KARL H. SCHWERIN

CEREMONIES CONCERNED WITH HAIL AND RAIN IN TLAXCALA

(Reprinted from JouRNAL OF AMERICAN FoLKLORE, July-September 1g63, Vol. 76, No. 301)

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KARL H. SCHWERIN

CEREMONIES CONCERNED WITH HAIL AND RAIN IN TLAXCALA

IN HIS Notes Upon the Ethnography of Southern Mexico Frederick Starr makes reference to the "four great superstitions" of the Tlaxcalans. One of these concerned the functionaries known as "Kiatlaske" or conductors of the rain, and "Tesitlaske" or conductors of the hail.1 Starr gives only a brief description of the activities of these functionaries. Nowhere does he describe their ceremonies in detail, and it seems probable that he never had the opportunity to observe an actual ceremony.

While conducting field research in the municipio of San Miguel Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, Mexico2 during the summer of 1960 I had the opportunity to observe similar functionaries and the ceremonies which they performed in the fields to assure rain for them and to protect them from hail. San Miguel Tenancingo is a partially mestizoized town on the southwestern slope of the volcano La Malinche. The town has been radically affected by the numerous textile mills in the nearby city of Puebla, where a large proportion of the men in Tenancingo are employed. Nevertheless nearly all the men also engage in some agriculture, and in spite of the many modern influences, some of the older customs are still observed. Most of the people in the village speak both Spanish and Nahuatl.

I

The ceremonies which I witnessed were performed in mid-July, when the maize was already higher than a man's head. Two of the five participants were official conjuradores, the most frequently used term. I was informed that the Nahuatl equiva­lent for this term is tlatepantique, although Starr states that this refers to the cere­mony rather than the functionaries. It was clear from usage that the people of Tenancingo prefer the Spanish term conjurador to any of the Nahuatl terms.

The older of the conjuradores (hereafter referred to as the "first conjurador'') was the nominal head. It was claimed by the others than he was ninety years old, and that he knew Nahuatl, Latin, and Spanish. I can testify that his knowledge of Spanish was quite limited. It is most likely that his knowledge of Latin did not extend beyond its use in certain ritual prayers and incantations. The effective leader, the "second conjurador," was a much younger man, probably somewhere in his mid-forties, who was also a practising curandero. The conjuradores are "blessed by the priest" so that they can -properly perform their duties. Who the priest was that blessed them I could not ascertain, though it is certain that the local priest did not do this, as he was at odds, for political reasons, with the men who participated in this ceremony.

The other tjlree men merely assisted the conjuradores although one of them seemed to know a good deal about the mechanical requisites of the ceremony.

The object of the ceremony was to set up in each field a complex of ritual objects that together were referred to as a rellquia. A spot was chosen for each relt'qut'a some­where near the middle of each field.

The relt"quia is prepared in the following way. Three palm leaf sections (or leaflets)

Ceremonies Concerned with Hail and Rain in Tlaxcala 207

FIG. I

J.A.S. Figure I: The three palm leaf crosses, candle, and copal tied to the tlatlacotzi cross.

were tied to a stick called tlatlacotzi so as to form a cross (see Fig. I) .3 Sometimes a whole section was tied on to form each arm of the cross, sometimes the section was split and each half used for an arm. Occasionally one unsplit section was tied on to serve for both side arms. The favorite material used for the tlatlacotzi was a branch taken from a common field bush called azumiate (not Sambucus mexicana, a tree, which is called azumiate in Veracruz), although the center rib of a palm frond was also sometimes used.

Three small crosses previously prepared of folded palm leaf sections were then put

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together so that the base of the two side crosses passed through the side arms of the center cross. One of the side arms of each of the two side crosses passed into the up­right tip of the center cross. The crosses were so arranged that the points' formed by the end of the palm leaf section, which pointed out from one of the side arms, all pointed to the .crosses' left. {see Fig. II). These three crosses were then tied at the center of the larger cross built up on the tlatlacotzi, with a six-inch stub of candle tied in front, and a piece of copal (which was called "Incienso de Castilla"!) tied on top of that. These are always tied as tightly as possible. Occasionally the incense would

J.A.S.

