Tag: Mesoamerica

Panketzaliztli – Mexika New Year

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The feast of Panketzaliztli celebrates the winter solstice and the birth of the new Sun as Witzilopochtli (Hummingbird on the Left), one of the principal Teteoh honored by the Mexika. The name Panketzaliztli translates as “Raising of the banners.” The festival of Panquetzaliztli is celebrated with dance, music, and a foot race. An effigy of Witzilopochtli is…
— Read on mexicanewyear.com/2018/12/07/panketzaliztli/

Itztlakoliuhki (Itztlacoliuhqui)

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By Obzidian

Itztlakoliuhki-Ixkimilli translates to Curved Point of Obsidian or Knife Eye Bundle. Some say that this is a mistranslation, and that the correct interpretation is “Everything Has Become Bent by Means of Coldness”, or “Plant-Killer-Frost”.

Itztlakoliuhki in the Codex Borgia

During the creation of the Fifth World, Itztlakoliuhki was once, Tlawizkalpantekuhtli (Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli) Lord of the Dawn, or Venus as the Morning Star. The sun deity, Tonatiuh demanded obedience and offerings from the other celestials before he would move. Enraged at his demands, Tlawizkalpantekuhtli as the Evening Star shot an arrow at Tonatiuh but his arrow missed. Tonatiuh threw the arrow back at Tlawizkalpantekuhtli, piercing him through the head.

At that moment, the Lord of the Dawn was punished by Tonatiuh and transformed into Itztlakoliuhki, deity of obsidian, coldness, frost, ice, cold, winter, punishment, human misery, objectivity, blind-folded justice and blindness. That is why it is said he represents matter in its lifeless state. Although in my opinion I would say he was the deity of justice. According to the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, an adulterer, was put to death in front of Itztlakoliuhki’s image.

Itztlakoliuhki rules over the 12th trecena Ze-Kuetzpallin. He is associated with the Night and the North. Itztlakoliuhki’s iconography depicts a straw tlaxpanoni (broom) in his hand, symbolizing the function of this wintry death, as the cleaner of the path for new life to emerge. Meaning that for 120 days, Itztlakoliuhki would sweep the grounds with snow. He also has a blind-fold because it is said he had his sight taken from him for attacking Tonatiuh.

Although there is common belief between many Native-American cultures that the eyes are the insight. In Mesoamerican creation stories it is said that humans were removed of their full sight because of their transgressions.

Itztlakoliuhki then became the deity that would take the sight of humans who would abuse consumption of food or carnal lust. He would take the sight of children whose parents were adulterous. He wore a yakameztli (moon shaped nose ring) which expresses the following lunar features of the deities: dominion over death, periodic regeneration, fertility, and power over vegetation, especially the maguey. He was in charge of punishing to death those who became drunk from pulque, the ritual drink from Tomoanchan. Itztlakoliuhki is depicted in the Codex Borgia with the dead man Kuextekatl who is being punished for getting drunk, and stripping naked in public. He is displayed with obsidian because of its association with atonement, self sacrifice, and divination.

Itztlakoliuhki exists in a triality consisting of his two variants-birth, life, and himself as death.

Birth is represented by Tezkatlipoka. Like Tlazoteotl (teteoh of love and purity) Tezkatlipoka, was also one that would hear confessions from humans. Itztlakoliuhki would then punish them accordingly. It is also said that Itztlakoliuhki was not just Tezkatlipoka but the Black Tezkatlipoka and was Zenteotl-Tezkatlipoka who was associated with maize.

In Mesoamerican cultures, maize was also a representation of the flesh. It was a part of all creation stories. Maize was central for the health and wellbeing of humans. Kuetzpallin was the caretaker of the corn and if anyone killed a lizard they would be punished with infertility.

Life is represented by Itzpapalotl who is Itztlakoliuhki’s female counterpart.

The residence of Itztlakoliuhki, was a steep hill covered with sharp obsidians that thwarted the dead as they climbed the place; having climbed and descended the hill, the region was divided into two sections with strong winds, indispensable for the dead to shed all their belongings such as clothing, jewellery, weapons and personal offal or internal organs. These winds were so strong that they raised stones and could cut the corpses of the dead with multiple flint tips as they walk through.

Codex Borbonico

Codex Borgia

Codex Dresden

Codex Telleriano-Remensis

Codex Vaticanus A 3738, 3773

Popol Vuh

Tonalamatl Aubin

Andrews, J. Richard (2003). Introduction to Classical Nahuatl (Revised ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Brotherston, G. (2003). The Year In The Mexican Codices: The Nature And Structure Of The Eighteen Feasts. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl, 34, 67.

Native American Waste And Diapering

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By Obzidian

In Mesoamerica prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, Natives did not wear very much clothing because being naked was not something shameful. The naked body was accepted and people did not see it in a shocking view. There were strict hygiene protocols. According to some ov the Spanish Chronicles, when they arrived in Mexico, they could not believe how clean everything was. It is said that Natives would go to bath houses sometimes twice a day. They were clean and smelled fragrant.

