THE GODS OF RAIN AND MOISTURE
INTRODUCTORY
The gods of rain proper are clearly to be distinguished from the gods
of grain and growth, although they were regarded by the ancient
Mexicans as stimulating vegetable plenteousness. That they were
paramount in the practical theology of the rain-cult [249] is evident,
for, whereas Quetzalcoatl was regarded in one of his phases as the
deification of the rain-making priest, Tlaloc and the Tlaloquê
possessed the entire disposition of the rainfall. Sahagun’s remarks
upon Quetzalcoatl make it clear that in this connection he was regarded
as a wind-god who swept the way clear for the rain-gods, or ushered in
the rains. Myth related how Quetzalcoatl, the first discoverer of the
maize, was robbed of his find by Tlaloc, who afterwards had the
governance over its growth and distribution. Although the high-priest
of the Mexican hierarchy was called by the name of Quetzalcoatl, the
prelate next in importance to him bore the name of Tlaloc.
Although Quetzalcoatl was above all regarded by the Aztecâ as a god of
wind, evidence is not lacking that to some extent he was looked upon as
a rain-god, or at least a rain-bringing god. But the overwhelming
superiority of the Tlaloquê in this cult is witnessed to by the fact
that out of eighteen great seasonal festivals, no less than five were
dedicated to them. [250]
Those of the Tlaloquê, or gods of rain, whose names are known were:
Tlaloc, the father of all, Chalchihuitlicue, his wife and sister,
Nappatecutli, god of the mat-makers, who used aquatic reeds in their
work, Atlaua, “Lord of the Beaches” or lake shores, Uixtociuatl,
goddess of salt, and Opochtli, god of fishers and fowlers, and inventor
of the net.
Concerning the Tlaloquê Sahagun remarks: “The Mexicans take for gods
all those high mountains from which the rain comes in the rainy season,
and for each of these they imagine an idol.... They also believe that
certain maladies proceeding from cold have their origin in the
mountains and that these gods have the power to visit them upon them.
Those who were attacked by such complaints made a vow to this or that
mountain, whichever chanced to be in the neighbourhood, or that for
which they entertained the most devotion. A similar vow was made by
persons on the point of being drowned in the rivers or in the sea. The
maladies for which they made these vows were gout in the hands, feet,
or any other part of the body, impotence in any member, or in the
entire body, rheumatism, the contraction of the members or cramp. Those
who were visited with these maladies made a vow to raise a statue to
the following gods: to the idols of the volcano called Popocatepetl in
the Sierra Nevada, to a mountain named Poyauhtecatl, or any other to
which the feeling of devotion inclined them. When they proposed to
offer up to the mountain or gods, they made an image in human form, a
mass called tzoalli.” [251] These the people did not make themselves,
but called in the offices of those priests skilled in the making of
idols, who moulded them out of the paste and gave them teeth of
calabash pips and eyes of haricot beans. The rest of the process of
manufacture is as described in the account of the festival of the
atemoztli (see Tlaloc). These small figures were known as tepictoton,
and, like the sacrificial victims to the rain-gods, their hair was
dressed in two horns or whorls.
TLALOC = “HE WHO MAKES THINGS SPROUT”
Area of Worship: Plateau of Anahuac.
Minor Names: Chicunaui Ocelotl = “Nine Jaguar” (or ocelot).
Calendar Place: Ruler of the seventh day-count, mazatl (deer), and
of the seventh tonalamatl division, ce quiautl (one rain).
Compass Direction: The four quarters in his several aspects.
Festivals: Atlacahualco, tozoztontli, etzalqualiztli, tepeilhuitl,
atemoztli.
Symbols: His head, with serpentine motif and tusks; the day-sign
nine ocelot.
Relationship: Husband (1) of Xochiquetzal; (2) of Matlalcuêyê or
Chalchiuhtlicue. Father or brother of the Tlaloquê.
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
The evolution of the familiar and characteristic face of Tlaloc is
perhaps best exemplified in a stone statuette included in the Uhde
collection in the Royal Ethnological Museum, Berlin. In this striking
example of the Mexican sculptor’s art a representation of the face of
the god is skilfully contrived by the arrangement of two snakes or
serpents, the tails of which form eye-orbits and a species of nose, the
reptiles’ heads meeting in the region of the mouth, their fangs thus
serving the god for teeth. It is rarely in aboriginal art that a
conception so individual and striking is encountered, and great
imaginative ability must be conceded the sculptor who conceived it. It
is not known whether the later pictures and carvings of Tlaloc were
evolved from this effigy, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that
either from it or similar representations the later conception of him
came into being. We observe in the examples shown in the illustrations
that the custom of representing divine beings in profile resulted in
his case in the survival of a mere ring about the eye and a spirally
convoluted band forming the upper lip and depending from it for some
distance. These are painted blue in the MSS. More faithfully preserved
are the long tusk-like teeth, which in certain stone effigies, however,
degenerate into several straight, downward strokes. This head of the
Rain-god is almost invariably reproduced as the symbol for the day-sign
atl (water).
Representations of Tlaloc in the codices of the Borgia group
occasionally show a development of the lip-band, which rises upwards
and includes the nose, thus, perhaps, indicating a transition form. In
the Vatican B, Fejérváry-Mayer, and Laud Codices the prolongation of
the lip-band and its serpentine character are apparent, the snake’s
teeth and eye being clearly visible.
Codex Borgia.—Sheet 14: In this place the body-paint of Tlaloc is
green, although, as a rule, it is black elsewhere. The face is
half-black, half-yellow. The eye and lip-bands are blue. The head is
crowned with white heron-feathers, such as are worn by the octli gods.
A fillet surrounds the forehead, and from this spring four rosettes,
which may symbolize the four quarters from which the rain falls. The
headdress and its accompanying ornaments are painted in alternate
stripes, green and white, sprinkled with liquid rubber. A paper tie
adorns the shoulder, such as was used for the decoration of offerings,
or in the ceremonial arrangement of the dead. The ear-plug is square,
to indicate, perhaps, the four quarters. It is in this codex (sheet 12)
that we obtain the best evidence of the reflection of the various
points of the compass upon the character of the great god of rain.
But the most important pictures in Codex Borgia relating to Tlaloc are
those on sheet 27, which illustrate the cycle of fifty-two years, and
show in the four corner compartments the four days which form the
initial days of the four quarters of the cycle. They do not, however,
commence with ce acatl, “one reed,” ce tecpatl, “one flint,” ce calli,
“one house,” ce tochtli, “one rabbit,” as might be expected, [252] but
with ce cipactli, “one earth-beast,” ce miquiztli, “one death,” ce
ozomatli, “one monkey,” and ce cozcaquauhtli, “one vulture,” for the
reason that the tonalamatl signs here shown are hieroglyphic of the
four quarters of the heavens, rather than allusive to the dates of the
grand cycle of fifty-two years. The middle or fifth region, which is
without a hieroglyph, is ascribed to the central figure. The lower to
the right represents the east. To it belongs the first division of the
calendar, as well as the first day of the great cycle. Tlaloc in this
picture is painted a dark colour, and wears the cipactli head of the
first calendar division as a helmet-mask. The sky above him is
figuratively drawn to represent a cloudy firmament holding rain about
to fall, and he stands upon the cipactli, or earth-beast, which
symbolizes the fruitful earth, from whose body springs the maize-plant,
represented as a tiny head or mask, on each side of which sprout
leaves. The god empties his jar upon the soil, and its contents are
seen to be a renewed supply of maize-ears, indicating the bounteous
nature of the eastern Tlaloc.
