Thanks Google!

Click HERE to read Volume 1 of Eduard Seler’s commentary on Codex Vaticanus 3773

or

Click HERE to read Volume 2

Quetzalcoatl and Mictlantecuhtli Over Cipactli/Tlaltecuhtli, Plate 76 of Codex Vaticanus B

…Ok, excuse my starting back up on a bad Nahuatl joke…   (Ollin  is Movement, the earthquake, and the Fifth Sun is predicted to end this way.)

Yep, it’s been a long time since my last post.  Been very busy digesting a crazy amount of information, wrestling with some very troubling questions at the heart of drawing on an indigenous American tradition as an outsider to its community of origin, and trying to hammer out a systematic theology that’s worth a shit.  All that’s the short list of the productive stuff that actually matters, I’ll spare you the complaining about work and life in general.  Otherwise… been sitting back and deciding where this now 1.5 year old blog should go, in light of where it’s been and the state of the greater Pagan community.  On a rather gratifying  side note, I’m shocked at how many hits this collection of rambling bits and bytes has continued to get while dormant.  Pretty cool, and rather heartening.

Anyway, on to the fun stuff.  Data digestion and theological musings are far enough along to be semi-coherent, or at least enough to throw out and discuss.  A slight shift you’ll see in the coming weeks and months will be an increase in the posts I make exploring theology in the modern context, including my own working theories.  (No, I’m not a seminarian, but I live with one:-) )  In other words, we’ll be digging into orthodoxy more, to go along with the orthopraxy.  It’s something I’m convinced the Pagan community needs to start addressing.  Since the burr up my ass about this subject has gotten too irritating to ignore and I hate people who ask others to do what they won’t themselves, I’ll be putting myself in the line of fire on this in future posts.  Luckily, my tailor has done an excellent job on my asbestos underwear.

Before I crash for the night, I’ll give you a little taste of the sheer quantity of new material I’ll be pulling from to share with you all as we go on.  I’ve acquired Bierhorst’s complete English translation of the “Cantares Mexicanos” in two volumes, the largest collection of Aztec poetry and song preserved shortly after the Conquest.  I’ve also picked up Eduard Seler’s collected works on Mesoamerican archaeology and language, mostly-complete in six volumes, and Ruiz de Alarcon “Treatise on Heathen Superstitions.”  Can’t recall at the moment if I mentioned before that I snagged the Codex Chimalpopoca, a major Conquest-era source of Nahua mythology and history.  Finally, I’ve now got Alfredo Lopez-Austin’s “The Human Body and Ideology: Concepts of the Ancient Nahuas” (read it before, but want my own copy for reference) and Diego Duran’s “History of the Indies of New Spain” and “Book of Gods and Rites” inbound.  There’s other stuff I’ve devoured as well recently, but those are the really exciting finds.

Finally… I’ve got a special “welcome back” gift for you all — Google has finally posted the first half of Eduard Seler’s commentary and interpretation of Codex Vaticanus 3773, aka Vaticanus B!  I’ll post the link in a sec in a separate post for organizational tidiness.

I’ll leave with a note on a certain irony of the timing of my compulsion to resume posting today — today is the day 13 Reed according to the Aztec Calendar site, using Alfonso Caso’s correlation.  13 Reed is the day Tonatiuh, the Fifth Sun, was born.  A revived sun and a revived blog.  Happy Birthday Tonatiuh!

It’s good to be back.

Temperance Defined

I define temperance here reasonably closely to the traditional Greek concept of temperance, or sophrosyne.  In a nutshell, this concept traditionally meant moderation in word, deed, and thought, guided by self-knowledge.  The Delphine “Nothing in excess” and the Roman counterpart, “Moderation in all things” are well-known mottoes expressing this ideal.  There is evidence that the Aztecs conceived of temperance in a similarly broad sense, and I think it reasonable to include the role of self-knowledge as a part of their concept. The most direct way to find and learn about the Nahua virtue of temperance is to go to the huehuetlatolli we have left to us in the wake of the Conquest.  Many of these ethical speeches touch on this topic, and I’ve picked out some particularly useful examples from Book 6 of the Florentine Codex to discuss next.

