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The New Fire Ceremony as an harmonical base to the Mesoamerican calendar

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Warsaw University
CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES
CESLA

TIME AND ASTRONOMY

AT THE MEETING
OF TWO WORLDS

Proceedings of w International Symposium

Mld in A.pril 27 - May 2, 1992 in Frombork, Poland
Organized by w Deparlmenl of HislOrical A.nthropology,
lnstituu of A.rchaeology, Warsaw University

Editors
Stanisław lwaniszewski
Arnold Lebeuf
Andrzej Wierciński
Mariusz S . Ziółkowski

Warszawa 1994
I STUDIES
and MATERIALS

„
Arnold LEBEUF and Stani s ław IWANISZEWSKJ°
0

THE NEW FIRE CEREMONY AS AN HARMONICAL BASE

TO THE MESOAMERICAN CALENDRICAL SYSTEM AND ASTRONOMY

dedicated to Michael P. Closs

A.L.
The study of Mesoamerican archaeology in general and of its calendrical s ystems
in particular had been totally foreign to me for years when during some conferences on
archaeo and ethnoasrronomy, the Mesoamerican section appeared as an impenetrable
thicket of numerical obsessions and esoteric jargon.
Some attempts through the specialised literature did not help me consistently to
elear up the landscape. As a guest of the Oepartment of Historical Anthropology at
Warsaw University, I was lucky to count among my friends S. lwaniszewslci to whom
I asked to help me understanding a field familiar to him. The questions conceming the
calendrical systems soon turned into a broad discussion on Mesoamerican civilisations
in general, in which I profited of the many years of experience and informations Dr.
lwaniszewski has gathered during his academic formation in Mexico. Some of the data
he gave conceming Central American mythologies and connected astronomical numbers
remembered me strongly of some similar aspects I had crossed over in my own interests
about astronomical traditions on this side of the ocean. Crossing points of view and
reflections, comparing simi larities and differences proved very fruitful. Some
informations from the New World were casting 1.ight and filling gaps in the
understanding of Old World materials and vice-versa. More especially do I remember
that during a visit to the Mexican exhibition at the Warsaw Archaeological State
Museum in his company, he pointed out at a stone from a Venus Platform at Chichen
ltza decorated with a Big Star and intertwined numbers which he lenghtły commented,
stressing the fact that the study of the New Fire Ceremony would certainly offer a key
to many problems of Mesoamerican civilisations. The present paper is the result of this
close and fńendly collaboration.

S.I.
lntroduction

The problem of the New Fire ceremony and the cycle of 52 years continues to
intrigue scholars who study Mesoamerica's cultural evolution. The cycle of 52 years is
one of the fundamental Mesoamerican calendrical structures, and a chronological spine
column of various Mesoamerican cultures (excepting those which used the Long Count
system). 1t w as present among all the Mesoamericans, including the Maya, therefore
must it be relatively old. lt consisted of the permutation of 2 cycles, 260-day and 365-
day calendars, a total of 18 980 days. The cycle was formed with the names of four of
the day signs, called yearbearers. During the last centuries before the Contact the names

·Warsaw

181
Arnold Lebeuf and Stanisław lwaniszewsld

of Rabbit, Reed, Knife and House were in use and the cycle started with 1 Rabbit.
The cycle of 52 years was known as (to)xiuhmolpilli o r. "bi nding, tying of (our)
years" and in the Altiplano Post Classic iconography was symbol ized by a bundle of
wooden or reed sticks tied with a rope, each stick denoting one year. Winning (1979)
hypothesized that during the New Fire ceremony celebrated at the close of every 52
years, the bundles of a just completed cycle were bumed and their stone replicas buried.
Caso ( 1967: 129-140) suggested that those firewood bundles carved in sto ne or
consisting of reed sticks were deposited in skull altars or skull racks, called twmpantli
where the sku lls of sacrificia l victims were also placed.
The New Fire ceremony was performcd bccausc of the fcar of the end of the
present world age. According to Sahagun (HG IV, Ap. 2.3) the priests who observed the
night sky were waiting for a sign ensuring the movement of the heavens and rebirth of
the su n for another cycle of 52 years. Sahagun states that it was the Pleiades midnight
passage through the zenith that had to be obscrved and when it happened, the continuity
of the present world age was assured, and a fire was kindled upon the chest of a
sacrificed victim. Thus a fire-dńll or mamalhuaztli, became a symbol of the ritual and
the mamalhuaztli sign attached to caJendar dates indicates in the Mesoamerican
iconography that a New Fire ceremony was held in such o r such a year.
Apart from the 52 year cycle there was a double cycle of 104 years called
huehuetiliztli, or "an old age" (Munoz Camargo 164r [1984:215), Sahagun) sometimes
known as a Great Venus Cycle according to a well-known commensurating equation:

65 X 584 =104 X 365 =146 X 260 =37960 days

However, apań from this scarcc information nothing seems to indicate what was
the relation between o ne huehuetiliztli and o nexiuhmolpilli. Exactly speaki ng one should
ask which of the New Fire ceremonies initiated a new 104-year cycle and which phase
of Venus was related with the same event. In the reccnt times o nl y Sćjournć (1981)
studied these questions but her conclusions have not been widely accepted.
Given the importance of the New Fire ceremo ny for the Mesoamericans it
seemed always very strange to me thai the scholars so easily accepted the midnight
zenith passage of the Pleiades as a timing sign for the bcginning of the 52 year cycle,
si ncc this event was occurring only in November every year for the millennium
conccrned. Theo how could the pńests who observed the sky events have scparated the
annually repeating phenomenon from that which happened once a x iuhmolpilli in a
regressi ng calendar. Su rely, there had to exist some other scheduling mec hanism behind
the Pleiades and possibly the well-known referenccs concerning the Pleiades could have
bcen taken from the pre-Contact times in a year when the date of the New Fire
ceremony coincided with the Pleiades passage through the zenith 1• Oiscussions with
Arnold Lebeuf revealed that there could have bcen such an astronomical mechanism of
timing the 104 year cycles.

