Xiuhcoatl
Encyclopedia
In Aztec religion
, Xiuhcoatl was a mythological serpent, it was regarded as the spirit form of Xiuhtecuhtli
, the Aztec fire deity, and was also an atlatl
wielded by Huitzilopochtli
. Xiuhcoatl is a Classical Nahuatl
word that literally translates as "turquoise
serpent"; it also carries the symbolic and descriptive meaning, "fire serpent".
Xiuhcoatl was a common subject of Aztec art
, including illustrations in Aztec codices
and its use as a back ornament on representations of both Xiuhtecuhtlu and Huitzilopochtli. Xiuhcoatl is interpreted as the embodiment of the dry season
and was the weapon of the sun. The royal diadem (or xiuhuitzolli, "pointed turquoise thing") of the Aztec emperors apparently represented the tail of the Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent.
, the word xihuitl means "year", "turquoise
" and grass". The tail of Xiuhcoatl is often marked with the Aztec symbol for "grass". The body of the Xiuhcoatl was wrapped with knotted strips of paper, linking the serpent to bloodletting and sacrifice.
In the Postclassic
period, the Xiuhcoatl fire serpent was associated with the three concepts associated with its tail-sign; turquoise, grass and the solar year. All three of these concepts were associated with fire in central Mexico
during the Postclassic, with dry grass and the solar year being closely identified with fire and solar heat. Page 46 of the pre-Columbian
Codex Borgia
depicts four smoking Xiuhcoatl serpents arranged around a burning turquoise mirror. A turquoise-rimmed mirror has been found at the Maya
city of Chichen Itza
, with four fire serpents circling the rim. The archaeological site of Tula
has warrior columns on Mound B that bear mirrors on their backs, also surrounded by four Xiuhcoatl fire serpents.
Although the Fire Serpent can be easily traced back to the Early Postclassic period in Tula, its ultimate origins are unclear. During the Classic Period
, the War Serpent of Teotihuacan
was probably a forerunner of Xiuhcoatl, it was also depicted with the grass symbol, flames and the trapeze-and-ray year symbol.
Xiuhcoatl was considered to be the nahual, or spirit form, of the Aztec fire god Xiuhtecuhtli
. It was a lightning-like weapon borne by Huitzilopochtli
. With it, soon after his birth he pierced his sister Coyolxauhqui
, destroying her, and also defeated the Centzon Huitznahua. This incident is illustrated on a fragment of broken sculpture excavated from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. The fragment was originally a part of a large stone disk that depicted the fallen Coyolxauhqui with the Xiuhcoatl fire serpent penetrating her chest. This Xiuhcoatl wielded by Huitzilopochtli symbolises the forces of darkness being driven out by the fiery rays of the sun.
Tonatiuh
, the Sun god, was guided across the sky by Xiuhcoatl, and was used by him as a weapon against his underworld enemies, the stars and the moon.
ceremony, Xiuhcoatl was represented by a paper serpent with red feathers emerging from its open maw to represent flames. During the ceremony, burning torches also symbolised Xiuhcoatl and a serpent dance was performed.
Aztec religion
Aztec religion is the Mesoamerican religion practiced by the Aztec empire. Like other Mesoamerican religions, it had elements of human sacrifice in connection with a large number of religious festivals which were held according to patterns of the Aztec calendar...
, Xiuhcoatl was a mythological serpent, it was regarded as the spirit form of Xiuhtecuhtli
Xiuhtecuhtli
In Aztec mythology, Xiuhtecuhtli , was the god of fire, day and heat. He was the lord of volcanoes, the personification of life after death, warmth in cold , light in darkness and food during famine...
, the Aztec fire deity, and was also an atlatl
Atlatl
An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
wielded by Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli
In Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli, also spelled Uitzilopochtli , was a god of war, a sun god, and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He was also the national god of the Mexicas of Tenochtitlan.- Genealogy :...
. Xiuhcoatl is a Classical Nahuatl
Classical Nahuatl
Classical Nahuatl is a term used to describe the variants of the Nahuatl language that were spoken in the Valley of Mexico — and central Mexico as a lingua franca — at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Mexico...
word that literally translates as "turquoise
Turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...
serpent"; it also carries the symbolic and descriptive meaning, "fire serpent".
