The Mexica religious year was organized around a series of major festivals, called ceuitl in Nahuatl, that combined public ritual, theatrical performance, sacrifice, feasting, and social inversion. The festivals of the Mexica were the principal public events of the year, and they were occasions for the entire community to participate in the religious life of the state. The most important festivals were the eighteen monthly celebrations of the veintenas, the great New Fire Ceremony that occurred once every fifty-two years, and the long calendar round ceremonies that marked the major transitions of life and the cosmos. These festivals involved the entire community, and they were the occasion for public ritual, theatrical performance, feasting, and the reaffirmation of the social and religious order.
The Religious Calendar
The Mexica religious year was organized around two interlocking calendars, the Tonalpohualli of 260 days and the Xiuhpohualli of 365 days. The Tonalpohualli was a ritual calendar that was used for divination, for the timing of religious ceremonies, and for the naming of children. The Xiuhpohualli was a solar calendar that was used for the regulation of the agricultural year and for the timing of the great seasonal festivals.
The eighteen months of the Xiuhpohualli each had their own festival, and the major festivals of the religious year were associated with the agricultural cycle. The most important festivals were those associated with the planting of maize, the growth of the maize, and the harvest of the maize. The Mexica believed that the gods required constant attention and propitiation, and the festivals were a way of ensuring that the gods would provide the rain, the sun, and the fertility that were necessary for the success of the harvest.
The Eighteen Veintenas
The eighteen months of the Xiuhpohualli were called veintenas, because each month had twenty days. Each month had its own festival, with its own rituals, its own sacrifices, and its own foods. The festivals were the principal public events of the year, and they were occasions for the entire community to participate in the religious life of the state.
The first month, Atlcahualo, was dedicated to the rain god Tlaloc and to the mountain gods. The festival involved the sacrifice of children, who were believed to be especially pleasing to the rain god, and the offering of pulque, the fermented juice of the maguey plant. The second month, Tlacaxipehualiztli, was dedicated to the spring god Xipe Totec, and the festival involved the wearing of the flayed skins of sacrificial victims. The third month, Tozoztontli, was a minor festival dedicated to Tlaloc and to the maize god Centeotl.
The fourth month, Huei Tozoztli, was a major festival dedicated to Tlaloc, and it involved the offering of the first fruits of the harvest. The fifth month, Toxcatl, was dedicated to the dark god Tezcatlipoca, and it was the occasion for one of the most elaborate rituals of the year. The sixth month, Etzalcualiztli, was dedicated to Tlaloc, and it involved the offering of food and the blessing of the fields. The seventh month, Tecuilhuitl, was dedicated to the goddess of salt and fertility, and it was a festival for the women of the community.
The eighth month, Tlaxochimaco, was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, and it was a festival of flowers and music. The ninth month, Xochilhuitl, was a festival of flowers dedicated to the goddess Xochiquetzal. The tenth month, Atemoztli, was dedicated to the mountain gods, and it involved the offering of water. The eleventh month, Tititl, was dedicated to the goddess of fertility, and it was a festival of dancing and feasting.
The twelfth month, Izcalli, was dedicated to the renewal of the fire and to the growth of the maize, and it was one of the most important festivals of the year. The thirteenth through eighteenth months continued the cycle, with festivals dedicated to various gods and to various aspects of the agricultural year. The five days at the end of the year, the nemontemi, were considered to be unlucky, and the Mexica refrained from most activities during this period.
The New Fire Ceremony
The New Fire Ceremony was the most solemn and important of all Mexica rituals. It was performed once every fifty-two years, at the end of a complete calendar round, and it marked the transition from one cosmic age to the next. The ceremony involved the extinguishing of all fires in the Valley of Mexico, the lighting of a new fire on the breast of a sacrificial victim, and the carrying of the new fire to every settlement in the valley.
The New Fire Ceremony was performed at a sacred hill outside Tenochtitlan, called the Hill of the Star, where the Mexica priests would wait for the rising of the Pleiades, the constellation that marked the beginning of the new cosmic age. If the Pleiades rose in the right position, the priests would light the new fire and the cosmos would be renewed. If the Pleiades did not rise, the Mexica believed that the end of the world had come, and that the Fifth Sun would be destroyed.
The ceremony was attended by the Tlatoani, the high priests, and representatives of the various subject peoples. The victim was a war captive, and the priest would cut out his heart and light a new fire on his breast. The fire was then carried in procession to the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan, where it was used to light a new fire in the Templo Mayor. From there, the fire was carried to every settlement in the valley, symbolically re-creating the cosmos and ensuring the continuation of the Fifth Sun.
Personal Rituals and Devotions
In addition to the great public festivals, the Mexica also practiced a wide range of personal rituals and devotions. The most important of these were the household rituals, the personal devotions to the tonalli, and the ancestor veneration. The household rituals were performed by the head of the household, typically the father, and they involved the offering of food, copal incense, and prayers to the household gods. The personal devotions to the tonalli involved prayers to the day sign of one’s birth, and they were performed at the beginning of each day. The ancestor veneration involved the offering of food and drink to the deceased members of the family, who were believed to be able to influence the lives of the living.
The Mexica also practiced a wide range of other rituals, including the rituals of healing, the rituals of divination, the rituals of agriculture, and the rituals of the calmecac and the telpochcalli. The healing rituals were performed by the ticitl, the religious specialists, and they involved a combination of herbal remedies, bloodletting, and ritual acts. The divination rituals were performed by the priests, and they involved the casting of maize grains, the reading of the calendar, and the interpretation of dreams.
The Spanish Conquest and the Festivals
The Spanish conquest of 1521 brought the Mexica religious festivals to an end, and the Spanish made a systematic effort to suppress the old religion. The great temples of Tenochtitlan were destroyed, and the priests were persecuted. The festivals were replaced by Christian celebrations, and the old gods were replaced by the saints of the Catholic Church. Yet many elements of the Mexica religious festivals survived, often in disguised form, in the folk Catholicism of modern Mexico. The Day of the Dead, the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and many other Mexican religious traditions have clear pre-conquest antecedents.
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See also:
- What was the Aztec New Fire Ceremony? — the most solemn ritual
- What was the Festival of the Month Toxcatl? — the festival in honor of Tezcatlipoca
- What was the Aztec ceremony of flower warfare? — the ritualized conflicts
- The Aztec Calendar and Timekeeping — the calendar that organized the festivals
- Major Gods of the Aztec Pantheon — the recipients of the rituals
- Human Sacrifice in Aztec Religion — the central ritual practice
- Aztec Religion and Mythology — the broader context