When the Mexica, after years of wandering marked by hardship, military conflicts, and internal schisms, finally reached their “promised land,” they knew exactly that it was the right place to settle. On abandoning Aztlan, an action driven by a divine mandate of Huitzilopochtli, they received clear instructions from their patron god on how to identify their new homeland. Their arduous wandering ended when the signs contained in the prophecy appeared before their eyes. Early colonial sources describe this epic moment in detail. In addition to an eagle seated on a cactus among the reeds and devouring a snake—an iconic image now on the national emblem of Mexico—the portentous vision included other important elements. Among them was a particular landscape marked by white fauna and flora, with varicolored intersecting springs at its center. One of the versions of this story, from the sixteenth-century Crónica mexicayotl, recounts it as follows:
And then they saw the white cypresses, the white willows that stood there; and the white reeds, the white sedges; and the white frogs, the white fish, the white snakes that lived in the water there. And then they saw the intersecting crags and caves. The first crag and cave faced the sunrise, named the fiery waters, where the waters burn [tleatl atlatlayan]. And the second crag and cave faced north; the place where they intersected was named the blue and yellow waters [matlallatl toxpallatl].
auh niman oquittaque iztac yn ahuehuetl, yztac yn huexotl, yn oncan yhcac, yhuan yztac yn acatl, yztac yn tolli, yhuan yztac yn cueyatl yztac yn michin, yztac yn cohuatl, yn oncan nemi atlan, auh niman oquittaque nepaniuhticac yn texcalli yn oztotl, ynic ce yn texcalli yn oztotl Tonatiuh yquiçayan ytztoc ytoca tleatl, atlatlayan. Auh ynic ome y[n] texcalli yn oztotl mictlampa ytztoc, ynic nepaniuhtoc, ytoca matlallatl, yhuan ytoca toxpallatl [Schroeder and Anderson Reference Schroeder and Anderson1997:1:100–101, ff. 34r–34v].
The whiteness of the place at Mexica’s final destination is reminiscent of their place of origin. After all, the name Aztlan is usually translated as “Place of Snowy Egret” or “Place of Whiteness.” The associations or connotations of the water flows emerging from the crags are less apparent. Many scholars identified the first set of waters with atl tlachinolli, a Nahuatl metaphor linked with warfare (e.g., Caso Reference Caso1927; Heyden Reference Heyden1989; Seler Reference Seler1993). In contrast, the meaning of the other two colorful springs remains obscure, although some authors like Caso (Reference Caso1927) and Heyden (Reference Heyden1989) also connect it to atl tlachinolli.
The narrative on the foundation of Tenochtitlan is not the only context in which the blue and yellow waters (matlalatl toxpalatl) appear in the available sources on prehispanic central Mexico. Other contexts include the dominion of some gods, the ruler’s responsibilities, and the performance of several rites of passage. The blue and yellow waters served Tlazolteotl or Tloque Nahuaque (Tezcatlipoca?) to “cleanse” human beings. Likewise, the blue and yellow waters rested in the hands of the tlatoani so that he could bathe his vassals in them. Finally, they played an essential role in the dedication to the water of newborn children, an Indigenous rite of passage equated by the Spaniards with baptism. In all these contexts, the Nahuatl couplet matlalatl toxpalatl, firmly embedded in the Nahuatl oratory, suggests its metaphorical rather than literal reading. What is the common denominator between the Mexica’s “promised land” and the bathing of the commoners? Did the bath in blue and yellow waters indeed serve a purification purpose?
This article seeks to unravel the cultural meanings, cognitive underpinnings, and implications of the metaphor of blue and yellow waters for the prehispanic Nahua historical discourse and worldview. Its aim is to discover what Nahua beliefs and mythical paradigms were encapsulated in this metaphor. Furthermore, the case study of a Nahua cognitive metaphor presented here allows us to see how it served as a mental model shaping cultural narratives and as a conceptual tool for communication and comprehension of the world.
Chromatic Blocks in the Nahua Thought
Before analyzing the metaphor matlalatl toxpalatl, it is essential to discuss how colors are named in Nahuatl and to see the two colors in question in their chromatic context. Colonial Nahuatl contained a rich vocabulary to designate colors and differentiate their shades, tonality, and intensity. In the couplet studied here, matlalin or matlalli, meaning dark blue or dark green, is derived from an herbaceous plant with delicate blue flowers, identified with Commelina coelestis. Toxpalli, referring to yellow waters, comes from toztli, yellow-headed amazon (Amazona oratrix), and the patientive noun of the verb pa (“to dye”). Nevertheless, in the early colonial sources, it hardly ever appears as tozpalli (appearing as such only in the Florentine Codex [Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:2:191], but spelled tospalli, where /s/ may stand for both /z/ and /x/), with toxpalli being a much more frequently attested orthographic variant of this word; see Dupey García Reference Dupey García2010:256, n82).
Matlalin and toxpalli were not the only Nahuatl terms for blue and yellow. Other “blue” terms include texotli and xoxoctic, and the most frequent name for “yellow” is coztic. As demonstrated by Élodie Dupey García (Reference Dupey García2010), the linguistic choice of a particular term was not based only on individual preferences or the place of the described object on a chromatic scale but also on its state (e.g., solid or liquid), shape (e.g., round like a grain, feathery, etc.), or other properties. Therefore, naming colors was not abstract but strongly contextualized (see Dehouve Reference Dehouve and Roque2003). According to Dupey García (Reference Dupey García2010:324), the natural habitats of matlalin plants are moist fields or the water shores. Thus, matlalin was used for objects with liquid textures such as water.Footnote 1 As for toxpalli, Dupey García (Reference Dupey García2010:326) argues that the verb pa from which the color name derives carries an association with dye baths.
