n[264] Covered with mugwort.\n\n[265] Bk. ii, c. xx.\n\n[266] Bk. ii, c. iii.\n\n[267] The Pantitlan = \u201cNear the Stake.\u201d\n\n[268] Bk. ii, c. vi.\n\n[269] All of the deities known by these names were octli-gods.\n\n[270] Temple precinct.\n\n[271] Bk. i, c. xiii.\n\n[272] Bk. ii, c. xxxv.\n\n[273] Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, p. 41, states that girls were\nsacrificed by the Toltecs to Tlaloc and buried.\n\n[274] Hist. de Tlaxcallan, in Ternaux-Compan\u2019s Nouvelles annales de\nVoyages, 1843, tom. 99, pp. 133, 135\u20137.\n\n[275] Vol. i, bk. vi, p. 251 (English translation). See also\nTorquemada, bk. vi, c. xxiii; Veytia, vol. i, p. 27; Velasquez de Leon,\nNevadade Toluca, Bd. Inst. Nac. Geog. Estad. Mex., 1850.\n\n[276] Bk. vi, c. vii.\n\n[277] Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, c. ii.\n\n[278] F\u00f6rstemann, Die Maya-Handschrift-zu Dresden, Leipzig, 1880.\nSecond edition, 1892.\n\n[279] Codex Borgia, sheet 14, and Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer, sheets 1 and\n3.\n\n[280] Unless the costume be spotted like that of her spouse Tlaloc,\nwith ulli rubber-gum, to represent rain.\n\n[281] This picture of Tlaloc and Chalchihuitlicue is reminiscent of the\nJapanese myth of Susa-no-o and his sister Ama-terasu, the Sun-goddess,\nwho, desirous of progeny, stood one on either side of a \u201criver\u201d (the\nMilky Way), dipped jewels into the \u201criver,\u201d crushed them into dust and\n\u201cblew them away\u201d; gods were born from the dust so breathed upon. See\nKojiki, translated by Basil Hill Chamberlain, in supplement to vol. x\nof Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 1882, pp. 47\u201349. The\nMexican picture has probably a similar generative significance.\n\n[282] Hist. Antig. de Mej., tom. i, c. xxviii.\n\n[283] \u201cChief Eagle.\u201d\n\n[284] Commentary on the Aubin Tonalamatl, p. 56.\n\n[285] The resemblance of this festival to the uei teciulhuitl, the\nfeast of Xilonen, is obvious. (For a fuller description, see Sahagun,\nbk. ii, c. xxvii.)\n\n[286] Bk. i, c. xiii.\n\n[287] Bk. vi, c. xvii.\n\n[288] Bk. ix, c. iii.\n\n[289] Bk. vi, c. iv.\n\n[290] Bk. vi, c. ix.\n\n[291] Bk. ii, c. xxix.\n\n[292] Bk. ii, c. xxxvii.\n\n[293] Bk. ii, c. xix.\n\n[294] Bk. ii, Appendix.\n\n[295] See Sahagun, bk. ii, Appendix.\n\n[296] Seler, Commentary on Tonalamatl of the Aubin Goupil Collection,\np. 73.\n\n[297] Commentary on the Tonalamatl of the Aubin Collection, p. 71.\n\n[298] See also T. L. Preuss, Die Feuerg\u00f6tter als Ausgangspunkt zum\nVerst\u00e4ndnis der Mexikanischen Religion (\u201cMittheilungen der\nAnthropologische Gesellschaft in Wien,\u201d vol. xxxiii, Vienna, 1903, pp.\n129\u2013233).\n\n[299] Bk. ix, c. xvii.\n\n[300] \u201cWizard-prince,\u201d evidently a patron of sorcerers and cunning\nworkmanship.\n\n[301] \u201cFive House.\u201d\n\n[302] Bk. ii, Appendix.\n\n[303] Sahagun states that the dog is the symbol of fire (bk. iv, c.\nxxii).\n\n[304] Bk. ii, Appendix.\n\n[305] The locus classicus for representations of the octli-gods is the\nCodex Magliabecchiano, which presents a most valuable series of them,\npp. 49\u201359.\n\n[306] Bk. i, c. xxii.\n\n[307] \u201cMirror covered with Straw.\u201d\n\n[308] See Seler, \u201cTemple-pyramid of Tepoxtlan,\u201d Bulletin 28, U.S.\nBureau of Ethnology, p. 349.\n\n[309] Teatro Mexicana, tom. i.\n\n[310] Hist. de los Indios, tom. ii, p. 240.\n\n[311] Bk. i, c. xiii.\n\n[312] Manuel de los Ministros, p. 35.\n\n[313] Bk. i, Appendix.\n\n[314] In The Ascent of Olympus.\n\n[315] See Sahagun, bk. vii, cs. x\u2013xiii, for a much more detailed\ndescription.\n\n[316] See Sahagun, bk. iii, Appendix, c. iv.\n\n[317] Historia de los Indios de la Nueva Espa\u00f1a, Preface, in\nIzcazbalceta, vol. i, 1858, pp. 7, 10.\n\n[318] Izcazbalceta, vol. iii, 1891, p. 237.\n\n[319] Appendix to bk. i, c. xiv.