6 - Atemoztli

During Atemoztli, we return once more to the mountains, and Tlaloc and the Lords of Rain. Atemoztli is during the dry season of Tonalco, but there are occasional showers during this time, and so Tlaloc is thanked once more for His waters. During the ceremony of Tepeilhuitl, the Feast of the Mountains, in late November, offerings were made to the mountains and Tlaloc. Amaranth images of them were made, sacrificed, and eaten, in recognition of the sacrifices They make for us. In Atemoztli we return to Them, and give Them honor once more. They are our life, and so we must constantly give Them honors and sacrifices. We remind Them in Atemoztli that we are paying Them our debt, and beseech Them to return Their rains now, and in the season of Xopan which is to come. We again make amaranth images of the mountains, and again partake in Their sacrifice and death, and again consume Their flesh, just as we drink Their waters. 

At the center of the Atemoztli ceremony is a paper flag, which is given their own altar and their own offerings. Likewise, the amaranth mountains are also adorned with paper flags. The amaranth mountains represent the abundance of the Lords of Rain, and Their gift of water and life. The white paper flag spattered with liquid rubber, the aztapantli, represents all that we owe the mountains for Their gift of life. The aztapantli reminds us that we must live in balance with Tlaltecuhtli, Our Mother the Earth, and that we must pay our debt to the Mountains and the Lords of Rain. The banner is a living being, with their own will and agency, who sees us, who understands our hearts, and who carries to the Teteo the message of our sacrifice. Offerings are made to them, and after the ceremony has ended both the aztapantli and the paper flags which had adorned the amaranth mountains are taken to a sacred hill, spring, or river, and there returned to the source of creation and life. 

The amaranth mountains are sacrificed in the ceremony with a weaving batten. This instrument is used by weavers to compress the threads while weaving their cloth. It represents our destiny, woven by the Teteo, and by Tlazolteotl and Cihuacoatl in particular, who are manifestations of Our Mother the Earth. They weave our destiny, and likewise that of all being. The mountains are pierced with the weaving batten, and Their hearts of jade-stones removed, for Cihuacoatl has ordained that They, just like us, must die, and be reborn. We remember in Atemoztli that we and the mountains are linked, and our lives and well being depend upon one another. We were born to protect the mountains and wild places, just as They were born and created to protect us. We are asked to partake in the honorable harvest, and to live according to the principles of reciprocity our ancestors have taught us.  

The Ceremonies of Atemoztli

A paper flag is glued to a staff of cane, spattered with liquid rubber or black ink, and amaranth or bread images of the local mountains are made, in preparation for the ceremony. The amaranth mountains are adorned with paper flags, paper heads, and paper glyphs which indicate who they are. Buried in the center of each figure is a bead or stone of jade, turquoise, or some other precious stone. All of the materials used to make these objects were blessed with smoke of copal beforehand, and prayers and meditations are given to the objects, for they are sacred, and will be possessed of teyollia, of will and agency.

The ceremony opens at sunset with the paper banner, which is held up and presented to the gathered guests, and which is then placed in the inner courtyard of the house, or, if such a space is not to be had, at an altar set up in the middle of the living room or some other common space. As the banner is placed at its altar, and given offerings of fruit and flowers, conch shells and a teponaztli are played. These are feminine instruments, for the shell is akin to the womb, and the teponaztli is the female counterpart to the male huehue drum. As such, these instruments summon the presence of the goddesses, and of the forces of humidity, darkness, and life. 

The amaranth mountains are then placed upon an altar, arranged so that the tallest and most important mountains are at the center. Food is offered to Them, in tiny sizes. The tamales are tiny, and kernels of corn on tiny plates. Chocolate is served in tiny glasses, and pulque in tiny jugs. The small size of the offerings acknowledges the small size of the symbolic mountains made of dough, and of the smallness of humanity before the greatness of the mountains. Green squash, cooked and raw, is likewise offered to Them. The ceremony, on the level of the calpulli, lasts until midnight. More tiny offerings are made to the mountains four times over the course of the ceremony, and songs are sung to Them throughout, thanking Them for Their generosity and life-giving waters. A weaving batten is also placed upon the altar, and given offerings. 

At midnight, the guests gather around the altar. The weaving batten is removed from the altar, to the sound of conch shells and shaking rattles, and the playing of the teponaztli. The figures of the mountains are taken up, one by one, with the greatest and most important going last. Their paper adornments are removed, and placed in a basket. The weaving batten is inserted into the “chests” of each mountain, and the jade or precious stone hearts removed, as we cry out in honor of the Tepemeh, of the Mountains, and thank Them for Their sacrifice. The women who have hosted the ceremony enter, with their huipiles and quechquemitl filled with maize, candies, bread, fruit, and other good things to eat, and pass out their abundance to their guests. Pulque is served, from a black jug painted with the moon and from black clay cups, to give honor to the darkness from which life springs. 

After, on an auspicious day as indicated by the Tonalamatl, the paper flag placed in the courtyard, and the paper adornments of the mountains, are taken to a spring, hill, or mountain, and left there as an offerings to Tlaloc and the Mountain Lords.