Even more importantly for this study, in the Nahua and more broadly in Mesoamerican cultures, colors belonged to a symbolic system, and they could sometimes refer to concepts, rather than to a particular physical quality. Within this system, five chromatic blocks can be distinguished. However, these should not be confused with the basic color terms.Footnote 2 The Mesoamerican chromatic categories or groupings, according to Danièle Dehouve (Reference Dehouve and Roque2003:70), were closely related to the maize plant: four categories—white, yellow, red, and dark (the last one including navy blue, brown, and black)—corresponded with the different colors of maize grains. The fifth group, green-blue, reflected the color of the stalk.
Many Central Mexican origin stories mention the combination of four or five colors, a repetitive model laden with symbolism (see Dupey García Reference Dupey García2010:118–180).Footnote 3 The myth relating how Quetzalcoatl provided humanity with the diversity of maize hidden inside Tonacatepetl (“Mount of the Sustenance”) features Nanahuatl and four rain gods—each of a different color. As soon as they cracked the mountain open, it spewed out white, black, yellow, and blue maize seeds (Leyenda de los Soles in Tena Reference Tena2002:180–181). In the narrative on how humankind acquired musical instruments and music, Tezcatlipoca created the “god of wind” (dios del aire), who managed to enter the Home of the Sun, where these precious cultural inventions were safely guarded. Once there, the wind god lured Sun’s musicians with a song and brought them to earth. Not at all coincidentally, these musicians wore vestments of four colors: white, red, yellow, and green (Histoyre du Mechique in Tena Reference Tena2002:157).Footnote 4 In another sacred story included in the anonymous Legend of the Suns, from the bonfire in which the gods Xiuhteteuctin incinerated the body of Itzpapalotl, there sprang five flint knives of different colors—green, white, yellow, red, and black, from among which the god Mixcoatl took the white one as his god (Tena Reference Tena2002:188–189).
It is worth mentioning that the rain gods Tlaloque—multiple manifestations of Tlaloc—were not the only instance of a prehispanic god “splitting” into many beings of various colors. Other such cases include the god of fire Xiuhteuctli (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:2:190–191) or Macuiltonaleque, “Gods-5.” It seems that when Macuiltonale appeared as a single paradigmatic entity, his body was painted black, whereas in a group of five, each Macuiltonale had his body painted in a different color (see Mikulska Reference Mikulska2015:133). Their female counterparts, five Cihuateteo, were also of five colors. Other sacred agents or gods who are “chromatically fragmented,” as Dupey García (Reference Dupey García2010:178) put it, appear in the central narrative part of Codex Borgia (Plates 33–34). Ehecatl (Plate 29) and Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (Plate 45) are among them.
Sometimes the mythical discourse implies colors indirectly, operating through metonymy and describing objects with specific chromatic properties. For instance, Ce Acatl Topiltzin’s palace in Tollan, a symbol of prosperity and wealth, was composed of four houses or chambers, each made of different materials standing for different colors: turquoise (xihuitl), red shell (tapachtli), white shell (tecciztli), and quetzal plumes (quetzalli; Anales de Cuauhtitlan in Bierhorst Reference Bierhorst1992:29).Footnote 5 Similarly, when the gods created the 400 Mimixcoa whose destiny was to feed the Sun and the Earth, they provided them with precious arrows adorned with the feathers of exotic birds, each representing a different aspect of the palette of colors: quetzal bird, egret, troupial, teoquechol, roseate spoonbill, and cotinga (Leyenda de los Soles in Tena Reference Tena2002:186–187).
In the Mesoamerican worldview, four or five colors were frequently linked with five cosmic directions (the fifth being the center), forming a quincunx. Such a spatial disposition of four (or five) colors as part of an imago mundi could be expressed in various ways. According to Sahagún’s (Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:10:166) informants, each abode comprising Ce Acatl Topiltzin’s palace faced one of the four directions. In addition, in codices, some important liminal spaces—usually portals to the Otherworld, such as crossroads (Codex Borgia, Plates 14, 42, 72) or ballgame courts (Codex Borgia, Plate 35, Codex Mendoza, f. 45r, Codex Tudela, f. 67r; see Dupey García Reference Dupey García2010:133)—were painted with four different colors.
In prehispanic Central Mexico, a four- or fivefold chromatic set could also symbolize time perception. The 52-year cycle was divided into four 13-year periods, each associated with a color and direction. Colonial documents depict it as a calendar round (as in Atlas Durán) or a linear sequence (as in Tira de Tepechpan). The Mesoamerican worldview merged these two dimensions, as seen in a cosmogram in Plate 1 of Codex Fejérváry-Mayer. In it, each of the four spatiotemporal sections is linked to a color, a tree, a bird, and a pair of gods. Hunt (Reference Hunt1977:154) and Dupey García (Reference Dupey García2010:147) argue that, in Mesoamerica, the assignment of colors to cosmic directions was not fixed. The importance lay in the mere presence of four (or five) colors, symbolizing creation (and destruction), emergence from chaos, pivotal changes, and the beginning of a new era: their presence put space and time in order (see Dupey García Reference Dupey García2010:155–178).
Blue and Yellow Waters and the Foundation of Tenochtitlan
Tracing the Location of the Colorful Springs
The passage from Crónica mexicayotl describing the two springs as a place of foundation of Tenochtitlan may be read literally. The yellow color could be due to the specific soil or sulfur residues, and the blue or blue-green could be the “natural” color of the water. After all, it is no surprise that the Mexica would look for a location with a source of potable water. Water bodies were also crucial from the religious point of view, serving as portals enabling communication with the anecumene (see Brady and Ashmore Reference Brady, Ashmore, Ashmore and Knapp1999; López Austin and López Luján Reference López Austin and López Luján2009; McCafferty Reference McCafferty, Koontz, Reese-Taylor and Headrick2001, among others). Regarding the other spring indicated in Huitzilopochtli’s prophetic message, its name, pointing to the igneous character of the waters, led scholars to link them with the actual hot springs located in the district (tlaxilacalli) of Temazcaltitlan; that is, the area where the Mexica began to construct the first urban layout of the city and where they erected the first sanctuary of Huitzilopochtli (see Mazzetto Reference Mazzetto2014; Rovira Morgado Reference Rovira Morgado2011). Moreover, a literal reading of the color imagery associated with the two intersecting waterflows—one oriented toward the sunrise and the other toward the north—could suggest that their appearance may have been shaped by the interplay of light and shadow. Thus, the sun’s movement and the streams’ exposure to sunlight may have had an impact on the waters’ shifting colors, with sunrise providing a flaming glow and the northern orientation producing deeper, turgid hues or sporadic clarity.