“Moderation In All Things” In Mesoamerica

“On earth it is a time for care, it is a place for caution.  Behold the word; heed and guard it, and with it take your way of life, your works.  On earth we live, we travel along a mountain peak.  Over here there is an abyss, over there is an abyss.  If you go over here, or if you go over there, you will fall in.  Only in the middle does one go, one live.”

The Florentine Codex, Book 6, Ch.19, p.101

(Dibble & Anderson translation, copyright University of Utah, used without permission)

This beautiful and evocative speech gives us a taste of the Nahua take on temperance.  The speaker, a noble father addressing his daughter, emphasizes the critical importance of moderation.  The peak and the abyss are traditional metaphors for disaster in Aztec rhetoric, and illustrate the dire consequences of going to wild extremes.  This admonishment is very general, and for good reason, as this principle of moderation is to guide all actions, from personal demeanor to concrete practicalities.  For example, youths are instructed speak calmly and clearly, without either excessive ornamentation or crudity (p.100).  They are to carry themselves tranquilly, avoiding both excessive pride and excessive humility, disdaining hate and favoring a joyful demeanor, but knowing the value of well-timed and appropriate anger (Id. at 100-101).   People are to travel purposefully and prudently, neither rushing about restlessly nor strolling around pompously (Id.).  However, they are to be wise and know when haste is appropriate (Id.). And of course, a healthy mean in eating, recreation, sex, and clothing are also to be pursued.

To Excess — When Appropriate

Even these quick examples show that Nahua temperance wasn’t just a robotic defaulting to a middling response regardless of the circumstances.  Disruptive or more extreme behavior can be good as well, so long as it’s practiced appropriately.  This last point is absolutely crucial, as it shows the underpinning of temperance in Mesoamerica is balance.  More disruptive or extreme behavior isn’t necessarily bad, it’s only bad when misused.  Returning to an above example, anger isn’t one of the Seven Deadly Sins or one of the Three Poisons here.  Sometimes its the right thing to feel and express.

A second example is the quaquachictin or Otomi warriors.  These warriors were men so recklessly fierce they were known to throw themselves into battle with a berserk fury devoid of planning or restraint.  Described as “wicked but brave…furious in battle” these men exemplified a virtue (bravery) gone to excess, becoming a vice that denied them the right to exercise leadership over others (Id. at 110).  Yet, instead condemning them as hopeless reprobates, their foolhardy ferocity was channeled into an appropriate avenue as awe-inspiring shock troops.  Thus the virtue that turned into a vice was turned back into a virtue by putting it into a context where it could benefit society.  Dr. Burkhart described this something like “taking this violent, chaotic strength that otherwise could have destroyed society and channeling it into a form that would protect it” in Slippery Earth.  (Excuse my horrible paraphrasing, I can’t recall the exact point in the book where she discusses this.)

This balancing of extremes and skillful application of them in the appropriate context is a thread that runs throughout the entire Aztec worldview to my eye.  Growth and death, eating and being eaten, chaos and order, etc.  Nearly everything in this system links opposites that struggle in creative (and destructive… and creative again) tension.  The great rivalry between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl is the same battle writ in the persons of the gods themselves.

The Role of Self-Knowledge

While this segment is a little more speculative than the others, I think it’s reasonable to see a parallel of the Hellenic inclusion of self-knowledge in temperance when looking at the evidence.The need to identify time, place, and manner for applying varying levels of moderation points to a need to understand oneself and one’s place in a greater context.  If a person doesn’t know their own nature and how they fit into society and the cosmos, they can’t possibly apply temperance intelligently and effectively.  It also requires an understanding of how opposing forces interact, balance, and unbalance themselves and the world.

