Editing Tláloc (section)

==Child sacrifice and rituals==
In the Aztec capital [[Tenochtitlan]], one of the two shrines on top of the [[Templo Mayor|Great Temple]] was dedicated to Tláloc. The high priest who was in charge of the Tláloc shrine was called "''Quetzalcoatl Tláloc Tlamacazqui.''" It was the northernmost side of this temple that was dedicated to Tláloc, the god of rain and agricultural fertility. In this area, a bowl was kept in which sacrificial hearts were placed on certain occasions, as offerings to the rain gods.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Read|first=Kay A.|title=Sun and Earth Rulers: What the Eyes Cannot See in Mesoamerica|journal=History of Religions|date=May 1995|volume=34|issue=4|pages=351–384|jstor=1062953 |doi=10.1086/463404|s2cid=162347273 }}</ref> Although the Great Temple had its northern section dedicated to Tláloc, the most important site of worship of the rain god was on the peak of [[Cerro Tláloc]], a {{convert|4100|m|ft}} mountain on the eastern rim of the  [[Valley of Mexico]]. Here the Aztec ruler would come and conduct important ceremonies annually. Additionally, throughout the year, pilgrims came to the mountain and offered precious stones and figures at the shrine. Many of the offerings found here also related to water and the sea.<ref name="auto1" />

The Tlálocan-bound dead were not cremated as was customary, but instead they were buried in the earth with seeds planted in their faces and blue paint covering their foreheads.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nuttall |first=Zelia |date=1886-07-01 |title=The Terracotta Heads of Teotihuacan (II) |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/495861 |journal=The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts |language=en |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=318–330 |doi=10.2307/495861 |jstor=495861 |s2cid=245264755 |issn=1540-5079}}</ref> Their bodies were dressed in paper and accompanied by a [[digging stick]] for planting put in their hands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iguaz |first=D. |date=1993-11-14 |title=Mortuary practices among the Aztec in the light of ethnohistorical and archaeological sources |url=https://student-journals.ucl.ac.uk/pia/article/id/93/ |journal=Papers from the Institute of Archaeology |language= |volume=4 |doi=10.5334/pia.45 |issn=2041-9015|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Tlaloc Coll Goupil.jpg|thumb|left|Tláloc, Collection E. Eug. Goupil, 17th century]]
The second shrine on top of the main pyramid at Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Tláloc. Both his shrine, and Huitzilopochtli's next to it, faced west. Sacrifices and rites took place in these temples. The Aztecs believed Tláloc resided in mountain caves, thus his shrine in Tenochtitlan's pyramid was called "mountain abode." Many rich offerings were regularly placed before it, especially those linked to water, such as shells, jade, and sand. Cerro Tláloc was situated directly east of the pyramid, which is very in-line with classic Aztec architecture. The Mexica did and designed everything with cosmological direction. It was forty-four miles away, with a long road connecting the two places of worship. On Cerro Tláloc, there was a shrine containing stone images of the mountain itself and other neighboring peaks. The shrine was called [[Tlálocan]], in reference to the paradise. Also, the shrine contained four pitchers containing water. Each pitcher would produce a different fate if used on crops: the first would bring forth a good harvest, the second would cause the harvest to fail and rot, the third would dry the harvest out, and the final one would freeze it. Sacrifices that took place on Cerro Tláloc were thought to favor early rains.

The Atlcahualo festivals was celebrated from 12 February until 3 March. Dedicated to the Tlaloque, this [[veintena]] involved the [[child sacrifice|sacrifice of children]] on sacred mountaintops, like Cerro Tláloc. This form of human sacrifice was not only specific, but necessary in the eyes of the Aztecs. The children were beautifully adorned, dressed in the style of Tláloc and the Tlaloque. The children were "chosen" by the community, and although this selection came with honor, being selected came with great responsibility. Furthermore, these children were not usually of high social class. The children to be sacrificed were carried to Cerro Tláloc on litters strewn with flowers and feathers, while also being surrounded by dancers. Once the children reached the peak, they would have to stay overnight with the priests at the vigil. The priests were not allowed to leave this site, or else they would be considered "mocauhque", meaning they who are abandoned. Then, at the shrine, the children's hearts would be pulled out by Aztec priests. If, on the way to the shrine, these children cried, their tears were viewed as positive signs of imminent and abundant rains. Every Atlcahualo festival, seven children were sacrificed in and around Lake Texcoco in the Aztec capital. The children were either slaves or the second-born children of noblepeople, or pīpiltin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sahagun |first1=Fray Bernardino De |title=Florentine Codex |location=Mexico |page=10 |edition=Translated}}</ref> If the children did not cry, it meant a bad year for their whole system of living - agriculture. To signify when the rains were about to end, the Aztecs relied on the call from a bird known as the "cuitlacochin". This would also signify a switch to soft rain rolling in.

