The movable feasts were those celebrations that were not performed
every year. Even though they were fixed and had specific dates in the
calendar. Some of these rituals were done once every four years,
while others carne around every eight years and, even so, there were
some celebrated once or twice in a lifetime, like the New Fire
Ceremony, that carne around every 52 years. The account of
these special feasts, while they were not part of the official
all-year-round rituals, has the same function as the previous essay
of the Aztec religious ceremonies. And it follows a continuation
after the end of the last month of the year, which is called Izcalli,
which is the eighteenth month in the Aztec
calendar.
The five remaining days of the year, which are
the last four days of January and the first of February, were called
by the people Nemontemi, “barren days.” These days were
considered unlucky and evil, and the people didn’t dare go
outside nor do anything during this time. Those who were born within
these days were predicted to have a terrible life ahead. These
children were named Nemo or Nemoquichi if they were men or Nencihuatl
if they were women.
Every four years, when the boys and girls had their ears pierced, a
Nemontemi day was added, being six Nemontemi days instead of five.
This was done in the same manner as we do with the leap
years.
The first movable feast was in the honor of the
sun. It fell on the sign Ce-Ocelotl, in the fourth house, which was
called Nahui-Ollin. Blood was offered to the sun, and many captives
were sacrificed.
A second movable feast also fell on the sign
Ce-Ocelotl, this time being in the seventh house. In this
celebration, all of the painters and seamstresses honored the deities
Chicomexochitl and Xochiquetzal. They fasted for forty days, while
others only for twenty. They did this in order to paint well and
weave good textiles. They also offered quail and incense to the
deities.
The third movable ceremony was in honor of the Cihuateteo, who came
down to earth to walk among the living. The people adorned the
Goddesses’ images with papers and did some offerings before
them. This celebration carne around on the sign Ce-Macatl, in the
first house.
Also on a sign Ce-Macatl, but in the second house called Ome-Tochtli,
a fourth movable feast was performed. The Gods of wine were honored,
especially Izquitecatl. His image was adorned and food was offered
before it. In the courtyard of his temple, a large jar of wine was
placed and the wine merchants filled it up, so that everybody could
drink from it. The syrup of the newly cut maguey was also taken to
the temple of Izquitecatl and offered as first fruit.
The time came for a fifth celebration, which was also movable, in the
sign Ce-Xochitl, in the first house. The lords and the leading men
had a feast in which they brought forth their richest feathers, and
the lord gave gifts to the warriors, singers, and all the people who
lived in the palace.
The sixth movable feast was in honor of Quetzalcoatl. It was
celebrated in the sign Ce-Acatl in the first house. His image was
placed in the Calmecac, the place where the priests lived. The image
was adorned, and perfumes and food were offered.
A seventh celebration came around in the sign Ce-Miquiztli in the
first house. This feast was in honor of Tezcatlipoca. All of his
images were decorated and the people offered them perfumes, flowers,
and food. They also sacrificed quail by tearing off their heads. This
was done not only by the priests, but also by all the people who
wanted great favors from this God.
In the sign Ce-quiahuitl, in the first house, the eighth movable
feast came around. This was another ceremony in honor of the
Cihuateteo, and just as the previous one, the images of these
Goddesses were adorned and worshiped. At this feast the priests also
killed, in their honor, those criminals who were in jail, and were
condemned to death.
The ninth movable feast fell on the sign Ce-Quiahuitl, in the fourth
house, called Nahui- Ehecatl. The malefactors who were in prison were
killed, and also, because this date was very unlucky, the lord had a
number of slaves slain as a superstition. Also on this feast the
merchants had a demonstration of the jewels they treaded, so that
everybody could see them. Latter that night, they had a banquet,
where they all brag to one another about the greatness of their
merchandize.
The tenth movable feast was again in honor of Tezcatlipoca. It fell
on the sign Ce- Malinalli, in the second house named Ome-Acatl, the
birth date of Tezcatlipoca. An image of Omacatl was made, and he who
felt devotion, took it to his house, where he would keep it for as
long as he could, until the next time the same sign came around. It
was good to keep this image, because it could bless its keeper, and
bring him many favors.
An eleventh movable celebration fell on the sign Ce-Tecpatl in the
first house. The ornaments of the God Huitzilopochtli were brought
forth, in order to be cleaned and put in the sun. This was done in
Tlacatecco, and many kinds of food were presented before the image of
Huitzilopochtli. After a while, the official priests of the God ate
this food. They also incensed the image, and the lords offered it
precious flowers.
In the twelfth movable date, in the sign Ce-Ocomatli, the Cihuateteo
came down to the earth once more.
The thirteenth movable feast, was in the sign Ce-Itzcuintli. A
celebration took place in honor of the God of fire, Xiutecuhtli. They
offered him much copal and many quail. His image was arrayed with a
lot of papers and ornaments. The rich lords also had a great feast in
his honor, and they held elections of new lords and consuls, with all
of the formalities that were required. After all these ceremonies had
taken place, they proclaimed war against their foes.
