Harriet J. Bauman
The Aztec Calendar was arranged in two parts:
tonalpohualli
(a ritualized succession of days), and a solar calendar, which was divided into eighteen twentyday months, with a fiveday unlucky time. The agricultural names of the months reflected the crops and the agricultural origins of the solar calendar. The two systems together helped in numbering the years, which made up a fiftytwo year cycle. The two systems overlapped at the end of the fiftytwo years which meant that the Aztecs had to appease the gods or their world would be destroyed.
The
tonalpohualli
was sacred. It included 260 days which were either astronomical or magical. There were twenty day names to the Aztec month, along with numbers 113. The numbers were represented by dots placed next to the pictograph of each day. At the end of the sequence of days, the names were repeated. The numbers were repeated also. For example, an Aztec month might be: 1 Cipactli 2 Ehecatl 3 Calli 4 Cuetzpallin 5 Coatl 6 Miquiztli 7 Mazatl 8 Tochtli 9 Atl 10 Itzcuintli 11 Ozomatli 12 Malinalli 13 Acatl 1 Ocelotl 2 Cuauhtli 3 Cozcaquauhtli 4 Ollin 5 Tecpatl 6 Quiauitl 7 Xochitl; and the next month would begin 8 Cipactli 9 Ehecatl etc. Therefore, in 260 days, every day was identified by a combination of one of the day names and one of thirteen numbers. Weeks were designated by the number one and the day name according to the sequence. No day in a week could be mixed up with another because of the rotation sequence of days and months.
AZTEC DAY NAMES
|
Day 1
|
Day 2
|
Day 3
|
Day 4
|
Day 5
|
|
Cipactli
|
Ehecatl
|
Calli
|
Cuetzpallin
|
Coatl
|
|
(crocodile)
|
(wind)
|
(house)
|
(lizard)
|
(serpent)
|
|
Day 6
|
Day 7
|
Day 8
|
Day 9
|
Day 10
|
|
Miquiztli
|
Mazatl
|
Tochtli
|
Atl
|
Itzcuintli
|
|
(death’shead)
|
(deer)
|
(rabbit)
|
(water)
|
(dog)
|
|
Day 11
|
Day 12
|
Day 13
|
Day 14
|
Day 15
|
|
Ozomatli
|
Malinalli
|
Acatl
|
Ocelotl
|
Cuauhtli
|
|
(monkey)
|
(grass)
|
(reed)
|
(ocelot)
|
(eagle)
|
|
Day 16
|
Day 17
|
Day 18
|
Day 19
|
Day 20
|
|
Cozcaquauh
|
Ollin
|
Tecpatl
|
Quiauitl
|
Xochitl
|
|
tli
|
(motion)
|
(flint
|
(rain)
|
(flower)
|
|
(vulture)
|
|
knife)
|
A god or goddess served for each twenty day cycle. Another god or goddess controlled each of the twenty weeks. There was a certain order followed for the day gods, and the week gods. Thirteen gods ruled the thirteen parts of the Aztec day, and nine took care of the night. A complete list of gods, goddesses, and their functions is given in
Aztecs of Mexico
by George C. Vaillant on pages 192197 (see Bibliography).
Priests who interpreted signs and events from the
tonalpohualli
were called
tonalpouque
. They recorded the predictions and events in sacred books called
tonalamatl
(paper or book of the days). The priests were the only ones who could read and explain the Aztec Calendar.
Children were given the name of the day on which they were born. Priests then predicted whether or not they would be rich; whether or not they would be lucky in life; whether they would be sacrificed or made prisoners of war; whether they would be honest or loving or kind or gentle; whether or not they would be criminals; and any number of other predictions. More importantly, these names duplicated the names of the gods.
But since the gods also took the names of the days on which they were born or of those on which they had performed some important deed that was to be commemorated, the ceremonies celebrated for this reason took place each 260 days, that is, when the name of the day in the tonalpohualli was repeated again. (Case, p. 66)
The name formed a powerful bond between the children, the Calendar, and the gods. They became somewhat godlike, perhaps taking on some of the characteristics of the god.