This applies in both the mundane and the metaphysical.  If you don’t know how others think and view you, you won’t know if anger will prevent or cause contempt.  Looking to a metaphysical example, I wonder if the core message underlying the story of Quetzalcoatl’s flight from Tollan was really about a failing of temperance.  In the story, His soft-hearted refusal to make the “human payment” (an excess of affection) would have had the effect of jeopardizing the fabric of the cosmos.  Viewed in this light, Tezcatlipoca’s seemingly cruel attack on His brother’s happy kingdom was the best thing to do, for it restored the balance and ensured the continuation of existence for all.

Conclusion: The Power Of Balance

This conceptualization of temperance as a balancing of extremes as well an endorsement of the median is incredibly robust and life-affirming.  This built-in flexibility and sensitivity to context avoids the rigid, unrealistic, and frankly inhuman dogmatism of many other systems.  It guides the individual through difficult behavioral choices without eliminating the need for reason or leading her/him astray with a one-size-fits-all rule that doesn’t really fit at all.  Additionally, I argue that it leads to a healthier individual and society.  Impossible standards breed hypocracy, dysfunctional psychological states, and needless suffering.  Realistic standards offer everyone a fair chance to live up to them, and a just reason for chastisement where violated. Finally, for Aztec Recons, this virtue of temperance is a light in the darkness, with all that implies.  It’s a guiding principle to follow, but determining exactly where to puts one’s feet on the path it draws us down requires us to think carefully and act responsibly if we don’t want to veer off into the ravine on either side.

Courtesy link to ArchaeologyTV’s page on YouTube for this Tigre combat video.

A particularly interesting feature of this video is the variety of masks.  Not only do you see the jaguar-style masks, but you’ll also see masks with goggle eyes.  Goggle eyes are, of course, one of the signature visual characteristics of Tlaloc, the very Teotl this pre-Columbian tradition was originally dedicated to.  (And still is in many places, beneath the surface layer of Christian symbols.)  If you look closely, you might notice that some of the goggle eyes are mirrored.  The researchers behind ArchaeologyTV interviewed one of the combatants, who said that the significance of the mirrors is that you see your own face in the eyes of your opponent, linking the two fighters as they duel.

This idea of a solemn connection between two parties in sacrificial bloodshed was of major importance in many  of the pre-Conquest religious practices of the Aztecs.  It can be seen most clearly in the gladiatorial sacrifice for Xipe Totec during Tlacaxipehualiztli.  During this festival, the victorious warrior would refer to the man he captured in battle as his beloved son, and the captive would refer to the victor as his beloved father.  The victim would be leashed to a round stone that formed something of an arena, and given a maquahuitl that had the blades replaced with feathers, while his four opponents were fully-armed.  As the captor watched the courageous victim fight to the death in a battle he couldn’t win, he knew that next time, he might be the one giving his life on the stone to sustain the cosmos.

Malinalxochitl

As told by Cehualli

It had been some time since the Mexica had left their ancestral homeland of Aztlan, and they were wandering in the wilds of Michoacan, following Huitzilopochtli’s dream.  But the Portentous One wasn’t the only divinity accompanying them — His sister, Malinalxochitl, had come with them.  She was beautiful both in form and manner, graceful and elegant.  She was also a powerful sorceress, as she was a Huitznahua woman, one of the stars come to walk among men.  She could drive men mad, shake a river from its course, or strike her enemies dead with a glance.  For a time she ruled them on their wanderings, her flesh and blood guidance complementing unseen Huitzilopochtli’s directions in dreams and her magic a formidable force added to His strength.

Eventually, however, Malinalxochitl grew arrogant and tyrannical, forgetting her duty to guard her brother’s tribe.  She began to torment the Mexica in Huitzilopochtli’s physical absence.  She even forced them to worship her as a goddess on pain of death.

“How wonderful this is!” she thought to herself as she eyed the frightened people as they hurried away from yet another city that had grown unfriendly to them.  “They obey my every whim, and my brother stays silent.  Perhaps He’s abandoned them, or a rival god struck Him down while He roamed ahead.  After what He did to Coyolxauhqui, it would be a fitting end for Him.”

