The Aztec Fourth 'month' - Mexicolore

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Article suitable for Top Juniors and above 4th ‘month’ in the Aztec solar calendar

The Aztec fourth ‘month’

The fourth in a series of short pieces that Zoe Ann Steenberge has kindly sent us, detailing the main points of the 18 months in the Aztec/Mexica ‘xiuhpohualli’ or farming/solar calendar.

HueytozoztliHueytozoztli is the fourth month of the Aztec year and corresponds with the dates of April 13th-May 2nd in our calendar. Translated from the Nahuatl Hueytozoztli means great vigil. The gods who were honored during this time were Centeotl, Chalchiuhtlicue, Xilonen, Chicomecoatl, and Tlaloc. Ceremonies held in honor of the gods at this time were child sacrifice on Mt. Tlaloc and Pantitlan in Lake Texcoco; sacrifice of a maiden to earth and corn deities; ceremonial blood letting; worship of new corn and the blessing of the seed corn for that years planting; and decoration of house altars with corn plants. They even had the new corn blessed as well since this was an important aspect.

This article was uploaded to the Mexicolore website on Apr 07th 2014

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Here's what others have said:

1 At 4.11pm on Tuesday December 24 2019, Tecpatzin wrote:
You should write an introduction on all the months. It’s interesting. By the way, what did the Aztecs do when they blessed corn? More detail more help.
Mexicolore replies: According to Sahagún, a Mexica woman would breathe on dried grains of maize before cooking them, believing that this would cause the maize not to fear the fire. ‘Women would often pick up maize grains that were found on the floor with reverence, claiming “Our sustenance suffereth: it lieth weeping. If we should not gather it up, it would accuse us before our lord. It would say ‘O our lord, this vassal picked me not up when I lay scattered on the ground. Punish him!’ Or perhaps we should starve.”’ (Elizabeth Morán, ‘Sacred Consumption’)

Tag » What Is The Fourth Month