The figure on the upper right shows the deity in his northern aspect.
The second division of the tonalamatl and of the cycle are indicated in
its dating and on its helmet-mask. The yellow colour of the god in this
picture is supplemented by the symbolism of a bright atmosphere sending
down sharp rays of light, shown in conventional form by V-shaped
emblems stabbing downwards from aloft. Beneath the god are shown three
vessels filled with the brown-coloured water which falls when the
Rain-god is unpropitious. Indeed, it bears within it the symbols of
death, the death’s-head eye and bony nasal spine. The artistic effort
is to portray water which has been sucked up by the parched and cracked
soil of a Mexican June—water which has been insufficient in quantity,
or has fallen too late. There are present, too, in the picture, the
vampire shapes of such insects as devour the maize, each decorated with
the death’s-head. But, more fatal sign than all, from the pitcher of
the god descends the lightning-axe, wrapped in symbolic fire. The
northern Tlaloc, then, is no deity of plenty, but obviously represents
the Rain-god in his most deadly and terrible aspect. The god in his
western complexion is painted blue, and wears as a helmet-mask the sign
of the third calendar division. A cloudy sky flecked with rain shows
the partial descent of the serpent-like showers, and the maize-plants
beneath him stand in heavy puddles of water. The southern aspect of
Tlaloc (that on the lower left) is painted red, and the helmet-mask is
in vulture form, as in consonance with the sign of the fourth calendar
division. From a cloudless sky dart the conventional sun-rays as
described in the second picture, but beneath the foot of the divinity
are representations of the maize-plant run to seed. Small animals, the
faces of which bear some resemblance to a death’s-head, devour them.
Once again the lightning-axe falls from the jar held by the god,
accompanied by its bright, symbolic flame. The central figure
represents the influence of the Rain-god from the zenith. The Tlaloc
who presides over this situation is striped red and white (the colours
of night and twilight) and he is represented in the normal insignia of
the Rain-god. He is accompanied by the signs for day and night, and the
earth-goddesses cluster around his feet. From the jar he holds are
poured all manner of warlike implements—the atlatl, javelin, shield,
and banner.
The similar fivefold representation of Tlaloc on sheet 28 is believed
by Seler to illustrate his connection with the Venus period.
Codex Vaticanus A.—Sheet 20: Here Tlaloc is represented with the body
painted black, the fore-part of the face black and the hinder portion
yellow. His chin is bearded and the lip-band is prolonged, as described
above. In front of his mantle is a stone knife, from which fire issues.
His attire is painted in alternate stripes of black and green, flecked
with melted rubber. He wears the fillet of Tonatiuh, the Sun-god, and
the strips of hide which fall from the panache of feathers on his head
are also part of the Sun-god’s insignia. He holds a burnt offering of
firewood and rubber in his hand, enveloped in a covering painted black
and green, flecked alternately. The type of the tarns or pools into
which such offerings were cast is depicted in front of him, in the
depths of which are seen fishes and snails.
Codex Magliabecchiano.—Sheet 92: Here he is represented in female
costume and, as in the Sahagun MSS., a white circular spot or patch
with black dots is visible on the god’s cheek, which, the text implies,
was made of the crushed seed of the Mexican prickly poppy (Argemone
Mexicana).
General.—Other details in the costume of the Rain-god are eloquent of
his nature and characteristics. In the Borgia group of codices his
garment and headdress are dark green, flecked with melted rubber,
whilst in those codices from the Mexican country proper we find them
painted blue, bespotted with the same unpleasant incense. His robe, the
anachxecilli (“dripping-garment,” “cloud-garment”), is said to be “set
with green gems,” and in his ear is a broad plate with a dependent band
on which are worked smaller figures made of chalchihuitl stones. On his
breast he wears a wide collar of plaited stuff (reeds?) also enriched
with the precious green stone typical of water, and a large gold disk.
In Codex Vaticanus A, the Codex Magliabecchiano, and the Sahagun MSS.
we find him wearing at the nape of his neck a large crescent-shaped
loop which projects on each side of the head and is secured in the
middle by a rosette, as well as his crown of heron-feathers. In the
Codex Vaticanus B a large fan-shaped object painted dark green and
white projects behind the head of the god. In Codex Borgia (sheet 14),
too, he wears the headdress of Mayauel, the goddess of the agave plant,
but the colours in which it is painted (dark green and white with
rubber flecking) are his own and not the blue and white of the female
divinity.
In the Codex Magliabecchiano (sheet 77) and on a stone relief in the
Trocadero Museum, Tlaloc is represented as holding a jug in one hand
and a staff in the other, the latter of a blue colour and having
serpentine bands in its length. In Codices Vaticanus B and A he also
holds this serpentine wand and in the other the incense-pouch marked
with a cross, to symbolize the four quarters of the heavens.
Occasionally he is seen holding the agave thorn or spike and the omitl
bone, the implements of mortification, as in Codex Borbonicus and Codex
Borgia (sheet 67).
Gama (Dos Piedras, pt. i, p. 101; pt. ii, pp. 76–79) states that in
Tlaloc’s left hand was a shield ornamented with feathers. In his right
were thin, wavy sheets of gold, representing his thunderbolts, or
sometimes a golden serpent, representing either the thunderbolt or
moisture. On his feet were a kind of half-boots, with little bells of
gold hanging therefrom. Round his neck was a band or collar set with
gold and gems, while from his wrists depended strings of costly stones.
His dress was an azure smock, reaching to the middle of the thigh,
cross-hatched all over with ribbons of silver forming squares, and in
the middle of each square was a circle of silver, while in the angle
thereof were flowers, pearl-coloured, with yellow leaves hanging down.
His shield was similarly decorated, with feathers of yellow and green,
flesh-colour and blue, each colour forming a distinct band. The body
was naked from mid-thigh down, and of a grey tint, as was also the
face. This face had only one eye, of a somewhat extraordinary
character: there was an exterior circle of blue, the interior was white
with a black line across it, and a little semicircle below the line.
Either round the whole eye or round the mouth was a doubled band or
ribbon of blue. In the open mouth were three grinders. The front teeth
were painted red, as was also the pendant with its button of gold that
hung from his ear. He wore an open crown of white and green feathers,
from which depended red and white plumes.
Ixtlilxochitl represents him in the month etzalli pictured with a cane
of maize in the one hand, and in the other an instrument with which he
is digging the ground, in which he places maize-leaves and a kind of
food, like fritters, called etzalli.
