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Mentioned words in the pages
Name of the festivals, their significance and the patron god of the 18 months in the solar calendar.
To original textAutosacrifice was an indication of humility and an act of purification for whoever undertook it as an act of penitence.
To original textCacao. Tree originally from Mexico, cultivated in tropical zones. The seed is the main ingredient in the rich frothy beverage known as chocolate.
To original textAccording to a Toltec myth, Tezcatlipoca betrayed Ce-Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, forcing him to give up his chastity. Ashamed and before leaving Tula, the culture hero promised to return on the date 2-Reed. Centuries later, this would coincide with the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. Moctezuma II, who knew of this promise and perceived of it as a threat, confused Hernán Cortés with the bearded man he imagined was Quetzalcoatl. The leader gave in to submission and anticipated defeat when confronted by the return of the culture hero-god who would seek revenge, thus ending the hegemony of his successors, the powerful Mexicas.
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Coatlicue. "She of the Serpent Skirt," is the goddess of the earth and mother of the gods, half-life and half death; she is the mother of the tribal deity Huitzilopochtli, Coyolxauhqui, the Moon, and of the Stars, called the Centzon Huitznahua or the Four Hundred from the South. Her principal attribute is a braided rattlesnake skirt that symbolized in this case, the very land on which Mesoamerican cosmovision rests and that at the same time names this goddess.
To original textCodex Borgia. This document comes from the Mixteca area of Puebla and it is probably of Nahuatl origin. It is a strip of deer skin measuring 10.34 m in length, divided into 29 screenfold pages that measure 27 x 26.5 cm each. It is primarily an astronomical-ritual document and it is now located in the Vatican Library.
To original textCódice Durán. Illustrations to the text Historia de las Indias de la Nueva España e Islas de Tierra Firme (History of the Indies of New Spain) of Fray Diego Durán. A document of post-Hispanic Nahuatl origin with considerable Spanish influence, it is currently located in the Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid. Made of European paper, it contains of 50 illustrations measuring 37 x 26.5 cm each. The codex contains historical, calendrical and ritual information.
To original textCodex Magliabechi. A document of post-Hispanic Mexica origin, although it preserves the native technique. It is composed of 92 pages of European paper painted with divine mantles, a series of day signs, a 52-year cycle, gods of the veintenas, moveable feasts, pulque gods, gods of death and funerary rites. It is currently housed in the National Library of Florence.
To original textCopal. Copalli. Tree that produces a resin called copal-gum, which when burned in braziers functioned as a type of highly aromatic incense of ceremonial use.
To original textThe "lost wax" technique consisted of making a clay nucleus in the form of the object to be made of metal, covered by a thick layer of wax and then another layer of clay perforated with two holes. The molten metal was poured through the upper hole and it took the place of the wax, which once melted went out the other hole. Once it cooled, the clay layer was broken and a sharp element was used to break the nucleus to produce the finished piece.
To original textMoctezuma II He governed Tenochtitlan between the years 1502 and 1520 with relative peace, until the moment the Spanish conquerors arrived. His government achieved very high levels of sophistication in all areas, but the fearful, submissive character of this tlatoani permitted the Spanish conquest to begin with great ease and it was consummated in spite of the resistance of Cuitlahuac and Cuauhtemoc, the last Mexica rulers.
To original textOmetochtli. "Two-Rabbit," is a pulque god and also the name of a sacred drink created by the gods. Ometochtli was worshipped mainly in Apan, Ometusco (Ometochco). His festival was celebrated on the second day of the third trecena of the year, called Izquitecatl and during the eighth trecena. If someone was born on the day "Two-Rabbit," it was believed they would be inclined to drink alcoholic beverages. Among the Mexicas, pulque was called Centzontotochtli or "four hundred rabbits," because there are innumerable types of drunkenness.
To original textPulque is a ritual beverage that comes from the maguey or agave plant. It has had a special significance throughout history, so that there were always pulque gods, generically called Tezcatzoncatl. The maguey or agave is a very useful plant, because all of its parts serve a function: aguamiel (sweet agave juice), is extracted to be transformed into pulque after fermentation. Its flowers, leaves, stalks and scape are highly nutritious. In addition, the agave is useful for medicinal properties, as well as for its use in textiles and construction.
To original textTlaloque. Immersed in the water complex presided over by Tlaloc as patron deity, the tlaloque were helpers who collected water that the god stored in hills and mountains. During the rainy season, the tlaloque went to the sky carrying their jugs full of water, which they struck with their staffs, to spill the liquid on the face of the earth. Whenever a jar broke, the sound was translated into thunder. These gods, who played a highly important role in a predominantly agricultural society, shared iconographic characteristics very similar to those of Tlaloc himself, but they had small bodies and always carried their staffs and jugs bearing the image of the rain god.
To original textTonalamatl. The name means "paper of days." It refers to a period of 260 days, divided into 20 sections of 13 days each, called trecenas. The Tonalamatl were books that served as guides for priests. They were usually made of bark (amate) or wild fig paper, although some copies were made on European paper. Also called the Cemilhuitlapohualiztli, or the "count of festivals or ritual days," they consisted of a strip of paper prepared with a layer of lime to form a painting surface, which was then folded into a screenfold to facilitate handling. In general each week was represented on two pages. A large colorful drawing represented the deity that presided over the week and a number of other figures represented secondary gods and objects related to the cult, such as thorns, incense burners, altars and other objects. The rest of the space was divided into rectangles, painted with the 13 names and numbers of the days, that is to say of the trecena. Deities associated with the patron god were also painted, as well as their nahuals (animal alter egos) which were birds or other animal forms that the gods could assume. The Codex Borbonicus, Codex Borgia and Codex Aubin are examples of the Tonalamatl.
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Last Modified: January 14, 1998.
Museo del Templo Mayor, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e História, México.
Seminario #8, Centro Histórico. Cuauhtémoc, México, D.F. 06060
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