There was a system to keep track ov waste. In Mexikah culture, feces was collected in canoes carefully under bridges that had loos at regular intervals. It was taken away and used as manure or fertilizer in agriculture.

The use of Urine. Alfredo López Austin explains:

‘Without a doubt, urine was the product of the human body most used in ancient therapeutics [remedial medicine]. It was utilized to treat the sternum [breastbone], dandruff, boils on the head, ringworm of the scalp, abscesses, wounds, ear infections, chapped faces, neck infections, and even tartar on the teeth as well as internal contusions [bruises], this last requiring the medicine to be drunk.’

In general Native Americans used organic matter for diapering which was disposable and biodegradable. It is shown in the remains found in many sites throughout the Americas that infants wore little to no clothing which indicated that they must have used plants to diaper them.

For example, the Comanche made moss diapers because of it’s medicinal benefits, moss promotes healing by absorbing moisture from skin and is used for treating conditions like eczema. Moss’s antiseptic properties prevents diaper rash. “Most would use the hide of an animal as the cover portion, but they packed the diaper…animal hide was what many Native American cultures used to make clothes, since the cultivation of cotton was not introduced until the English settlers came, and grass and mosses, specifically milkweed, were great for stuffing…” They put moss or finely shredded cedar in the cradleboards with the baby during long travel. They would change it periodically.

Something that was not really discovered or talked about much was when the baby was asleep with the mother or being held in her arms. According to oral tradition and also recent studies done with tribes that are not in contact with today’s social class. The mother can sense if the baby needs to release bodily fluids. It’s common sense to a mother that the baby is having a bowel movement with any sign of flatulence. One can also predict after the baby has just eaten and their abdomen makes sounds of digestion. A native mother would also know if they were about to urinate because they begin to move right after they wake and a draft comes in. Ultimately there is sixth sense connection between mother and baby that signals these needs.

Children learned to be rid of waste or were “potty trained” much earlier than they do today. The psychology behind that theory is that they were naked so in essence they freely disposed ov many different toxins. A child is able to sense this concept at a very young age.

Rathje WL, Murphy C. Rubbish! The archaeology of garbage. Harper-Collins Publishers. 1992.

The Human Body and Ideology by Alfredo López Austin (trans. Ortiz de Montellano), vol. I, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1988, p. 179

Bogoras, W. 1909 The Chukchee. American Museum of Natural History Volume XI. E.J. Brill Ltd., Leiden.

https://lalabyebaby.blog/2017/11/28/native-american-heritage-month-cloth-diapers/

Ford, James A. 1959 Eskimo Prehistory in the Vicinity of Point Barrow, Alaska. Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History Vol. 47, Part 1. New York.

godiaperfree.com/infant-potty-training-in-indigenous-arctica-america-how-people-potty-their-babies-in-countries-without-diapers-part-3/

Stela 10 Seibal Guatemala

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Stela 10 is on the north side of Structure A-3 ov this archaeological site. Seibal is located in El Ceibal, Peten, Guatemala. It was inhabited in the Middle Preclassic Period around 800 B.C. It was apparently abandoned between roughly 500-690 A.D. After it was reoccupied in 735, Ruler 3 from the Maya city known today as Dos Pilas, captured the, Yich’ak Balam, ruler ov Seibal and his city, leading to about 60 years of foreign rule.

Stela 10 depicts Wat’ul Chatel, traditional Maya dressed in the Terminal Classic period. The text on this stela displays the emblem glyphs ov Tikal, Calakmul and Motul de San José, describing how he received visitors from those cities. Among the visitors are named Kan-Pet ov Calakmul and Kan-Ek’ ov Motul. Wat’ul Chatel wears a headdress associated with the patron dieties ov Seibal, the heron and K’awiil, deities that were also the patrons of Palenque. This appears to be an attempt by this foreign king to identify himself more closely with the city he came to rule.

Around 830, a non-Classic Maya group settled in Seibal, which witnessed its greatest florescence over the next century, its population reaching about 10,000. The city was permanently abandoned in 930 and not rediscovered until about 1890.

Wat’ul Chatel was also known as Aj B’olon Haab’tal’s.

Aj B’olon Haab’tal NARRATIVE:


He lets the water from the Pasion drown into his field of vision as he glances down at the river that reflects his omniscient gaze. The elite stare intently at his every move, pondering what might be streaming through their leader’s mind. Unknown to their curious looks is the ambition which steams out of their overlord’s heart and perspires out onto his glowing skin. Aj B’olon Haab’tal masks his overflowing aspirations behind a calm and composed face, one that beckons the thought of:


“I want my rule to mimic and surpass the glory that other once dominant cities enjoyed. What Dos Pilas has stolen from us in our cities’ unfortunate span of oppression, we shall restore into future generations of prosperity.”