Sahagun MS.—This states that the god’s face was entirely black with a
few spots of salvia chia. The body was also of a dark colour. He wears
a “mist” or “cloud” shirt without sleeves, in the Toltec fashion,
falling to the knee, and a cloth is rolled round the hips. The crown is
of heron-feathers, and the sandals symbolize the foam of water. The
shield is inset with water-flowers or rushes, and the god carries a
white rush staff.
STATUARY AND VASES
As has been said, the vases in the Uhde collection and in the
Anthropological Museum at Berlin show the Tlaloc face, probably in its
earlier state of development. In both of these a serpentine motif
arches over the eyes and meets in a knot or twist which forms the nose,
while a separate serpent pattern forms the mouth in a moustache-like
manner, the long teeth jutting out from underneath it. Another found in
the Calle de las Escalerillas, Mexico City, is identical with these
last. A stone slab found at Cerro de Zapotitlan, near Castillo de
Teayo, and resembling a tombstone, shows the face of Tlaloc very
clearly, the characteristic feather crown and the long tusk-like teeth
being especially noticeable. Another stone figure found at Teayo is
fully illustrative of the god’s facial characteristics, but the two
serpents twining together to form the nose spring upwards and, after
traversing the position of the eyebrow, end with their tails above this
in a flourish. The back-fan is well represented in this figure, which
has also a mantle and a waist-belt. In a relief found at Teayo in which
Tlaloc is represented along with Xochiquetzal, we see once more the
manner in which the serpentine motifs around the mouth and eyes have
become unified through the exigencies of representation in profile. The
usual insignia are represented here, such as the necklace, the
back-fan, and the short tunic; but certain knots or bows on the dress
lead me to think that what have been commonly taken for sprinklings of
indiarubber gum (ulli) may be small ornamental knots of some textile
material. Vases found at Tlaxcallan and in the Mixtec country show
precisely the same characteristics.
MYTHS
The myth explanatory of the Tlaloquê is found in the Historia de los
Mexicanos por sus Pinturas (c. ii), [253] which tells how the rain-gods
lived in four chambers surrounding a great court in which stood four
immense water-casks. In one of these good water was stored, which
descended upon the grain when it was in process of growth. Bad water
stood in the next, which produced fungus growth, causing the maize to
turn black. When rain and frost came together it was thought that the
third cask had been drawn upon, and the fourth was filled with such
rain as was followed by no growth, or by such growth as grew sere and
withered. Tlaloc, we learn from this account, had created for the
purposes of rain-making a number of dwarfs who made their homes in the
four chambers of his house, and who carried sticks in their hands, and
jars into which they drew water from the great casks. When Tlaloc
commanded them to water a certain tract of country they poured water
from the jars they held, and the lightning-flash was supposed to
proceed from the cracking or breaking of their vessels. This myth is
represented in the Codex Borgia, p. 27, as already described.
Another piece of mythic information is found in the Song of the
Rain-god, the fourth canticle in Sahagun’s collection, which has been
translated as follows:
I
Oh, Mexico has done service with the gods,
The paper flags fly over the four corners of the heavens,
It is no more a time of mourning.
II
Oh, Tlaloc (the Rain-god) has been created
(I.e. my statue has been set on the temple),
My God has become a dark red colour from the blood of the
sacrifices.
The whole day they took, with the making of rain in the temple
court.
III
O my Chieftain, the maize-prince,
In truth it is your produce;
You created it first;
And yet they only do insult to you.
They can have nothing against you;
Distribute thou no offering.
IV
But they abuse me (abstain from sacrifice),
I am therefore not satisfied,
My father, my old priest,
The Jaguar-serpent.
V
Out of the Tlalocan the turquoise house (the blue house)
Came thy father, Acatonal.
VI
O go, go down on the mountain Poyauhtlan
With the mist rattle-board;
Water will be sent from Tlalocan,
The country of the rain-gods.
VII
O my elder brother Toxcuecuex!
I will go; it is enough to make him weep.
VIII
O send me to the place that no one knows.
Down came his word;
I spoke to him, Tetzauhpilli,
I will go; that is enough to make him weep.
IX
After four years he will be placed over us.
Of thee it was said,
The place of the fallen,
The quetzal feather-house, the place of plenty,
And yet he becomes distributer for the Kingdom.
It would be rash to attempt any precise elucidation of this obscure
song. Briefly and doubtfully, I may say, it seems to me that its
tendency is as follows: The song evidently refers to one of the
festivals of the Rain-god, probably the atemoztli, when much time was
occupied in “rain-making” ceremonies, as the canticle indicates. The
pious maker of the song had evidently in mind the myth which told how
Tlaloc stole the maize from Quetzalcoatl, an assertion to which he
objects (verse iii), and advises the god to withhold his produce. This
myth, which is given in the Anales de Quauhtitlan (Codex Chimalpopocâ),
the second or historical portion, states that Quetzalcoatl discovered
maize in the mountain Tonacatepetl. To do so, he took the form of a
black ant and was led to the spot by a red ant. As he was unable to
lift the mountain, it was split open by the magical prowess of Xolotl
in his phase of Nanahuatl and the maize was secured by Quetzalcoatl,
but was stolen from him by Tlaloc. In verse iv of the song under
discussion Tlaloc replies in agreement with his servant, whom it is,
perhaps, that he addresses as Jaguar-serpent, Jaguar (Balam), being a
common designation of priests among the Maya-Quiche. [254] Or it may
have reference to the god himself, one of whose names is “Nine Jaguar.”
The god would seem to refer to some unknown myth relating to his own
parentage in verse v. The name Acatonal (“Reed of the Sun”) given to
his father seems to have a calendric significance. The ceremony of the
mist rattle-board, the rattling of which was supposed to bring rain by
sympathetic magic, was one of the ceremonies connected with rain-making
at more than one of the festivals of the Tlaloquê. Poyauhtlan (“Place
of Mugwort”) is a district of Tlalocan, as well as the name of his
temple, and Toxcuecuex is Uitzilopochtli. The last verse seems to
allude to the myth mentioned in the interpretation of Codex Vaticanus
A, where it is stated that, as no rain had fallen for a period of four
years, Quetzalcoatl began to make sacrifices to obtain it, and, the
worshipper or priest hints, will receive the consequent honour.
According to Boturini, quoting Gemelli Carreri (tom. 6, p. 83), Tlaloc
was the deity who at the behest of Tezcatlipocâ raised the earth out of
the waters of the universal flood, and who counsels men by his divine
messages written in the lightning and the thunderbolt to live wisely
and morally. Like most of the theories of this writer, this is pure
allegory. Following the analogy of the calendar stone, we seem to see
Tlaloc as the sun during the period of Naui Quiauitl, or “Four Rain,”
which ended in a universal conflagration. The interpreter of the Codex
Vaticanus A alludes to Tlaloc as feminine, speaks of him as “goddess of
water,” and explains Tlaloquê as signifying “fine weather.” Farther on
he states that “on the 21st of December they celebrated the festival of
this god through whose instrumentality they say the earth became again
visible after it had been covered with the waters of the deluge; they
therefore kept his festival during the twenty following signs, in which
they performed sacrifices to him.”