182
 The New Fire ceremo11y ...

Oates or the New Fire Ceremony

The scheme of world history consisted of a succession of different eras. cach

of them incorporating a seńes of 52-year cycles. Those world ages possessed their own
suns and were destroyed by cosmic cataclysms. The fifth and present era started in the
year I Rabbit with the restoration of the sky and earth (Leyenda de los Soles li. 4-6;
HMP 5.51). In the following year. 2 Reed, a fire was invented by drilling. Finally. 25
years later. in the year 13 Reed sun and moon were created at Teotihuacan. I Rabbit
was the first year of the Fifth Era and the first year of cach 52-year cycle. Therefore 13
House was the last year of a cycle. However, we are told (Telleriano Remensis fol. 41 v)
that because I Rabbit had been a famine year Moctezuma II (ca. 1502- 1520) decided
co change the dale of the New Fire to a more prosperous one. So the last New Fire was
kindled in the year 2 Reed (AD 1507), that is in the year when in mychical times the
fire was drilled for the first time in the present era. Such a manipulation of religious-
ideological symbol s was very common in the prehispanic Mesoameńca and we arc told
that Itzcoatl (ca. 1428- 1440) ordered to destroy all the old documcnts presumably in
order co rewrile the officia! history of the Aztecs aftcr they gained thcir independence.
According to the Mesoamcrican tradition certain cvcnts of the people's history wcre
insened into a scrics of 52-ycar cycles. For example, after 13 Reed (the date of the
creation of the sun) followed the year 1 Flint, on which, severa! revolutions of the
xiuhmolpilli cycle later, the Aztecs left their mythical homeland led by Huitzi lopochtli.
And 1 Flint (1428) was cxactly the year when they recovered their sovereignty also
guided by Huitzilopochtli (sec Umberger 1981 ).
Some of the ethnohistorical sources insist that the New Firc Ccrcmony was held
in the month Panquetzaliztli. This also should be scen in the Aztec political perspective.
As Broda ( 1978) pointed out the placement of the 52-year cyc le feast in the month
dedicated to the Aztecan tribal god, Huit.zilopochtli, was a pure political action. The
association of the pan - Mesoameńcan ceremony peńonned by all the peoples at the end
and/or beginning of cach cycle with the commemoration of the victory of Huitzilopochtli
over his adversaries could confirm Aztec supremacy over their neighbors. In fact, we
do not know exactly when this shift took place, this rearrangement might have happened
as early as during the reign of ltzcoatl. In our opinion it is rathcr a later than an earlier
invention, because the sources affinn vigorously that the shift was done and even some
of them conserve the date I Rabbit. lf this shift took place around 1454, then, a
generation later very few inhabitants would remember the correct dale and stili less of
them in the first decades after the Conquest. The reign of Moccezuma Xocoyotzin seems
to be the proper epoch, perhaps this shift was done during his early years. Therc arc
reasons to suggest that political and religious refonns were underta.ken in 1506 - 1507
(sec Tomicki 1990:142- 152).
That is why only somc of the ethnohistoricaJ sourccs conserved the notion of I
Rabbit as the first year of a 52-year cycle. They were composed in latcr times and their
authors managed to shift all the celebrations of New Firc from I Rabbit to 2 Reed.
Considering this fact we can trace back the dates of the New Fire till the year AD 11 94
(= 1 Rabbit) or AD 1195 (since the sources put the ceremony in the year 2 Reed)

183
Arnold Lebeuf and Stanisław lwaniszewski

(Aubi n fol.7 r; ChimaJpahin Mem 32r; Ms 40, fol.4r; Vaticanus 3738, 66v; Cod.
Az.cautlan. Pl. 6. etc.). Archaeological sources arc more explic it. Saenz ( 1967) found a
rock relief represemation of a mama/huaztli in Xochicalco displaying a date I Ra bbit
which was interpreted as referring to AD 674 (= I Rabbit) or AD 67 5 (= 2 Reed). Other
I Rabbit dates were carved on monuments and will be discussed below.
The oldest Maya iconographic represemation of the New Fire comes from
Chichen ltza and according to Coggins ( 1987, 1989) commemorates the ceremony held
in AD 934. lt consists of a teotihuacanoid solar year sign with a number 8 attached and
possibly a xi11hmolpilli depiction, the image of a star linked to a bar, possibly
symbołi zing the number 5 as well as a fire driłl (i.e. mamalhuaztli) and a cord comes
from the Venus Platform. lt was speculated that the numbers referred to the wełl-known
commensuration of the Venus and Vague Years:

8 x 365 = 5 x 584 = 2920 days

Apart from that, the findings of the sacrificial knives in connectio n with pyrite
and mosaic discs inside the Castillo at Chichen ltza led Coggins to suggest that they
commemorated earlier New Fire Ceremony to be held at AD 830. Coggins ( 1987) also
postulates that New Fire was kindled at Kaminaljuyu, Becan and Zaculeu. On the other
hand, Winning ( 1979) hypothesized that the celebraLion of the New Fi re existed already
in Teotihuacan since he found iconographic representations of mamalhuaztli and Drucker
(cited by Coggins 1989:264) concluded that the first New Fire Ceremony at Teotihuacan
might have taken place as early as in AD 310.
Several authors proposed to date the last New Fire Ceremony. Broda ( 1982)
established that the midnight transit passage took place around 16 of November, i.e. at
the end of the month Quecholli or at the beginnfog of PanquetzaliztJi, Miłbrath ( 1980)
recognized that this event coincided with the antizenith passage of the sun in
Tenochtitlan and Krupp ( 1982) calculated that in AD 1500 at the latitude of
Huixachiecatl where the last ceremony was perforrned, the Pleiades midnight passage
happened on November 14 while the sun 's nadir passage on 18-19 of November. Other
authors (e.g. Tena 1987:94-99, Table 3) prefer to act on caJendrical-mechanical grounds
2
and place the date of the ceremony on December 19, i.e. about 35 days after the
Pleiades midnight passage through the zenith.

New Fire and Venus Heliacal Rising

lf we go back through the dates of the New Fire starting with I Rabbit = AD
1506 we shałl reach the year 1038. This is exactly the year of the third I Ahau 18
Kayab (I O. I0.11.1 2.0) displayed in the Dresden Codex, the da te after whic h the
corrective Venus mechanism was presumably initiated according to Lounsbury
( 1978:787). lf we go back using 2 Reed= AD 1507 we sh ałl reach the year 623, that
is, the year which is mentioned on the Dresden Codex page 24 (9.9.9.16.0). Tuus, a
cluster of probable dates of the celebration of the New Fire associates us with the dates
from the Venus almanac of the Maya Dresden Codex.

184
The New Fire ceremo11y„ .

New Fire and 405 number

In a well-known myth, Coatlicue is impregnaled by a n oating fealher bali , and

he r elder c hildren, Coyolxauhqui and Four Hundred Huitznahua, decide to kill her.
Huitzilopochtli consoles the mothe r and makes a comac t with one of the Huiztnahua.
When the band approaches Coatlicue, at the summit of Coacepec, Huitzilopochtli jumps
from her womb fully armed, and decapitates and dismembers his elder sister. The
Huitzna hua arc also destroyed (Sahagun HG Ul.I . I. CF Ili, 1-5, Tezozomoc - Crónica
mexicana. c hapt. Il, Crónica mex:icayotl 44-46, Duran HINE li).
The motif of the fight against 400 brothers is repeated in severa! Central Mexican
myths. We leam chat a sun-god (e.g. Tonatiuh, Camaxtli-Mixcoatl, HuitzilopochtJi)
fights against his 400 brothers (Mimixcohua. Huitznahua).
According to HMP (Vl,64) in the year I Reed, 14 years after the beginning of
the present e ra, Tei.catlipoca c reated 400 men and 5 women in order that the s un could
eat them. Afte r 4 years all the men perished .
The sun was crcated in the year 13 Reed and in the following year. l Flint
Camaxtli-Mixcoatl generated 4 men and a woman so that they would initiate a war and
the hearts would be prepared for the sun. Since however, they failed, Camaxtli formed
400 C hic himecs-Otomis in the year 2 House. After 8 years, in IO House the Five
descended from the sky and killcd the Four Hundred. The sun obtained the hearts to eat.
Only three of the Chichimecs survived the slaugllter (HMP VII,72-78).
T he myth of Huitzilopochtli is narrated in ma ny sources. Apart from the aJready
me ntioned HMP (IV. I I - V. I I ) it tells that Huitzilopochtli ki Us the Four Hundred who
arc the men once creaced by Tei.catlipoca and later resuscitated. On the other hand.
Huitzilopochtli is bom to Coatlic ue, one of the Five women created and anaJogously
rcvived.
In Lcyenda de los Soles (IV, 11 - V,11 ) we arc cold thai in the year I Tecpatl the
400 Mimixcoa and later 5 Mimixcoa were e ngendered. Since the Four Hundred failed
to nourish the sun, it ordered the Five to kill their older brothe rs.
The associacion between the birth of Huitzilopochtli at Coatepec and the New
Fire has been al ready observed and studied by severa! scholars (e.g. Broda, 1982: 133;
Graulich 1982:237-238, Nic holson 1985:83). lt may be resumed in the following way:
- Coatepec is a place where the Aztecs performed the New Fire Ceremony
(Crónica mexicana, c hapt. 2, C rónica mexicayotl 4 8; Cód. Azcatitlan, PL 6). Tezozomoc
(Crónica mexicayotl 4 8) and HMP (XI, l 12, 114) place this event in the year 2 Reed,
w hile Cód. Azcatitlan preserves the datc of l Rabbit.
- it is also a t Coatepec that the first feast commemorating the birth and fight of
Huitzilopochtli took place (HMP X l,11 8). We know from the sources that this feas t, one
of the most important ones, was celebrated in the month Panquetzaliztli (e.g. Sahagun
HG ll,Ap.2.19).
- the number of 400 victims killed during the New Fire Ccremony in
Tenochtitlan (Motolinfa HINE 1,5.80) may corres pond to the number of 400 Huitznahua
killed by Huitzi lopochtl i at Coatepec. The last prehispanic New Fire was celebrated in

185
Arnold Lebeuf and Stani sław lwaniszewski

the monLh Panquetz.aliztli. which was traditionally related with the anniversary of the
events at Coalepec. In this way the symbolic association between the two feasts is
established (Broda I 982: I 33).
- the number of 405 victims sacrificed in the second month of the year,
Tlacaxipehualiztli. in honor of Camaxtli-Mixcoatl, the principal god of Tlaxcala, is
related with the sun. The most impon.ant among the victims was the individual called
"a son of the sun" (Motolinfa HTNE l, 10.113). Before the slaughter of the victims the
priests peńormed blood-letting rituals allowing to pass 405 sticks through their tongues
(Motolinfa Memoriales, 27).
- the figures of the deities that participated in the evems at Coatepec (Coatlicue,
Coyolxauhqui) bear the dale of 1 Rabbit (e.g. Fernandez 1963, I 966, Nicholson
1985:83).
ln sum we deal herc with the variants of the same prototype myth in which a god
associated with the sun fights against 400 or 405 adversaries. Afrer the baułe their hearts
arc offered to the sun. This event is also commemorated during the feasts of
Panquetz.aliztli. (possibly 11acaxipehualiztli) and New Fire.
Naturally, dealing wilh the number 400 (ce11tzontli} we arc aware that in the
Nahuatl tradition it was often used in the sense of "many" instead of meaning an exact
count. On the other hand, many authors give very detaiłed numbers of victims, usually
higher than 400, as in the case of the inauguraLion of Tempł o Mayor, and therefore we
assume that the number of 400 victims associated with the Huitzilopochtli feast which
is repeated with persistence in different sources means exactly four hundred. Stili awaits
aJso the interpretation of the 400 doughs made in form of large bones that were placed
at the feet of the statue of Huitzilopochtli before human sacrifices started (Duran BGR,
chap 2 and 3).
The number 405 is in this mythological context highly significative, since it
appears also in the table of eclipses in the Dresden Codex pages 5 1-58. lt is known that
the table is composed of a series of 405 lunations. The number of days (405 x
29.530588 = 11959.888 1) is a good approximation of a cycle of nodes ( 173.30906 x 69
= 11959.325 1), commensuraLes with a cycle of 260 days (46 x 260 = 11960) and allows
to shift from one seasonal station to another: 11960 = 32 years and 272.2496 days
(Kelley and Kerr 1973: 183). So that we may assume that the mythological number 405
symbolizes a cycle of 405 lunations.
In Mesoameńcan mythology eclipses were considered as being caused by fights
between the two luminańes (e.g. Thompson 1934:165) and indeed Hutzilopochtli has to
fight against his enemies.
It must be s tated that this interpretation of the myth differs from the one,
proposed by Seler ( 1960,11:966). according to which Hutzilopochtli represems the young
sun which drives away stars (i.e. Huitznahua) and the moon (i.e. Coyolxauhqui)

A.L.
Different Eclipse Cycles

From the many examples gathered above. we sec that the 405 lunations eclipse

186
The New Fire ceremo11y...

prediction basie period of the Dresden Codex is abundanlly illustrated in the mythology.
iconography and ritual. The analysis of the period has been well studied and explained
(Lounsbury 1978:789-804, Justeson 1989:83-91 ). After 405 lunations, the moon returns
almost t0 the same situation in respect to the phase and the nodes. An observed eclipse
allows for the prediction of a probable return of the same phenomenon 405 lunar months
later. ln the Codex, this period is divided in three pans of 135 moons, and this is a
proper subdivision because 135 moons makes another eclipse predic tive span of time.
An observed eclipse allows for the prediction of anorher one 135 moons later. A third
eclipse predictive period is 235 moons apart, the period equals 19 years and is known
in the Old World since the 5th century B.C. under the name of its supposed discoverer.
Meto n. Moesgaard ( 1980:51 -96) demonstrated the use of che 19-year Me tonie cycle for
the prediction of eclipses from a Late Babylonian tablet. The Metonic cyclc may havc
been recognized in Mesoamcrica too>. The problem raised by several of the cxamplcs
taken from Mesoarnerican sources whcre the number 405 appears is that, it is not
divided in three equal pans of 135 as in the Dresdcn codex, but in two very uncven
parts, 400 on one sidc and 5 on the othcr. We can propose an explanation for thai: if we
subtract the 135 lunations period from the 235 lunation period. we obtain a third period
of 100 moons which must ncccssarily also be an eclipse predictive one, and indeed. the
19 years Metonic cycle can be divided in two parts: one of 8 years plus o ne month. and
one of 11 years minus one month. All of them being operational for eclipse prediction
with different degrees of accuracy• (sec also Figurc I). So the 100 moons period can
be the basie shon time predictive device and a strong argument in favor of this
proposition is that it ta.kes vcry near to four times 100 moons (about 32 years and four
months) for the moon to drift through the shadow band. Aftcr this time, it is necessary
10 wait for 5 months to catch a new staning point at the other side of the eclipsing band.
So in fact, 405 lunations arc reduciblc to four timcs a hundrcd, plus fivc. The hundred
moons period appears as an eclipse predicting adaptation of the Greek octaeteris, (aftcr
eight years the same phase of the moon returns to almost the same date in the solar year
and commensuratcs wilh five Venus synodic revolutions). The Greek octaeteris counted
ninety nine lunations, so that the hundred moons period appears as 99 + I . The period
of one hundred in this peculiar division of 99 + I, is well documented in European and
Oriental macerials. For example, in the tałes of the scamen of Brittany, Those who are
desti11ed to heli, land at a beach from which they climb up a jlowered path along which
are 11i11ety a11d 11i11e i1111s where they may drink all they please, but the hu11dredth is the
house of the devil and the e111ra11ce of the land of tortures where from they 11ever come
back. (Sćbillot T . 1, P. 419). Among the Turkish tribes of Siberia, Dorjeva ( 1980:96)
has noted the proverb according to which, if you kil/ 11i11ety 11i11e bears, the hu11dredth
will kil/ you. For a hu11dred killed bears, a ma11 must die. This information is even
morc valuablc if we considcr the equivalcnce betwcen bear and dragon in the Old World
(for example Lcbeuf 1987:272; Plcsovski 1972; Uspenski 1985). The Hindu
cosmological mylhology tclls us of the churning of the ocean of milk with the help of
a hundred-hcaded serpent (Le Gentil 1751 : 191). Number Hundred is prcscnt in Grcek
mythology whcre the Hydra killed by Heraclcs has a hundred heads, the monster is
associated with serpents, it has a conncction to the Moon, and is also related with the

187
Arnold Lebeuf and Stanisław lwaniszewski

attack of a hundred soldiers (Centuria) on Argos (Kiister 1913:93 citing Aristophanes

Frogs 473, Euripides Phoe11. 1135, Hyginus Phabulae I.c li). According to Graves. the
name of Hecaie would be related to the number Hundred of a hundred lunar months of
lhe king's reign in lhe end of which he was sacrificed and replaced in archaic Greece
at lhe Queen's side (Graves 1960:§24.2). In such a ritual could be found the original
meaning of the tenn hecatomb (a slaughter). In the New World, the same number,
separated in the same specific way: 99 + I. and also associaied LO sacrifice is present
in Duran (Atlas, Pla1e 4) where we sec a son of macabre abacus cornposed of 11 rows
of 9 skulls. We may s uppose lhat the next victim would stan a new serie.

S.l.
As was mentioned above, the bundles of firewood carved in stone representing
a jusl finished xiuhmolpilli were probably stored inside such a skull rack. The illustration
from Duran fils perfeclły with our hypothesis but lei's be cautious and mention thal lhe
number of 99 skulls arranged in 11 rows may be only casual since Duran himself (BGR
Il) writes that each rod he/d rwenry heads. and from archaeological records we can
deduce that the number of skulls carved in tzompall(/i could vary.

A.L.
From all lhis we may suppose thal a number of public sacrificial ceremonies
werc organised inside the frarne work of the eclipse calendar. The preeminence of this
specific astronomical event should be understood first because the mastering of the
moon system was probably the most difficult achievement for ancient astronomers, and
as such, it should have occupied lhe highest position in the selection of religious
hierarchy. Secondly. eclipses of the moon and more even of the sun arc extremely
dramatic and spectacular events, and as such best fiuing for public ceremonies and
popular cult. Then it would not be astonishing to find some historical data set inio the
frarne of eclipse periods.

S. I.
T he dedication of Templo Mayor and Eclipse Cycles

Herc we shall analyze the date of the dedication of the Templo Mayor during the
early years of Ahuizoll (ca. 1486-1502). This event took place in AD 1487 which
equates the native year 8 Reed. The farnous Dedication Stone bears the dale 7 Reed 8
Reed, the fonner corresponding to the day of the year. Following lhe guidelines of Caso
(1967:59) in his reconstruction of prehispanic calendars, it is possible 10 rcach the date
7 Reed in lhe year 8 Reed in 1487. lt may be observed that lhe day 7 Reed is the last
day in the month Panquetzaliztli (which was already observed by Caso) but the last day
of Tlacaxipehualizlłi bears also the same narne (this was apparcntly missed by Caso).
As was mentioned above both months were rclated with feasts cornmemorating the
slaughter of 400 or 405 enemies by Huitzilopochlli.
The dedication ofTemplo Mayor is depicted in many codices. Only in the Codex
Telleriano-Remensis (fol. 39r) it is associated with a drawing of a mama/huaztli. We

188
The New Fire cere111011y...

lookcd thro ugh the documcnts and commenta1ies 1ha1 could throw light o n Lhis strange
appa1i1ion. The commentaries were as foll ow:
- it means thaL the ceremony of the dedication of the Tcmplo Mayor was "as
so/em11 as the feast which took place at the end of each cycle" (commentary of Orozco
y Berra, see Tezozomoc - Cró11ica mexica11a:335).
- it de no tes tha t during the ccremony the New Fire was kindled as if a new cycle
was about to commence. (commentary of Corona Nuńez to the 1964 edition of
A11tiguedades de Me.xico: 296).
But observe that, if we allow to pass 405 lunations from the date of the last New
Fire held in 1454 (= I Rabbit) we sha ll reaćh the date of approximately 323/.a years later,
i.e. it will fa li in 1487. Moreover, if we add 19 years more we shall reach the year 1506
(= I Rabbie) when the succeed.ing New Fire should be k.indled. S ince the 19 years equal
the Metonic cycle (235 x 29.530588 = 6939.6882 = 19.0002 x 365.2422) possibly we
observe he rc a sequence of 405 and 235 lunations which together gives a total stili ca.
80.5 days less chan the le ngth of a xiuhmolpilli.
Herc we can cite another example. According to HMP (XI, 11 3- 11 9) the Aztecs
left Aztlan in the year I Flint. We are told thaL 24 years later they seuled at CoaLepec
and remained there for 9 years more. It is the period when Huitzilopochtli was bom and
sla ug htered the Four Hundred Huitznahua. Jt appears that the Aztecs abandoned
Coatcpcc 33 years afte r their departure from Aztlan!.

A. L.
The Venus-Sun-Lunar Node Conjunctions

We have detected in Mesoame rican cale ndric methods the existence of sho rt time
predictive periods probably connected to the ceremonia ł organisation of the
representation of opera mundi based on the theatralisation of eclipses but all the periods
mentioned (I 00; 135; 235; 405 moons) are drifting through the eclipse shadow band and
thus lack accuracy (see the c han No I.). So that periodically it wo uld have bcen
necessary to take a new stan to get again precisely in step with the astronomical reality,
a nd set again the calendar in time with the cosmos. Such a possibility could have bcen
offered by the installatio n of greater ceremonies every 104 years with the ceremonies
of the so called New Fire.
It is well-known thai in order to fit 1ogether the 260 and 365 days cycles, the
Mesoamerican c ivi lisations celebrated every 52 years the re turn of the same day name
in the ir c irc ular calendar. If the merc problem had bcen the establishment of a
conventional and very regular calendar, a sort of cyclical perfection as it was, 1hat period
of 52 years of 365 days would have been absolutely suffic ient. Though, it was not tha t
period whic h was fundamental to them but the double of it. Thus, the reason for the
importance of the lo nger cycle must be looked for e lsewhere. Il has bcen recognised for
long chat a 104 vague years of 365 days equals 65 revolutions of Venus counting cach
for 584 days. But is it really e noug h? Especially when we consider 1ha1 neither the solar
tropical year counts precisely 365 days nor does the Venus revolution a mounts to
exactly 584 days. The difference bctween the c onventional and the true values reaches

189
Arnold Lebeuf and Stanisław lwaniszewski

a liule more than 5 days after 104 years•. This implies a shift of a month (20 days) over
4 cycles in the vague year if we absolutely want 10 keep the name Ahau in the Tzolkin,
as we know from the Grolier Codex as well as from the Dresden that the date I Ahau
was related to the heliacal rise of Venus. We will not enter herc those complicated
questions of corrections (or rather ritual adaptations, probably).
What can we suppose of the spec ific aspects of the Great New Fire Ceremony?
(We know so linie about these celebrations 1ha1 it could seem an abuse even 10 speak
about a " Great New Fire Ceremony " every 104 years. as all we know is thai a nonnal
ceremony was held every 52 years, but as we have mentioned above, the specific longer
period labeled as Great or Ancient, could only have led 10 amore imponam celebration).
We suggest that
- lt was held eve ry 104 years
- lt was associated with lhe 1 Ahau date
· It was connected with the Venus cycle. very probably its heliacal rise (Moming
S tar).
But that is not all apparently, severa( authors have noticed that the Venus cycle
seemed constantly associated and intertwined with the moon cycles and especially the
eclipse cycle, as the studjes on Dresden Codex clearly show'.
In the astronomical tables, inscriptions, ritual, ethnographic, legendary and
mythical sources, the Sun, the Moon and Venus keep on dancing, playing inuicated love
affairs and games and fighting their wars. That triangular set associated to ri tual is not
specific of the New World. In the biblical text for example we read :

Quasi ste/la ma111ti11a i11 medio 11eb11/ae

Et quasi lu11a ple11a in diebus suis lucet
Et quasi sol res11/ge11s,
Sic ile efulsit i11 temp/o Dei. (Si 50:6-7)'

In the New World as well as in the Ancient, the Limes of completed cycles, of
time renewals, arc dangerous moments for the balance and good order of lhe Universe.
Properly speaking, the ends of centuries arc a pretext, a reason to sum up the bi lis, set
the clocks in time. count and measure oneself and the world around. A proper time to
sweep the old ashes and kindle a new fi.re. Just remember herc again in Europe the folk
habits of lighting ritual fires on such occasions as midsummer, Easter S unday, Ash
Wednesday, and the lighting of the Christmas log always preceded by a careful cleaning
of the fire place.
On both sides of lhe ocean too, the closing up of time periods arc accompanied
by the ideas of ApocaJypse. Times when it is more than ever necessary to reconsider
one's own life, to confess, justify ourselves and pay debts. A time of sacrifice.
In Europe as wełl as in the New World, during the frightening (and properly
speaking) awful times, according to liturgies and popular beEeves, stars arc falling, Sun
and Moon arc eclipsed.

The St.111 will be wrned to dark11ess

190
The New Fire ceremony ...

And the 1110011 to blood

before 1he comi11g of the
great a11d dread/11/ day of the Lord. Joel 2:3 1

With the cu lt of Astarte, its Greco-Latin and Christian ava1ars, European folk
tales and legends, I had suspected 1he role of Venus in 1his set of relations associated
with the problem of eclipse predic tion (Lebeuf. Ms), and tried many a combinations but
without coming upon a satisfactory solution. lt seems the American sources can help in
clarifying partly thai situation.
For example. Closs (1989) has very convincingly established in his outstanding
aniele, Cognitive Aspec1s of A11cie111 Maya Eclipse Theory, the association of the eclipse
agent with the Venus Star and Kukulcan. i1's deity. Where from may have arisen this
apparent confusion between Venus Star= Kukulcan and the eclipse agent? I had myself
noticed and mentioned 1he very grea1 similarity between the Mesoamerican Kukulcan -
Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent) and the Old World Flying Serpenl or Dragon,
responsible of eclipses (Lebeuf 1990: 158-159). The parallelism could even be reinforced
by the comparable roles of jaguar and bear respectively associa1ed with Kukulcan and
the Dragon in America and Eurasia. But wha1 could have been the technical value of the
observation of the Venus Star for the prediction of eclipses?
lf in the Maya calendar we separate the ri1ual and conventional numbers of 365
days for the solar year and 584 days for the Venus revolution, from their exact
astronomical values, (365,24229 days and 583.92 166 days). The return of the
conjunction of lhese two celestial bodies does not occur after 104 vague years of 365
days, but after 103.91707 tropical solar years (583.92166 days x 65) and this is equal
to 104 tropical years minus 29,83571 degrees of motion of the sun on the ecliptic. In
the same time, the node of moon 'sorbit with an ecliptic revolution period of 6798,3633
days, rcgresses of 209,86123 degrees which are equal 10 five and half revolutions plus
29,86117 degrees. So that starting from a perfect triple conjunction of the Sun, Venus
and one of the lunar nodes, the shift between Venus-Sun and the lunar nodes amounts
only to 0,02552 degrees in 104 years, and thai is an outstanding coincidence as it would
take some 4000 years to bring the discrepancy up to only one degree. What is quie1 as
remarkable a coincidence too in the correlation is that cach new triple conjunction
appears almost exactly 30 degrees from the preceding one (the difference to make 30
degrees is only 0, 1383 degrees). So it will take 12 periods of I 04 "Years" (we will name
"Years" those periods of 364,94953 days counting for one hundred fourth pa11 of 65
synodic revolutions of Venus) to come back almost to the same localisation on the
ec liptic. In face only 1,66 degrees from the starting point after 1248 "Years" of
364,94953 days. In that time, our triple conjunction system will have regrcssed once all
around the ecliptic so that we can write the equation: 1248 "Years" = 1247 tropical
years (see Chart 2).
The triple conjunction Sun-Venus-Node had been noticed by John S. Justeson
( 1989:97) and mentioned in his article A11cie111 Maya Astro11omy, 011 overview of
hieroglyphic sources: "Fi11ally the ji1 ro 65 true Ve1111s years is even closer 1ha11 ro 1he
ca11011ical cycle: the 11ode 1·ewrns virwally to 1he same posi1io11". But very curiously. the

191
Arnold Lebeuf and S1.anislaw lwaniszewski

precisely the correlation between the European and Mesoamerican całendars. We rather
prefer to work on the Mesoamerican Calendric's inner logic before coming to those
questions are proceeding in our researches with confidence that the excellent clockwork
of the Sun, Venus and lunar Nocles may contribute to the progress of Mesoamerican
calendrical knowledge.

s. I.
The date of the last New Fire Ceremonies

We may find an indication of what should have been the propcr date of the last
prehispanic New Fire Ceremony and the following one in the middle of 16th century by
using mythological-historical materiaJ. According to Central Mexicnn cosmovision
tzitzimime were considered as demoniacal beings associatcd with cclipses, since they
appeared in the sky during solar cclipses, and with the end of xiuhmolpilli as they
dcscendcd from the sky to devour the people (Sahagun HG Vl8.17 and Vll,11.4). The
relation of tzitzimime with both the eclipses and the endings of a 52-year cycle
reinforces, on the other hand, our hypothesis linking eclipse cycłes to New Fire
Ceremonies.
In a series of codices related to Coclex Aubin there is a depiction of a tzitzimitl
with a text announcing here desce11ded a tzitzimitl both attachcd to the year 13 Reed
(AD 1505), the last year of a cycle (consult Codex Aubin. fol 40r; Ms 40, fol 14r; Ms
217, fol 3v). Logically, the new cycle shoułd start in the following year, I Rabbit
(ca. I 506) and not in 2 Reed (ca. I 507) as is statcd in those and other sources.
Most of the cołonial sources state that the next New Fire Ceremony should be
peńonncd in 1559. However, according to our chan, the "binding of years" ceremony
should have taken place somewhere between the Venus inferior conjunction in October
1556 and the next inferior conjunction in May 1558, so this puts the postulated date of
the New Fire Ceremony in 1559 out of range of probable dates.
Some allusion to the year 1558, instead of 1559 (since 1507 + 52 = 1559) may
be found. León-Ponilła (1974:30-32) cited Diario of Juan Bautista that narrated about
a cenain Juan Teton, one of the Indian preachers announcing the coming of a
xiuhmolpilli ceremony which was about to happen when the bi11di11g of years will be
ours, it will be a complete darkness, will descend the tzitzimime, they will eat us and
there will be a tra11s/011natio11. The events took place in 1558 (= I Rabbit) well in
accord with the present rcconstruction. Of course, this would put the date of the last
prehispanic ccremony to be held in 1506. Obviously, a kind of reform was undenaken,
probably it can be auributcd to Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, since it is well known that he
startcd with some rcłigious rcfonns shonly after he ascendcd in 1502 (on this subjcct
see Tomicki 1990:145-152).

A.L.
Conclusions

If the generał frame of the astronomical events associated with the New Fire

194
The New Fire ceremcny...

Ceremony presented here were to be accepted it would offer an observatio nal

astronomical scheme to cast a new light on the materials gathered by C loss (1989). In
his study we find an important set of ethnographic and glyphic informations concerning
the beliefs, iconography, and semantics associated with eclipses. In this way he
established a strong association between the eclipse agent, a reptile, a serpent, an iguana,
Kulrulcan, the spotted jaguar, an angry hungry aggressor, the devil, a faceless figure, a
snatcher, a destroyer and devourer of sun and moon, a monster plunging earthward
duńng eclipses to devour manlcind. All of these were associated to the heliacal setting
of Venus. And indeed, in these eclipse periods preceding)he inferior conjunction it is
possible to observe the rapid progression and falł of Venus towards the set sun on the
western horizon together with such remarkable situations as a conjunction of Sun and
Venus during the solar eclipse, then the Big Star suddenly appears in the neighborhood
of the Black Sun, or an occultation of the Evening Star by the First Crescent o r the stili
invisible Moon just after the sun eclipse. This proximity could well have generated all
the associations and interconnections presented by Closs. By the way, it is worth
mentioning thai an occultation of Venus by the New Moon just after a solar eclipse
recalls of the well-known myth of Quetzalcoatl being defeatcd by Tezcatlipoca in Tula
(sec lwaniszcwski 1983:144- 145). Thai is precisely the situation figured in the present
reconstruction: an "apocalyptic" peńod of eclipses at the end of cach cycle of 104 years
bracketed by two inferior conjunctions of the planet. The last eclipse season marlcing the
paroxysm of the ceremonies preceding the rise of the Lord ) Ahau (Closs 1989:407):
Venus as a Morning Star.

Acknowłedgements

The bibliographic research of S.I. was made at the Universidad Complutense in

Madrid thanks to the grant received from the Spanish Ministry of Education in 1991 and
he is grateful for support of Emma Sanchez Montaóćs, the director of the Departamento
de Historia de Amćńca II. Both authors arc indebted to the following colleagues for
assistance and helpful comments: Michel Graulich, Robert M. Sadowski, Elżbieta
Siarlciewicz and. Ryszard Tomicki.

End notes

1.1 do mention herc the effects of precessioo wbich would pul tbe dale of tbe Pleilldcs zeoilh i»ssage one
day l11er every 69 years.

2 Tena (1987:97) gives 1 number or 33 days as be pulS tbe zenilbal passage of tbe Pleilldes on November
6-7.

195
Arnold Lebeuf and Stani sław lwaniszewski

3. ln fad, tbc Saros (223 lunations) and the Melonie (235 lunations) appcar in 1be Orcsdcn Codcx as lbcy
havc IO be !herc, bul lhcy arc only among olhcr eclipse stations. Tbcy arc not particularly considcrcd as
scpan tccydcs. On the otbcr band, the inlcrval of 19.5.0 (=6940 days) appars on somc s1cl1c Crom Copan
ud Tccplc (1930:71) alrcady obscrvcd 1b11 il mjg)l1 bavc bccn uscd IO commcnsuralC lbc Melonie cycle
wiO lbc solu tropical ycar.