6 - Atemoztli - el Descenso de las Aguas - 11 al 31 de enero de 2023

En Atemoztli se regresa a los montes para rendir culto a Tláloc y las deidades de la lluvia. Atemoztli cae durante la temporada de Tonalco, en la que sin embargo caen ocasionales lluvias. Es por este motivo que Tláloc recibe honras en esta metztli. En Tepeílhuitl, la Fiesta de los Cerros, se presentan ofrendas a los montes y a esta deidad, y de ellos se sacrifican imágenes de amaranto para comerse como reconocimiento de Su sacrificio. En Atemoztli se vuelve hacia Ellos y se les honra como sustento de la vida. Se les recuerda así que la deuda está siendo saldada y que Su trabajo como generadores de lluvia siegue siendo indispensable para que regrese Xopan. Nuevamente se fabrican imágenes de amaranto y se sacrifican en comunidad, consumiendo ceremonialmente Su carne en la misma forma en que bebemos Sus aguas.

El centro de los ritos de Atemoztli es una bandera de papel al que se le monta un altar y se le presentan ofrendas. Similarmente, las montañas de amaranto, que representan la abundancia de los Señores de la Lluvia, se decoran con banderas de papel manchadas de chapopote o hule. Este símbolo nos recuerda que debemos vivir en equilibrio con Tlaltecuhtli, Nuestra Madre Tierra, y retribuir a los patronos de la lluvia. La bandera es un ser vivo con agencia y voluntad que nos ve, comprende nuestros corazones y entrega a las Teteo y los Teteo nuestro mensaje y sacrificio. Tras la ceremonia, tanto la bandera como la decoración de papel que llevaron puestas las figuras de amaranto se llevan a un monte sagrado, un manantial o un arroyo para regresar estos elementos a la fuente de la creación y la vida.

Los cerros de amaranto reciben sacrificio en la ceremonia con un tzotzopaztli, instrumento utilizado por las tejedoras para comprimir los hilos en el telar, también conocido como machete. El tzotzopaztli representa nuestro destino, tejido por las Teteo Tlazoltéotl y Cihuacóatl, manifestaciones de Nuestra Madre Tierra. Al punzarse las imágenes de los montes, se extraen sus corazones de jade, pues Cihuacóatl ha ordenado que, al igual que la humanidad, los cerros deben morir para renacer. En Atemoztli se recuerde que las montañas y las personas estamos unidas y nuestras vidas están en mutua dependencia: nacemos para proteger a la naturaleza, que a su vez nació para protegernos. Debemos por esto participar de una cosecha honrosa y vivir según el principio de la reciprocidad que nuestros ancestros sentaron.

Ceremonias de Atemoztli

Se crea una bandera de papel con asta de carrizo y se le riega con chapopote o tinta negra y se fabrican imágenes de amaranto o pan representando los cerros de la localidad donde se lleva a cabo la ceremonia. Los montes de amaranto reciben por decoración banderas, rostros y glifos de papel que indican su personalidad individual. En el centro de cada una de ellas se coloca una cuenta de jade, turquesa u otra piedra preciosa. Todos los materiales empleados en la elaboración de estos objetos se bendicen con humo de copal y se ofrecen oraciones para ellos, pues son sagrados y poseen una teyollía.

La ceremonia inicia en el ocaso cuando la bandera de papel se presenta a las y los celebrantes y se coloca en el patio de una casa o en un altar montado en un espacio de uso común. Se dan ofrendas de frutas y flores y se tocan caracolas, instrumentos femeninos que remiten al vientre, y teponaztles, contraparte del masculino huéhuetl. Estos instrumentos convocan a la divinidad y las fuerzas de lo húmedo, lo oscuro y lo dador de vida.

Los montes de amaranto se posicionan en el altar de tal manera que el más alto y más importante se encuentre en el centro. Se les presentan pequeñas cantidades de alimento: pequeños tamales en platos pequeños, chocolate servido en pequeñas tazas y pulque en jarros pequeños. El tamaño de la comida respeta el tamaño de los cerros de amaranto y la pequeñez de la humanidad frente a la grandeza de las montañas. También se les ofrenda calabaza verde cocida y cruda. A nivel de calpulli, la ceremonia dura hasta medianoche. Se les dedican más alimentos pequeños cuatro veces a través del rito y se les entonan cantos en agradecimiento por su generosidad y por sus aguas. Tambien se les presenta un machete de telar.

A la medianoche las personas invitadas se reúnen ante el altar. Se toma el machete del altar entre sonidos de teponaztles, caracolas y sonajas. Una a una se toman las imágenes de los montes en orden de la menos importante a la principal. Se les retiran los adornos de papel y se colocan en un cesto. En el “pecho” de cada cerro se inserta el machete y se extrae su precioso corazón de jade. Agradecemos a los Tepemeh por su sacrificio. Las mujeres que han presidido la ceremonia entran con sus huipil y quechquémitl lleno de maíz, dulces, pan, fruta y otros bienes alimenticios que reparten entre la concurrencia. Se sirve pulque de una jarra negra con la imagen de la luna en vasos negros de cerámica para recordar a la oscuridad de la que brota la vida.

Después, en uno de los días propicios señalados por el Tonalámatl, la bandera de papel puesta en el patio y los adornos de los cerros de papel se llevan a un manantial, una montaña o un monte y se dejan como ofrendas a Tláloc y los Señores Montañosos.