The abode of Tlaloc was in Tlalocan, the heights on the road from
Texcuco to Huetzotzinca and Tlaxcallan, a high and shady place. [255]
This locality remained verdant and moist because of its proximity to
the snowy peaks above it even when the plains beneath languished in
drought under merciless sunshine, and it seems natural that it should
have appealed to the ancient Mexicans as a fitting abode for the god of
rain. Of Tlalocan in its more mythical sense, Sahagun (c. ii, Appendix
to bk. iii) says that there was abundance of all refreshments, green
maize, calabashes, and other vegetables and fruits. Here dwelt the
Tlaloquê, who resembled the priests who ministered to their idols in
that they wore their hair long. The folk who went to that paradise were
those who had been killed by lightning, the leprous, gouty, and
dropsical—any such, in fact, who had died from a “watery” complaint. In
Tlalocan they enjoyed a perpetual summer.
FESTIVALS
Quaitl eloa.—The first annual festival to the Tlaloquê was the quaitl
eloa, of which Sahagun says: “In the first days of the first month of
the year, which month was called in some parts of Mexico quavitleloa,
but generally atlacahualco, and begins on the second of our February, a
great feast was made in honour of the Tlalocs, gods of rain and water.
For this occasion many children at the breast were purchased from their
mothers; those being chosen that had two whorls in their hair, and that
had been born under a good sign; it being said that such were the most
agreeable sacrifices to the storm-gods, and most likely to induce them
to send rain in due season. Some of these infants were butchered for
this divine holiday on certain mountains, and some were drowned in the
Lake of Mexico. With the beginning of the festival, in every house,
from the hut to the palace, certain poles were set up, and to these
were attached strips of the paper of the country, daubed over with
indiarubber gum, these strips being called amateteuitl; this was
considered an honour to the water-gods. And the first place where
children were killed was Quauhtepetl, [256] a high mountain in the
neighbourhood of Tlatelulco; all infants, boys or girls, sacrificed
there were called by the name of the place, Quauhtepetl, and were
decorated with strips of paper, dyed red. The second place where
children were killed was Yoaltecatl, [257] a high mountain near
Guadalupe. The victims were decorated with pieces of black paper with
red lines on it, and were named after the place, Yoaltecatl. The third
death-halt was made at Tepetzingo, a well-known hillock that rose up
from the waters of the lake opposite Tlatelulco; there they killed a
little girl, decking her with blue paper, and calling her Quezalxoch,
[258] for so was this hillock called by another name. Poiauhtla, [259]
on the boundary of Tlascala, was the fourth hill of sacrifice. Here
they killed children, named as usual after the locality, and decorated
with paper, on which were lines of indiarubber oil. The fifth place of
sacrifice was the whirlpool or sink of the Lake of Mexico, Pantitlan.
[260] Those drowned here were called Epcoatl, [261] and their adornment
epuepaniuhqui. [262] The sixth hill of death was Cocotl, [263] near
Chalcoatenco; the infant victims were named after it and decorated with
strips of paper, of which half the number were red and half a tawny
colour. The mount Yiauhqueme, [264] near Atlacuioaia, was the seventh
station; the victims being named after the place and adorned with a
paper of tawny colour.
“When the procession reached the temple near Tepetzinco, on the east,
called Tozoacab, the priests rested there all night, watching and
singing songs, so that the children could not sleep. In the morning the
march was again resumed; if the children wept copiously those around
them were very glad, saying it was a sign that much rain would fall;
while if they met any dropsical person on the road, it was taken for a
bad omen and something that would hinder the rain. If any of the temple
ministers, or of the others called quaquavitli, or of the old men,
broke off from the procession or turned back to their houses before
they came to the place where the sacrifice was done, they were held
infamous and unworthy of any public office; thenceforward they were
called mocauhque, that is to say, ‘deserters.’” [265]
Tozozontli.—The second festival to Tlaloc was tozozontli, of which
Sahagun says:
“The third month was designated toçozontli, the first day of it being
consecrated to the festival of the god Tlaloc, who is the divinity of
rain. Many children were slain on the mountains and offered in
sacrifice to this god and his colleagues, in order to obtain water. The
first fruits of the flowers of the year were offered in the temple
called Yopico, no one daring to smell a flower until this offering had
been made. The gardeners, who were designated xochimanque, held a
festival in honour of their goddess called Coatlicue, also known as
Coatlan tonan.
“It was likewise during this month that those who had been wearing the
skins of the dead since the month previous, now stripped them off and
threw them into the basin of the temple styled Yopico. This was done in
procession and with great ceremony. They smelt like rotten dogs; and
after disrobing they performed devotional ablutions.
“Sick people made vows to take part in this procession in the hope of
being cured of their infirmities, and we are assured that many of them
were thus restored.
“The masters of the captives and the people of their houses performed
penance for twenty days, neither bathing nor washing until the skins of
their victims had been carried to the basin of the temple above
mentioned, and alleging their penance was in honour of their captives.
“The period of penance being over, they bathed and washed, and invited
their neighbours and friends to banquets, performing elaborate
ceremonies with the bones of their dead slaves. These twenty days until
the following month were entirely spent in singing in the buildings
called cuicacalli, everyone being always seated, without dancing, and
incessantly chanting the praises of their deities. Other rites were
performed, an account of which will be given in the chapter dealing
with them.” [266]
Etzalqualiztli.—The third festival to the Tlaloquê generally was the
etzalqualiztli. Concerning this feast Sahagun relates:
“On the first day of this month a festival was held in honour of the
gods of rain. The priests of these divinities fasted for four days
prior to the festival, these days consequently being the last four of
the previous month. On the occasion of these celebrations the attendant
satellites of the idols repaired to Citlaltepec to pull the rushes
which grow very high and very beautifully in a pond called Temilco.
From thence they carried them to Mexico, to decorate the temples. No
one was to be seen on the road which they traversed; everyone took care
to hide in case they should meet them. But if, unfortunately, the
priests encountered anyone on the road, they stripped him of
everything, leaving him naked as a worm, and should he dare to defend
himself, he was maltreated and left for dead upon the highway. Even had
he carried the treasure of Moteuhçoma and been robbed of it, it is
quite certain that no punishment would have fallen upon them, for, in
their capacity as priests of the idols, they were at liberty to do such
things and worse without fear of consequences.
“On the day of the festival of etzalqualiztli, everyone prepared cakes
or a broth called etzalli, which was considered as a delicacy among
them, everybody partaking of them at home, and sharing the repast with
visitors. A thousand follies were perpetrated on that day.
“On the occasion of this festival those priests of the idols who had
committed faults in the exercise of their functions were terribly
punished on the waters of the lake. They were maltreated to the point
of being left for dead on the banks of the lake, whither their parents
or relatives repaired to take them home almost lifeless.