Some authors argue that the double structure of Templo Mayor was erected above the actual intersecting springs, tleatl atlatlayan and matlalatl toxpalatl—either the exact ones encountered at the end of the peregrination or their “replicas” (see Broda Reference Broda and Boone1987:231). Independently of this hypothesis, Alfredo López Austin and Leonardo López Luján (Reference López Austin and López Luján2009:268), in their analysis of Templo Mayor as an example of a sacred mountain, observed that the undulating serpents decorating the structure’s façade at the bottom of the double stairway still bear traces of pigments. The serpent on the southern side, aligned with the sanctuary of Huitzilopochtli on top, was painted yellow, whereas the one on the northern side, that of Tlaloc’s temple, was painted blue. The same color pattern repeated on the great heads flanking the stairway and those located at the southern and northern sides of the construction. Thus, not only did the chromatic palette of the pyramid correspond with that of the matlalatl toxpalatl springs but the colors also were arranged along the north–south axis following Huitzilopochtli’s instructions of the migration period.
Among the ceremonial structures of Tenochtitlan that Sahagún’s informants listed in the Appendix to Book 2 of the Florentine Codex, one is called Toxpalatl, “Yellow Water” (which may be an abbreviation of Matlalatl Toxpalatl). The scant data make it impossible to determine its exact location. According to its description, it was a sacred place from which priests took water and commoners drank “with great devotion,” especially during the festival in honor of Huitzilopochtli (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:2:191, Reference Sahagún2001:256; see also Torquemada Reference Torquemada1975:3:230). However, it was not the only sacred spring within the ceremonial district in the vicinity of Templo Mayor.Footnote 6 The same list from the Florentine Codex mentions other water sources, such as Tlilapan, “Place of Black Water” (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:2:167–168), Tezcaapan, “Place of Mirror Water” (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:2:171), and Coaapan, “Place of Serpent Water” (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:2:174). The detailed descriptions of religious festivals and ritual landscape included in the sixteenth-century sources also provide other names of sacred springs and lagoons within or near Tenochtitlan, like Ezapan, “Place of Bloody Water,” where priests washed blood off their heads after rituals (Durán Reference Durán2006:1:54), or Huitzilatl, “Hummingbird Water,” crucial during the Panquetzaliztli festival (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:2:141). Identifying their precise locations is challenging as their names are not unique; different water sources across various places share names, primarily due to their symbolic significance (see Declerq and Cervantes Rosado Reference Declerq, Rosado, Zrałka and Helmke2013).
Matlalatl toxpalatl and the Symbolic Discourse of the Foundation Act
Another approach to the wanderings of the Mexica and the founding of Tenochtitlan is to interpret them symbolically rather than literally. An orally transmitted origin story, it forms a core part of Mexica cultural memory, shaping their collective identity. Saturated with symbolic language and metaphors shared among prehispanic Central Mexican communities, these narratives encoded a clear message justifying Mexica aspirations and claims for hegemony.
One of the common scholarly interpretations of the intersecting springs from Huitzilopochtli’s message is associating them with the motif known as atl tlachinolli or teoatl tlachinolli. This metaphor, which translates as “water, burnt-over thing (or burnt field)” or, in the second variant, “sacred/divine water, burnt-over thing (or burnt field),” appears in Fray Alonso de Molina’s sixteenth-century Vocabulario, glossed as “war or battlefield” (Reference Molina1992:2:117r). Sahagún (Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:244) explains that it was used for a great war or epidemic. For Eduard Seler (Reference Seler1993) and Alfonso Caso (Reference Caso1927:31), it referred to the sacred war aimed at feeding the sun and the earth with sacrificial victims’ hearts and blood (see also Hassig Reference Hassig2001).
In addition to its verbal expression in oral tradition and postconquest texts, this metaphor was depicted graphically in sculptures and codices (see Wright-Carr Reference Wright-Carr2012). As such, it could be rendered as two separate or interwoven flows of water and dry land (Codex Borgia, Plates 19, 50) or of water and fire—although the sign of fire still contained the “land” or “field” element, conveyed graphically in the form of alternating black/gray and orange rectangles with a horseshoe-like motif. Some authors consider it a war cry, especially when depicted at the usual place of a speech scroll; that is, next to a mouth, maw, or beak (see Caso Reference Caso1927:56; Townsend Reference Townsend1979:55, among others). At times, only the first part of the couplet, or monofrasismo (see Montes de Oca Reference Montes de Oca Vega2013), stood for the entire metaphor. As Seler (Reference Seler1993:125, 133) observed, Molina’s Vocabulario (Reference Molina1992:1:67r, Reference Molina1992:2:8r), among different translations of the Nahuatl word atl, offers that of “war,” and a similar process is also to be observed in its visual representations. An example provided by Seler appears on the wooden vertical drum (tlalpanhuehuetl) from Malinalco. The eagle and two jaguars carved at the bottom of this drum have the complete atl tlachonolli sign at head level, but by their legs or in their “hands” only the atl glyph is present. Interestingly, in two instances, the water glyph is accompanied by either eagle down feathers, aztaxelli, or the sacrificial rope, aztamecatl, suggesting another facet of war as a means to acquire sacrificial victims. Similarly, in the oral discourse (transcribed alphabetically after the conquest), the couplet (teo)atl tlachinolli frequently forms part of a longer metonymic or metaphoric series that, overall, refers to warfare (see Dehouve Reference Dehouve2011b).
