A Calendar of Horror? The Aztec Veintena - Part 1

They make the cruel Assyrians and Genghis Khan look like human rights activists. The Aztecs conjure up words of blood lust, human sacrifice, and heart plucking. They are brutal, but after reading the 18 Months in a year of the Aztecs based on the Florentine Codex, the level of horror just goes up. Following 18 months and the rituals involved are: 

1. Atl caualo or Quauitl eua

A month dedicated to water gods, such as Tlaloc, where, in modern sense unfortunately, involved the sacrifice of children. The more cry baby, the better, as the tears symbolize the abundance of rain that priests prayed for.

The month also saw captives or POWs tied in wheels and thrown down in the steps of pyramids. After they suffered from trauma, broken bones and wounds, they were then taken to the temple called Yopico. There, they faced the priest who tore into their abdomens and plucked out their still beating hearts amidst the cheers of their captors.

Tlaloc in the Codex Borgia

2. Tlacaxipehualiztli

The month, dedicated to fertility and Xipe Totec, that saw more killings of captives in a classic Aztec fashion with a dash of cannibalism. The ceremonies involved captors dragging their captives by their hair up to the top of pyramids where they laid them down in the sacrificial table. 5 individuals held the captives, 1 for each limb and then 1 for the head. The priest then struck the torso of the captives with a flint knife, opened it, and plucked the heart out.

The men holding the bodies threw the heartless body into the stairs until it reached the ground. Old men in the ground called Quaquacuiltin picked the bodies and brought them to their calpulco. They flayed the bodies and wore the skin for about an Aztec month (about 20 days). After the flaying, they dismember the heartless skinned body then consume it.

Xipe Totec in the Borgia Codex

3. Tozoztontli 

The month dedicated solely to Tlaloc again. The month where the Quaquacuiltin removed the skins they wore and took a bath in the cave called Yopico. Sahagun labeled them “stinking like dead dogs.”

After taking a bath in the cave, they came out to perform ceremonies which garnered attendance of the sick hoping to recover after attending.

While the Quaquacuiltin wore the skins for more than 20 days, the masters of sacrificed captives also did penance along with their families. Their penance came in the form of abstaining from bathing or even washing their heads. They only end this act after the bathing in the cave had been finished and they held a feast after performing ceremonies on the bones of the sacrificed.

The end of the penance also marked the start of a month-long singing called cuicacalli. They sang songs praising their gods.

4. Hueyi Tozoztli

The month devoted to the god of maize, Cinteotl. They fast for 4 days after which they hold a feast. They concluded this event by placing in their doors reeds with a dash of their blood either from their ears or calves. The nobles also practiced this by placing branches called acxoyatl. According to some records, child sacrifice also occurred.

Cinteotl in Borgia Codex

5. Toxcatl

The month allotted to the worship of the gods Titlacauan and Tezcatlipoca. The main event focused on a teenager with “no blemishes” whom they groomed for a year to resemble Tezcatlipoca, giving the sacrifice a luxurious life as well as training in playing instruments and singing.

This groomed youth then paraded across the town as if a celebrity. Everyone in turn treated him like a rockstar. They bowed and followed the march. After the march, the sacrifice cut his hair and received a woman to engage in intercourse for the next 20 days. On the 15th day, he attended feasts.

On D-Day, he then proceeded to the pyramid of Tlacochcalco. He climbed the stairs lined with shattered flutes he used to play for the past year. At the summit, he laid to the sacrificial table for his chest to be opened and his pumping heart plucked out. The body then carried down where they chop off the head for its skull to be displayed.

Tezcatlipoca in Borgia Codex

6. Etzalcualiztli

Dedicated once again to Tlaloc. Priests and acolytes of Tlaloc went to Citlaltepec to gather large amounts of reeds called Temilco to decorate the pyramid of the god. Along the route, no one should be present or those caught faced either being dispossessed to the point of being left nude or at worst being beaten up and left for dead. No exemption, even tributes for the Emperor would be taken.

On this month also, acolytes of the gods with transgressions or mistakes suffered brutal punishments before being thrown in the shorelines of the lake.

As usual, they “sacrificed” more captives and slaves and the priest threw the sacrificed hearts into Lake Texcoco’s whirlpools.

7. Tecuilhuitontli

This month placed Huixtocihuatl in the center of attention. Another period of dancing by women of both young and old while wearing garlands of wormwood flowers called iztauhiatl while elderly men sang on the side. The central attraction went to an ornamented woman playing impersonating the salt goddess Huixtocihuatl.

At night, they held vigils followed by more singing and dancing that lasted until dawn. After the festivities, the sacrificial woman marched into the pyramid of Tlaloc where she watched the sacrifice of captives before she herself laid in the table to be killed as a offering to the gods.

Huixtocihuatl Impersonator's sacrifice

8. Hueyi Tecuilhuitontli

The month for the goddess Xilonen of nourishment. A period of more partying and also charity. All before another sacrificial event.

Similar to the previous month, more singing and dancing for the populace but not after charity events. The people handed out tamales and gruel called chienpinolli to all the poor for 8 days. From sunset, they danced and sang in unisom while holding hands well dressed and accessorized.

A night before the festival for the sacrifice, the sacrificial woman danced in the pyramid all through the night. By dawn, nobles and warriors joined in the performance. When all finally joined, the sacrifice climbed up to the top of the pyramid.

A priest then carried the sacrifice on his back, shoulder to shoulder. In this position, another priest chopped off the head of the sacrifice and pierced into the torso to take out the heart. All amidst the celebrating crowd below.

Xilonen aka Chicomecoatl

A Calendar of Horror? The Aztec Veintena - Part 2

Source:

Sahagun, Bernardino. General History of the Things of New Spain. Translated by Arthur Anderson & Charles Dibble. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1981