The priests and the people, however, secretly prayed to their silent protector.  “Huitzilopochtli!  Your sister has become corrupt, and instead of being a torch, a light for your people, she’s become a deadly tyrant!  Please save us!”

One night, Huitzilopochtli came to the eldest priest in his dreams.  “How dare my sister do this!  And using sorcery against My people – !” He raged.  “Very well then, we will get rid of her.  When she sleeps tonight, slip away and leave her behind.  If she wishes to behave like a treacherous scorpion, let her be alone like one.” The priest nearly wept with joy as the answer to his prayers.  “However, you must promise Me something — you must not follow her heart and copy her charms and spells.  That’s a coward’s way of fighting, and I won’t stand for my people to be seen that way.  No, instead you will win with courage and skill at arms!  That’s My way.”

The priest agreed, and when he awoke he told the god’s words to the rest of the tribe.  When it had grown dark, they packed up and slipped away into the night, leaving Malinalxochitl behind.

When she awoke, Malinalxochitl wailed in betrayed anger.  “Huiztilopochtli, you dog!  I’m not through with You or Your wretched people!  My sister and I will be avenged.”  Vowing to make them pay, the scorned Huitznahua woman went to make the nearby city of Malinalco her own and to bide her time to strike.

Fountain Grass Flower, Photo by Giligone (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License)

Speculation about Google’s intentions aside, I’m pleased to be able to point you to an excellent commentary by one of the premier luminaries of Mesoamerican religious studies.  A quick link to the book is below, and I’ve updated my Codices page with this link as well.  Incidentally, this volume includes a complete black and white scan of the codex as Appendix A, with Seler’s notes.  Visually not as nice as viewing the high-resolution color scans on FAMSI, but quite useful.

Click HERE to read Vol. 2 of Dr. Eduard Seler’s Commentary on Codex Vaticanus 3773

UPDATE 9/21/09:  Google’s posted Vol. 1 now!  Click HERE to get it too!

Eagle, Serpent, & Rabbit, Plate 27 of Codex Vaticanus B

Go HERE to visit the University of Virginia’s excepts from the Codex Badianus.

And go HERE to visit Mexicolore’s feature on the Badianus and Aztec medicine.

Finally, go HERE to read “Aztec Medicine” by Francisco Guerra,  in Med Hist. 1966 October; 10(4): 315–338.  Full text online, downloadable PDF also available.

The Herb Quauhtlahuitzquilitl, Page 32 Recto of the Codex Badianus

Tying in with my previous post about ethics as a part of orthopraxy is The North West Passage.  This blog focuses on philosophy and ethics in the Pagan context, and is written by Brendan Myers, a professor who teaches these subjects for a living.  He writes books on them, too.  Nice to have a clear-thinking scholar in the community!  He updates quite frequently, so there’s plenty to read.

I’ve also added The Marigold Trail.  This blog is an excellent source of news on Indian civil rights issues, community concerns, and much more.  It’s even written by an Aztec Recon who’s also an attorney devoted to defending Native rights.  Sadly not updated much any more, but the archives are rich in information and it’s a good jumping-off point to find out more about current challenges facing the Native community in the USA.  Keep fighting the good fight my colleague!

Definitions

Right off the bat, definitions become an issue when discussing ‘praxy and ‘doxy.  While I haven’t seen much of a problem with people incorrectly using the term “orthodoxy” (correct belief),  I have seen an issue with the term “orthopraxy.”  In the pagan community I’ve noticed a tendency for the term to be used exceedingly narrowly, encompassing only “right action” in the sense of conducting rituals properly.  But a comment by sari0009 on the second page of the comments on the “Reality Television Witch Converts” post reminded me of the formal definition of orthopraxy — “correct practice, including but not limited to the study of ritual, virtues, and ethics.”  (Emphasis mine.)