The festival of Tozoztontli (24 March – 12 April) similarly involved child sacrifice. During this festival, the children were sacrificed in caves. The flayed skins of sacrificial victims that had been worn by priests for the last twenty days were taken off and placed in these dark caverns.

The winter veintena of Atemoztli (9 December – 28 December) was also dedicated to the Tlaloque. This period preceded an important rainy season, so statues were made out of amaranth dough. Their teeth were pumpkin seeds and their eyes, beans. Once these statues were offered copal, fine scents, and other food items, while they were also prayed to and adorned with finery. Afterwards, their doughy chests were opened, their "hearts" taken out, before their bodies were cut up and eaten. The ornaments with which they had been adorned were taken and burned in peoples’ patios. On the final day of the "veintena," people celebrated and held banquets.<ref name="auto3">{{cite web|title=God of the Month: Tláloc|url=http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/acrobats/319_1.pdf|work=Aztecs at Mexicolor|publisher=Mexicolore|access-date=20 October 2013}}</ref>

Tláloc was also worshipped during the [[Huey Tozoztli|Huey Tozotli]] festival, which was celebrated annually.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=DiCesare|first=Catherine R.|date=2015-10-01|title=Tláloc Rites and the Huey Tozoztli Festival in the Mexican Codex Borbonicus |url=http://ethnohistory.dukejournals.org/content/62/4/683|journal=Ethnohistory|language=en|volume=62|issue=4|pages=683–706 |doi=10.1215/00141801-3135290|issn=0014-1801}}</ref> Evidence from the [[Codex Borbonicus]] suggests that Huey Tozotli was a commemoration of [[Centeotl]], the god of [[maize]]. While Tláloc is not normally associated with Huey Tozotli, evidence from the Codex Borbonicus indicates that Tláloc was worshipped during this festival.<ref name=":0" /> Additional evidence from the Book of Gods and Rites suggest rulers from the Aztec Empire and other states would make a pilgrimage to Cerro Tláloc during the Huey Tozotli festival in order to present offerings to Tláloc.<ref name=":0" /> The Book of Gods and Rites also suggests that a child was sacrificed as a part of this pilgrimage as well, although this could simply be the result of colonial sensationalism on the part of the Spanish authors.<ref name=":0" /> It is argued that Tláloc was incorporated into celebrations of Huey Tozotli because of his role as the god of rain.<ref name=":0" /> Huey Tozotli was a celebration of the maize harvest, and it would make sense that worshippers might want to celebrate Tláloc during this festival as his powers of the rain would be critical to having a successful harvest of maize.<ref name=":0" />

Tláloc was linked to the regenerative capacity of weather, and, as such, he was worshipped at Cerro Tláloc because much of the rain in Central Mexico is formed over range of which Cerro Tláloc is a part.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Aztec ceremonial landscapes|date=1999|publisher=University Press of Colorado |editor=Carrasco, David|isbn=9780870815096|edition=Paperback|location=Niwot, Colorado|oclc=42330315}}</ref> Tláloc was worshipped on Cerro Tláloc during the [[Etzalcualiztli]] festival, in which rulers from across Central Mexico performed rituals to Tláloc in order to ask for rain, and to celebrate fertility and the change of the seasons.<ref name=":1" /> An important part of these pilgrimages to Cerro Tláloc during Etzalcualitztli was the sacrifice of both adults and children to Tláloc.<ref name=":1" />