After five days of penitential exercises mingled with dancing and singing, and on the day before the festival, the captives rose with dawn and betook themselves to the houses of those who had dedicated them to the slaughter, preceded by a man carrying a vessel full of black ink or red ochre or blue tincture. On arriving at the houses of those who had devoted them to death, they dipped their hands in the vessel and pressed them on the gates and the pillars of the dwelling, so that the imprint remained.[12] They then entered the kitchen of the house and walked several times round the furnace. Then they marched in procession to the temple, accompanied by porters bearing rich attire, which the captives donned. The hair was then taken from their heads to be kept “as a relic.” They were then given cylindrical cakes to eat, which must be held on the point of a maguey thorn and not between the fingers. With the dawn of day the god Paynal, the herald of Uitzilopochtli, descended from the temple of Uitzilopochtli. Four captives were then slain, two in honour of “the god Oappatzan.” Paynal, borne by four “necromancers,” then took the road to Tlatelolco, whence he passed to Nonoalco, the priest of the temple there receiving him with the representative of the god Quauitlicac, “his companion” (see “Myths”). The images were then carried to Tlaxotlan and Popotlan, where other captives were slain. Then the procession took its way to Chapultepec, passing the hill of that name and crossing [[72]]the little river Izquitlan, at the temple of which other captives called Izquiteca (“who eat roasted maize”) were sacrificed. They then crossed to the right under Coyoacan, passing by way of Tepetocan to Acachinanco.
During the time they made this progress the slaves who were about to die engaged in a skirmish. They divided themselves into two parties, the Uitznauatl (“They of the Thorny Wizard”), the other unnamed. The former seem to have been professional soldiers armed with mock weapons; the others slaves, armed with maquahuitls, wooden swords set with obsidian flakes. On Paynal’s return those who watched them from the summit of the temple, seeing the banner of the god (epaniztli), cried out, “Mexicans, cease your strife, the lord Paynal has come.” The warriors in the patrol of Paynal then rushed to the summit of the temple, where they arrived in a breathless condition. They placed their idol beside the paste image of Uitzilopochtli. Their ears were pierced by the priest. They descended again, carrying an image of Uitzilopochtli made of paste, which they divided, each bearing his own portion to his own house, where he made festival with his parents and neighbours. A tour of the temple was then made, the captives walking in front.
A priest then descended from the summit of the temple bearing a sheaf of white papers in his hand, which he held up to the four cardinal points in turn, afterwards throwing them into a mortar called quauhxicalco[13] (“cup of the eagles”). He was followed by another holding a very long pine-torch called xiuhcoatl (“fire-snake”), shaped like fire. (This was the fire-snake weapon with which one of Uitzilopochtli’s followers had killed his rebellious sister Coyolxauhqui). This was cast burning into the vessel containing the papers, which were consumed. Paynal reappeared, and the slaves were sacrificed according to rank to the sound of conch-shells. All then returned home, where octli of special strength was drunk, festivities engaged in, and presents of [[73]]wearing apparel distributed to friends and dependants (bk. ii, c. 34).
This festival took place at the period of the winter solstice, when the sun has removed farthest to the south. The burning of the papers by the xiuhcoatl, and the fact that the fire-festival of the new period of fifty-two years, the making of the new fire, was usually postponed to coincide with it, show it to be a fire-feast; for in his “avatar” of the sun Uitzilopochtli was a fire-god.
