The gods of Mexico

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, [237]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,4 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 [238]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 [239]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 [240]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 [241]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.

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 [242]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.

The myth explanatory of the Tlaloquê is found in the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas (c. ii),5 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 [243]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:

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 [245]addresses as Jaguar-serpent, Jaguar (Balam), being a common designation of priests among the Maya-Quiche.6 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.” [246]

The abode of Tlaloc was in Tlalocan, the heights on the road from Texcuco to Huetzotzinca and Tlaxcallan, a high and shady place.7 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.

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 [247]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,8 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,9 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,10 for so was this hillock called by another name. Poiauhtla,11 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.12 Those drowned here were called Epcoatl,13 and their adornment epuepaniuhqui.14 The sixth hill of death was Cocotl,15 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,16 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 [248]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.’ ”17

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 [249]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.”18

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 [250]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.19 Many other rites were performed as well.”20

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.21 These women, as well as the man, were decked with paper [251]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 calpulli22 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.”23

Atemoztli.—On the sixteenth month, atemoztli, the people celebrated the Rain-god’s festival in right good earnest. Says Sahagun24:

“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 [252]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.”25

Camargo, who had witnessed the festivals to Tlaloc thirty years before writing his book, states that26 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.

The earliest recorded place of worship of this deity is that spoken of by Clavigero27 in one of the few enlightening passages which he permits himself, as follows: [253]

“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. [254]

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.

Sahagun28 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.”

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.31 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, [258]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.32 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.33

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 [259]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.

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 [260]Quetzalcoatl. Sahagun (bk. i, c. ii) calls the goddess the sister of the Tlaloquê.

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.”

Veytia34 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,35 and the entire cult was modelled on that of Quetzalcoatl. This did not prohibit them, however, from the sacrifice of human beings.

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.

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, [263]dressed as the image of Uixtociuatl. Before she was sacrificed, the captives were first put to death.37

“Several other ceremonies were conducted during this festival and there were frequent scenes of debauchery.”

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. [264]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.

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.

She is recognized by her tasselled head-band and cape, and often by a stepped nose-ornament. [266]