Figure II: Arrangement of the three crosses made of folded palm leaf sections.

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Ceremonies Concerned wz'th Hail and Rain in Tlaxtxda 209

break because of the tightness of the string. When the whole contrivance was secure it was set upright into the ground at the base of a maize plant. -

While the crosses were being prepared, two of the other participants placed several pieces of copal in a small medicine bottle. Then the bottle was half filled with holy water and another cross made from a palm leaf section was placed in the neck of the bottle. This was held in place with a larger piece of incense jammed into the neck of the bottle. The bottle was half-buried in the ground to the left and in front of the tlatlacotzi cross. Two large flat stones were sought in the field. One was planted in the ground in front of the tlatlacotzi cross., and more incense placed on top of it. To the right of the tlatlacotzi cross was placed a small, black earthenware pitcher filled with holy water. This did not seem to be essential to the body of the ceremony, but was merely placed there for ease of access at the end. Nevertheless, the position of . this pitcher did not vary in any of the ceremonies.

Finally a piece about six inches long was cut from the penca or leaf of a maguey plant and placed behind the candle on the tlatlacotzi cross where it served to shield the candle. Another candle was set into the ground in front of the stone. (Fig. III shows how the completed reliquia looked during the ceremony).

While the reliquia was being prepared the first canjurador chose a spot several feet away from the reliquia where he would bend aside the maize stalks in one hill, spread his serape on the ground next to it, and face in the direction in which the reliquia was facing. The second conjurador later maintained that the incantation which was recited by the first conjurador while he was in this position is addressed to the nearby volcano La Malinche, and that the reliquias always face that mountain. However, of the twenty-five or so ceremonies which I observed, I took especial note of the direction in which about half of them faced. Their placing appeared to be purely random, both with respect to points of the compass and to the orientation of the rows of maize in the fields.

When all was ready everyone present took off his sombrero, if he had not done so already. The candles and the incense on the stone were lighted by the second conjura­dor who gave the signal to begin. The first conjurador then recited a long but rapid "prayer" or incantation, which was mostly in Nahuatl, although certain of the phrases were clearly in Spanish and others in Latin. (A portion of this incantation was re­corded later, and is reproduced below.) As ,he spoke, he waved a palm frond, to which had been attached three of the crosse~ made of palm leaf sections, back and forth, brushing the maize plants. As soon as the candles were lighted, two metal crosses on chains which had been tied together were pushed into the earth in front of the stone on which the incense was burning.

Evidently silence is not required during the ceremony, as everyone, including the second conjuraJ.or, talked freely while the first conjurador was reciting the incanta­tion.

When the incantation was near an end, another palm leaf section was split length­wise and crossed over the burning incense. Then the second flat rock, which had been kept close at hand, was slapped over the one on which the incense had been burning, extinguishing the flame. These crossed palm leaves are known as the cuatro vientos, 'four winds.' Following this the two candles are blown out. The attempt was to extinguish them with one breath, although failure to do so did not seem to perturb the participants in the least.

The second conjurador then picked up the little pitcher of holy water and poured

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2IO fournal of American Folklore

FIG. III

JA.S. Figure III: The reliquia as it appears during the course of the ritual incantation.

it over the candle attached to the tlatlacotzi cross and over the "four winds" in the directions in which they were pointing. As he did this he muttered something which sounded like a benediction.

As soon as the first conjurador had finished his incantation he brushed the maize plants several times with his palm frond, moving in the direction he had been facing.

Plate I: The second conjurador pours holy water over the "four winds" while mumbling a "benediction."

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Plate II: Reliquia with wooden tlatlacotzi cross and picture of San Felix (in bottle to right of wooden cross).

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Plate III: The Cross of Tequicuentla. A permanent shrine also decorated as a reliquia by the conjuradores.