The motif of atl tlachinolli was frequently associated with foundation, inauguration, and investiture, marking new beginnings. In the Mexica context, it is prominently featured in the monumental sculpture known as the “Teocalli of Sacred Warfare,” housed at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico. It emanates from the mouth of figures like Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca and the beak of an eagle sitting atop an opuntia on the monument’s back, referencing the narrative of Tenochtitlan’s foundation. Scholars interpret the monument as signifying not only the Mexica’s settlement but also their rightful rulership, conveying an imperial ideology encompassing power, politics, and religion (Hassig Reference Hassig2001:26; see also Caso Reference Caso1927:56–61; Townsend Reference Townsend1979:60).
Such connotations of this metaphor are visible in the colonial Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. In folios 20r–20v of this manuscript, Chichimeca leaders are depicted in meaningful scenes acquiring insignia of power and asserting authority. Eagles and jaguars feed them with red and blue liquid, interpreted as atl tlachinolli and symbolizing power (Leibsohn Reference Leibsohn2009:126). In addition, according to the Anales de Cuauhtitlan, Nezahualcoyotl, ruler of Tetzcoco, experienced a notable event in his youth. After his father’s death at the hands of the Tepaneca, he fell into the water and was taken by divine emissaries, the tlatlacatecolo, to Poyauhtecatl, a place under Tlaloc’s dominion (see Contel Reference Contel2022). There, he received divine approval for rulership and was symbolically anointed “with the divine water, with the burnt-over thing” (teoatica tlachinoltica, in Bierhorst Reference Bierhorst1992:48; see also Contel Reference Contel2022; Wright-Carr Reference Wright-Carr2012).
In interpretations of the Tenochtitlan foundation narrative, the intersecting springs are also seen as a manifestation of the atl tlachinolli metaphor. In the name of the first waterflow— tleatl atlatlayan, “fiery waters, where the waters burn”—scholars view tleatl as another variant of atl or teoatl and atlatlayan as a “watery” rendition of tlachinolli. The same interpretive key tends to be applied to the second spring, matlalatl toxpalatl. In it, the blue water could be “regular” water, and the yellow water, sharing the chromatic association with fire (which could be red or yellow), would correspond with a “burnt-over thing” (see Dupey García Reference Dupey García2010:325–326, n46, 366; Heyden (Reference Heyden1989:50, 65).
Whereas the Mexica foundation story recorded in the Crónica mexicayotl mentions two intersecting waterflows emerging from the caves, the version from Durán’s Historia reflects a different historical tradition. In this variant, when the Mexica reached the “promised land,” they immediately recognized it by the surroundings: white reeds, sedges, cypresses, and willows growing around the pool and white frogs, snakes, and fish living in clear waters (Durán Reference Durán2006 [1587]:2:44). However, the next day, they noted a significant change: the once clean water split into two flows, one turning red as blood and the other thickening to an intense blue (Durán Reference Durán2006 [1587]:2:48). A similar pair of blue and red waters appears in the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca in the scene following the emergence of the Chichimec groups from Colhuacan (or Colhuacatepec)—Chicomoztoc, possibly representing another set of sacred places crucial for legitimizing rulership. Again, these waters are often interpreted as echoing the atl tlachinolli metaphor (see Heyden Reference Heyden2000:181, n2; Leibsohn Reference Leibsohn2009:166, n14).
Historical narratives can be imbued with sacred significance and polysemous nature (see Assman Reference Assman2011; White Reference White1973). Elements within foundation stories may hold various layers of meaning, and a single symbol or metaphor can encode several complementary messages, reinforcing its overall significance in creating a group’s identity. Although I acknowledge the interpretation of the two waterflows from the caves as a variation of the Mesoamerican motif of atl tlachinolli, I propose an alternative (though not exclusive) reading of these elements specific to the Mexica’s sacred spaces.
Of the two sources of water, only the second one, which springs from the cave facing north, bears the names that indicate colors: matlalatl toxpalatl. However, as I pointed out earlier, instead of mentioning explicitly the chromatic features of objects and places, Nahua sacred narratives could denote the colors indirectly. Therefore, the name of the first source of water, tleatl atlatlayan, could also hide a reference to some colors. Tleatl, “fiery waters,” may refer to red, which was one of the colors of fire; colonial dictionaries gloss the term tletic, “fiery”—an agentive derived from tletl, “fire”—as “red ignited thing” (ruuia cosa encendida, Molina Reference Molina1992:1:106r; see also Dupey García Reference Dupey García2010:326). Atlatlayan, “place where waters burn,” can, in turn, stand for “black.” A riddle (zazanilli) from Book 6 of the Florentine Codex describing tlachinolli, “burnt thing,” playfully uses the names of birds to speak of colors: “What is it: the red macaw leads it and the crow follows”? (Çaçan tleino cueçali teiacana, cacalin tetocatiuh, Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:239). Here, the feathers of the red bird (macaw) stand for the flames, whereas the black crow designates what is left after the fire; that is, darkened land. That being the case, the waterflow called tleatl atlatlayan would enrich the chromatism of the sacred place destined for the foundation of Tenochtitlan. It is also relevant that, according to the narration from Crónica mexicayotl, it is precisely this spring that emerges from the cave facing east and then flows on an east–west axis. Other Nahua sacred stories place Tlillan Tlapallan, “Place of the Black, Place of the Red,” in the east.