Implications For Paganism

The correct definition of orthopraxy brought up by sari0009 opens up a can of worms that makes the cliched “Pagan religions are orthopraxic, where Christianity is orthodoxic” claim much more interesting, especially as I happen to agree with it for the most part. Traditional pre-Christian religions of course were concerned with ritual propriety, but frankly much of the more intensive stuff has always been carried out by a specially-trained priestly class.  This is particularly true in indigenous Mesoamerican religions before the Conquest.  The Aztec priests went through a legendarily rigorous program in the calmecac, and the musicians and dancers who were instrumental in the public ceremonies were also strenuously drilled on the precise requirements of their performances.  Of course the regular Joe and Jane (or Oxomoco and Cipactonal) wanted to make sure they performed their household ceremonies properly, but the other things included under the aegis of orthopraxy, cultivation of virtuous behavior, would have been of constant concern.  The huehuetlatolli, records we have of how they treated each other and outsiders, and even the descriptions of “good people of career/social status X” and bad ones in the Florentine Codex make it clear how important this was in the Empire (and still is to their descendants).

As Aztec Reconstructionists this ought to be a high priority for us as well, if we want to reconstruct more than just the ritual trappings of a particular people.  Frankly, I agree with Vine DeLoria, Jr. when he criticized non-Indians appropriating indigenous ritual forms without any understanding of the thought, ethics, and community that these things have inseparably grown out of .  Outward form without the inner and social foundation results in the rituals being powerless shells, and the people going through the motion are nothing more than culture vultures playing dress-up in an “exotic” religion.  I believe that this critique can be extended to the broader Pagan community when you see people playing with magic and ceremony, but don’t give understanding and developing a tradition’s ethics any thought.  The last thing I want to be is some poser ignorantly playing with the sacred things of another people.  I’m acutely aware of how hard I have to work to try to understand what I’m dealing with; it sucks in a way on a routine basis but it does guarantee that I don’t get lazy in studying and putting down roots.

The last implication I want to touch on today is one of tolerance of divergent belief.  This doesn’t mean condoning obvious stupidity or sloppy thinking, of course, but it does mean that reasonably differing interpretations aren’t a legitimate cause for conflict within a given Pagan tradition.  No need for the kind of vicious fights one sees between Calvinists and Arians over free will, for example.  It’s also one less reason for splintering of community, as there should be enough flexibility to handle differing thoughts so long as there’s the common bond of consensus in action.

Tiahue!

In closing, I think we, both Aztec Reconstructionists and the larger Pagan community, need to remember the true definition of orthopraxy when we’re working on our religious lives.  As it stands now, this narrow focus on mere ritual propriety is a lazy shirking of our spiritual and social duties.  I also suspect it has something to do with the high turnover in the Pagan community; as people end up without the guidance they need in life, they go looking for it elsewhere.  It’s also a common criticism of our traditions, and a key reason why we’re still not taken seriously, at least in US society.  (I can’t speak for the situation elsewhere and won’t try.)  Finally there are the obvious benefits of cultivating a well-rooted spiritual practice and a good life.

What are you waiting for?  Get to it!

UPDATE:  … and it appears that the guys who set up the Wikibooks entry ripped it from David K. Jordan’s Nahuatl page, and extended it with their notes.  The original is HERE, to give credit where it’s due.

Vowels

Nahuatl has four short vowels: a, e, i, and o. The vowels a, e and i sound similar to Spanish, while o can sound like either a Spanish o or a u. Unlike in English, where cuter and cutter have different vowels, the vowels of Nahuatl don’t change depending on what follows them.

Each vowel also has a long form, marked by a line or macron over the vowel: ā, ē, ī, ō. They have the same sound as the short vowels, but are simply held longer. [Cehualli's note -- these macrons are often omitted in actual texts]

Consonants

Nahuatl ch, m, n, p, t, and y are pronounced like English.

As in English, c represents an s-sound when followed by e or i, but a k-sound elsewhere.

Cu is pronounced kw, like in Spanish, or like English qu. Its inverse, uc, is the same sound at the end of a syllable.