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Plate IV: Special reliquia with a cross of stone and four sets of the "four winds."

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Ceremonies Concerned with Hail and Rain in Tlaxcala 2II

He also muttered something which sounded like the same benediction1• Then he scratched a deep cross in the ground with the end of his palm frond.

When the ceremony was completed the two metal crosses whrch had been placed in the ground, the candle in the ground, and the earthenware pitcher which had contained the holy wa~er were retrieved and taken to the next site. The section of maguey penca which shielded the candle on the tlatlacotzi cross was also taken to the next site. This item was only used three or four times before being replaced with a fresh one.

What I have described is the common form of the reliquia. But it is not without variation. Sometimes an extra medicine bottle with a picture of a saint inside was also placed with the reliquia. The bottle was corked and sealed with wax, then half-buried, with a section of maguey penca placed over it as protection. The usual saint was San Isidro, patron of water, but San Felix and San Geronimo were also pointed out tome.

On.e farmer had wooden crosses placed in his field. These were superior to the tlatlacotzi crosses in that they could be used from year to year. They were provided with the additional luxury of a section of rope and a piece of palm frond attached to the wooden cross (see Plate II). In one place where a permanent shrine is to be found between two fields, a rather elaborate reliquia was set up. Several sets of the three interlaced crosses of palm leaf sections were placed on the large wooden cross of the shrine. A rope was stretched from both arms of the cross to the base. A palm frond was attached to the right arm of the cross and the same spot on the base as the rope. Paper streamers paralleled these two items. Flowers (the type called nubes) were placed on the shrine, and the rock with the "four winds" was placed inside the shrine (see Plate III).

The most unusual reliquia was set up in a field where five stones were discovered which still showed the marks of burnt copal and the "four winds" from previous years. These stones were placed together on the ground with other stones in the form of a large cross. The former "altar" stones were placed at the ends of the three upper arms of the cross and at the center. Incense was then burned on all four of these stones (see Plate IV). After this particular ceremony both conjuradores swept the field with palm fronds. This reliquia was considered to be much more powerful than the others. It was expected to absorp the most severe blows of the weather.

When the last ceremony for the day had peen performed, the second conjurador marked a deep cross in the ground near the re/iquia, sprinkled shavings of candle wax in the bottom, covered it over, and poured holy water along the arms of the cross, while mumbling the usual benediction.

Upon their return from the fields in the mid-afternoon, the men who had partici­pated in these ceremonies went to the house of another villager, where they were served a meala_ng_a round of pulque.

II

Superficially this ceremony appears to be strongly based in folk Catholicism. The candles, the saints, the crosses, holy water, the use of palm, even incense are all im­portant in Roman Catholic ritual. Yet, in observing the rituals of the conjuradores one has a strong sense that what he is observing had its origins long before the Spanish landed on the shores of Mexico. This is not to deny that Catholic beliefs and Catholic ritual have not strongly modified the original ritual.

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A deeper examination of the ceremony just described shows 'that copal, the in­cense sacred to many of the native Mexican peoples, is extensively used throughout. One of the crosses (that placed over the burning copal -before the flame is crushed out) is called the "four winds." We know that the four directions were highly sacred and extremely i.mportant to the ancient Nahua peoples. Some of the other uses of the cross in this ceremony may also have derived from a symbolization of the cardinal directions which was modified into the cross under Christian influence. On the other hand, the cross, symbolic of a tree, was also a motif in Mexican symbolism, and it is not inconceivable that a tree to draw lightning and hail might also have figured in a correlative aboriginal ceremony. The recurrent use of three crosses is probably sym­bolic of the three crosses of Calvary, although it may also symbolize the Holy Trinity.

