Hummingbird war god

Today I would like to talk about Huitzilopochtli, the scary war god of the scary warriors of the Aztec/Mexica tribe. And an astonishing fact that he is basically a deified hummingbird...

Yup, you heard it right. The scary hummingbird war god...

Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the Aztec/Mexica tribe and their capital city Tenochtitlan. He was also the sun god. The one that had to be constantly fed human blood and hearts (seat of fire), or he would lose his strength and the world would end. You can read more about the Aztec human sacrifices here...

He was the one because of whom Aztecs fought the eternal holy war whose only purpose was capturing sacrificial victims for Huitzilopochtli...

The scary blood thirsty hummingbird war god...

In art and iconography Huitzilopochtli is represented either as a hummingbird or as an anthropomorphic figure with blue-green hummingbird feathered helmet...

His name, Huitzilopochtli, consists of two elements, Huitzilin "hummingbird" and opochtli "left hand side", translats as "Hummingbird of the left hand side" or "Hummingbird of the south" on the basis that Aztec cosmology associated the south with the left hand side of the body...

Soooo...If you learned that the war god of the Aztec/Mexica was a deified hummingbird, wouldn't you go "WHY?!?"

I know I would. Obviously some other people also found this intriguing. And they thought about it. And...

The only proposed explanation that I could find is that "Aztecs believed the bravest warriors were reincarnated as hummingbirds. Because of this, a more appropriate translation of Huitzilopochtli would be "Reincarnated Warrior of the South"...

This, apparently, fits the Aztec belief that "Huitzilopochtli was conceived after his mother, Coatlicue, the Earth Mother goddess, a charming lady about whom I will write more soon, placed in her bosom a ball of hummingbird feathers (the soul of a warrior) that fell from the sky"...

Huitzilopochtli already had many [innumerable] older brothers [southern stars]  and an older sister [moon]. Because they were angry about the way Huitzilopochtli was conceived (?), they decided to kill both him and their mother...

But, hearing of the attack, the pregnant Coatlicue miraculously gave birth to a fully grown and armed Huitzilopochtli [sun, burning with anger and fury and armed with the fire serpent, his deadly main weapon]...

Huitzilopochtli fought ferociously, defended himself and his mother, killed dismembered and decapitated his sister and chased his brothers across the sky southwards...

According to Aztecs, this is why we get day and night because Huitzilopochtli, the sun, continues to chase his brothers, the stars, around and around the world...But there is more to this story as you will see soon. 

Soooo...Happy with this explanation? It all makes sense? This would all make a lot more sense if we knew why were "the bravest warriors reincarnated as hummingbirds" and why was Huitzilopochtli specifically the "hummingbird of the south"...

Well, let's have a look at the hummingbirds and their lifecycle to see if there is any overlap between significant annual lifecycle events of the hummingbirds and the Aztec/Mexica war season...

Cause Huitzilopochtli sure looks like deified animal calendar marker. And as you will see, he is indeed a deified animal calendar marker for the Aztec/Mexica war season...

I have already shown in this article, that all the animals and plants from the Aztec legend about the foundation of Tenochtitlan and Huitzilopochtli's role in it are indeed animal and plant calendar markers...

And I have also shown in this article, that the starfish found as offerings in the temple dedicated to the god of war, Huitzilopochtli, in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan are also animal calendar markers...

So I can bet that hummingbird is no different.

The climatic year in Mexico is divided into dry and wet halves, and so Aztec year was divided into two "opposite" seasons: farming (wet) season, Apr/May-Oct/Nov, and war (dry) season, Oct/Nov-Apr/May...

Huitzilopochtli ruled the war (dry) season, Oct/Nov-Apr/May. I would even suggest that he was deified war season. This is why the Panquetzaliztli festival which was held every year during the Aztec month Panquetzaliztli (Nov 9 to Nov 28), celebrated the (miraculous) birth of Huitzilopochtli...

Guess what ends in Oct/Nov? Southern migration of hummingbirds, who in their millions arrive to Mexico from the north, from Canada and the USA, between Aug and Oct...

BTW, Aztecs believed that North was the location of the land of the dead. Hence the brave dead warrior souls arriving from the land of the dead (north) to the land of the living (south) in a form of a hummingbird...

The arrival of the hummingbirds (warrior souls) signals the change of season from wet season of agriculture and life, to dry season of war and death (impregnates Mother Earth with war god) which springs out of her womb fully grown and armed and ready for war every Oct/Nov...