\n\n[320] Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 190.\n\n[321] Commentary on Codex Vaticanus B, p. 287.\n\n[322] Bulletin 28 of U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 355 ff.\n\n[323] See Commentary on the Codex Vaticanus B, p. 90. It seems to me\nthat, as Tezozomoc says, these were gods of the \u201csigns and planets,\u201d\ni.e. of the tonalamatl in its augural or astrological sense. If so, the\ndefinitely astrological nature of the tonalamatl might be argued\ntherefrom.\n\n[324] See L. Spence, The Popol Vuh. London, 1908.\n\n[325] Commentary on Codex Fej\u00e9rv\u00e1ry-Mayer, p. 43.\n\n[326] See Section on Tezcatlipoc\u00e2.\n\n[327] Las Casas, Apologetica, c. cxcix; Herrera, 4, 10, c. xiii.\n\n[328] Seler (Commentary on Codex Vaticanus B, p. 102) sees in a passage\nin Sahagun (bk. v, c. 1) an association between the omen of a jaguar\nroaring in the mountains by night and the echo thereof and Tepeyollotl.\n\n[329] Bk. i, c. xix; bk. ix, passim.\n\n[330] Nat. Rac. Pac. States, vol. iii, p. 417, note.\n\n[331] Bradford, American Antiquities, p. 333; Schoolcraft, Indian\nTribes, vol. i, p. 271; Von Tschudi, Beitr\u00e4ge, p. 29.\n\n[332] See Seler, Bull. 28, American Bureau of Ethnology, p. 94.\n\n[333] Bk. i, c. xvi.\n\n[334] See also Sahagun, bk. i, c. xv.\n\n[335] Bk. i, c. xv.\n\n[336] The most convincing modern writers on the tonalamatl are Morley,\nBowditch, De Jonghe, and Seler. A bibliography of works on the subject\nwill be found at the end of this appendix.\n\n[337] We speak of \u201cnumbers.\u201d More accurately, the numbers employed by\nthe Mexicans were merely simple dots. Thus a single dot represented our\nnumeral 1, and thirteen dots our numeral 13.\n\n[338] It will be seen that, although the first ten day-gods take the\nfirst ten week-signs, these signs are, naturally, not in the same order\nas the day-signs, as has been pointed out, therefore these gods could\nnot take precisely the same sign as in the day-signs, but only the same\nplace.\n\n[339] For Seler\u2019s point of view on this question see his Commentary on\nthe Aubin Tonalamatl, London and Berlin, 1900\u20131, pp. 197\u2013228.\n\nDe Jonghe, Le Calendrier Mexicain (Journal of the Americanist Society\nof Paris, New Series, vol. iii, 1906, pp. 197\u2013228), believes that the\n\u201cLords of the Night\u201d are connected with the days of the tonalamatl. He\nstates that the combination of these \u201cLords of the Night\u201d with the\nday-names sufficed to distinguish the days of the year which by the\ntonalamatl reckoning would take the same numeral and sign. Thus if the\nyear began with 1 acatl, the 261st day would also be 1 acatl, but would\nhave a different \u201cLord of the Night.\u201d This is denied by Seler.\n\n[340] These are depicted in the Aubin tonalamatl along with their\nthirteen bird-disguises in the second and first vertical rows of the\nupper and the second, and first cross-rows of the lower half of the\nsheets, and are displayed in a similar manner in Codex Borbonicus.\nThere are discrepancies between the two MSS., but these are by no means\nirreconcilable. Thus in the seventh place Codex Borbonicus has the\nMaize-god Cinteotl and the Aubin tonalamatl Macuilxochitl or\nXochipilli, who, however, in one of the songs to the gods, is addressed\nas \u201cCinteotl,\u201d and so forth.\n\n[341] This, however, clashes with Seler\u2019s enumeration of the day and\nnight hours elsewhere.\n\n[342] Sahagun, bk. ii, c. xix.\n\n[343] These month-names bear a striking resemblance to those of certain\nNorth American Indian tribes, and are certainly seasonal in their\norigin.\n\n[344] The Venus Period in the Borgian Codex Groups, English translation\nin Bull. 28 of the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology.","title":"The gods of Mexico","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":131700}