It should be stressed that the version of the foundation story where the Mexica’s destination is indicated by intersecting waterflows representing four colors—red, black, blue, and yellow—is just one metaphorical expression of chromatic abundance. According to Huitzilopochtli’s message, the prodigious place was also defined by an opuntia growing on a stone with an eagle perched on it. The eagle’s nest was adorned with precious and colorful green, blue, red, yellow, and white feathers (Durán Reference Durán2006 [1587]:2:45). The Nahuatl Crónica mexicayotl (in Codex Chimalpahin; Schroeder and Anderson Reference Schroeder and Anderson1997:1:102–103, f. 35r) explicitly names the feathers of cotinga (xiuhtotoyhuitl), spoonbill (tlauhquecholyhuitl), and quetzal bird (quetzalli). This complete chromatic spectrum, as expressed both through tleatl atlatlayan matlalatl toxpalatl and the richly lined eagle’s nest, fulfills a crucial discursive role. For one, it marks the end of the Mexica migration in search of their “promised land,” heralding the establishment of a new order synonymous with the beginning of a new era. The founding of the altepetl at the center of the universe mirrors the reconstruction of the universe on a microscale.Footnote 7
At the same time, the multicolored waters foreshadow abundance and prosperity granted by the rain gods tlaloque and reflect the profusion of foodstuff from Tonacatepetl. At the peak of its development, the mythical Tollan, a paradigmatic city and reference point across Mesoamerica, was a perfect place to live, abundant in colorful flora and exotic birds with varicolored plumage. As Heyden (Reference Heyden1989:23) summarized, “Jade, gold and silver, cacao of variegated colours, multicoloured cotton, quetzal feathers and other fine feathers, are frequently mentioned in the chronicles. These were the metaphors for wealth, well-being, security, the prize won at the end of a long struggle, as well as the political and economic control of the area.” That is why López Austin and López Luján (Reference López Austin and López Luján2009:471) see the blue and yellow serpents located at the foot of Templo Mayor as representing “the flows of goods that issue from the storehouse of the Sacred Mountain.”
In the reverse process, the waning of Tollan entailed the abandonment and disappearance of all goods symbolized by a profusion of colors. Before Ce Acatl Topiltzin left Tollan, he destroyed his palace of varicolored chambers and sent away the precious birds; the once-abundant cacao trees turned into mesquite plants, typical of arid zones (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:3:31; see also Heyden Reference Heyden1989:98). Likewise, during the Spanish conquest, after the fall of Tenochtitlan, the Spaniards searched for a hidden treasure. As recorded in the native account, the Tlaxcalteca had thrown it into a deep-water reservoir in the city “about which the Mexicans had certain superstition and faith that this spring was the one that their ancestors had found, from which emerged red water together with the blue one, and it produced white fish and white frogs and white snakes” (Durán Reference Durán2006 [1587]:2:571; my translation). Heyden (Reference Heyden2000:180) suggests this was likely a metaphor for the end of an era, representing the securing of riches and rulership for the future heir of the “Toltec” legacy, rather than a literal postwar concealment of valuables.
Finally, blue and yellow (and likely red and black) waters in the foundation stories of Tenochtitlan may have indirectly alluded to the Toltec heritage. This symbolism positioned Tenochtitlan as the rightful and prosperous successor with legitimate claims to rulership in the Valley of Mexico and beyond.
Welcome to Tenochtitlan
Huitzilopochtli’s vision of the ideal place for the settlement, which the Mexica leaders found at the end of their journey, is not the only context where the couplet matlalatl toxpalatl appears in connection to Tenochtitlan. Listing these multicolored waters as part of a “litany” of sacred places played an important rhetorical role, underscoring Tenochtitlan’s legitimacy and authority. In various alphabetic sources and in elegant speeches uttered while greeting the visitors in Tenochtitlan among other occasions, the orators often did not simply mention this altepetl by name. Instead, they unfolded a long list of epithets with strong political and mythical underpinnings to highlight the importance of this place. Such formulas are particularly recurrent in Durán’s Historia and Alvarado Tezozomoc’s Cronica Mexicana, two closely related historical accounts that draw on the same prehispanic tradition.Footnote 8 One illustrative instance, granted to us by Alvarado Tezozomoc, occurred when new vassals of the Triple Alliance, who had been “repatriated” from Oztoman and Alahuiztlan, entered Tenochtitlan: they were reassured that they would be treated as “Mexicans” and warmly welcomed
to the place of tultzalan, acatzalan, [of] newcomers, Chichimeca, old, ancient, [to the place] of tuxpalatl, matlalatl yn inepanian, atlatlaya<n> michin, ypan mani coatl yçomocayan, cuauhtli y tlacuayan, Mexico Tenuchtitlan, which is to say, “in the water clear as a rich feather, golden, blue, one water over the other, where the water boils and foams, where the settlement of fish is, where the great snake whistles, in the feeding place of the fine eagle, the place of Mexico Tenuchtitlan”Footnote 9 [Alvarado Tezozomoc Reference Tezozomoc and de2001:326].Footnote 10
This tradition is also evident in a much shorter beginning of the greeting discourse with which the Tenochca priests addressed war captives from Tepeaca arriving at Tenochtitlan. In Durán’s account we read,
Be very much welcome and well received to this court of Mexico Tenochtitlan, in the pool of water, where the eagle sang and where the snake whistled; where the fish fly; where the blue water came out and joined with the red, among these reeds and sedges; where the god Huitzilopochtli has his command and jurisdiction [Durán Reference Durán2006 [1587]:2:160; see also Alvarado Tezozomoc 2001:136].Footnote 11
These two examples, out of the many available in the sources, clearly follow the same pattern.Footnote 12 They illustrate how speakers could describe Tenochtitlan by combining different designations from a well-known and culturally rooted repertoire. Not all elements had to appear together; a few sufficed to trigger the necessary associations in the audience. Such a definition through enumeration or extension (see Dehouve Reference Dehouve2011b), deeply embedded in the sociopolitical context and shared cultural memory, helped establish and bolster the identity of the Mexica-Tenochca. Not surprisingly, Tenochtitlan was not unique in this practice. For instance, the altepetl of Cholula, as presented in the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca (ff. 16r–16v), is linked to several important places of origin or sacred locations: Colhuacatepec, Chicomoztoc, place of blue and red water, place of white reeds and willows, and the ballcourt. The f. 7v is almost entirely covered by a list of glyphs encoding different names of Cholula. These are transcribed in Latin script in the corresponding text on f. 7r and include, among others, Xochatlauhtli ypilcayan (“Place Where the Flowery Stream Comes Down”; Leibsohn Reference Leibsohn2009:165, n5), possibly another variant of intersecting springs from Tenochtitlan’s foundation story (with “flowery” signifying varicolored). These names repeat in the double-folio representation of Cholula (ff. 26v–27r), where additional elements, like the glyph of atl tlachinolli, were added, indicating prestige and power. Notably, many names defining Cholula in this document also describe Tenochtitlan in the Mexica sources (Caso Reference Caso2015). Michel Oudijk (Reference Oudijk, Boone and Urton2011:156) noted a similar phenomenon in Indigenous manuscripts from the Oaxacan area, where different Zapotec groups shared places of origin and legitimization of power. These places include Quelatinizoo (“Lagoon of Primordial Blood”), Billegaa and Billehegache (“Cave Nine” and “Cave Seven”), guiag lachui niza (“Hill in the Middle of the Water”), and zaguita (“Place of Reed”).