This indicates that Huitzilopochtli, the hummingbird of the south, was the deified sunny/dry/war season, Oct/Nov-Apr/May, the time which all the hummingbirds spend down south, in the land of the living...

Which is why Aztecs celebrated Huitzilopochtli's birthday every year in Nov...

BTW, the birthday cake baked for Huitzilopochtli was a statue of the god made with sacred amaranth seeds dough. 

Amaranth seeds are harvested in Nov...

After a ritual battle in which warriors "captured" and dismembered the amaranth-dough figure of Huitzilopochtli, the warriors took the dough pieces home to their families to be ritually consumed.

Another, this time plant, calendar marker for the start of the war season...

One other thing. Right around amaranth harvest and the Huitzilopochtli's birthday, in Nov, the Southern Stars, including Southern Cross, become visible from the Aztec land just before dawn. As the sun rises, they move towards, and finally disappear in the southern sky...

They are then visible in the night sky until Jun, until it's time to plant amaranth. So again a calendar marker. The time during which Huitzilopochtli chases his brothers, the southern stars, is the same period ruled by (deified as) Huitzilopochtli: the sunny/dry/war season...

Anyway I will stop here. In my next post I will talk about Huitzilopochtli as the burning sun god...And why he is armed with a "fire serpent", as all burning sun gods should...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Starfish for the god of war

A while back I came across this X post by @Paracelsus1092:

I don't know if anyone knows the significance of starfish to ancient Mesoamericans, but I like the idea of decorating a war god altar with them. 

He was referring to this article in Smithsonian magazine which talks the discovery of starfish in the temple dedicated to the god of war, Huitzilopochtli, in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan... 

So I said: Let's try animal calendar markers. See what jump at us...

The year in Mesomerica consisted of just two main and opposite seasons, RAINY and DRY. In Aztec times these matched two principal and contrary activities - FARMING and WAR. You can read more about this here...

The rainy (farming) season was ruled by Tlaloc and the dry (war) season was ruled by Huitzilopochtli - depicted symbolically in the "twin towers" atop the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan...You can read more about this here...

The main agricultural crop, maize, was planted in May and was harvested in Sep...

At the peak of the hurricanes season...

Hurricanes which (sometimes, don't know how often) lift thousands of starfish from the sea floor and throw them onto the Mexican beaches...And not just Mexican beaches...Pic from this article about starfish beaching...

And right after the end of the agriculture season, and the dead starfish season, in Oct, Pleiades appear in the night sky, heralding the beginning of the war season...

Are these the stars symbolised by starfish used to decorate the altar of the war god?

I don't know...But I know this:

The Pleiades star cluster was a significant symbol in Aztec culture and astronomy. The Aztecs based their calendar on the Pleiades. 

The Aztecs used the Pleiades to predict the seasons: 

Rain, farming season began when the Pleiades disappeared from the night sky...

Dry, war season began when the Pleiades reappeared in the night sky...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

How Tenochtitlan was established

In this post I will talk about the back panel of the "Temple of the Sacred War", a monolithic pre-Columbian miniature of an Aztec temple, currently in the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City...

I first discovered that this artefact existed when in 2023 I posted this post in X:

Eagle-Snake struggle mosaic from the palace of the Emperor Justinian I  (527-565), Istambul 

is a complex animal calendar marker for the thunderstorm season in Europe Apr/May -  Sep/Oct

when migratory snake eagles can be seen in Europe...

I talked about this in my post "Eagle snake struggle"...

And @JuraPijandura replied with this: Have you ever thought about the same motive in  Aztec civilization? Do they correlate?!

As it turned out, the image he posted was the photo of the back panel of the "Temple of the Sacred War"...

It depicts: "an eagle, representation of the god of war Huitzilopochtli holding in its beak the glyph for war, while standing on a prickly pear cactus which grows out of the goddess of lakes and streams, Chalchiuhtlicue".

The symbol for war consists of two opposite elements - water and fire, forming two streams (most likely one blue and one red) that when put together form the idea of "war".

Each element is a source of energy and life-force but can also be one of destruction. Ever heard of Yin (dark, cold, water, wet, downward, earth) and Yang (light, hot, fire, dry, upward, sun)? Life thrives only where there is balance between these two opposites...

