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CHAPTER 24
Even greater amazement will be caused by the feast and resemblance to communion that the devil himself, prince of the sons of pride, ordained in Mexico; this, although it is a trifle long, must be told, as it is described by persons worthy of credence. In the month of May the Mexicans held the chief festival of their god Huitzilopochtli, and two days before the feast those virgins who, as we said above, were secluded in the temple itself and resembled nuns ground a large quantity of amaranth seeds along with roasted maize. And after it was ground they kneaded it with honey, and with that dough made an idol of the same size as the wooden one, and gave it green or blue or white beads for eyes, and for teeth grains of corn, set forth with all the pomp we have described above. When it was finished all the nobles came and brought a rich and exquisite garment that resembled the idol's usual clothing, in which they dressed it; and after it was very well dressed and adorned they placed it upon a blue bench, on a litter, to be carried on men's shoulders. When the morning of the festival arrived, an hour before dawn all those maidens came out dressed in white, with new finery, and on that day they were called sisters of the god Huitzilopochtli. They came crowned with wreaths of toasted and popped corn, which resembles orange blossoms, and thick strings of the same around their necks, passing under their left arms. With rouge on their cheeks and bedecked with red parrot feathers on their arms from the elbows to the wrists, thus arrayed they took the litter on their shoulders and brought it into the courtyard, where all the youths were waiting, handsomely dressed in mesh garments and crowned in the same manner as the girls. When the maidens appeared with the idol the youths approached it very reverently and took the litter on their shoulders, carrying it to the foot of the temple steps, where all the people were kneeling, and taking some earth from the ground they put it on their heads, which was a frequent ceremony among them during the chief festivals of their gods. When this ceremony had been performed, all the people set off in procession as fast as they could and went to a hill about a league from Mexico called Chapultepec, and there they halted and made sacrifices. Then they went on with the same haste to a place nearby that is called Atlacuyauaya, where they made the second stop; and from there they went to another town a league farther on, called Coyoacan, from which they departed to return to the City of Mexico without a pause. This journey of more than four leagues was made in three or four hours; they called this procession Ypayna Huitzilopochtli, which means "the swift and headlong way of Huitzilopochtli." When they had reached the foot of the temple steps they set down the litter and took heavy ropes and tied them to its carrying poles, and with great care and reverence, some pulling from above and others helping from below, they pulled the litter with the idol to the top of the temple with a great noise of flutes and blare of trumpets and conch shells and drums. They hauled it up in this fashion because the temple steps were very steep and narrow and the staircase very long, and so they could not climb with the litter on their shoulders. And as they were pulling up the idol all the people stood in the courtyard with great reverence and awe. When they had hauled it to the top and placed it in a bower of roses that had been prepared for it, the boys came and scattered many flowers of different colors, filling the temple with them both inside and out. This done, all the maidens came out, adorned as has been described, and took from their place of retreat pieces of dough made of toasted maize and amaranth, the same material of which the idol was made, kneaded into the shape of large bones. These they delivered to the youths, who in turn carried them up and laid them at the idol's feet all around that place, until there was no room for more. These pieces of dough were called the bones and flesh of Huitzilopochtli. After the bones were placed there all the ancients of the temple came out, priests and Levites and other ministers according to their degree of honor and length of service, for there was a strict hierarchy with regard to this, with their names and dignities. One rank after another came out with their mesh veils of different colors and workmanship, according to the dignity and office of each, with wreaths on their heads and garlands of flowers around their necks. After these came different images of the gods and goddesses that they worshiped, dressed in the same style. And ranging themselves in order around those pieces of dough they performed over them a certain ceremony of singing and dancing, as a result of which they were blessed and consecrated as that idol's very flesh and bones. When they had finished the blessing and rite of those pieces of dough representing the idol's bones and flesh, they worshiped them in the same manner as their god. Then the sacrificers came forth and performed the sacrifice of men in the way that has been described above, and these sacrifices were more numerous than on any other day because the festival was so important. When the sacrifices were finished all the youths and maidens came out of the temple, adorned as has been described. Ranked in order and in rows facing each other, they danced and sang to the sound of a drum that was played in praise of the festival and the idol they were celebrating; and all the nobles and elders and important people responded to this song by dancing around them in a ring, making a beautiful circle as they are accustomed to do, with the boys and girls always in the center, and the whole city came to see this spectacle. On this day of the idol Huitzilopochtli, it was a carefully kept rule in all the land to eat no food save that dough mixed with honey, of which the idol was made; and this food had to be eaten at daybreak, and no water or anything else was to be drunk on top of it until midday, and if they did so it was considered a bad omen and a sacrilege. After the ceremonies were over they could eat other things. During this interval they hid water from the little children, and admonished all those who had the use of reason not to drink it, because the wrath of the god would come upon them and they would die; and they observed this precept with great care and strictness. When the ceremonies, dances, and sacrifices were finished they went to remove their costumes, and the priests and temple dignitaries took the idol made of dough and stripped it of its adornments and made many fragments out of the idol as well as out of the pieces that had been consecrated. Then, beginning with the eldest, they distributed them and gave them in a sort of communion to all the people, young and old, men and women. And they received it with so much reverence, awe, and tears that it was a remarkable thing to see, saying that they were eating God's flesh and bones and that they were unworthy to do so. Those who had invalids at home asked for fragments to be taken to them and carried the pieces away with much reverence and veneration. All who partook of the communion were obliged to give a tithe of the same seed of which the idol was made. When the solemn rite of communion was over an old man of great prestige climbed to the temple and in a loud voice preached their religion and ceremonies. Who would not be astonished to see that the devil would take such care to have himself worshiped and received in the same way that Jesus Christ our Lord ordained and taught, and as Holy Church is used to doing? Truly, what was said at the beginning is perfectly clear, that Satan tries in every way he can to usurp and steal for himself the honor and worship that is due to God alone, although he always mixes his filthiness and cruelties into them, for he is a murderous and foul spirit and the father of lies. |