Torquemada states that the priest of Quetzalcoatl hurled a dart into the breast of the paste image of Uitzilopochtli, which fell. He then pulled the “heart” out of it, giving it to the king. The body was then divided among the men, no woman being allowed to eat of it. The ceremony was called teoqualo, i.e. “god is eaten.”[14]
MYTHS
Regarding Uitzilopochtli, Clavigero says: “Huitzilopochtli, or Mexitli, was the god of war; the deity the most honoured by the Mexicans, and their chief protector. Of this god some said he was a pure spirit, others that he was born of a woman, but without the assistance of a man, and described his birth in the following manner: There lived, said they, in Coatepec, a place near to the ancient city of Tula, a woman called Coatlicue, mother of the Centzonhuiznahuas, who was extremely devoted to the worship of the gods. One day, as she was employed, according to her usual custom, in walking in the temple, she beheld descending in the air a ball made of various feathers. She seized it and kept it in her bosom, intending afterwards to employ the feathers in decoration of the altar; but when she wanted it after her walk was at an end she could not find it, at which she was extremely surprised, and her wonder was very greatly increased when she began to perceive from that moment that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy advanced till it was discovered by her children, who, although they could not themselves suspect their mother’s virtue, yet fearing [[74]]the disgrace she would suffer upon her delivery, determined to prevent it by putting her to death. They could not take their resolution so secretly as to conceal it from their mother, who, while she was in deep affliction at the thought of dying by the hands of her own children, heard an unexpected voice issue from her womb, saying, ‘Be not afraid, mother, I shall save you with the greatest honour to yourself and glory to me.’
“Her hard-hearted sons, guided and encouraged by their sister Cojolxauhqui, who had been the most keenly bent upon the deed, were now just upon the point of executing their purpose, when Huitzilopochtli was born, with a shield in his left hand, a spear in his right, and a crest of green feathers on his head; his left leg adorned with feathers, and his face, arms, and thighs streaked with blue lines. As soon as he came into the world he displayed a twisted pine, and commanded one of his soldiers, called Tochchancalqui, to fell with it Cojolxauhqui, as the one who had been the most guilty; and he himself attacked the rest with so much fury that, in spite of their efforts, their arms, or their entreaties, he killed them all, plundered their houses, and presented the spoils to his mother. Mankind were so terrified by this event, that from that time they called him Tetzahuitl (terror) and Tetzauhteotl (terrible god).
“This was the god who, as they said, becoming the protector of the Mexicans, conducted them for so many years in their pilgrimage, and at length settled them where they afterwards founded the great city of Mexico. They raised to him that superb temple, so much celebrated, even by the Spaniards, in which were annually holden three solemn festivals in the fifth, ninth, and fifteenth months; besides those kept every four years, every thirteen years, and at the beginning of every century. His statue was of gigantic size, in the posture of a man seated on a blue-coloured bench, from the four corners of which issued four huge snakes. His forehead was blue, but his face was covered with a golden mask, while another of the same kind covered the back of his head. Upon his head he carried a beautiful [[75]]crest, shaped like the beak of a bird; upon his neck a collar consisting of ten figures of the human heart; in his right hand a large blue, twisted club; in his left a shield, on which appeared five balls of feathers disposed in the form of a cross, and from the upper part of the shield rose a golden flag with four arrows, which the Mexicans pretended to have been sent to them from heaven to perform those glorious actions which we have seen in their history. His body was girt with a large golden snake and adorned with lesser figures of animals made of gold and precious stones, which ornaments and insignia had each their peculiar meaning. They never deliberated upon making war without imploring the protection of this god, with prayers and sacrifices; and offered up a greater number of human victims to him than to any other of the gods.”[15]
Boturini says of this god: “While the Mexicans were pushing their conquests and their advance toward the country now occupied by them, they had a very renowned captain, or leader, called Huitziton. He it was that in these long and perilous journeys through unknown lands, sparing himself no fatigue, took care of the Mexicans. The fable says of him that, being full of years and wisdom, he was one night caught up in sight of his army and of all his people, and presented to the god Tezauhteotl, that is to say the Frightful God, who, being in the shape of a horrible dragon, commanded him to be seated at his right hand, saying: ‘Welcome, O valiant captain; very grateful am I for thy fidelity in my service and in governing my people. It is time that thou shouldest rest, since thou art already old, and since thy great deeds raise thee up to the fellowship of the immortal gods. Return then to thy sons and tell them not to be afflicted if in future they cannot see thee as a mortal man; for from the nine heavens thou shalt look down propitious upon them. And not only that, but also, when I strip the vestments of humanity from thee, I will leave to thine afflicted and orphan people thy bones and thy skull so that they may be comforted in their sorrow, and may [[76]]consult thy relics as to the road they have to follow: and in due time the land shall be shown them that I have destined for them, a land in which they shall hold wide empire, being respected of the other nations.’