Interestingly, in the language of the Aztecs/Mexica (Náhuatl), the war glyph is called "atl tlachinolli", meaning "water, burnt earth". This indicates that in the war glyph, the fire is the fire of the sun which burns earth, causes drought, and that water is rain water...

If we look at Mexico climate chart we can see that the climatic year is divided into two "opposite" seasons, wet and dry season... 

This is why Aztec year was also divided into two "opposite" seasons: farming (wet) season, Apr/May-Oct/Nov, and war (dry) season, Oct/Nov-Apr/May...

This is also why the main temple of the Aztec/Mexica was topped by paired shrines to (rain god) Tlaloc and (war, and sun, god) Huitzilopochtli...

So sun (fire) vs rain (water) = opposites = conflict = WAR (glyph)...

Sacred War?...War between the sun and rain (gods)?

Sacred War for capturing sacrificial victims that will be sacrificed to the deified "opposing" forces which decide if Aztec/Mexica will live or die???

Ok, back to the back panel of the "Temple of the Sacred War". It's time to look at the local climate and the animals (eagle) and plants (prickly pear) depicted on it, and see if they are just random animals and plants or are we looking at animal and plant calendar markers...

Aztec civilisation developed inside the Valley of Mexico, a highlands plateau in central Mexico surrounded by high mountains, full of rivers which all emptied into the central lakes...

The lakes and most rivers of the Valley of Mexico are now gone, buried under the Mexico City, but some, like Magdalena river are still above ground and their monthly flow chart, published in this article, looks like this:

During the time when Aztec mythology was developed, the wet season in the Valley of Mexico which is Apr/May-Oct/Nov, the season when rivers, and the lakes they fed were full of water, was the season ruled by Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of lakes and streams...And floods...

Why would prickly pear be depicted growing out of the mouth of the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue?

Cause in Mexico, prickly flowering starts in Apr/Jun, start of rain (flowing water) season, and fruit season starts in Jul/Aug, peak of rain (flowing water) season...

Ok, what about the eagle? The eagle is a golden eagle, which in Mexico nests in Mar/Apr/May/Jun. The eggs hatch after about 45 days, and and chicks fledge after about 75 days, in Jul/Aug, peak of the rain (flowing water) season...

So both prickly pear and golden eagle are animal calendar markers for the rain (flowing water) season...Which is also the agricultural season...The fertile season...The season of life...

This is why both golden eagle and prickly pear cactus feature in the Aztec/Mexica myth about the founding of their capital, Tenochtitlan:

Aztecs were looking for a new place to settle. Huitzilopochtli (the sun, war god) told them that they will settle in a place where they see "an eagle with a snake in its beak, standing on a cactus growing from a rock in the middle of a lake".

Finally, after 200 years of wondering through Mexican desert, a scout looking for water saw "an eagle with a snake in its beak, standing on a cactus growing from a rock in the middle of a lake". The lake was lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. 

The Aztecs established their capital city on the island in about 1325AD and named it Tenochtitlan, which means "place where a prickly pear cactus grows from a stone"...

Wow, cactus, eagle...But what's with the snake? Is this another animal calendar marker?

It is. Rattlesnake season in Mexico is Apr/May-Oct/Nov. This is when the rattlesnakes are most active, but also when rattlesnakes mate...And when rattlesnakes mate they dance...

So a golden eagle, devouring a snake, while standing on a prickly pear cactus...Like on this depiction of the Aztec myth from the 16th century "The History of the Indies of New Spain", sometimes referred to as the Durán Codex... 

All animal calendar markers for Apr/May - Oct/Nov, the rain, flowing water, agriculture season. The season of life, peace...As opposed to Oct/Nov - Apr/May, the sun, drought, war season. The season of death...Ruled by Huitzilopochtli...

I will continue with my analysis of the "Temple of the Sacred War" in my next post, where I will talk about Huitzilopochtli...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Rainbows and peacocks

A Sassanian dish, 400-600AD, Iran, Currently in Al Thani collection...

What is exactly depicted here? Some would say just an exotic dancer. I think that this is a depiction of the goddess Anahita, Zoroastrian goddess of water and fertility...

I already talked about Anahita in my post "Anahita" about this Sassanian dish, which again depicts her "holding a scarf above her head"...

In that article, I proposed that the scarf is symbolic depiction of a rainbow. 

Rainbow which is in Iran only seen during the rain season, which in most of Iran is Oct/Nov - Apr/May...

