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Abstract
The symbolic meaning of Huaxtepec, a very famous Aztec garden, is explained, showing how it could have reflected some concepts of the pre-Columbian world view. Aztec and Maya societies were essentially agricultural. Thus, their main preoccupation was fertility, which they tried to maintain through the cult of gods associated with water and earth. Human life was impossible without earth, plants and animals. In a world where the sacred was conceived in terms of deified forms of the cosmic human and vegetal cycle, gardens, like the one in Huaxtepec, became important spaces for ritual celebrations. Unfortunately, very little is left of this significant Aztec garden, and in the 1960s part of it was turned into a vacation centre. However, through the study of colonial documents and other important descriptions, this ancient garden is reconstructed and its use as a ritual space is explained.
Notes
“Guastepeque … […] … es la mayor y más hermosa y fresca que nunca se vió, porque tiene dos lenguas de circuito, y por medio de ella va una muy gentil ribera de agua, … […]. Hay Aposentamientos y jardines muy frescos, y infinitos Arboles de diversas Frutas y muchas Yerbas y Flores olorosas que cierto es cosa de admiración ver la gentileza y grandeza de toda esta Huerta ….”
“… Gustepeque, adonde está la huerta que he dicho que es la mejor que avía visto en toda mi vida y a sí lo torno a decir que Cortés y el Tesorero Alderete, desque entonces la vieron y pasearon algo en ella, se admiraron y dixeron que mejor cosa de huerta no avían visto en Castilla ….”
“… tenía dos lenguas de circuito, por medio del cual corría un río, pobladas las riberas de muchas arboleadas, de trecho en trecho aposentos, con jardines de diversas flores y frutas y había cazas, sementeras, fuentes y había en diversos peñascos labrados, cenadores, oratorios y miradores, con escaleras en la misma peña ….”
“Y [dicen] que antiguamente, cuando esta villa [ de Huaxtepec ] se pobló [ la] asentaron un poco desviado de donde está hacia la villa de Acapistla, y, porque todos hacían unos cercadillos de piedra, la llamaron Zaqualpa; y otros, que se dividieron y poblaron acá, donde están unos ojos de agua y señalaba una culebra de piedra, como parece en la pintura, le llamaron Atliquipac ….”
“… bañandose en las venas acabadas de brotar, he allí un idolo … […] … Es una serpiente de piedra gris traquítica, alta como una vara, enroscada ….”
“… he allí los restos de hasta cuatro estructuras en pirámide, ya muy destruídas al presente ….”
“… tan solamente tenían un idolo en el tianguez principal de la villa al cual llamaban Ichpochtli Quilaztli, que quiere decir ‘mujer moza’ y el quilaztle es vocabulo antiguo ….”
In the 13th veintena (20-day period, or ‘month’ in the Aztec calendar), the Aztec celebrated what was known as ‘Mountain Feast’; the celebration was widely carried out by Central Mexican peoples in honour of various mountains. Five sacrificial victims, four women and one man, representing mountains (Tepexoch, Matlalcueye, Xochitecatl, Mayahuel) and Milnahuatl (a serpent god), were slain by heart extrusion and then decapitated. Xochitecatl (She of the Flower) and Matlalcueye (Blue Skirt) are mountains in the region of Puebla-Tlaxcala. We do not know the location of the others. As we see, the majority of these mountains have goddesses or feminine names, which indicates that in the sacred pre-Hispanic landscapes, mountains represented the Great Mother (Graulich, Citation1999, pp. 161 – 169).
Quetzalcoatl journeyed to Tonacatepetl in order to obtain maize for humankind, he transformed himself into an ant and stole some kernels. Similar accounts of the origin of maize are known among the Maya, and the Quiché called the mountain of origin Paxil.
According to Galiner, among the Otomies, the mountain is still today related to the feminine: “… El cerro, según la mitología local, es mujer … […] … el cerro es comparado a la cavidad uterina y en esto sugiere la fertilidad, las plantas cultivadas” (Galinier, Citation1990, p. 561).
“… dicen que, en un cerro que está a la parte de Yautepeque, que es un cerro de cal, que llaman Ilamatepeque, y que se llama así porque hay muchos tejones, que se llaman así, y que al pié de dicho cerro está una cueva honda que al principio va crecida a la larga, y después, abajan. Y los que han entrado dentro han sacado agua de un rió que pasa por debajo y que corría el agua de norte a sur, y que aunque hay muchas peñas y fuentes era una recreación de Motenzuma, donde en la misma peña hay fuentes y edificios de aquel tiempo ….”
Cacao: products from the cacao tree claimed to be restricted to the upper class. The high value placed on cacao was based on its function as currency in pre-conquest exchange systems and on its use as a prestigious beverage and stimulant. Sahagún refers to chocolate as “the privilege, the drink of nobles, of rulers” (Sahagún, Citation1979, volume 6, p. 256, volume 10, p. 93). The consumption of chocolate was limited to the wealthy upper class, the elderly, or those honoured for their achievements by the state. The cacao bean also has a stimulatimg effect on the drinker because of the alkaloid theobromine. The effect of the cacao drink as a stimulant is referred to by Sahagún when he writes that the beverage “makes one dizzy confuses one, … deranges one” (Sahagún, Citation1979, volume 11, pp. 119 – 120). Chocolate was also known as an aphrodisiac: a conviction that prompted its continued cultivation by Spanish settlers and boasted its popularity ratings among 16th-century European nobility.
