TLALOC = “HE WHO MAKES THINGS SPROUT”

(From Codex Magliabecchiano, 3 fol., sheet 89.)

(From Codex Magliabecchiano, 3 fol., sheet 34.)

FORMS OF TLALOC.

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, [[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.

(From Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, sheet 14.)

(From Codex Vaticanus A, sheet 20.)

FORMS OF TLALOC.

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.

(From Codex Laud.)

Stone figure (from Castella del Teayó.)

FORMS OF TLALOC.

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.

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 [[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.

MYTHS

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: