Nahuas’ Interpretation

What surprised me later, after hearing about San Miguel from Amando, Endalacia, and other Mestizos, is that they did not know that Nahuas in their community associated the San Miguel dancers with the rain gods. They were unaware that Nahuas told stories about rain gods who inhabit the pluvial waters around Huitzilan5 and carry out rebellions to rid their community of bad municipio presidents and troublesome Mestizos. The Nahuas in Huitzilan, who associate San Miguel with the rain gods who carry out rebellions, may follow a tradition in the southern Sierra Norte de Puebla. As noted, Beaucage (1999: 468) reported that Nahuas in the Cuetzalan area named San Miguel as the agent who helped them during the French intervention (1862–1867) and the Mexican Revolution (1910–1917). Endalacia and Amando had learned Nahuat as a second language and could have understood the Nahuas’ stories, had they heard and paid attention to them. They did not seem to know about the testimony of Nahua witnesses, such as José de los Santos, who had seen the rain gods as small figures dressed in the costume of San Miguel dancers.6 José conveyed what he had seen to Nacho Ángel Hernández who passed it on to me.

“[José de los Santos] said he was working there [in the hot country], and it started to rain. And he saw them. Many bolts of lightning started flashing, and he saw [the rain gods] sitting on a telephone wire. They were beautiful just like in the photograph of the San Miguel dancers. They were beautiful young men. They were all dressed like the dancers.” (“Quihtoa ompa tequitia huan pehuac cequin quiyahuit. Huan quinittac nohon. Pehuac tapepetani telcenca huan quittac tech in cable motaloqueh. Nohon telcualtzitzin quemeh oncac foto de San Migueles. Cualtzitzin telpochcameh. Nochi taquentoqueh mihtotiani.”)7

The Rain God or Quiyauhteot

The Nahuat word in Huitzilan for rain god is quiyauhteot, which is a combination of quiyahuit (rain) and teot, which Karttunen (1992: 228) defined as god (dios). What Nahuas meant by this word reveals how they positioned themselves relative to their ancestors, the Church, and the Mestizos. The pre-Hispanic ancestral meaning of teot (Nahuat spelling) was markedly different from the god (dios) that Bernardino de Sahagún described in his Pláticas, or first sermon to the Nahuas. Sahagún’s god is the “deep well of all good things; He is the essence of love, compassion, and mercy. He sees all, knows all; He is altogether admirable.” (Ricard [1966] 1982: 86–87).

James Maffie (2014: 21–22) defined the ancient Nahua meaning of teotl [Nahuatl spelling] as a “continually dynamic, vivifying, self-generating and self-regenerating sacred power, force or energy.” Maffie (84) noted that the continuously dynamic quality of teotl fits the “fluidity of the Mesoamerican pantheon of spirits” that was a form of pantheism like that which Alan and Pamela Sandstrom (1986, 1991, 2008, forthcoming) described for the contemporary Nahuas in the Huasteca. In this world, teotl is amoral. Maffie (2014: 80) explains:

Teotl lacks intentional states (such as purposes, desires, and plans) along with such capacities as the ability to deliberate, punish, reward, believe, and make decisions. Teotl is not a god, deity, or legislative being who enacts laws of nature or laws of human conduct. In short, teotl is not anthropomorphic in any way.

The contemporary Nahuas in Huitzilan attach meanings to the word teot (Nahuat spelling) that are between the ancient Nahuas’ notion of teotl and Sahagún’s Christian God, who is the embodiment of morality. Nahuas described what a rain god is by describing what it does, in accord with ancient Nahua metaphysics. Maffie (2014: 26) explains that for ancient Nahuas: “Essence follows from function. That is, what something is follows from what it does as well as how it does it.” In interviews, which took place during the third stage of fieldwork (2003–2012), Nacho Ángel Hernández and Juan Hernández (no relation) described five things that a rain god does.

(1) Brings Rain

Nacho began by saying: “Well, our ancestors said that they had heard that [the rain gods] grabbed the water. They brought the water . . .” He added: “Ahuehueht (Old Man of the Water) makes the water come [from the sea.] So then Ahuehueht releases that water so the rain gods can bring it [to us in Huitzilan as rain].” (“Pos quihtoah huehcauh totahthuan te caquiliquih que yehhan no quicuitih in at. Yehhan non cualcuih in at . . .”8 “Quichihua Ahuehueht ma hallehua in at. Entonces ma cuac can cahui in at para ne quiyauhteomeh pos cualcuih ya.”)9

Nacho and Juan told stories of how Ahuehueht ended up in the sea after the rain gods removed him from Mt. Cozolin, above Huitzilan, to prevent him from destroying the community with another flood. (See “Ahuehueht” in Appendix.) A flood destroying a prior era of creation has antecedents in ancient Nahua culture, is widespread among contemporary Nahuas in Huitzilan and Yaonáhuac (Taggart 1979, 1983: 189–199), and also appears in the oral tradition of other Nahuas, as Anuschka van’t Hooft (2007: 140–154) revealed in her detailed work on contemporary water beliefs and stories in the Huasteca of Hidalgo.

(2) Becomes Manifest

Nacho and Juan identified bolts of lightning as the most visible manifestation of rain gods. Nacho explained that usually one cannot see them because: “They hide.” (“Non ichtaca.”)10 He explained: “They make themselves visible when it begins to cloud up, and rain does not come right away. So rain might come soon, one sees [a storm] begin with flashes of lightning.” (“Mottaya cuando pehua tamixten huan ahmo huitza quiyahuit. Para huallaz niman, motta pehuac tapetani.”)11 Some Nahuas in the sierra refer to a bolt of lightning as a glowing snake (ticoat), but Nacho explained that a rain god, as a bolt of lightning, “bends and twists as it runs through the sky [like a snake] but it is not a snake. It is fire.” (“motaloa por cuecueloa yohua, pero ahmo coat. Yeh in tit.”)12 Nacho acknowledged that a bolt of lightning burns what it strikes but he also made the point that a quiyauhteot is a force or power, which is in accord with scholars’ interpretations of the ancient Nahuas’ meaning of teotl (Maffie 2014: 21–23; Bassett 2015: 61–62).

Nahuas also reported that rain gods are manifest in other weather events, particularly thunder, clouds, and wind. In several stories appearing in subsequent chapters, narrators described rain gods making themselves heard when exploding as thunder. Nacho and his brothers associated a rain god with clouds by referring to it as a cloud serpent [mixcoat = mixti (cloud) + coat (serpent)]. (See Chapter 13.) Nacho occasionally referred to rain gods as wind (ehecat), which he described as a precursor to a rainstorm.13 He explained: “Well, the wind comes from the sea. First comes the wind and then, when there is a lot of wind, the rain comes soon thereafter. Within half an hour comes the wind and then one sees clouds come.” (“Bueno pos ehecat hualla tech in hueiat. Achto hualla in ehecat huan cuando telcenca huitza niman in quiyauhuit quichihua. Ce media hora huitza in ehecat huan quitta huitza in mixti.”)14

(3) Deposits Jade Stones

A rain god, as a bolt of lightning, sometimes deposits an ateot, a jade or turquoise stone, which can make the one who finds it very wealthy. The notion that a quiyauhteot can provide an ateot is support for the hypothesis that rain gods are part of a contemporary fertility cult in Huitzilan. Nacho explained: “When a bolt of lightning strikes a pine tree it plants an ateot. It plants a turquoise stone . . . He who has an ateot does not have to suffer with work. An ateot is like a child who produces corn . . . According to some, Petzin Cruz has an ateot and a great deal of corn.” (“Cuando quirayohuia ce ocot motaltoca ateot. Quitalia chalchihuit. . . .15 Aqui quipiya chalchihuit ahmo quihiyohuia. . . .16 [In] teot quemeh conet mochihua tzinti. . . .17 Petzin Cruz según quipiya nohon ateot huan quipiya miac tzinti.”18) The association the Nahuas in Huitzilan made between a quiyauhteot and an ateot (the turqouise stone) may derive from the ancient Nahuas’ association between fire and turquoise (Bassett 2015: 104). Earlier, Nacho had described lightning, one of the most visible forms of a rain god, as fire (tit).

(4) Shares a Companion Spirit

Some Nahuas in Huitzilan are the human companions of rain gods because they have what Nacho and his brothers called a quiyauhteotonalle. (See Chapter 11.) The word quiyauhteotonalle is a combination of quiyahuit (rain), teot (god), and tonalle or tonal (spirit companion). In ancient times, one’s personal tonalle corresponded to the day sign of one’s birth. The ancient calendar has fallen into disuse, but the Nahuas in Huitzilan continue to assert that all among them are born with a tonalle or tonal (Nahuat spelling), an animal companion spirit such as a deer (mazat). The Nahuas in Huitzilan, as well as their ancient ancestors, asserted that “a teotl has a tonalli” (Nahuatl spelling) which confers a “prerogative”19 (Bassett 2015: 91–92, 116–121). A human who shares a quiyauhteotonalle has the prerogatives of a clairvoyant wise person (tamatini) who can communicate with and organize other rain gods to carry out a particular purpose. Nacho added another prerogative, which is that “he or she who has a quiyauhteotonalle is able to find money.” (“Aqui quipiya tonal quiyauhteotonalle hueli para cahciz tomin.”)20 So to be the human companion of a rain god is significant, but the Nahuas in Huitzilan did not distinguish linguistically between a rain god’s human companion and a rain god simpliciter; they referred to both in stories and interviews as a quiyauhteot.

The Nahuas were discreet about who among them is a rain god’s human companion even going to the point of denying that they continue to exist. For example, Nacho said:

“[Usually] we do not know who the rain gods are. Sometimes the person knows. And sometimes he or she does not know. Now there are no more of them. Before, yes, there were [some].” (“Ahmo ticmatih aconimeh quiyauhteomeh. . . . Quemazah hueliz yehha quimatic. Huan quemazah ahmo no quimati. Pos nez axcan ahmo acah oc. . . . Achto quemah oncaya.”)21

Occasionally Nahuas identified by name the rain gods’ human companions who have lived in Huitzilan, most of whom are long deceased. An example is Petra, whom Nacho described in 2008 in the following way.

“There was a man, who died recently, about three months ago. He said that his deceased grandmother was a rain god. His deceased grandmother. She was called Petra.” (“Yetoya ce tacat, yequin pa miquic, yec quipiya quemeh tres meses. Quihtoa ce ihueinan catca quiyauhteot catca. I heuinan catca. Monotzaya Petra.”)22

(5) Organizes Rebellions against Adversaries

Petra from Huitzilan organized the rain gods to attack an achane (terrestrial water-dwelling animal) that brought too much water that threatened the Totonac community of Ixtepec. The devil (ahmo cualli) had changed into the achane that brought the water. The people of Ixtepec appealed to Petra after the priest failed to remove the achane. (See “The Water in Ixtepec,” Chapter 9). An achane is usually a snake or lizard that lives in or near springs, pools, and rivers.23 Nacho explained that the “animal (achane) is only visible when the water first appears” out of the ground (“Ocuilin mottalia cuando at yequin neci”).24 Nacho described the origin of this notion and then elaborated:

“Well, our forefathers told us things so we could pass them on. They told us that there were animals called achane. And those animals are the ones that have the volition to bring water out of the ground. Even through the water is God’s, which He gave us, it is that animal which makes the water appear. The achane is born with the water. The animal is born with water even though it is on land.” (“Buen techtapohuih non tiquihtoah tehhan porque huehcauh totahthuan ihcon quihtoqueh. Que non ocuilin achane. Huan in achane pues yehha nitanemilil que yehha quimehuatitoc in at. Mazqui dios yeh iaxca ipa in at quitemaca pero entonces non ocuilin quinextiqui in at. Ca taquiti in at. Mazqui talhuapan pero ca taquiti in at.”)25

The tonal or companion spirit of an achane is called a coatonalle, which is a combination of coat (serpent) and tonalle (spiritual companion). The word coatonalle lacks the word teot, placing it in a different category from a quiyauhteotonalle. One difference between a Nahua who shares a quiyauhteotonalle with a rain god and one who shares a coatonalle with an achane is the former’s prerogative of being a wise person (tamatini) who can predict the weather. Another is the latter’s vulnerability to the nefarious actions of the devil or ahmo cualli (evil) who can turn into (mopata) a coatonalle and the corresponding achane.26

The achane as devil is a temporary state; some achane are in this state and some are not, and the association changes with the historical context in Huitzilan. In the first year of the UCI rebellion, Nahuas told many stories of rain gods attacking and killing the achane as the tonal of the devil, who also changed into a troublesome Mestizo settler. However, during the third stage of fieldwork, long after the UCI rebellion had come to an end and troublesome non-Nahuas no longer posed the same threat, Nahuas told new stories in which they portrayed those who had a coatonalle as no longer associated with the devil. The achane’s human companions in these new stories acted with a mix of emotions between love (tazohtaliz) and envy (nexicoliz) as do many if not all ordinary Nahuas. (See Chapter 11, “After the UCI.”)

The Hombre-Dios

Petra and the other rain gods’ human companions in Huitzilan resemble what López Austin (1989: 108, 121) called the hombre-dios (human-gods). López Austin (1989: 121) applied this term to ancient historical figures, such as Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, who went through an apotheosis after he left the golden age city of Tollan (Bierhorst 1992; Nicholson 2001: 3–48). López Austin developed a theory of apotheosis according to which the ancient Nahuas believed that all “humans receive ‘something’ divine inside of their body which transforms them mentally. . . . ” This “‘something’ that all receive at the moment of birth is more intense in those who are human-gods. . . . ” He (118–120) cited support in the ancient texts for the idea that the hombre-dios is the ixiptla of the god protector. Karttunen (1992: 115) defines ixiptlayo-t as the image, likeness, representation of another.

Maffie (2014: 47, 50–54) is skeptical of López Austin’s theory of apotheosis because it is based on the metaphysics of “constitutional dualism” that is not part of indigenous Nahua philosophy. Maffie (2014: 47) defines constitutional dualism as “the thesis that reality consists of two essentially and mutually exclusive kinds of stuff; for example, mind versus matter, soul versus body, or spiritual versus physical.” The distinction that López Austin made between the divine essence and the representation of another is an example. Molly H. Bassett (2015: 140) is not optimistic about resolving this controversy, noting that: “Even though the Aztecs perceived their world as highly animate, little evidence remains regarding exactly how they animated their teixiptlahuan.” The teixiptlahuan are local embodiments of the gods or teotl that would include López Austin’s hombre-dios and the Nahuas’ Petra, who had a quiyauhteotonalle.27

Nevertheless, several scholars have contended that the belief that some who have gone through an apotheosis and become a hombre-dios has played a role in Mexican history. Davíd Carrasco (1982) made the case that the ancient Nahuas’ belief that Cortés was the god Quetzalcoatl returning after departing from Tollan prevented the Mexica of Tenochtitlán [the ethnic group of the Aztec capital] from mounting a strong defense against Cortés and his handful of soldiers. Believing Cortés was Quetzalcoatl, Moteuczoma became disoriented and despondent, as perhaps were many other leaders of the Mexica. Sergi Gruzinksi (1989) described the activities of persons who claimed, after the Conquest, to be hombres-dios, and resisted the efforts of the friars to convert Nahuas and others to Christianity. As noted, at least one found his way from Central Mexico into the northern sierra of Puebla.

The belief that there are rain gods’ human companions is wide as well as historically deep. John Monaghan’s (1995: 347–353) description of the contemporary Mixtecs’ tenuvi or transforming humans is remarkably similar to the Nahuas’ accounts of rain gods’ human companions such as Petra. Monaghan (1995: 348) described the tenuvi as:

different from other humans in that instead of having a nuvi-like connection [sharing a co-essence] with some harmless or insignificant animal, like a deer or rabbit, the tenuvi have a nuvi-like connection with powerful animals, or with lightning bolts (tajia) and other rain-associated phenomena.28

The Mixtec tenuvi are historical “figures” who defended indigenous communities “against hostile outsiders.” Monaghan brought up the example of the suspected tenuvi “Santiago Pérez of Yucuhiti, who founded the settlements of Siniuvi and Teponaxtla by settling on the lands of the Esperón family in Yosotichi” (Monaghan 1995: 349).

The Humble Demeanor of Rain Gods

Stories of a rain god’s human companions organizing rebellions could be threatening to priests as well as to those Mestizos who recognized their revolutionary potential. To avoid direct confrontations with religious and political authorities, Nahua narrators dissimulated the political meaning of their stories by describing the rain gods’ human companions as unassuming, even humble beings who patiently wait for the right time to assert themselves into human affairs. To act with humility and patience also accords with Nahua values. Nahuas spoke contemptuously of those who “wanted to be big” (huei nequi) or “acted like big shots” (“huei chichua”), accusing them of acting out of envy and being out for themselves rather than willing to cooperate with others.

The humble demeanor of rain gods’ human companions comes from a number of other sources. First, it has origins in the ancient culture hero, Nanahuatl, who became the Fifth Sun and was a man of humble comportment. Nanahuatl did penance with green water rushes, grass balls of aromatic seeds, and maguey spines he covered with his own blood. He adorned himself with paper things and did not hesitate to jump in the pyre and take the fire into the sky to become the sun. By contrast, Tecuciztecatl adorned himself with costly things and did his penance with quetzal feathers, balls of gold, and maguey and coral spines representing blood for self-sacrifice. However, he failed to jump into the pyre after four tries and became the moon (Sahagún 1953: 6–8; Paso y Troncoso 1903: 28; Taggart 1983: 97–101).

Second, Nahuas maintain a tacit agreement with priests to keep their rain gods in the background and identify themselves as Christians from earth or talticpac cristianos in return for relaxing the suppression of their indigenous religion. They realized that they could not continue resisting the efforts of the friars and secular clergy to convert them to Christianity while at the same time struggling to keep Mestizos out of their territory. The narrators whose stories appear in this book have shown their devotion to the Church by serving on religious committees, often with women from prominent Mestizo families who are related by kinship to Ponciano Bonilla, by assisting the priest in Mass, by leading the rosary, and by teaching catechism classes to children. They tell stories of rain gods organizing rebellions against secular authorities on behalf of or at the behest of a priest. Moreover, Nahuas in Huitzilan do not hold public rituals for their rain gods but instead are the sponsors (mayorodomos) of elaborate of public rituals for Christian saints. The next chapter presents a story by Juan Hernández that spells out the negative consequence when his central character, a rain god’s human companion, tries but fails to keep his identity a secret from his work companions, who decide to venerate him as if he were a saint for ending a drought.