The Tarascan priests differed in several essentials from those of the Aztec. Since the office was hereditary they formed a caste, their heads were carefully shaved, and their principal insignia were a pair of golden tweezers, used for epilation, and a calabash containing tobacco, employed to produce a state of ecstasy during which they were supposed to hold communion with the gods. Among the Totonac were two high-priests consecrated to Cinteotl, who were regarded with especial veneration; they were widowers, over sixty years of age, wore garments of jackal-skins, ate no fish, and their functions were the delivery of oracles, and the preparation of manuscripts.
In Tehuacan there was an especially holy order of priests who spent four years at a time in perpetual prayer (by relays) and observed a continual fast, abstaining from meat, fish, fruit, honey and pepper, and taking but one meal a day. They were supposed to commune directly with the gods, and were held in especial estimation by Montecuzoma. But perhaps the most generally revered priest in Mexico was the priest of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula, who was regarded as the direct successor of the god, and who lived a life of particular austerity. Among the Mixtec the high-priest wore a short coat embroidered with mythological figures, and over this a garment described as a “surplice,” while his head was crowned with feathers interwoven with small figures of the gods. But one of the holiest priests was the high-priest of the sacred Zapotec city of Mitla, who was kept in retirement, for it was feared that death would seize any of the ordinary folk who might set eyes upon him. He was regarded as an inspired prophet and was supposed to hold converse with the gods.
The functions of the Mexican priesthood were manifold; apart from the general care of the temples and the maintenance of the holy fires, the priests were employed in sacrifice, divination, teaching, astronomy and the preparation of manuscripts. The ceremonial burning of incense at appointed hours absorbed much of their time, for to the sun alone this offering was made four times during the day and three times during the night. They lived in communities, under the strict supervision of their superiors and colleagues; small breaches of discipline were punished by extra performance of the penitential rite, by pricking with aloe-spines, or by midnight offerings of incense upon a mountain; more serious offences by beating, especially at the Etzalqualiztli festival, or by death. The provision of wood for the temple fires was a most important duty; in Mexico it was usually undertaken by the novices, but in Michoacan it was nominally the duty of the king, though in fact the high-priest, as his representative, saw to the matter. The education of would-be priests was a matter of great moment, and the institution at which this was carried out, the Calmecac, deserves a word of description. Parents wishing to dedicate a son to the service of the gods invited the officers in charge of that establishment to a banquet during which they communicated their desires. The child was then taken to the Calmecac and offered to the image of Quetzalcoatl, the patron of the institution, and his ears were pierced. If too young to be entered as a novice forthwith, he was for the time restored to his parents, but his necklace was left with the god, since it was believed that his soul was mysteriously attached to this ornament. At the age of seven or eight the child definitely took up his residence at the Calmecac, where his duties at first consisted in sweeping the building and preparing the black paint used by the priests from the soot of a species of pine. Later on he assisted in the collection of aloe-spines used for blood-letting, and later still in the gathering of firewood and preparation of sun-dried bricks for building (adobes). All the time he was receiving instruction in the ceremonial chants and in ritual, and learning the practice of austerities by rising at midnight to offer incense or to take a ceremonial bath, or by joining in the ceremonial fasts on appointed days. The elder novices occasionally made pilgrimages at night to a neighbouring mountain; they set out alone and nude, carrying a censer, a bag of incense, a torch, a conch-shell trumpet, and a number of aloe-spines. The latter were left at the furthest point of their journey wrapped in a ball of hay. The Tlamacazqui lived with the novices at the Calmecac, all messed and slept together, and were subject to the strictest discipline. A special duty of the Tlamacazqui was the sounding of conch-shells and drums at stated hours of the day and night. A portion of the Calmecac was reserved for girls, also dedicated by their parents to the service of the gods. They were under the charge of elderly unmarried women, and assisted in the sweeping of the temples, the tending of the fires, the preparation of food, and the manufacture of garments and ornaments for the idols. They were compelled to live in strict chastity, but their service was not necessarily life-long. Any girl when she attained a marriageable age might leave the establishment with the permission of her superiors, which was easily obtained by means of a present. In fact, many girls entered the service of religion in the hope that their devotion to the gods might be rewarded with a good husband.
An institution similar to the Calmecac existed among the Mixtec at Achiutla.
Other institutions for the religious instruction of the young of both sexes existed in Mexico, attached to various temples. The mode of life was much the same as in the Calmecac, but the discipline was not so severe.
