Ollin
Tonal

Mexica

How we became Mexica

Mexi is a name of Huitzilopochtli. Those who followed him became Mexica — people of Mexi. Aztec is a later word, from Aztlan. The god was carried. Four priests carried him.

Codex Boturini, leaving Aztlan
Codex Boturini. Aztlan in the water, canoe, footprints to Colhuacan. The leaving.

The name

Mexi, then Mexica

Mexi is a name of Huitzilopochtli. Those who followed him became Mexica — people of Mexi. He is Hummingbird of the South. The bundle on the priests’ backs is him.

Huitzilopochtli, Mexi
Huitzilopochtli. Mexi. The one inside the bundle.
Huitzilopochtli with xiuhcoatl
Huitzilopochtli. Xiuhcoatl in the right hand — the fire serpent of the south.

Teomamaque

The four priests

Teomamaque: god-bearers. The god sat in a tlaquimilolli on a priest’s back. Boturini names four: Chimalma, Apanecatl, Cuauhcoatl, Tezcacoatl.

The four teomama in Codex Boturini
Codex Boturini. The four, each with a bundle on the back.
The four priests carrying the sacred bundle
The four on the road. Chimalma at the bundle with her chimalli. The hummingbird of Mexi above.
Tezcacoatl
Tezcacoatl. Mirror Serpent.
Cuauhcoatl
Cuauhcoatl. Eagle Serpent.
Apanecatl
Apanecatl. The one of the water.
Chimalma
Chimalma. Shield-hand. The woman among the four, chimalli in her hand.

  1. Priest 1

    Tezcacoatl

    Tezcacoacatl · Mirror Serpent

    God-bearer. In Boturini he carries Huitzilopochtli’s bundle at the first blood offering — the speaking-place of Mexi.

  2. Priest 2

    Cuauhcoatl

    Eagle Serpent

    God-bearer. Eagle and serpent in one name. He walked with a tlaquimilolli on his back.

  3. Priest 3

    Apanecatl

    The one of the water

    God-bearer. Named with water. The walk began on an island and ended in a lake.

  4. Priest 4

    Chimalma

    Chimalman · Shield-hand

    God-bearer. Boturini opens with a priest leading Chimalma from Aztlan by canoe. A woman among the four. (A later Toltec Chimalma is named as mother of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl — same name, two halls.)

The road as the strip paints it

Eight tribes join
Boturini. Eight tribes join. Nine peoples walk under the four bearers.
They become Mexica
Boturini. The broken tree. First blood. Here they become Mexica.

The sign

Eagle on the nopal

The last instruction: the highland golden eagle on the nopal, in the lake. Year 2 Calli — 1325. Mexico-Tenochtitlan.

Eagle on the nopal in the lake
The sign. Highland golden eagle on the nopal, in the water. Year 2 Calli. Mexico-Tenochtitlan.
Eagle omen, house drawing after the books
The same omen: eagle, nopal, water, footprints.