Different Mexican Rituals

A different set of rituals were held for human sacrifices who were slaves rather than captives of war. If prisoners were offered up to the gods individually by their captives, slaves were offered collectively by different social groups: peasants, flower growers, salt miners, hunters, stone masons, scribes, gold and silver smiths, craftsmen who specialized in feather work, doctors and midwives, merchants, domestic servants, and even the ruler. Slaves destined for sacrifice would be purchased well in advance, consecrated as "living images of the gods," and shortly before the sacrificial rite subjected to a series of rituals that would make possible the total deification necessary for the sacrificial exchange of energy.

The most important public rituals were those associated with the sun, water, and maize, which were determined by the sun's position on the horizon. The ritual cycle associated with water began in the first month of the Mexica solar calendar (February in the Gregorian calendar) and was marked by a series of rituals to ensure favorable rainfall and please the gods of maize. An important part of these rituals was the sacrifice of children; older children were used as the maize matured. The children were sacrificed at the temple of Tlaloc, the god of rain, and on certain hills around Tenochtitlan.

The most important rite associated with Tlaloc was conducted in the month of Etzalcualiztli (June in the Gregorian calendar), which coincided with the height of the rainy season and the summer solstice. Priests dedicated to Tlaloc were confined to the calmecac for eight days. They would prepare for their confinement by going out to pick special twigs to make mats that they would use to hang offerings and to sleep on during their confinement. They would fast until midnight of the fourth day, performing autosacrifices each night to the sound of trumpets and conch shells. Using obsidian blades to cut their ears, they would gather their blood on maguey spines, which then would be offered to Tlaloc. On the fourth day they would lead a procession to the four temples known as the "houses of mist," playing instruments and singing. They would immerse themselves in the lake and, at the signal of one priest, would all begin to imitate the sounds of waterfowl. In the afternoon they would decorate the sanctuaries with fir branches and reeds.

The ceremony culminated with a feast in which the population ate a mixture of beans and cornmeal known as etzalli. The following day priests and acolytes marched to a spot on the lake known as Teotecco, bringing images of the gods made of rubber and copal pyramids, which they burned on the lake shore. Later they returned to the temple to hold four more days of fasting, concluding with a final ceremony in which they painted their head blue and their faces with a mixture of honey and ink before offering captives and later slaves to Tlaloc. The hearts of victims and other offerings were then carried by a group of priests in a boat into the lake and thrown into a whirlpool.