Tenochtitlan’s welcome speeches often featured recurring images such as an eagle, flying fish, and hissing snake. Even more importantly, they evoked various places of origin or liminal spaces between the ecumene and anecumene (see Oudijk Reference Oudijk, Boone and Urton2011). These included Tollan Acatzallan, “Place among the Reeds, Place among the Sedges,” an apparent reference to the archetypical Tollan of Ce Acatl Topiltzin—after all, Tenochtitlan was considered to be one of its replicas (see López Austin and López Luján Reference López Austin and López Luján1999a). The list could also contain names of the trees closely linked with power and rulership: cypress (ahuehuetl), willow (huexotl), and ceiba (pochotl). Another common rhetorical element was referencing the place of blue and red (as blood) waters. Michel Oudijk (Reference Oudijk and Blomster2008, Reference Oudijk, Boone and Urton2011) suggests that, rather than it being another realization of the atl tlachinolli, it represents a Central Mexican variant of the Oaxacan Quelatinizoo, “Lagoon of Primordial Blood”—yet another Mesoamerican sacred locus. Lastly, among these primigenial places that, on the discursive level, served to define the (only) legitimate center of political and religious power and ancestral prestige are matlalatl toxpalatl, blue and yellow waters emerging from caves and crags.Footnote 13
The whiteness of the landscape, plants, and animals recalled Aztlan, the Mexica’s first abode, abandoned following Huitzilopochtli’s orders (see Heyden Reference Heyden1989).Footnote 14 As María Castañeda de la Paz (Reference Castañeda de la Paz2013:34–35) observed, “While Chicomoztoc was the place from which many Chichimec peoples claimed to have originated, Aztlan was a relatively recent place of origin for people who never saw themselves as Chichimec but rather as Culhua-Toltec.” It was an exclusive place of origin of the Mexica-Tenochca, politically underscoring their uniqueness. Another possible explanation for the significance of whiteness in this context may lie in its (in)direct association with Toltec heritage. Mixcoatl (or Iztacmixcoatl, “White Mixcoatl”), the father of Quetzalcoatl—who would later become the ruler of Tollan—chose the white flint knife from among a set of multicolored ones that appeared after he had burned the goddess Itzpapalotl.
Thus, in my interpretation, the prominent role of whiteness in Tenochca origin stories should not be understood as colorlessness or chromatic deficiency (especially because white is almost always present in configurations of four or five ritual colors, as discussed earlier). Instead, it appears both as another strong indicator of Tenochtitlan being the bearer of the prestigious Toltec legacy and as a marker of its exceptionality.Footnote 15
Dominion of Gods, Dominion of Rulers
The blue and yellow waters refer to the sacred place at the universe’s center, inextricably tied to rulership and authority. As such, they are in the realm of Huehueteotl, the old god of fire, also known as Xiuhtecutli. One of the supplications from Book 6 of the Florentine Codex reads,
Tlacatle, totcoe: ma tlacaoa in moiollotzin, cujx onmotlacaiocoia intlan oc itla qujmavilti, intla itla ic mjxxpantzinco tlacolo, tlaujltequj in petlapan, in jcpalpan: in vncan motepapaqujlitica, in vncan manj in matlalatl, in toxpalatl, in vncan moteahaltilitica, in motechiuhcauh, in teteu innan, in teteu inta, in veveteutl in tlalxicco maqujtoc, in xiuhtetzaqualco monoltitoc, in xihtototica mjxtzatzacujlitica.
O Lord, O Our Lord, may you be considerate. Is it proper to humans if one takes pleasure in something, if, in your presence, one takes a detour, one takes a shortcut [= one errs] in the place of the mat, in the place of the seat [= in rulership]? It is [in this place of rulership] where your progenitor, the mother of gods, the father of gods, Huehueteotl, is washing people; it is in the place where there is the blue water, the yellow water where he is bathing people. He is settled in the navel of the earth; he lies on the turquoise pyramid, with his face covered with cotinga feathers [Sahagún 1950–Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:18–19; my translationFootnote 16].
Huehueteotl, also known as Xiuhteuctli and referred to as Nauhyoteuctli (“Lord of the Four Sections”), occupies the central position in the quincunx-like cosmogram on Plate 1 of the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer. This cosmogram intertwines the spatial division into four (or eight) sections (each associated with a color) and the count of 260 days (tonalpohualli). Huehueteotl was also closely linked to a foundational act, synonymous with the beginning of a new epoch for a given ethnic group. In the Anales de Cuauhtitlan (in Bierhorst Reference Bierhorst1992:23), after the Chichimec shot arrows in four different directions, they offered the game of four colors before Xiuhteuctli Huehueteotl.