As said before, one of the principal functions of the priesthood was the exercise of the art of divination, and the principal instrument was the tonalamatl. The priests of Tlazolteotl were supposed to be especially expert in the use of the “book of days”; the horoscopes of new-born children were invariably cast, and a favourable day selected for the baptismal ceremony (as described below, p. 160), in accordance with the various influences attached to the day of its birth. Constant recourse was had to the interpreters of the tonalamatl in almost every emergency, and practically no enterprise of importance was undertaken except upon a propitious day. But there were numerous other methods of divination, and several grades of magical practitioners. Grains of maize or red beans were commonly employed to discover the issue of a sickness. The goddess Tozi was the patroness of the professional magicians who used this means, though the casting of the grains was usually performed in the presence of a figure of Quetzalcoatl, the arch-patron of magic. Twenty grains were usually cast upon a cloth; if they fell forming a hollow circle, typifying a grave, it was believed that the sick person would die; but if so that a straight line could be drawn leaving ten on each side, the patient would recover. Or again, if they fell scattered, a fatal termination to the illness was expected; but if in a heap, health would be restored. At Tlaxcala it was a fatal sign if one grain stood up on end. Grain was also used in divination by the Mixtec, who sowed seed on the nemontemi days, and from its success or failure calculated the prospects of the year’s crop. Another method of prognosticating the chances of a patient consisted in winding a string into a knot; if it could be pulled loose, the patient would recover, otherwise his chances were small. Or again, a sick child would be held over a vessel of water, and his reflection carefully observed; if the image was dim there was small prospect of recovery. The last method of divination was employed when the sickness was supposed to be due to absence of the child’s tonalli (which may be translated “soul” or “luck”), and constitutes another instance of the belief, so common throughout the world, that the incorporeal nature of man is closely connected with his reflection or shadow. Snakes were also used in divination, especially to discover a stolen object; the suspected persons were seated in a circle, and the magician placed a basket containing a snake in the middle. The basket was uncovered, and it was believed that if the culprit were present the snake would indicate the fact by crawling to him. Scrying in a mirror or bowl of water was another method of divination widely employed in Mexico proper, and was found among the Tarascans also. At Tlaxcala a peculiar custom was observed when war was declared in order to estimate the chances of ultimate success. Two sacred arrows were carefully kept in this town, which were supposed to have been brought by the first immigrants from Tulan. These were hurled in the direction of the foe by two specially chosen warriors, and then recovered at all costs. If an enemy was wounded by one the omens were regarded as especially favourable. At Mexico the Naualli was a magical priest of a high order; he was celibate, had been trained from youth in weather-wisdom and spent much of his time in fasting and purification. He was credited with special powers, such as the assumption at will of animal form, and levitation; he acted as the general guardian of the city against sorcerers, and gave warning of approaching famine or pestilence. The belief in powers such as these became extraordinarily widespread after the conquest, and resulted in the formation of a regular cult, the members of which were called Nagual. The Nagualists were supposed to have animal familiars, whose shape they could assume, and to hold regular “witches’ sabbaths.” Many natives confessed to such practices, and the Spaniards experienced great difficulty in stamping out the cult, which had as its avowed object the elimination of Christianity, and penetrated far into Central America. The information available concerning this extremely interesting recrudescence of paganism can be found in a small book by Brinton entitled “Nagualism.”
Besides the magical priests already mentioned, there existed a class of professional conjurers, who performed various tricks, often for hire. One would have a number of puppets in a pouch which came out and danced, apparently uninspired by human agency, while another would roast maize on a simple cloth without fire. The Huaxtec were supposed to be particularly expert at such tricks, and among their feats Sahagun mentions the production from space of a spring with fishes, the burning and restoration of a hut, or the dismemberment and resurrection of the conjurer himself. The last proceeding recalls certain of the feats performed by the members of the ritual societies of the west coast of North America during the winter ceremonials. The Ocuiltec of the Toluca valley also possessed a great reputation as magicians. Various forms of domestic divination were practised, such as the springing of octli upon the hearth-fire, auguries being taken from the spluttering. But before saying a word about the popular belief in omens, it will be as well to treat very shortly the subject of sorcery. Individuals born on the days 3. cipactli and 1. eecatl were supposed to be predisposed to the practice of the black art, and days with the number nine, especially 9. itzcuintli and 9. malinalli (but also 4. eecatl), were believed to be especially favourable for their evil practices. They could transform themselves into animal shape, influence the hearts of women, inflict wasting diseases upon their enemies (as implied in one of their names, “heart-eaters”), and bring misfortune. These arts they were ready to place at the disposal of those who were prepared to pay for their services, and they often combined their trade with that of professional housebreaker. For this purpose their most powerful charm was the arm of a woman who had died in childbirth; by its means they could cast sleep upon the inmates of the house which they desired to rob, or at any rate deprive them of the faculty of speech and movement. This belief bears a strange resemblance to that once held in this country concerning the magical properties attaching to the hand of an executed criminal. They could however be kept at a distance by placing a stone knife in a bowl of water on the threshold, or thistles in the windows. A bolder method of counteracting the machinations of a sorcerer was forcibly to snatch a few hairs from his head. It was believed that if he could not recover them he was destined to die the same night, unless indeed he could steal or borrow something from the house of his assailant. Practitioners of the black art were punished by the Tarascans by blinding.