“Death was also inflicted on a great number of captives and slaves
dressed in the trappings of the god Tlaloc, in whose temples they were
slain in their honour; the hearts of those unfortunates were then
thrown into the gaping hole in the middle of the lake, which was at
that time quite visible. [267] Many other rites were performed as
well.” [268]
Tepeilhuitl.—The fourth festival to the gods of the water-giving
mountains was the tepeilhuitl. Sahagun says of this:
“During this month festivals were held in honour of the high mountains
which were the point of departure of the clouds, and which are very
numerous in this land of New Spain. To each of these a statue in human
form was erected out of a paste called tzoalli, and offerings were made
to these idols in honour of these mountains.
“Serpents were also made in their honour out of wood or the roots of
trees, which were so carved as to terminate in an adder’s head. Long
pieces of wood of the size of a fist were also made, which were called
ecatotontin (“little winds”). They were smoothed on the surface with a
lump of tzoalli, and were baptized as mountains, being placed upon
men’s heads.
“Images were also made in memory of people who had been drowned, or of
those who had died such a death as entitled their bodies to be buried
instead of being burnt.
“Having placed the statues just described upon the altars with great
ceremony, tamalli and many other foods were offered to them; hymns were
chanted, and wine drunk in their honour.
“The day of the mountain festival having come round, four women and a
man were slain. One of the women was called Tepexoch, the second
Matlalque, the third Xochitecatl, the fourth Mayauel; the man bore the
name of Milnauatl. [269] These women, as well as the man, were decked
with paper anointed with ulli gum, and certain females, richly dressed,
carried them in litters upon their shoulders to the place where they
were to be killed.
“After they were slain and their hearts torn out, they were taken
slowly away, being dragged down the temple stairs to the bottom, where
their heads were cut off and placed upon wooden pikes, while their
bodies were taken to the calpulli [270] and there divided for eating.
The papers with which the statues were decorated were hung up in the
temples, after the statues had been broken up for food.” [271]
Atemoztli.—On the sixteenth month, atemoztli, the people celebrated the
Rain-god’s festival in right good earnest. Says Sahagun [272]:
“The sixteenth month was called atemoztli, that is to say the rain
month, when the thunder and heavy rains began to display themselves.
The people said, ‘Now the Tlaloquê come.’
“At this time the priests began to pray earnestly for rain, doing
penance the while. Taking their censers of serpent-headed brass, they
threw the incense called yiauhtli, they rang little bells attached to
the censer, and censed all the statues of the gods and all the quarters
of the town. As on another occasion, they made images of the mountains
during the time they fasted, and prepared the paper usually used in
these ceremonies. During five days when they bathed themselves they
permitted no water to fall upon the head or to go above the neck. They
also abstained from women. The night which preceded the atemoztli,
which they celebrated on the twentieth day of the month, they occupied
in cutting the paper, which they gummed with ulli, and which was then
called teteuitl. These they attached to long poles, which they planted
in the courts of the houses, where they remained during the day of the
feast. The paste images they made represented the mountains surrounding
the valley of Anahuac. These were placed in the oratory of the house,
where they were offered food, and people sat in front of them, serving
them in tiny vessels full of food, little pots and vessels of cocoa and
food, which were offered four times a night. Nor was an offering of
pulque forgotten. They sang all night before these images, and played
on the flute. At daybreak the priests asked the people of the house for
a tzotzo paztli, or weaver’s bodkin, with which they opened the
stomachs of the images. They also beheaded them and drew out their
hearts, which they handed to the master of the house in a green
porringer. They then stripped them of the paper with which they were
decked, which they burned in the court of the house along with the
viands offered to the images.” [273]
Camargo, who had witnessed the festivals to Tlaloc thirty years before
writing his book, states that [274] when the rain failed and the land
was parched with drought, great processions were made in which a number
of the hairless edible dogs of the country were carried on decorated
litters to a place of sacrifice and there killed and their hearts cut
out, after which the bodies were eaten with much festivity. This, of
course, related to a period subsequent to the Conquest, when human
sacrifice was forbidden. He further states that old Aztec priests had
informed him that the hearts of the human beings sacrificed to Tlaloc
were first held up to the sun, then to the remaining three cardinal
points, after which they were burned. Tlaloc was held in high respect,
and priests alone had the right to enter his temple. Whoever dared to
blaspheme against him was supposed to die suddenly by a thunderbolt, no
matter how clear the sky may have been. The priests, he adds, took good
care to retard his festivals until they saw indication of coming rain.
TEMPLES AND PLACES OF WORSHIP
The earliest recorded place of worship of this deity is that spoken of
by Clavigero [275] in one of the few enlightening passages which he
permits himself, as follows:
“The native historians relate, that the Acolhuas having arrived in that
country in the time of Xolotl, the first Chichimecan king, found at the
top of the mountain of Tlaloc, an image of that god, made of a white
and very light stone, in the shape of a man sitting upon a square
stone, with a vessel before him, in which was some elastic gum, and a
variety of seeds. This was their yearly offering by way of rendering up
their thanks, after having had a favourable harvest. That image was
reckoned the oldest in the country; for it had been placed upon that
hill by the ancient Toltecas and remained till the end of the XVth or
beginning of the XVIth century, when Nezahualpilli, King of
Acollhuacan, in order to gain the favour of his subjects, carried it
away and placed another in its stead, of a very hard, black stone. The
new image, however, being defaced by lightning, and the priests
declaring it to be a punishment from heaven, the ancient statue was
restored, and there continued to be preserved and worshipped, until the
promulgation of the gospel, when it was thrown down and broken by order
of the first Bishop of Mexico.”
The principal seat of the worship of Tlaloc was the great temple of
Uitzilopochtli at Mexico, which is fully described in the section which
deals with that god.
Sahagun speaks (Appendix to bk. ii) of a temple within the sacred
precinct of Mexico which was especially dedicated to the Tlaloquê. This
was the epcoatl (“pearl serpent”), so called, perhaps, from the
circumstance that the victims immolated therein were known by the same
name. It was in this place that the priests fasted and did penance for
forty days before the feast in honour of their gods. The Mexico
Calmecac was a school or junior monastery, where those who were
destined to become priests of the god received their training. At the
acatla yiacapan uei calpulli (“chief flowery hall”) the slaves intended
for sacrifice to the god were assembled, and here their bodies were
prepared for the horrid banquet which concluded his festival.
PRIESTHOOD
The Tlaloc Tlamacasque, the second in rank in the Mexican priesthood,
stood at the head of the ministers of the god. The acolnauacatl
acolmiztli (“he of the puma shoulder” or “dress”) made all arrangements
for the festivals of the god, and kept the vestments worn by the king
on these occasions. It is also clear from many passages that the
priesthood of Tlaloc composed a large and considerable body.
PRAYERS
Sahagun [276] gives at great length a most striking prayer to Tlaloc
made in time of drought by the priests in hope of rain. It asks for
compassion from the Tlaloquê, who, along with their sister,
Chalchiuhtlicue, have withdrawn their faces from mankind. It describes
the wretchedness of the people, tells how they perish of thirst, and
draws a harrowing picture of the sufferings of the children. It
requests Tlaloc to assist the god of earth with rain, so that the
vegetables and plants may grow and not perish. It also asks that the
rain may be of the kind which assists growth, and that it be not
accompanied by hail or lightning, the usual manifestation of the wrath
of the Tlaloquê. “You who are gods of the water, who dwell at the east,
west, north, and south of the world, who inhabit the subterranean
places, the air, the mountains and the profound caverns, hasten to the
consolation of man.”