In the midst of heavy thought, the ruler is interrupted by one of the elite who states bluntly, out of his discomfort at the almost dreary silence that wafts through the humid air:

“K’uhul Ajaw! Are you ready to commence planning out your temple?”

Not one wisp of breath pours out of Aj B’olon Haab’tal’s meditative lips

“Did he hear what I had said?” doubts the puzzled member of the elite.


The other elite share the same question in their own minds. Another individual, who secretly teems with embarrassment as the sun’s spotlight stubbornly hangs above him while it creeps downward into its resting place which stelae shall mark someday, gathers the courage to iterate his companion’s seemingly innocuous act of asking:


“K’uhul ajaw? We have gathered today…”


“I know, I can see that” is his concise, yet ambiguous return of words.


“What would you have us do today, k’uhul ajaw?”


“Do not simply refer to me as k’uhul ajaw. I go by many names, for I am your friend, your mentor, and your leader who shall bring to you an era that sings of happiness and renewed hope in our strength as a city, a city that shall rise in glory above the trees that entrap it. This city shall not lay in the foul muck that has smeared Seibal’s ancestry for all too long! We shall break with this pitiful past and install a future that our descendants will rave about and build upon until the end of time. I am Aj B’olon Haab’tal, invest in me your faith as your friend, your mentor, and your leader who shall help Seibal forge its own history amongst the greatest of all time!”


At this most powerful and endearing moment, the lips of all burst forth into a continuous rampage of uplifting cheers and chants that bear their ruler’s name.

That is all but two. Out of the aura of widespread jubilation emerge two rulers whose own cities, Tikal and Calakmul, tinker on increasingly unstable foundations.

Jewel K’awiil and Chan Pet of Tikal and Calakmul respectively, two cities ancient in embroiled rivalry, now mutual in decline, hover their voices above the crowd in an attempt to bolster their, at best, marginal presence.

As the symphony of vocal support dies down in intensity, K’awiil and Pet’s voices coincidentally echo

“Aj B’olon Haab’tal, we have…”

The two look at each other in spite. The declaration restarts

“Aj B’olon Haab’tal, we have come…”

The two bridge their eyebrows eyes closer while the river’s mirror and the ruler, his turned back still ignoring their every word, share smirks at just how much authority that he retains in comparison to the two once preeminent cities who saw Seibal as a mere pawn of influence.

“Aj B’olon Haab’tal, we have come…” K’awiil’s voice regretfully yields to Pet who, with more pomp in his speech, continues

“We have come before you in celebration on this great day. Oh, what a glorious day it is to be in your presence for the end of the first k’atun of the tenth bak’tun.”

Aj B’olon Haab’tal ambiguously scrolls his eyes toward the two “rulers” behind him before returning to his former relaxed poise and perspective like that of a cat lazily peeking out in response to a sudden sound whereupon sleep then fills its focus.

“I have….” K’awiil starts

“We have…” Pen interjects “…wanted to bear witness to your decision concerning your magnificent future temple.”

The other elites’ expressions flip from uniform smiles to uniformly crossed arms and rolling eyes at Pen’s empty remark.

K’awiil attempts to break open his lips from the embarrassment that seals them shut. He engages the ruler on a lighter subject.

“How do you today, k’uhu.. Aj B’olon Haab’tal?”

Aj B’olon Haab’tal slyly rolls his head to the side, his neck as straight as a jaguar peeking up at its unknowing prey while hiding in the shadow of its own silent gratification.

He was feeling especially delighted today. The whites of his eyes wrap around darkened cores of energy and innovation that his constituents have not fully seen. His hands clasp together into tightened grips around his bright destiny.

The eyes now depart from their pair of twins in the water. As they stubbornly voyage to meet those Chan Pen and Jewel K’awiil’s, the body now makes a slow effort to turn in the same direction. The mouth bursts open into bemusing satire.

“I am feeling especially horrible today. What’s more? Your question only serves as fodder for my unfortunate ears which have to carry your screech of a sound to my most clouding headache.”

Chan Pet now smiles happily in his imagination. Nevertheless, neither Chan nor the now humiliated K’awiil make one more sound and step back to stand among the ranks of other elite.

All eyes now meet the ruler’s headdress, so rich in splendor, so intimidating in appearance that even the lowly dirt beneath his feet frantically follows the wind to avoid being covered by his headdress’ shadow.
His field of view extends over the crowd onto the vacant plot of land that will be holy in his name.

He envisions a structure with four sets of stairs climbing to one origin. Each entry door shall bear his image in all of his splendor to his people and his future generations of subjects….


Sources:

http://www.primidi.com/seibal

https://cosmolearning.org/images/stela-10-at-seibal-maya-world/

https://www.peabody.harvard.edu/cmhi/detail.php?num=10&site=Seibal&type=Stela#

https://sites.google.com/site/s14anth137/project-definition/seibal