[Aztlan] whirlpool question

[Dodds Pennock, Dr C.E.]

Dear colleagues,

In response to Ronald's query about the origin of the whirlpool sacrifice information, I believe that D.M. Urquidi may have been correct in tracing this to Diego Durán, although his account does not suggest that this was a metaphor or hazing, but fatal bloodletting. Certainly, there are references to the practice in his Book of the Gods and Rites as part of the reverences to Tlaloc. The relevant passage (from Heyden and Horcasitas's 1971 translation) reads:

"When that great pole or tree had been set in place, together with the smaller ones and the penitential ropes, the high priests and dignitaries, dressed up in their pontifical robes (as these are called) carried forth a little girl seven or eight years old in a covered litter... She was dressed in blue, representing the great lake and other springs and creeks... [the people] took the child in her litter and sent her off in a canoe. At the same time the great tree was removed, its branches were bound again, [and] it was placed on a raft in the water. The music and singing did not cease, and innumerable canoes [filled with] women, men, and children [who desired to] see the feast went along with her to the middle of the lake, swiftly. Then they arrived at the place called Pantitlan, where the lake had its drain. (Occasionally a tremendous whirlpool appears when the water is sucked down.) In this way many canoes are in peril because of carelessness and lack of knowledge as they pass on the surface. 
When the great lords on one hand and those of the city on the other had arrived at that place, the great tree called Tota was taken and was thrust into the mud next to the spring or drain. Its branches were untied, and it filled out again. Then [the people] took the child within the litter and slit her throat with a small spear (used for killing ducks), and her blood was allowed to flow into the water. Once [the blood] had flowed, she was cast into the waters, right into the whirlpool. It is said that the latter swallowed her so that she was never seen again...
The tree of which I spoke was left fixed there until it rotted and fell. And since each year they set up a new tree, it is said that there were so many dried ones next to the spring that finally they had to place them farther away owing to lack of space... This is true because I remember that, on crossing the lake by canoe many times, I saw the great hoary tree trunks rising out of the water... I believe that today there are still remains of them; the natives say that if the spring could be dredged and cleaned one would find many precious things, such as gold, silver, jewels, stones, and notable signs and vestiges of ancient sacrifice.
I do not wish to create a confusion because of the many versions I was told of this account. Some say that it was a drain. Others disagree, [saying] that it was a spring and that during the rainy season a great quantity of water burst forth, filling the entire City of Mexico and its canals with water..." (pp.163-6.)

There is then a lot of discussion about whether it was a spring or a suction drain, and Durán argues that it need not necessarily have been a drain just because it swallowed up the girl's body, as she could have been weighted down with stones by the priests.

I hope this is helpful to those colleagues who do not have the text in front of them.
Yours,
Caroline
-------
Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock
Lecturer in Early Modern History
School of Historical Studies
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester
LE1 7RH

email: ced22 at le.ac.uk
http://www.le.ac.uk/history/people/ced22.html