NATURE AND STATUS
There is less doubt concerning the character of Tlaloc than that of any
other Mexican deity. The representations of him in the manuscripts, the
prayers offered up to him, the myths which seek to explain him, all
make it clear that he is the god of the rain-cult par excellence, to
whom even Quetzalcoatl, the deified rain-maker, in time becomes merely
“a sweeper of the ways.” The etymological derivation of the name has
been frequently essayed. Tlaloc, says Seler, is a noun derived from the
verb tlaloa, “to hasten,” which in its reflexive sense means “to shoot
up,” “to sprout,” so that the name really conveys the sense of “He who
makes things sprout,” “He who hastens growth.” He is, indeed, the god
of rain, of moisture, who dwells on the mountain peaks, and manifests
himself in the lightning and the thunder, both of which are symbolized
in the serpentine folds of his countenance and in its darksome hues.
His progeny are the Tlaloquê, who dwell on every mountain top, dwarfish
servants who pour forth the rain out of the great jars which stand in
his courtyard. “When they beat these with the sticks they carry, it
thunders, and when it lightens a piece of the jug falls.” [277]
The name Tlaloc was specially given by the Mexicans to a mountain to
the east of Tezcuco, near the pass which led to Huetzotzinco, and here
it was that his most ancient idol was found by the immigrant tribes.
The mountains Popocatepetl and Teocuinaui were also especially sacred
to him. He possessed, as will have been observed, both beneficent and
terrible aspects, and was the striker, the slayer, as well as the giver
of bounteous food-supplies. That his cult was an ancient one in Mexico
is proved by the numerous finds of his images among remains of
pre-Aztec date at Teotihuacan, at Teotitlan in the Huaxtec country, at
Quiengola in the Zapotec district, and at Quen Santo in Guatemala.
Tlaloc denotes the four quarters from which the rain comes, as his
symbolism abundantly shows, and the learned priests of Mexico
undoubtedly regarded him as the personification of the tlequiauitl, or
fire-rain, the disaster which closed one of the epochs of the
prehistoric world. He is further analogous to the Maya Chac and God B.
His chief significance for the ancient Mexicans was as the great god of
the rain-cult, the rain itself, and the thunderstorm which brings the
rain. In his serpentine form we may, perhaps, see a reminiscence of the
mythical beast of dragon or serpentine form known to many mythologies
as the “water-provider,” which must be slain by the sun-hero ere the
rain-flood is released to assist the growth of the crops. None of the
myths relating to him serve to assist such a hypothesis; but certain
paintings in the codices appear to relate to some such myth, and page
74 of the Maya Dresden Codex, which relates to the deluge caused by the
water-sun, shows a great serpent vomiting water upon the earth, showing
that in Central America the rain was supposed to emanate from a monster
of this description. [278]
It is significant that Tlaloc wears Toltec dress, and from this and
from his name “Nine Jaguar” we may be justified in concluding that he
is in a sense to be regarded, like Quetzalcoatl, as the Toltec priest.
Balam, the Maya-Quiche word for jaguar, signifies also “priest,” and
that the title was superadded to the serpentine conception of him is
shown by the expression “Jaguar-serpent,” by which he is alluded to in
the hymn quoted above. The Poyauhtlan was not only his temple, but a
district of Tlalocan, where he was supposed to hold sway. This I would
translate “Place of the Mugwort,” or “Absinthe,” and it is clear that
he, as well as Chalchihuitlicue, his spouse, has some mysterious
connection with this plant, which has been shown by Dr. Rendel Harris
to have been the especial medicine-plant of the Greek Artemis. It is
strange, too, to find both the god and his victims, like the
dragon-gods of China, connected with the pearl.
Tlaloc is also god of the four quarters or four “weathers.” The seventh
day-sign, mazatl (“deer”), which he takes, is appropriate, as the deer
symbolizes the quest for water and vegetation. His association with the
dog, the lightning-beast, is also significant. Indeed in Codex Bologna
Tlaloc is frequently symbolized by the lightning-flash alone.
CHALCHIHUITLICUE = “SHE OF THE JEWELLED ROBE”
Area of Worship: Mexico (worshipped at Tlaxcallan as Matlalcuêyê,
“She of the Blue Robe”).
Minor Names:
Acuecueyotl = “Water which makes Waves.”
Apoçonallotl = “Foam of the Water.”
Ahuic = “Motion of Water.”
Aiauh = “Fog.”
Atlacamani = “Storm.”
Xixiquipilihui = “Rising and Falling of the Waves” (Clavigero).
Macuilxochiquetzalli = “Five times Flower-feather” (Boturini).
Calendar Places:
Ruler of the fifth day (coatl).
Ruler of the fifth week (ce acatl).
Lord of the sixth night.
Compass Direction: West.
Festivals: Atlcahualco; ce atl (movable feast).
Relationship: Wife of Tlaloc, sister of the Tlaloquê; mother of the
Centzon Mimixcoa.
Symbol: The chalchihuitl stone.
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
General.—In Codex Borgia (sheet 14) she is depicted wearing a blue,
stepped nose-ornament and a serpent helmet-mask. In the Codex
Fejérváry-Mayer is seen a jaguar’s ear behind the serpent’s eye in more
than one representation of her helmet-mask. In Codex Borgia she wears a
large golden disk (teocuitla-comalli) suspended by a jewelled band. Her
robe has a broad hem, in which the colours of the hieroglyph
chalchihuitl, green and red, with a white fringe, are reproduced, thus
forming a kind of pictograph of her name. The same purpose is served by
a large blue disk in the middle of the skirt. [279] In Codex Vaticanus
B she holds the bone-dagger and agave spike for ceremonial
blood-letting. She stands on foaming water, on which floats a
burnt-offering of firewood and rubber.
In the Aubin tonalamatl she is pictured as standing in a stream, down
which swirl away a jewel-box, an armed man, and a woman.
Variations.—The representations of Chalchihuitlicue in the Codex Borgia
group, where she is dressed in the snake-helmet, are substantially
different from her appearance in the Aubin tonalamatl, the Codex
Borbonicus, and elsewhere.
In the Codex Borbonicus (sheet 5) the insignia of the goddess is
heavily spotted, the significance being by no means plain. [280] The
representation in the Sahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio) also
differs, and in this the goddess is seen holding a rattle and wearing
what seems to be an interesting variant of the jewel hieroglyph.
In Codex Borgia (sheet 57) she is represented along with her spouse
Tlaloc, the chalchihuitl jewel in the form of a two-handed pitcher
separating them. The gods hold chains of jewels representing the four
kinds of maize—yellow, blue, red, and green—and a naked human being
issues from the pitcher, symbolizing the growth of the maize. [281]
Other interesting variations in connection with this goddess are those
found in Codex Vaticanus B and Codex Borgia (sheet 17), in both of
which she is seen suckling a human being. In the former she wears on
the head two bunches of quetzal-feathers, usually part of the insignia
of Xochiquetzal, and she is only to be recognized by the symbol beside
her, a variant of the element chalchihuitl.