Xiuhcoatl was a common subject of Aztec art
Pre-Columbian art
Pre-Columbian art is the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas until the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and the time period marked by Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas....
, including illustrations in Aztec codices
Aztec codices
Aztec codices are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture....
and its use as a back ornament on representations of both Xiuhtecuhtlu and Huitzilopochtli. Xiuhcoatl is interpreted as the embodiment of the dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
and was the weapon of the sun. The royal diadem (or xiuhuitzolli, "pointed turquoise thing") of the Aztec emperors apparently represented the tail of the Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent.
Attributes
The Xiuhcoatl was typically depicted with a sharply back-turned snout and a segmented body. Its tail resembled the trapeze-and-ray year sign, and probably does represent that symbol. In NahuatlNahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
, the word xihuitl means "year", "turquoise
Turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...
" and grass". The tail of Xiuhcoatl is often marked with the Aztec symbol for "grass". The body of the Xiuhcoatl was wrapped with knotted strips of paper, linking the serpent to bloodletting and sacrifice.
In the Postclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
period, the Xiuhcoatl fire serpent was associated with the three concepts associated with its tail-sign; turquoise, grass and the solar year. All three of these concepts were associated with fire in central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
during the Postclassic, with dry grass and the solar year being closely identified with fire and solar heat. Page 46 of the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Codex Borgia
Codex Borgia
The Codex Borgia is a Mesoamerican ritual and divinatory manuscript. It is generally believed to have been written before the Spanish conquest of Mexico, somewhere within what is now today southern or western Puebla...
depicts four smoking Xiuhcoatl serpents arranged around a burning turquoise mirror. A turquoise-rimmed mirror has been found at the Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
city of Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
, with four fire serpents circling the rim. The archaeological site of Tula
Tula, Hidalgo
Tula, formally, Tula de Allende, is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 305.8 km² , and as of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 93,296, with 28,432 in the town...
has warrior columns on Mound B that bear mirrors on their backs, also surrounded by four Xiuhcoatl fire serpents.
Although the Fire Serpent can be easily traced back to the Early Postclassic period in Tula, its ultimate origins are unclear. During the Classic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
, the War Serpent of Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
was probably a forerunner of Xiuhcoatl, it was also depicted with the grass symbol, flames and the trapeze-and-ray year symbol.
Mythology
Xiuhtecuhtli
In Aztec mythology, Xiuhtecuhtli , was the god of fire, day and heat. He was the lord of volcanoes, the personification of life after death, warmth in cold , light in darkness and food during famine...
. It was a lightning-like weapon borne by Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli
In Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli, also spelled Uitzilopochtli , was a god of war, a sun god, and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He was also the national god of the Mexicas of Tenochtitlan.- Genealogy :...
. With it, soon after his birth he pierced his sister Coyolxauhqui
Coyolxauhqui
In Aztec mythology, Coyolxauhqui was a daughter of Coatlicue and Mixcoatl and is the leader of the Centzon Huitznahuas, the star gods. Coyolxauhqui was a powerful magician and led her siblings in an attack on their mother, Coatlicue, because Coatlicue had become pregnant.- Attack on Coatlicue :The...
, destroying her, and also defeated the Centzon Huitznahua. This incident is illustrated on a fragment of broken sculpture excavated from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. The fragment was originally a part of a large stone disk that depicted the fallen Coyolxauhqui with the Xiuhcoatl fire serpent penetrating her chest. This Xiuhcoatl wielded by Huitzilopochtli symbolises the forces of darkness being driven out by the fiery rays of the sun.
Tonatiuh
Tonatiuh
In Aztec mythology, Tonatiuh was the sun god. The Aztec people considered him the leader of Tollan, heaven. He was also known as the fifth sun, because the Aztecs believed that he was the sun that took over when the fourth sun was expelled from the sky...
, the Sun god, was guided across the sky by Xiuhcoatl, and was used by him as a weapon against his underworld enemies, the stars and the moon.
Ritual
During the PanquetzaliztliVeintena
A veintena is the Spanish-derived name for a 20-day period used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican calendars. The division is often casually referred to as a "month", although it is not coordinated with the lunar cycle...
ceremony, Xiuhcoatl was represented by a paper serpent with red feathers emerging from its open maw to represent flames. During the ceremony, burning torches also symbolised Xiuhcoatl and a serpent dance was performed.