Hueynacaztli (Enterolobium cyclocarpum): this flower, dried and ground together with mecaxochitl and tlilxochitl, was put inside the flower yolloxochitl and hung around the neck of travellers as an amulet (De la Cruz, Citation1991, p. 81). It has been suggested that the smell of this plant has hallucinogenic properties (Viesca Treviño, Citation1977, pp. 120 – 132).
Yolloxochitl (Talauma mexicana of the magnolia family): an important flowering tree known as ‘heart flower’. Hernández mentions that the tree was “appreciated by the Indians as much for its medicinal uses as for its beauty and the aroma of its flowers” (Hernández, Citation1976, volume 2, p. 5). The yolloxochitl was so esteemed by the natives that, according to Sahagún's informants, the tree was cultivated only for the nobility and its flowers were used in offerings to the most important deities (Sahagún, Citation1979, volume 9, p. 330). Part of the yolloxochitl's importance was the physical resemblance of the unopened bud to the human heart, as expressed in its Nahuatl name (yollotli, heart; xochitl, flower). The Aztecs considered the heart the centre of a persona's life and spirit and the animating force. The plant's magical powers were manifold. When dried and hollowed out, the yolloxochitl bud was filled with a mixture of other flowers and hung around the neck of travellers as a protective amulet. It was, and in rural Mexico still is, considered to be the most efficacious medicine in heart diseases. This plant was also used to expell bad humours from a patient's chest (De la Cruz, Citation1991, p. 77).
Cacahuaxochitl (Quararibea funebris): in Nahuatl it means ‘precious flower’, and it is the flower of the cacao tree. Because of its beautiful smell, the flowered branches were much used in ritual ceremonies. The flowers were also used for their hallucinogenic properties.
Huacalxochitl (Philodendron affine): in Nahuatl it means ‘basket flower’, and it was one of the flowers most venerated by the Aztecs. In addition to having medicinal value, the huacalxochitl was one of the most noteworthy ritual accessories in Aztec ceremonies, considered so precious and aromatic that the supreme Aztec ruler Moctezuma II offered the flower at the temple of the Aztec deity Huitzilopochtli. It was also used to decorate military heroes and the ‘tlatoiani’, i.e. the ruler. The value of huacalxochitl was related to fertility through the sexual symbolism inherent in its blossom (Hernández, Citation1976, volume 9, p. 389; Sahagún, Citation1979, volume 2, p. 209).
Cacaloxochitl (Plumeria acutifolia): in Nahuatl it means ‘crow flower’. Hernández affirms that it is a flourishing tree, mainly used for its beautiful aromatic flowers. He writes that the natives made garlands with it and the flowered branches of the tree were offered to governors or important people. He also indicates its medicinal use for stomach diseases (Hernandez, Citation1976, volume 9, p. 403), while Martin de la Cruz prescribes it as a remedy for those people who have suffered from a shock (De la Cruz, Citation1991, p. 76).
Tlilxochitl (Vainilla planifolia): in Nahuatl it means ‘black flower’, and it is commonly known as vanilla. The black sheaths of this flower were highly praised for their pleasant smell. It was added to chocolate drink to enhance its taste. Hernandez writes that it was prescribed to those who spit blood. It was also used to provoke women's menstruations, accelerate their labour and to ease the extraction of a dead foetus. It was also a remedy against animals' poison (Hernández, Citation1976, volume 3, p. 161).
The Codex Borgia is one of the most beautiful and of the few surviving pre-Colombian painted manuscripts. Its special significance has been seen in its detailed depiction of highland Mesoamerican gods and the ritual and divination associated with them. The Codex Borgia is today housed in the Apostolic Library of the Vatican in Rome.
The Codex Fejérváry – Mayer is a Codex of the Borgia group and represents a pre-Hispanic ritual calendar. The original manuscript is kept in the Free Public Museum of Liverpool in England.
The Codex Vaticanus B, which includes Codex Vaticanus (3773), Codex Vaticano Rituale and Codex Fabrega, represents a pre-Hispanic ritual calendar. The original manuscript is housed in the Apostolic Library of the Vatican in Rome.
Codex Vidobonensis is a mixtec historical manuscript which deals with local history and royal genealogies from various communities of the Mixteca Alta and surrounding regions. The original manuscript is housed in the Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.
“… Titlacahuan llamó al que tenía el nombre de Tata y a su mujer llamada Nene, y les dijo: ¡No queráis nada más; agujerad un ahuéhuetl muy grande y ahi os meteréis cuando sea la vigilia y se venga hundiendo el cielo! ….”
“… e que así mismo tenían otro ídolo que se llamaba Matlacsuchil, que quiere decir, diez rosas, … […] y que a este ídolo que no sacrificaban ninguna cosa, más de que iban a él los enfermos de perlesía y otras enfermedades graves, los quales le ofrecían pulque y cosas de comer ….”
Oceloxochitl: in Nahuatl it means ‘tiger flower’ or Tigridia Pavonia. The Aztecs named it flower of the ocelot (jaguar) for the dark spots on its red and yellow petals. The flower was awarded special importance because of its resemblance to the jaguar, a status element in Aztec Mexico. It was used to make crowns and garlands. Not only were its bulbs considered sweet and edible; the flower was consumed in order to promote fertility.
“… A otro día llamó Moctezuma a Cihuacóatl, y dijóle: Tlacaeletzin, también soy avisado que está un sitio muy deleitoso en Huastepec, donde hay peñas vivas, jardines, fuentes, rosales y árboles frutales. A esto respondió Cihuacóatl Tlacaeleltzin y dijo; Señor, es muy bien acordado que allá [en Huastepec] figuren los reyes vuestros antepasados ….”