I also proposed that this is the tree of life that is depicted growing out of her scarf (rainbow) because it is the rainbow creating rain that is the source of life in Iran...

I then backed my claim by this other Sassanian dish which depicts the same tree of life, this time without Anahita as it's source, but instead flanked by two ibex goats, the goats of rain...

Ibex goats are animal calendar marker for the Oct/Nov, the beginning of the rain season in Iran, because Oct/Nov is when ibex goats start mating in Iran, mating which is characterised by vicious male goat fights...

I talked about symbolism of ibex goats in many of my posts, like 

Europe:

"Pitys", "Goat in European culture", "Patera of Rennes"... 

Levant:

"The tree of life/light", "Lachish animal calendar"...

Mesopotamia:

"Feast plaque from Louvre", "Green pastures", "Problems with Abzu", "Relief from Dur Sharrukin", "Goatfish"...

Iran: 

"Flamingos from Susa", "Goat carrier", "Iranian goat of rain", "Strider", "A vessel from Tepe Hissar"...

Above the goats, we can see some birds: 

Male and female peafowl

Male and female pheasants 

Why?

Well because both of these bird species start their mating season in Mar/Apr...

And this is important why?

Well, because all that rain (and snow) that falls during the cool wet season cause the water flow of the rivers in Iran to suddenly start increasing in Mar/Apr which leads to the floods in Apr/May/Jun...

Flow chart for the Zayandehrud River that flows through Isfahan. It suddenly increases in Mar/Apr. 

And here is Aries Ram, with blue (water) horns, lying in water...Describing exactly what is happening in Mar/Apr...In Aries...

Talked about it in my post "Sagittarius from Isfahan", about an amazing 14th c. Isfahan zodiac... 

Floods that Anahita as the goddess of water was also linked to...

We find Anahita with rainbow in Iron Age Iran...Bronze disc from Luristan, Western Iran. 8th century BC depicting a goddess holding a scarf (rainbow) above here head...

And in Bronze Age Iran...Chlorite carved flask, Jiroft culture, Western Iran, 3rd millennium BC depicting a goddess holding a rainbow above here head...

I talked about this in my post "Jiroft flood vase"...

Here is the whole flood vase design:

Bronze Age Anahita? Goddess of water? Standing on bulls...

In Taurus? Apr/May? The time of the annual flood? It seems like this is what is depicted here, considering that the goddess is holding a water scarf (rainbow) and the same water is depicted flowing out of bulls heads...

I talked about the link between bulls and annual flood in Iranian art in my post "Dedicated to Inshushinak", about this 3200 years old Elamite ceremonial silver pouring vessel with handle and double spout in the form of two bulls...

So peacocks and pheasants start mating right at the time when the water levels in Iranian rivers start to rise...

This is why, on our original Al Thani dish, Anahita is holding a scarf with the peacock feathers "eyes" designs above her head, and is flanked by two peacocks...

BTW, in India, where peacocks come from, they breed during the monsoon season, and are believed to "call the rain to come"...

I talked about this in my post "Makara", about the mount of the old monsoon god Varuna, who was mainly just imagined as a crocodile, but was sometimes imagined as a complex "creature" (animal calendar marker), with a peacock tail...

BTW, do you see the star and the moon next to the Bronze Age Anahita? 

That's symbol of Sirius..The original star of Inanna/Ishtar, before Venus took over...

I talked about this takeover in my post "Sirius the mother of Venus"... 

I explained why, based on Sumerian Inanna mythology, only Sirius could have been the original star of Inanna/Ishtar in my posts: "Inanna and Sukaletuda", "The brightest star"...

The brightest star which is visible in winter sky over Iran together with the winter moon...

I talked about the winter wet moon in my post "Moon god Nana/Sin"...

Sirius disappears from the night sky in Apr/May...The time of the fertility bringing annual flood...The emptying of the winter moon...Which is why we find this symbol right next to Bronze Age Anahita holding a rainbow...And which is why in the Sumerian epic "Inana and Šukaletuda" we read that Inana "stretched herself like a rainbow across the sky, and reached thereby as far as the earth"...

Cause Bronze Age Anahita was the same goddess as Bronze age Inanna/Ishtar...

It seems that I am not the only one linking Inanna/Ishtar with Anahita. I recently came across this article which actually explores the possibility that Anahita could actually be Inanna/Ishtar in disguise...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...