Hu is pronounced like English w. Like cu, it is reversed at the end of a syllable, so auh sounds like ow, and iuh sounds like eww.

H alone, when not part of ch, hu or uh, may have represented a glottal stop, as in the Cockney pronunciation of bottle, or it may have been a sound like English h. Unlike English h, it is pronounced at the of syllables: ah isn’t simply a vowel, but a vowel followed by a consonant.

Before a vowel, l is the same as English or Spanish l. Before a consonant or at the end of a word, however, it is neither dark like English l in full, nor clear like Spanish l. It is a voiceless sound, like Welsh ll. This isn’t important to understanding, though, and it can be pronounced like an English l without introducing confusion.

Double ll is simply l, held longer. It isn’t a palatal sound like in Spanish, or a single l like in English.

Qu is used to represent the k-sound before e and i, like in Spanish. It isn’t pronounced “kw” as in English.

X is pronounced like English sh.

Tl is pronounced like t with the tongue held in a postion for l [Cehualli's note -- when this comes at the very end of a word, the l is very quiet, almost a whisper.  Not pronounced "tul" as one might think!]

Tz is pronounced like German z, or like English ts except that the t is pronounced even at the start of words — not like tsar or tsunami, where the t is silent.  [Cehualli's note -- like the ts in "kits," in other words.]

Z is pronounced like English s.

Stress

Stress regularly falls on the second last syllable of a word.

Spelling

The spelling used here is a modern standardized system, in order to represent all the sounds of Nahuatl consistently. The spelling used in the original manuscripts did not always represent Nahuatl pronunciation accurately. In particular, vowel length and h were usually omitted.  [Cehualli's note -- in a rare few manuscripts, like Carochi, you may see diacritics and other odd marks.  Very rare, not something to worry about in general.]

Spelling & Pronunciation of Classical Nahuatl Words

Because the spelling of Nahuatl was originally based on spelling conventions in Spanish, Nahuatl texts are generally “pronounced like Spanish,” with the following exceptions and points to note:

• Words are stressed on the second-to-the-last vowel (excluding U) regardless of final consonants
• X is pronounced like English SH.
• LL is pronounced like a long L (not as in Spanish).
• TL counts as a single consonant, never as a full syllable.
• U does not occur as an independent vowel. The only Nahuatl vowels are A, E, I, and O, although each of them can be long or short.
• CU and UC are both pronounced KW.
• HU and UH are both pronounced W.
• H without an adjacent U represents a “silent” glottal stop (as in go_over); in modern Nahuatl it sometimes has a sound similar to an English H and may have had that value in some dialects of Classical Nahuatl as well. (For an English speaker, pronouncing the H like an English H is not really wrong and has the advantage that it helps one remember that it is there.)
• C before E or I is pronounced like English S. (The letter S is not used in Classical Nahuatl.)
• Z is pronounced like English S. (The letter S is not used in Classical Nahuatl.)

However over the centuries there has been considerable instability in the spelling of Nahuatl. Some common variations:

• The letters U and O may be used interchangeably to represent the sound of O.
• The letter U alone may be used instead of UH or HU to represent the sound of W.(At the time of the Conquest, the written letters V and U were usually reversed in Spanish from their modern values, so U indeed had the value of a modern English W.)
• The letter H representing the glottal stop may or may not be written.
• Vowel length may or may not be marked.
• The consonant Y may be written with the letter I.
• The vowel I may be written with the letter Y.
• The letter Ç may be used in place of Z to represent the sound of S.

In this century American linguists working with modern Nahuatl have sometimes preferred spellings that look less Spanish (and “coincidentally” more English). Thus:

• W may be used in place of HU or UH for the sound of W.
• K may be used in place of QU/C for the sound of K.
• S may be used in place of Z/C for the sound of S.  [Cehualli's note -- Ç is also in this category.]

In some cases weird letters, available on no keyboard and included in very few type fonts, are used for TL, CH, CU/UC, and TZ to stress that these are single consonants, not compounds.*