The god of fire played an essential role in the inauguration rituals of new rulers. According to the annotators of Codex Tudela (ff. 54r–54v) and Codex Magliabechiano (f. 70v), the tlatoani-to-be appeared twice during the ceremony, performing (self)sacrifices and praying for the deity’s support.Footnote 17 Given the importance of Huehueteotl-Xiuhteuctli in the process of election of the new ruler and the god’s patronage over the sacred rulership in Central Mexico, it comes as no surprise that the tlatoani himself would partake in this god’s realm. This was expressed, among others, by the metaphor of blue and yellow waters, as evidenced in different speeches in Book 6 of the Florentine Codex (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6). Accordingly, the principal nobles informed the recently elected ruler: “In your hands will rest the blue water, the yellow water, the means of washing, the means of bathing of the commoners [lit. the tail, the wing]” (te momac manjz in matlalatl, in toxpalatl in jpapacoca, in jahaltilola in cujtlapilli in atlapalli; Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:8:76). The text of another admonition explains that gods (namely, Tloque Nahuaque, “Lord of the Near, Lord of the Nigh,” himself the owner and guardian of blue and yellow waters; see Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:26) grant the tlatoani the rulership (lit. “the mat, the seat,” in petlatl in icpalli) and the responsibilities (lit. “what must be taken along, what deserves to be carried on the back, in tlatconi in tlamamaloni), and they “place in his hands blue waters, yellow waters with which the commoners are bathed” (imac q’manjlia in matlalatl, in toxpalatl, injc altilo in cujtlapilli, in atlapalli; Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:88; see also Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:108). Similarly, in the huehuetlatolli collected or composed by Fray Juan Bautista Viseo, the lordly greetings say: “In your hands rests the jade vessel, where there is yellow water, blue water. In it, there is a reed full of dew which you shake upon people to bathe them, to wash them (ca momactzinco mani in chalchiuhxicalli in onca in toxpalatl, immatlalatl, in ipan temi in acatl ahuachyo inic tepan tictzetzelohua. Inic titealtia, inic titepapaca; Bautista Viseo Reference Bautista Viseo, León-Portilla and Galeana2011:386).
Sahagún, in the Spanish version of the speeches centering on the responsibilities of the ruler, seems to interpret the matlalatl toxpalatl metaphor as an instrument of exercising power. Thus, he puts in the mouth of the high dignitaries the following words, addressed to the new tlatoani: “And they will put in your hands the things of justice, which is like very clean washing water in which the dirt or crimes of the common people are washed” (Sahagún Reference Sahagún2001:480).Footnote 18 Nevertheless, most scholarly interpretations of the “blue and yellow water” couplet revolve around viewing it as a means of purification (see Montes de Oca Reference Montes de Oca Vega2013:144–146). Such a reading is further reinforced if matlalatl toxpalatl is considered a variant on (teo)atl tlachinolli, with water and fire being two elements with cleansing properties (see Heyden Reference Heyden1989:66).
Another context in which the matlalatl toxpalatl metaphor seems to refer to the purifying properties of these waters is that of rites of passage. Here, the location described as “where the blue water, the yellow water rest” (ca vncan manj in matlalatl, in toxpalatl; Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:29) or, in a more extended variant, “where the blue water, the yellow water, the green water rest” (in vncan manj in matlalatl, in toxpalatl, in xopaleoac atl; Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:32) is the dominion of Tloque Nahuaque, associated by the Franciscan with Tezcatlipoca. It is there that, as seen through the Euro-Christian lenses of the friars, the Nahua “sinners” appeared before the supreme deity to “confess” their “sins.” Within this context of “confession,” it was also asserted that the blue and yellow water lay in the hands of Tlazolteotl (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:1:23), a goddess of filth and “lust” yet with the power to liberate people from the effects of their wrongdoings.
Again, the Spanish version of the corresponding sections from the Florentine Codex is more straightforward. It states, “This is a place of very upright justice and of strict judgment; it is like the clearest water with which you, lord, wash the faults of those who rightly confess themselves” (Sahagún Reference Sahagún2001:444).Footnote 19 On another occasion when the couplet matlalatl toxpalatl appears in the Nahuatl text, its Spanish “translation” delves deeper into the aquatic metaphor but leans more toward a Christianized interpretation: “because you have truly entered the fountain of mercy, which is like the clearest water with which our lord god washes away the filth of the soul” (Sahagún Reference Sahagún2001:446).Footnote 20
Julia Madajczak (Reference Madajczak and Tavárez2017), in her analysis of this ritual, convincingly argues that what Sahagún presented as a prehispanic equivalent of the sacrament of confession, performed once in a lifetime, had a different significance for the Nahua: this restoration-of-balance ritual aimed to present wrongdoings and crimes before certain gods to avoid punishment by law or to cure illnesses caused by such actions. The question remains, How does this relate to the cleansing in colored waters? I am convinced that matlalatl toxpalatl, rather than possessing the purifying power to erase the stains of evildoings—a perspective familiar and appealing to the friars—pointed to the execution of justice as an intrinsic part of legitimate authority, as noted by Dehouve (Reference Dehouve2016:57; see also Heyden Reference Heyden1989:66). It was a dominion of the gods, in which partook the tlatoani. The duty of the ruler, as a central political and religious figure, was to ensure that the society under his leadership would not suffer catastrophes because of the misconduct of its members (see Dehouve Reference Dehouve2016:58). This aspect is also evident in Sahagún’s Spanish translations of ceremonial speeches that employ the matlalatl toxpalatl metaphor. The literal reading of these excerpts, focusing solely on bathing and cleansing, obscures their concern with justice.