In the sign Ce-Atl in the first house, the fourteenth movable feast
took place. In this ceremony all the people who dealt with water,
like the fisherman, those who sold water, and everybody whose
livelihoods came from this element honored the Goddess
Chalchiutlicue.
Note: The fifteenth and sixteenth movable feasts dealt with common
sacraments that Aztec society considered to be important for the
individual. These sacraments are baptism and marriage. The
description of these ceremonies emphasizes on the way the rituals
were enacted.
The lords, leaders, nobles, and rich merchants
paid a lot of attention to the sign under which their sons or
daughters were born. They went to consult the judicial astrologers
and asked them about the fortune of their newborn. If the sign was
favorable, they would baptize the child right away, but if it was
adverse, they sought the most favorable house of that sign in which
to do the ceremony. When a child was baptized, the parents held a
banquet at home. The midwife baptized the child at sunrise, uttering
many prayers and performing many rituals over the child.
According to Sahagún, the sixteenth movable feast relates to
the ceremonies of marriage. It is said that when a young man was
ready to be wed, his parents spoke to him about it. He then replied
by thanking them for the solicitude. Then they went to the
Telpochtlato, who was the man in charge of all the young men, and
asked for his consent. Then they hold a banquet in honor of this
person, and they gave him an axe, for cutting lumber or firewood as a
sign that their son was good. Satisfied, the Telpochtlato departed.
Then they summoned the marriage makers, who were old honored women,
and they went to speak to the relatives of the woman who was going to
marry the son. After two or three visits, the marriage makers
returned with the reply from the relatives of the woman and their
decision. After this they settled a day of good fortune to perform
the wedding, days such as Cipactli, Quauhtli, Acatl, Ocomatli, etc.
Then they made the preparations for the wedding. On the day of the
marriage, those acting for the young man came about nightfall to take
the young woman. They carried her with great solemnity upon the back
of a matron with many pine torches in two rows before her. They
brought her to the house of the parents of the young man, and there,
before the hearth, the ceremony took place. The mother of the young
man, placed a fine shift upon her daughter in law, and put for her by
her feet, a richly embroided skirt. And the mother of the young woman
did the same for her son in law, placing on his shoulders a fine
cape, and also a richly embroided breech clout at his feet. A number
of old women, called Titici, tied the corners of the cape and the
shift of the new couple, and thus concluding the ceremony.
Two more movable feasts were observed, one that was celebrated every
four years, and another one that was celebrated every eight years. At
the first one, they pierced the ears of all the boys and girls, and
they performed ceremonies for their good growth; also they were
purified over the fire. On the one that was celebrated every eight
years, they fasted for eight days, and enacted a dance in which they
assumed the forms of various birds and animals in order to have good
fortune.
The New Fire Ceremony.
Every fifty-two years, the most solemn ritual of all the Aztec
ceremonies was performed. Early in the morning the fire priests,
arrayed in the ornaments of the Gods, marched in procession out of
the city of Tenochtitlan, towards a ceremonial site, called the
Mountain of the Star. Along with them there was a captive warrior,
especially chosen by the Tlatuani, who was going to be sacrificed. On
the days prior to this auspicious night, the Aztec people
participated in the ritual extinction of fires, the casting of
statues and hearthstones into the water, and in cleaning and sweeping
their houses, patios, and courtyards. With anticipation of this
fearful night, women were locked in granaries, because they could
transform into monsters, who could devour men. Pregnant women would
put on masks of maguey and leaves, and the children were kept awake,
so they wouldn’t turn in to mice. On this one night, the
ceremony that came around once or twice in a lifetime ensured the
rebirth of the sun and the movement of the cosmos. It is said that
the night was divided in half and that if the fire could not be
drawn, the world could come to an end, and the demons of darkness
would descend to the earth to devour all human beings. When the
procession arrived at the Mountain of the Star, the people climbed up
to their roofs to witness with great attention and fear. As the
ceremony proceeded, the priests would watch the sky carefully for the
movement of the stars. Then a small fire was started on the
outstretched chest of the captive, then when a little of it fell the
priests, speedily slashed open the breast with the flint knife and
seized the heart, and thrust it into the fire. In the open chest a
new fire was drawn and people could see it from everywhere. Then all
of the populace would jet blood from their ears, even from the ears
of children who were in their cradles, and they would sprinkle it in
the direction of the mountain. Then the new fire was taken down from
the mountain and carried to the temple of Hutzilopochtli, where
runners, messengers and other fire priests would deliver it to the
cities and the homes of the people. Little by little Tenochtitlan was
lit up, and the light of the new fire spread rapidly through the
Aztec world that had reborn. The cycle of the fifth age of the
Nahuatl cosmology was reestablished. And the fifth sun would live for
another fifty-two years.
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