Since the ceremony is concerned with hail and rain, it also seems likely that water would have been used in an aboriginal ceremony. The possibility of using an especially sanctified water in the ceremony would have seemed attractive to the ancient tesitlasque who was confronted with the many new ideas of Christianity. Candles were, of course, an introduction of the Christian missionaries. The ritual use of palm fronds is also a Christian practice, for the palm, both in itself and in its whiteness, is symbolic of the Christ. The palm is a tree and is therefore an equivalent of the Cross. Again, the palm is associated with the triumphal entry of Christ 'into Jerusalem just before his crucifixion (Palm Sunday). I have been unable to identify accurately the plant called azumiate which was used as the base for the tlatlacotzi. That it has ritual significance beyond the rain ceremony is shown by the fact that sprigs of this plant are also placed at the rear of a truckload of sand to keep the sand from sliding off the truck.

The figures of the saints are an obvious Christian introduction, but it is certainly possible that they only replaced an aboriginal use of figures of deities, frogs, or other objects associated with moisture and fertility.

Many of the foregoing suggestions about a possible pre-Hispanic rain ceremony in Tlaxcala are frankly speculative. But the impression that much of this ceremony was non-Spanish (i.e., non-Christian) in origin, was heightened by the fact that during the course of the ceremonies Nahuatl was used not only for the ritual incantations, but for the greater portion of ordinary conversation.

An examination of the ipcantation which was recited during the ceremony con­firms the suspicion that this ritual in".9lves more than purely Christian concepts and practices. A portion of the incantation' is reproduced below as nearly as it could be transcribed accurately. The incantation itself is reproduced in the left-hand column, with the explanatory translation given by the second conjurador paralleling it on the right.

"Ave Marfa Purfsima La Malinche is addressed. (We are at the mouth of the mountain,

Dofia Marfa Catarina Martiliana which gives us water.)

Tombefia amonmatia? aquemon tlasonamil- The other mountains are addressed tzi

Dofia Marfa Matlacoya "La Malinche,

Ceremonies Concerned with Hail and Raz'n in Tlaxcala 213

onitrensasti Rosa de Castilla ·

Oye San Antonio Atonali

Oye San Lorenzo Cuautlapancatzi

Oye San Agustin Nahuatepenzintli

Nicotoalaque mixtlapaxtecaco

motlasosenquisca nahuatzingu?

Otmo? caulicu?

· cuzticopaltzintli incienso estoraque huansetzi

Santfsima Cruz sesuyatzintli iztacatzintli

Titechatzinco miquilitzino Jesucristo

Huansansiempre motlachichihuatzihua san siempre nequihualcualcuenpanosque ·

Techinicanca xochalahuertatzintli

Peraquinoquito hualcuenpanas nican nicat

Niquimichaliqui nitlachihualtzitzihua

Panzeara nicanquimix huitequiles

Sesuyatzintli iztacatzintli

Titechtzinco umumiquili Jesucristo

Vencedor hasta el arbol de la Cruz

Ave Marfa"

with her braids; Rose of Castille"

A hill south of La Malinche is invoked

A hill north of La Malinche is invoked

A hill south of La Malinche is invoked

"Now we have come to put the reliqui'as in the fields,

We have come to present the reliquias which we carry

\Ve have come to leave copal, incense

We bear the cross of white palm

Upon which died Jesus Christ.

May they (the hail) pass from this place

To the cemetery which is like an orchard, a garden.

(So that it will not destroy the fields.)

Who asks what is happening? Here I am (the conjurador).

We are going to wait for the hail

In the hour that we are here.

We will beat them with the palm, .

The white palm, upon: which died Jesus Christ,

Who conquered even the tree of the cross.

Ave Maria."

We see in this incantation a great deal of concern with Jesus Christ, but the nearby mountains, which were aboriginally believed to be the source of rain, are also invoked. In the fourth line of this incantation we find the mountain La Malinche referred to as

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"Dofia Marfa Matlacoya," which is none other than the old Tlaxcalan goddess Matlalcueye, or the local variant of Chalchiuhtlicue, the Aztec gdddess of moisture and verdure.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the incantation is the order in ~hich the various deities are invoked. Other investigators have reported on ritual performances in Mexico where the Christian saints and deities are first invoked and put at rest before the main body of the ceremony, which involves native supernaturals, is begun.