Various portents were drawn from the animal world; the cries of beasts of prey at night were supposed to forebode disaster to those who heard them, and the voices of certain birds were believed equally unlucky. The owl, so closely associated with Mictlantecutli, was especially regarded as the harbinger of ill-fortune and death, and if one of these birds perched upon the house of a sick man his demise was considered certain. It was held unlucky to encounter a skunk or a weasel, and the entry into the house of a rabbit or a troop of ants foreboded bad luck. If a certain kind of spider was found in the house, the owner traced a cross upon the ground, at the centre of which he placed the insect. If it went towards the north, the direction of the underworld, it was regarded as a sign of death for the observer, any other direction foretelling misfortune of minor importance.
Besides these superstitions there were a whole host of popular beliefs, of which only a few can be given here. Many of these were connected with food; it was customary to blow upon maize before putting it in the cooking-pot, to “give it courage,” and it was believed that if a person neglected to pick up maize-grains lying on the ground they called out to heaven to punish the omission. If two brothers were drinking, and the younger drank first, it was thought that the elder would cease to grow; and it was also believed that the growth of a child was stopped by stepping over it when seated or lying down, but that the effect could be averted by stepping back again. Young girls were not allowed to eat standing, for it was believed that they would fail to get husbands, and children were prevented from licking the grind-stone for fear they would lose their teeth. When a child lost one of its first teeth, the father or mother placed the tooth in a mouse-hole, a proceeding which was supposed to ensure the growth of the second tooth; and all nail-parings were thrown into the water in the hope that the auitzotl, a mythical water-animal which was believed to eat them, would make the nails grow. Sneezing was thought to be a sign that evil was being spoken of the sneezer, and there was a peculiar belief that the perfume of the flowers which were carried at banquets and in ceremonial dances might only be inhaled from the edges of the bouquet, since the centre belonged to the god Tezcatlipoca.
Magic played a very important part in the treatment of sickness, and many diseases were supposed to be sent by the gods, either in a malignant spirit, or as a punishment for some breach of ritual, such as violation of a public fast. The Ciuapipiltin, the souls of women dying in childbirth, were in particular supposed to be disease-bringers; they were thought to haunt cross-roads on particular calendrical dates, and to select children principally as their prey. People falling sick on the date 1. ozomatli were generally given up by their doctors as incurable victims of these malignant goddesses. Tezcatlipoca was also regarded as a giver of disease in general, though in his case sickness was a punishment for some fault. Other deities were supposed to preside over special maladies, such as Xipe over disorders of the skin and eyes, and Amimitl over coughs and dysentery. Individuals suffering from the former complaints were believed to obtain relief by wearing the skin of a sacrificial victim during the Tlacaxipeualiztli festival, while the shrine of Amimitl at Cuitlauac was sought by victims of the latter well on into Christian times. Ixtlilton presided over the diseases of children, and in the courtyard of his temple were jars of holy water used as medicine. The mountain-gods were believed to send gout and rheumatism, and sufferers made vows to erect statues to them and to the rain- and water-deities. Another medical divinity was Tzapotlatenan, a deified woman who was revered as the discoverer of the medicinal value of turpentine, while Teteoinnan was the general patroness of doctors and midwives. Certain disorders were supposed to be contracted from the natural world, e.g. by smelling or sitting on certain flowers, while others were attributed to the machinations of sorcerers. The treatment of patients offers two aspects, one of which is purely magical, the other scientific. The Mexicans had a very good knowledge of the properties of certain plants, and used them with much success, both by external and internal application. In surgery they could set bones, and Sahagun states that a badly cut nose was sewed up with a hair, and a mixture of honey and salt applied. But no doubt it was the magical aspect of medical treatment which counted most in popular estimation. The medical priest would often apply suction to the seat of pain, and then produce triumphantly from his mouth some small object, such as an obsidian knife, which he pretended to have extracted from the patient’s body. Amulets were frequently worn to banish maladies, especially in the case of children, and many ointments contained ingredients the effect of which was purely imaginary, though the massage which accompanied their application had no doubt a beneficial effect. One such medicament consisted of certain herbs, including tobacco, pounded up with the bodies of various insects, and this was also applied to the body as a protection against poisonous snakes and other wild animals. The idea that sickness could be removed by transferring it to another person was found in Mexico as in many other parts of the world; in cases of fever the image of a dog would be made of maize dough, and placed on an aloe-leaf in a pathway, and it was believed that the first passer-by would remove the malady in his heel-bones. A remedy which was of almost universal application, and which was of real value, was the steam-bath. The patient was introduced into a small brick-built chamber which had a furnace constructed at one side. Between the furnace and the chamber was a slab of the volcanic stone called tezontli, upon which water was poured to produce steam. This building was called temazcalli in Mexico, but the treatment is not peculiar to this area, being found elsewhere in America also. According to Burgoa, among the Zapotec, persons who felt themselves incurably sick would ask to be shut up in a chamber in the holy city of Mitla reserved for the bodies of sacrificial victims and captains killed in war. Here they were left to perish, secure in the knowledge that their lot in the other world would be far superior to that in this.