PAYNAL = “THE HASTY”
- Area of Worship: Mexico, Tlaxcallan.
- Relationship: Precursor or forerunner of Uitzilopochtli.
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ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
Sahagun MS.—He has the stellar face-painting, and wears a many-pointed crown of yellow feathers, the lower part of which is white. The front of this white portion ends in three small globes or bells. At the back is a bow, and he is furnished with an ear-plug and nose-plug of turquoise. On the head he wears a shell ring like Uitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl, and he holds a narrow striped banner ending in a sort of fleur-de-lis motif. The shield is blue, inlaid with turquoise mosaic. He has a peculiar skirt with a train marked with cross-hatchings. The banner he carries is a golden one, and he also bears the fire-drill. On his face is painted a chaffinch, which composes his face-mask.
FESTIVAL
See Uitzilopochtli.
NATURE AND STATUS
Seler identifies the god with the morning star. Sahagun calls him “the messenger” or “page” of Uitzilopochtli. He acted as “forerunner” of that god at the panquetzalitztli festival, thus perhaps signifying the manner in which the morning star precedes the sun. But I think the chaffinch painted upon his face and his general birdlike appearance may justify us in concluding that he was developed from some such form. The myth which alludes to Uitzilopochtli as a “little bird” which led the Aztecâ into Mexico may be a confused form of an older story in which a hero of the name of Uitzilopochtli may have been spoken of as accepting the augury and following the flight of a little bird.