In this rain ceremony we apparently see the opposite phenomenon. The native deities and spirits are first invoked to put them at rest. The real power of the cere­mony lies with Jesus Christ, his cross, and the palm, which symbolizes both. The early missionary might not today be satisfied with the results of his labor, but it seems evident that he accomplished his goal of Christianizing the Indian more effectively here in Tlaxcala than in some other parts of Mexico.

Nonetheless, the facts that the mountains are still considered to be concerned with . rain and hail, and that La Malinche is still addressed with the name of the ancient

Tlaxcalan deity associated with that mountain, would indicate that whatever the Christian influence here, it was directed toward, and based upon, a pre-existing native pattern.

III

As stated above, the purpose of these ceremonies is ( r) to protect the fields from the destructive ravages of hail, while (2) drawing a plentiful supply of rain. We may question the effectiveness of the ceremony, even though I can report no instance in which hail damaged the fields of Tenancingo, in spite of the fact that serious hail storms did occur within a few miles of that community.

It seems evident that some of the farmers of Tenancingo are also beginning to question the effectiveness of the ceremonies, for there were several instances where they refused to pay the five pesos charged each one for placing a relz'quia in their field. On the other hand, one individual voluntarity . donated twenty pesos to the cause because he felt that it was important, and essential to the successful maturation of the crops.

I would guess that the majority of farmers fall somewhere between these two extremes. The placing of a reliquia in one's field could be viewed as a sort of crop insurance. Perhaps it will not absolutely guarantee that the field will not be struck by hail, but it may minimize the risk ;yvhich the farmer must face with his crops.

Nevertheless, just as the role of the curandero is being weakened by the services of the social security clinics which are open to all factory workers, it seems that the role of the conjuradores and the importance of the reliquias is becoming weaker in the face of better agricultural methods, higher standards of living,' and a more rational view of the world.

The .sacredness of the ceremony is clearly very limited. True, nearly all the objects used in the ceremony carry important sacred and ritual symbolisms, but the attitudes associated with the ceremony were anything but sacred. The only action which marked this as something other than ordinary was to remove the sombrero while the ceremony ·was in progress. It may be that the participants also fasted before going into the field. They did not eat while in the fields, but once, about the middle of the day, they adjourned to an outlying house for a round of pulque.

During the ·course of the ceremony there was little of a sacred attitude. In fact, little

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Ceremonies Concerned with Hail and Rain in Tlaxrola 215

attention was paid to the ceremony itself. As stated above, conversatio.i;i was main­tained- right through the course of the ceremony. Many parts of the ritual seemed to be performed sloppily, with little or no concern whether or not some error might occur. The fact that I was freely invited to observe strengthens my feeling that·'the ceremony is no longer considered particularly sacred. The participants were eager to have pictures taken of the ceremony. They were more than pleased to have me par­ticipate in some of the preparations for each ceremony.

In any event one would expect the ceremony to die out within the next few years. Perhaps it will cease with the death of the older conjurador, though the second conjurador is capable of continuing the practice. However, when I left Tenancingo the town was just completing arrangements to have a series of irrigation wells drilled. While these will not provide protection from hail, they will assure a steady supply of water to the fields, which will obviate any dependence on natural rainfall. It would be most interesting to return when the practice of irrigation is well established to see whether this ceremony is still observed, and if so, how it has been affected by the greater security of a steady water supply.

NOTES

r. Frederick Starr, Notes Upon the Ethnography of Southern Mexico (Davenport, Iowa, r900), pp. 2r-22. Reprinted from Volume VIII, Proceedings of Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Davenport, Iowa.

2. This research was supported by a grant from the George Barker Memorial Fund, which is administered by the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of California at Los Angeles.

3. The figures were drawn by my wife, Judith Altermatt Schwerin.

Los Angeles, California