4. 100 11 29.530588 "' 2953.0588 days = 8.085207 uopical ycars = 2910.674528" = 8 ycars + 30.674528°
o( 'UD 's motion on ccliplic.
Rąvasioa or the node in degrccs in the time of 100 lunations:
29S3.0S88 : 6798.3633 "' 0.434378 "' 156.376045° = half n:volulion of the node - 23.623955
30.674528° - 23.623955° = 7.050573°
We &ee ben: that during 4 timcs this period, tbc discrepaney amounts 1lmos1 10 lbe lim its of the eclipse
zoac (i.e. 4 11 7.050573° „ 28.202292°) whicb is of about 30 dcgrccs. Tbis cxplains the nccd of taking a
new siep on the opposilc eclipse zonc 5 months latcr and lbc 405 lunalion period.
OitJcrcnoc in ccliptic longitudc of moons 135 lun11ions apan
=
1351129.530588 3986.629380 days = 10.915029 tropical ycars = 3929.410613° "' I 1 years - 30.589387°
0Cs1111's motion on ccliptic.
Regcssioa o( the node in dcgrccs in the time of 135 lunations:
3986.629380 : 6798.3633 = 0.586410 =211.107661° = half rcvolution of lbc node + 31.107661°
lbus the dilJcrenoc is 31.1076616° - 30.589387° "'0.518274°
Mcton.ic cyde: 235 11 29.530588 days =6939.68818 days "' 19.000237 uopical ycars
6939.68818 : 6798.3633 "' 1.020788 nodal rcvolutions = I rcvolution + 7.483707°

5. C. Borbonicus 36 placcs one skull on cach sidc of tz.ompantli, the AJtar de Cr,ncos bcars dcpictions
7 stulłs ud 7 crosscd boncs dcpidion in 1 single row, on cach sidc tbcrc arc 4 sucb rows, etc.

6. Rit.W Venus Cyclc: 65 x 584 =37960 days

Real Vc.nus Cyclc: 65 x 583.92 = 37954.8 days,
dlus the dill'crcnoc is 5.2 days.

7. l..ounsbury (1978), Justcson (1989), Closs (1989), Avcni (1980).

8. We muld gatbcr a grcal number of cxamplcs in Old World culturcs, lbis qucstion bis bccn 1ppro1cbcd
in Lcbcuf (1988).

9. la fad., the idea of calcul1ting scrics of cdipscs on 1l1cm1tivc nodcs rcgrcssing or progrcssing by 30°
1roand the ccliptic wis 1furlbcr1pplica1ion of somc studies conccming eclipse symbolism conncctcd wilb
Vcaus li.c ia Old World materiaIs, in parucular the scrics bascd on Venus synod ie pcriods wilb OC1a~cris,
100, 135 lunalions ind lhcir multiplcs such 1s 400 lunatioas bctwccn Christ binh 11 the winlcr solstioc
and His CniciCurion on the 33rd ycar during the P1Ssovcr Full Moon.

IO. I mcaa IJlc ycar d1tc, the cxact month ind day numer bcing 1 personal proposition, in fad not for the:
New Fin: ocn:monics b11 for the lnfcrior Conjundion of Venus comm1nding il

196
The New Fire ceremony...

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fazie Konkwisty. Ossoli neum, Polska Akademia Nauk, Wrocław .

Umberger, Emily
1981 The Structure of Aztec History. Archaeoastronomy, JCA, 4,4, 10-18.

Uspenski , Borys A.
1985 Kult Św. Mikołaja na Rusi. Rada Wydawnicza
Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelsk.iego, Lublin.

Winning, Hasso von

1979 The "Binding of the Years" and the "New Fire" in Teotihuacan. Indiano
5, 15-32.

202
The New Fire ceremony...

figure I . Stone relief from the Temple of Venu!> at Chichćn ltza

Figure 2. Tzompantli according to Duran, Atlas Plat.e 4.

Figure 3. Dresden Codex 58c. Venus god descending from the sky at the end of the 405
lunation cycle. On both sides o f the god the glyphs for the lunar and solar eclipses arc
displayed. Observe that one of the głyphs of the sky band represents the Akbał sign,
which means "night, ·darkness". Il may suggested thai it denotes the shadow .

203
Arnold Lebeuf and Stanisław lwaniszewski

O...fllV•• l.rtriorc.J....._
i- G -J

U l D ATI 9fl DATI

o • o • O • C • O

O • O • O • o • o IUU2. _,...„

e o e o e o • o •

e o e o e o e o e l'-''.16.0 I Aa- li ~
,...,_.,,
(JIN,. Rdk\.9m... tw)J

(JIN.. IWMVij

o e O e O • O • O "1m una

• o • o 2lbl. 3117
(IDN • ~-l

* YlNlJS ll'YU'INO STA• • run. V OO• o lłlt't ,oow

Tabk 1. Correlation o f the starting point: Long Count 12.19.13.16.0 1 Ahau 18 Kayab
= JON 582 085.

204
 The New Fire ceremoriy...

1 YEAR(S)
2 _„ _
3-.0-
1-·-
I "
'7 -·-
_„_

·-·-
I
11 -•-
„_

21 _„_

H -·-

41 -·-

u-„-

AD • 100 NOONS AE• 400 MOONS EF s .S MOONS

0 FULL MOON
e MOON ECLIPSE

Tab/,c 2. Schematic chart of 405 lunations eclipse paltem over a span of 52 years.
205
 Arnold Lebeuf and St anisław lwaniszewski

llUJX.2-2 1115.111.21

145 VI.22

Tabk 3. Graph of the successive positions of inferior conjunctions of Venus in a span

of 1247 years from February 20, 623 to February 20, 1870 (Gregorian dates)

206

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