On the tenth day of the month a number of hunters set out for mount Cacatepec, near Tacubaya, to celebrate the hunting festival of Mixcoatl, god of the chase. On the first day they erected straw huts, in which they passed the night. The next morning, having broken their fast, they formed themselves into a great circle, and all advancing toward a common centre, the game was hemmed in and killed with ease. The spirits of the children sacrificed to the rain-gods, whose dwelling was upon the high mountains, were supposed to descend upon the hunters and make them strong and fortunate. Having secured their game, the hunters started for home in grand procession, singing songs of triumph, and hymns to the mighty Mixcoatl. After a solemn sacrifice of a portion of the game to the god, each took his share home and feasted upon it.[322] The Tlascaltecs sacrificed to the god at the place where the hunt took place, which was upon a neighboring hill. The way leading to the spot was strewn with leaves, over which the idol was carried with great pomp and ceremony.[323] Towards the close of the month male and female slaves were sacrificed before Mixcoatl.[324]
In Tlascala and the neighboring republics this was the 'month of love,' and great numbers of young girls were sacrificed to Xochiquetzal, Xochitecatl, and Tlazolteotl, goddesses of sensual delights. Among the victims were many courtesans, who voluntarily offered themselves, some to die in the temple, others on the battle-field, where they rushed in recklessly among the enemy. As no particular disgrace attended a life of prostitution, it seems improbable that remorse or repentance could have prompted this self-sacrifice; it must therefore be attributed to pure religious fervor. As a recompense for their devotion, these women before they went to their death had the privilege of insulting with impunity their chaster sisters. It is further said that a certain class of young men addicted to unnatural lusts, were allowed at this period to solicit custom on the public streets. At Quauhtitlan, every fourth year, during this month, a festival was celebrated in honor of Mitl, when a slave was bound to a cross and shot to death with arrows.[325]
The feast of the next month, called Panquetzaliztli, was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, god of war; that of the following month, called Atemoztli, was sacred to the Tlalocs. Both these festivals will be described elsewhere.[326]
FEAST OF THE MONTH OF HARD TIMES.
The ensuing month was named Tititl, or the month of 'hard times,' owing to the inclement weather. The celebrations of this period were chiefly in honor of an aged goddess, named Ilamatecutli, to whom a female slave was sacrificed. This woman represented the goddess and was dressed in white garments decorated with dangling shells and sandals of the same color; upon her head was a crown of feathers; the lower part of her face was painted black, the upper, yellow; in one hand she carried a white shield ornamented with feathers of the eagle and the night-heron, in the other she held a knitting stick. Before going to her death she performed a dance, and was permitted, contrary to usual custom, to express her grief and fear in loud lamentations. In the afternoon she was conducted to the temple of Huitzilopochtli, accompanied by a procession of priests, among whom was one dressed after the manner of the goddess Ilamatecutli. After the heart of the victim had been torn from her breast, her head was cut off and given to this personage, who immediately placed himself at the head of the other priests and led them in a dance round the temple, brandishing the head by the hair the while. As soon as the performers of the vecula, as this dance was named, had left the summit of the temple, a priest curiously attired descended, and, proceeding to a spot where stood a cage made of candlewood adorned with papers, set fire to it. Immediately upon seeing the flames the other priests, who stood waiting, rushed one and all up again to the temple-top; here lay a flower, which was secured by the first who could put hands upon it, carried back to the fire, and there burned. On the following day a game was played which resembled in some respects the Roman Lupercalia. The players were armed with little bags filled with paper, leaves, or flour, and attached to cords three feet long. With these they struck each other, and any girl or woman who chanced to come in their way was attacked by the boys, who, approaching quietly with their bags hidden, fell suddenly upon her, crying out: "This is the sack of the game." It sometimes happened, however, that the woman had provided herself with a stick, and used it freely, to the great discomfiture and utter rout of the urchins.[327] A captive was sacrificed during this month to Mictlantecutli, the Mexican Pluto, and the traders celebrated a grand feast in honor of Yacatecutli.[328] During the last Aztec month, which was called Itzcalli, imposing rites were observed throughout Mexico in honor of Xiuhtecutli, god of fire;[329] in the surrounding states, such as Tlacopan, Coyuhuacan, Azcapuzalco,[330] Quauhtitlan,[331] and Tlascala,[332] ceremonies more or less similar were gone through, accompanied by much roasting and flaying of men and women.
MISCELLANEOUS FEASTS.
Besides these monthly festivals there were many others devoted to the patron deities of particular trades, to whom the priests and people interested in their worship made offerings, and, in some cases, human sacrifices. There were also many movable feasts, held in honor of the celestial bodies, at harvest time, and on other like occasions. These sometimes happened to fall on the same day as a fixed festival, in which case the less important was either set aside or postponed. It is related of the Culhuas that on one occasion when a movable feast in honor of Tezcatlipoca chanced to fall upon the day fixed for the celebration of Huitzilopochtli, they postponed the former, and thereby so offended the god that he predicted the destruction of the monarchy and the subjugation of the people by a strange nation who would introduce a monotheistic worship.[333]
One of the most solemn of the movable feasts was that given to the sun, which took place at intervals of two or three hundred days, and was called Netonatiuhqualo, or 'the sun eclipsed.' Another festival took place when the sun appeared in the sign called Nahui Ollin Tonatiuh,[334] a sign much respected by kings and princes, and regarded as concerning them especially.
At the great festival of the winter solstice, which took place either in the month of Atemoztli or in that of Tititl, all the people watched and fasted four days, and a number of captives were sacrificed, two of whom represented the sun and moon.[335] About the same time a series of celebrations were held in honor of Iztacacenteotl, goddess of white maize; the victims sacrificed on this occasion were lepers and others suffering from contagious diseases.[336] Whenever the sign of Ce Miquiztli, or One Death, occurred, Mictlantecutli, god of hades, was fêted, and honors were paid to the dead.[337] Of the heavenly bodies, they esteemed next to the sun a certain star, into which Quetzalcoatl was supposed to have converted himself on leaving the earth. It was visible during about two hundred and sixty days of the year, and on the day of its first appearance above the horizon, the king gave a slave to be sacrificed, and many other ceremonies were performed. The priests, also, offered incense to this star every day, and drew blood from their bodies in its honor, acts which many of the devout imitated.[338]
At harvest-time the first-fruits of the season were offered to the sun. The sacrifice on this occasion was called Tetlimonamiquian, 'the meeting of the stones.' The victim, who was the most atrocious criminal to be found in the jails, was placed between two immense stones, balanced opposite each other; these were then allowed to fall together. After the remains had been buried, the principal men took part in a dance; the people also danced and feasted during the day and night.[339]