Sahagun describes her as follows in the Biblioteca del Palacio MS.:
“The face is yellow, with a red pattern superimposed. She wears a
collar of green precious stones, and a crown of paper adorned with a
quetzal-feather. The tunic and skirt are painted with water lines, and
she wears shells. Her sandals represent the foam of water. On her
shield is painted the emblem of a water flower, and she carries the
“mist rattle-staff.” Statuettes of Chalchihuitlicue are fairly common.
One found in the Valley of Mexico agrees to some extent with her
appearance in the Aubin tonalamatl, but not with that in Codex Borgia.
She wears the tasselled shawl and the chalchihuitl emblem adorns her
dress. Two other stone figures of her in the Uhde collection at Berlin
and one in the Christy collection at London are eloquent of her
insignia. In all of these she wears the tasselled shawl, and in the
Christy example and one of the Uhde figures the large back-bow is well
exemplified, as are the two plaits of hair descending at the back. In
the other Uhde specimen the plates are shown as part of a knot of the
cotton headdress, which is in all cases fringed with balls. In all
three figures large, full bands of some material descend over the ear.
A stone figure of her, found at the Castillo de Teayo in Vera Cruz and
now in the National Museum at Mexico, depicts her with a square
headdress, from which radiate what are evidently the feathers of
aquatic birds. She wears the V-shaped shawl or tippet and a skirt, on
each side of which the chalchihuitl emblem is shown and which is
fringed with shells. Teobert Maler reproduces another stone figure of
her wearing a high headdress of feathers and a necklace and wristlets
of chalchihuitls.
MYTHS
The interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that
“Chalchiuhtli, who presided over these thirteen days, saved herself in
the deluge. She is a woman who remained after the deluge. Her name
signifies the ‘Woman who wears a dress adorned with precious stones.’
They here fasted four days till death. They paint her holding in one
hand a spinning-wheel, and in the other a wooden instrument, with which
they weave; and in order to show that of the sons which women bring
forth some are slaves and others die in war, and others in poverty,
they paint her with a stream as if carrying them away, so that whether
rich or poor all were finally doomed.” The interpreter of Codex
Vaticanus A says that she is the same as the virgin Chimalman, who was
the mother of Quetzalcoatl. The myth to which this passage alludes is
dealt with in the section relating to Quetzalcoatl. Sahagun (bk. i, c.
ii) calls the goddess the sister of the Tlaloquê.
FESTIVALS
Chalchihuitlicue was adored at the etzalqualiztli festival to the
Tlaloquê (see Tlaloc) and at the feast ce atl (“one week”), when, says
Sahagun, “her festival was celebrated by all who in any way dealt in
water, or had any connection with it, water-sellers, fishers and the
like. These dressed and ornamented her image and made adorations in the
house named calpulli. The great lords and rich merchants at the birth
of one of their children paid the greatest attention to this sign, and
the day and hour at which the child was born. They at once inquired of
the astrologers what fortune the child might expect to encounter, and
if the sign was propitious, they had the infant baptized without delay,
whereas if it were the opposite they waited until the nearest day which
had a propitious sign. Food and drink were distributed freely to all.”
PRIESTHOOD
Veytia [282] states that King Nauhyotl instituted a college of priests
expressly for the service of this goddess. These were celibate and wore
long and ample robes of a sombre colour. They went bare-footed in the
sanctuary, fasted frequently, and were given to penitence and
contemplation. Their high-priest was called Achcauhtli, [283] and the
entire cult was modelled on that of Quetzalcoatl. This did not prohibit
them, however, from the sacrifice of human beings.
NATURE AND STATUS
Chalchihuitlicue was the female counterpart of Tlaloc, and the goddess
of water and moisture. Sahagun (bk. i, c. ii) says of her: “She was
supposed to have her existence in the sea, the rivers and lakes, and
had power to take the lives of those who ventured upon them, and to
raise tempests.”
The name means “She whose raiment consists of green gems,” or “She of
the jewelled robe,” and is allegorical of the brilliant surface of
flowing rather than stagnant water. She is, says Seler, “an appropriate
representative of the sign ‘Snake.’ For the moving, flowing water has
everywhere and at all times been likened to the serpent. In cultural
centres which are dedicated to the Water-goddess—the Pilon de Azucar,
for instance, which has been explored by Hermann Strebel—the ground
swarms as well with images of snakes as of frogs.” [284]
In Codex Borgia she is seen with a bunch of dried herbs above her,
evidently indicating that she had a medicinal side to her character.
Certain pictures of her—that, for instance, in the Aubin tonalamatl
already described—seem to point to her as the goddess of change in
human affairs, of speedy ruin, and this conception was, no doubt,
brought about by the ever-changing character of the element she
symbolized. She is, indeed, the goddess of water in its mutable and
kaleidoscopic form.
There is, however, every reason to believe that she had a still more
profound significance in Mexican theology, and this is made clear if we
examine the prayer to her preserved by Sahagun in which she seems to
represent the purifying and cleansing influence of water as an agency
to wipe away the original sin with which it was thought man came into
the world.
That the goddess had also a lunar significance is plain from the
allusion to her as the mother of the Centzon Mimixcoa, or stars of the
Northern Hemisphere, and the great importance attached to the prayers
offered up to her in connection with child-bearing. As has been hinted,
she had also a medicinal aspect. The child sacrificed to her at the
etzalqualiztli festival was slain at the hill known as Yauhqueme
(“covered with mugwort”), and, as instanced in the case of Tlaloc, this
plant is the especial medicine-herb of the Greek Artemis. In Codex
Borgia, indeed, she is associated with a herb which may possibly be the
mugwort or wormwood, and Seler thinks she is to be regarded as the
giver of “healing draughts of physic.”
UIXTOCIUATL = “SALT WOMAN”
Area of Worship: Originally the eastern sea-coast.
Relationship: Elder sister of the Tlaloquê.
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
Sahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).—The goddess is painted yellow and
wears a crown of paper or cotton, adorned with quetzal-feathers and a
golden ear-plug. Her overdress and skirt are painted with wavy lines of
water and she wears sandals. Her shield is entirely white and she bears
a rush staff in her hand, from which depend strips of cotton or paper.
FESTIVALS
Tecuilhuitontli.—“The seventh month” (says Sahagun, bk. ii, c. vii)
“was designated tecuilhuitontli, the first day of which was dedicated
to the goddess of salt, who was styled Uixtociuatl. She was termed the
elder sister of the god Tlaloc. A woman was slain in her honour, robed
with the same ornaments as were worn by the images of this divinity.
