Tovar describes the ceremonial of the New Fire Celebration. The ceremony's preparations began during the last five days of the cycle's last year (known as nemontemi). Abstinence from employment, fasting, ceremonial purification, ritual bloodletting, the disposal of old household objects, and the observance of quiet were all part of the preparations. The planet was thought to be in grave peril during these days due to the instability inherent in the transition from one cycle to the next. The Tzitzimime, female celestial deities, were feared to descend and devour the earth.
Citizens would renew their homes and prepare them for the New Fire Ritual by throwing aside hearth stones, garments, jars and other cooking vessels, idols, and other household goods in the days leading up to the ceremony. These items were thought to contain essences that were tied to the previous cycle. Temples were also expanded and changed on a national basis in the spirit of rebirth. When it was carved, the ritual was shown as a bundle of sticks because the ceremony was considered to reset the year's cycle.
The day-sign "1 Tecpatl" of the year "2 Acatl" appeared at sunset on the last day of the year, which was always the case when Huitzilopochtli was born. A procession of priests from the Huehueteotl fire cult traveled from Tenochtitlan's ceremonial center across the eastbound causeway to Huixachtlan, a mountain on the eastern side of Lake Texcoco near Colhuacan. To complete the event, the priests would dress up as various deities. Huizachtlan's top may be seen from most of the Mexican Basin. A temple platform was built on top of the extinct volcano. All fires in the Aztec dominion were extinguished at this hour, and everyone turned their gaze to the mountain's summit. When the constellation Orion's belt, known to the Aztecs as "the fire drill," rose over the horizon, a man was sacrificed on Huizachtlan's summit and a fire drill was placed on his breast. When the priest lit the fire, he did so on the sacrifice's chest, and as soon as it caught, he sliced open the man's chest and removed his heart to use as fuel for the fire. The event began with the lighting of a fresh fire in the breast of the first sacrifice, and numerous sacrifices followed to commemorate the new cycle. The New Calendar Round was declared to have begun when the first sparks of fire erupted from the fire drill, and a massive bonfire was ignited. Runners carried torches from the bonfire to each ward of the city, where the temple hearths would be lit. The fires at the twin temple Templo Mayor, where the Tlatoani would partake, were the first to be lighted in this manner, followed by the fires at the Calmecac of Huitzilopochtli, then the minor temples and Calmecacs and Telpochcallis, and finally private residences.
People celebrated the regeneration by cutting their ears and the ears of their children and throwing blood onto the first fire when the fires were lit in their homes. People would also frequently throw themselves into the fire to sacrifice or scorch themselves; there would be much revelry and no one would sleep all night.
Here Is A Hoodie Inspired By Aztec New Fire Ceremony
Aztec New Fire Ceremony Maya Aztec Customized 3D
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