“The night preceding this festival, the women, old, young, and
children, gave themselves up to singing and dancing, marching in a
ring, linked by cords which they each held by an end, which they called
xochimecatl, and which were garlanded with the absinthe flowers of the
country, called iztauhyatl. Old men led the songs and dances, while in
the midst of the ring stood the poor woman doomed to death, richly
dressed in the manner of the image of the goddess. All the women, in
company with her who was to die, watched, sang and danced the whole of
the night preceding the festival. Day having dawned, all the priests
assumed their ornaments, and partook in a solemn dance, all those who
assisted carrying in their hands flowers called cempoalxochitl. Dancing
all the way, they brought several captives to the temple of Tlaloc, in
the midst of whom walked the woman who was to die, dressed as the image
of Uixtociuatl. Before she was sacrificed, the captives were first put
to death. [285]
“Several other ceremonies were conducted during this festival and there
were frequent scenes of debauchery.”
NATURE AND STATUS
The interpreter of Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that Yxcuina, as he
names the goddess, was the protector of adulterers and “the goddess of
salt and of dissolute persons.” He further relates that they put
adulterers to death before her image. The interpreter of Codex
Vaticanus A adds that she was the wife of Mictlantecutli, lord of the
realm of the dead. One of the women given as consorts to the victim
sacrificed at the principal feast of Tezcatlipocâ was called after the
goddess.
The salt-supply was regarded as an indispensable alimentary feature in
Mexico, and the relative importance of the worship of Uixtociuatl can
readily be gathered from this circumstance. Her connection with
lustfulness had probably a physiological basis, and perhaps owed its
existence to the saline odour which emanates from the excretions of the
privy parts. There is a distinct resemblance between her name and that
of the absinthe plant.
ATLAUA = “LORD OF THE LAKE BEACHES”
Area of Worship: Chinampanecs of Cuitlauac.
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
The lower parts of his extremities are striped blue, like those of
Uitzilopochtli. In the Sahagun MS. (Palacio) he wears the domino mask
edged round with small white circles (the “stellar face-painting”) and
the mouth and chin are blackened or reddened. The headdress resembles
the flag used as Uitzilopochtli’s symbol for the panquetzaliztli
festival. He carries the shield of Uitzilopochtli, with the five balls
of eagle’s down, one half of the weapon being coloured red, like blood,
and in his right hand he holds an instrument which, from comparison
with another Sahagun MS. (Bib. Laurenz.) we know to be a rattle. In
this picture symbols expressive of singing flow from his mouth.
NATURE AND STATUS
He was a god of the inhabitants of the floating gardens of Lake
Xochimilco, the tribe known as the Chinampanecs, and from the “stellar
face-painting” he wore he must at some time have been identified by one
of the early hunting tribes with one or other of the stars. His
possession of Uitzilopochtli’s shield is perhaps further proof of his
stellar association. He may have been one of the Centzonuitznaua (see
Uitzilopochtli—“Myths”).
NAPATECUTLI = “FOUR TIMES LORD”
Area of Worship: Shores of Lake Texcuco.
Relationship: One of the Tlaloquê.
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
Sahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio).—The body-paint is black, but a
plaster of salvia chia is worn on the face underneath the eyes. The god
wears a paper crown sprinkled with rubber gum, and a tuft of paper at
the back of the head, from which quetzal-feathers depend. Two long
strips of paper hang from under the crown down the back of the neck,
and these are also sprinkled with rubber gum. Across the right shoulder
is slung a band of paper, and an underdress of the same material
surrounds the hips, and these are also sprinkled with gum. Sandals are
worn, and the shield is decorated with the water-rose motif. A rush
staff is carried in the hand, from which strips of paper hang, daubed
with melted indiarubber.
NATURE AND STATUS
Sahagun says that Napatecutli “was the god of men who make mats out of
aquatic reeds, and was one of the Tlaloquê. He was the inventor of
mat-making, and was adored by those who made the low chairs called
icpalli, and the hurdles of reeds which are called tolcuextli. He made
the reeds to grow and caused the showers that made them spring, and
they prayed him for rain and reeds. When they sacrificed a slave to him
they dressed him in the god’s garments, placing in his hands a green
vase filled with water, with which he besprinkled all with the aid of a
branch of willow, as if he were blessing them. Then, in the course of
the year, whenever one of this trade wished to feast this divinity, he
acquainted the priests with his intention, who chose a priest, dressed
him in the attributes of the god, like his image, and conducted him,
asperging him on the way, with a branch of willow dipped in water.
Arrived at the house, they prayed him to extend his favours to the
dwelling, and the feast was celebrated, the ‘god’ eating and drinking
with the rest. This was done with the desire to recompense the god, and
when they had spent all they had, they said: ‘I care not if I am
without means, so long as my god is satisfied with this feast. He may
grant me more, he may leave me in misery, so long as his will is
accomplished.’ So saying, they covered the representative of the god
with a white mantle, who returned with his companions. The householder
then feasted privately with his parents. The mat-makers plenished and
ornamented the temple of their god with reeds and plants, and anything
they placed in the temple was of the best workmanship.”
MATLALCUÊYÊ = “SHE OF THE BLUE ROBE”
(Variant of Chalchihuitlicue)
Area of Worship: Tlaxcallan.
Relationship: Second consort of Tlaloc.
APPEARANCE
She is recognized by her tasselled head-band and cape, and often by a
stepped nose-ornament.
NATURE AND STATUS
A variant of Chalchihuitlicue. She was believed to preside over a
mountain near Tlaxcallan. One of the women sacrificed to Tlaloc at the
great festival to the mountain-gods was called after this goddess.
OPOCHTLI = “THE SOUTHERN,” “LEFT-HANDED,” OR “THE WIZARD”
Area of Worship: The shores of Lake Texcuco.
Relationship: One of the Tlaloquê.
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
The Sahagun MS. describes the insignia of this god as follows: He is
painted black and has a patch or spot made from crushed seeds on his
face. His crown is cut out of paper, and from it rise plumes of
heron-feathers, mingled with those of the quetzal bird. He has a band
made of paper round his shoulders, a loin-cloth and white sandals. His
shield bears the solar emblem and he carries a rattle-staff in his
hand.
NATURE AND STATUS
Sahagun (bk. i, ch. 17) says of Opochtli, that he is one of the
Tlaloquê. To him was attributed the invention of fishing-nets and of
the minacachalli, or three-pronged harpoon, an instrument recalling the
classical trident, which was also used for spearing birds. He it was
who originally contrived the nets used by the fowler to ensnare the
aquatic birds which frequented the banks of Lake Texcuco, and the
paddle was likewise his invention. Of all the Tlaloquê he appears to
have been the most practical, as well as the most closely identified
with human pursuits, and naturally he figured as the patron of the
fisher, the fowler, and those generally who plied their occupation on
the water of the lake or on its shores. Upon the occasion of his
festival they offered him food and octli, the ears of maize, flowers,
and burned tobacco before him as an incense, as well as copal and the
absinthe herb. They also placed before him toasted maize. The older
priests chanted his praises and filed before his idol in procession. As
we have seen in the case of Uitzilopochtli, the word opochtli may
signify “wizard,” and I believe that the net, which would appear to a
primitive people an apparatus of the most ingenious kind, would be
regarded by them as the invention of a magician. Opochtli would almost
inevitably come to be connected with the Tlaloquê because of the
employment of his invention to catch fish and snare the aquatic birds
which rested on the shores of Lake Texcuco.