In this and other contexts already discussed, there appears to be an additional layer of interpretation regarding matlalatl toxpalatl that is closely tied to the Tenochca foundation narrative and the transformative nature of water as perceived by the Nahua. In her work on “the bathed ones,” Madajczak (Reference Madajczak2023:506) compellingly argues that in prehispanic rituals, the desired change in ontological status or the acquisition of certain properties required applying a special kind of liquid that carried these properties. Hence, the human embodiment (ixiptla) of fire god Ixcozauhqui received “baths” in heated water, and the midwife bathed Mexica newborns in water that had contact with their future gender attributes. Therefore, it is possible that blue and yellow waters operated symbolically in a similar way. Being associated with the place of origin, center, completeness, and prosperity, as well as the Toltec heritage, they “carried” legitimate power and, notably, within the specific context of the Tenochca discourse, the tenochcayotl—the essence of being Tenochca. In this sense, the ruler endowed with dominion over matlalatl toxpalatl guaranteed his altepetl’s unity and identity.Footnote 21
Another rite of passage involving the participant’s immersion in blue and yellow waters was the dedication of newborns to water, followed by the bestowal of names. When the midwife placed the water on the baby’s chest, she uttered, “Here is the blue water, the yellow water, which washes, which cleanses our hearts, which carries away the filth” (Niman ijelpan qujtlalilia in atl, qujlhvia. Izca, in matlalatl, in toxpalatl: in qujpaca, in chipaoa in toiollo, in catoctia in catzaoaliztli; Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:202). Later, she continued,
May you take, may you receive the water of the lord of the earth. . . . May the sky water, the blue water, the deep green [water], go into your body, live in your body. May it remove, may it destroy that which you were given, with which you were provided at the moment of being sent [here], the bad things, the wrong things (ma ximocujli, ma xicmocelili in jatzin tlalticpaque, . . . ma motlacapan iauh, ma motlacapan nemj in jlhvicaatl, in matlalatl, in xopaleoac: ma qujquanj, ma qujpolo: in quenamj timacoc, ic tapanaloc in iooaian in aquallotl, in aieciotl [Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:202; my translation].
In this last fragment, instead of the more common pair matlalatl toxpalatl, the midwife’s speech introduces a different combination of terms from the same series. These are matlalatl, “blue water,” and xopalehuac, “dark green,” with the word atl, “water,” omitted, although its presence is implicit. It seems to be a condensed form of the full expression found in the earlier quoted passage from the Florentine Codex (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6:32); and ilhuicaatl, lit. “sky water.” This last term might indicate the otherworldly or sacred nature of the water, considering that ilhuicatl referred to both a geographical marker signifying the sky and the realm of the supernatural (see Mikulska Reference Mikulska2008; Schwaller Reference Schwaller2006). Sahagún’s informants likened it to a house, “extending vertically in every direction, reaching the water” (nohuiyampa tlazcaticac, auh itech acitoc in atl, Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:11:247). Simultaneously, ilhuicaatl, “sky water,” in the Florentine Codex (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:11:247) is said to be synonymous with teoatl, “sacred water,” and with hueiatl, “great water”: all these terms refer to the sea or ocean, another liminal space, and a passage to otherworld(s) (see Szoblik Reference Szoblik2025).
The words supposedly spoken by a Nahua midwife offering a newborn to the water again underscore the purifying character of the ritual, aimed at removing the stain of “evil” with which the child was brought to the world. However, when assessing this fragment, one must consider the broader context of the huehuetlatolli speeches in Book 6 of the Florentine Codex (Sahagún Reference Sahagún, Anderson and Dibble1950–1982:6). Past scholars often viewed them as a faithful reflection of prehispanic morality. Yet, many researchers have acknowledged that these elegant speeches were rewritten and revised to align with the Christian perspective (see Garibay Reference Garibay and María2007; Ruiz Bañuls Reference Ruiz Bañuls2009; Sánchez Aguilera Reference Sánchez Aguilera, Alcántara Rojas, Aguilera and Rosas2022, among others). It is highly probable that in this case, Sahagún and his neophyte Indigenous collaborators also altered the original midwife’s discourse to better suit the concept of baptism. The metaphor of cleansing waters, including ilhuicaatl, which in Christian Nahuatl would be translated as “heavenly water,” corresponded perfectly with the idea of washing away original sin with the holy water during the sacrament.
However, if we delve into the underlying notion behind the couplet matlalatl toxpalatl (or the extended series encompassing these two elements) as presented in various contexts thus far, it equally makes sense as part of the oratory performed during the prehispanic ritual through which a newborn became a rightful member of society and received a name. Bathing a baby, both literally and symbolically, in the blue and yellow waters—associated with the primordial place, the center of the universe, and abundance—could have been a propitiatory rite to ensure a favorable start and a prosperous future. Simultaneously, it could have turned them into Tenochca, the legitimate heirs of toltecayotl.
Conclusions
The blue and yellow waters encountered by the Mexica at the end of their arduous journey were not merely a picturesque aspect of the landscape indicating their final settlement. On the discursive and conceptual level, the metaphor matlalatl toxpalatl, whether as a couplet or as a part of a longer series of multicolored waters, encapsulated a myriad of associations. In scholarly literature, various authors tended to interpret it mostly as a rendition of the Nahuatl war metaphor atl tlachinolli, expressed graphically as two often twisted flows of water and fire or dried land. Although this interpretation is supported by evidence from available sources, it represents just one of many potential layers of interpretation. In this study, I argue that, for the Nahua, the implications of blue and yellow waters were conceptually much broader. This metaphor encoded aspects crucial for each altepetl, standing for its safety, welfare, and authority and reinforcing its identity.
The reference to two or, in a longer series, to four colors of springs in the Tenochca foundation narrative alludes to the center of the cosmos and a portal of communication with the Otherworld(s), from which wealth and power emanate. It denotes completeness and prosperity, transformation, and new beginnings. In Central Mexican cultural memory, one of the most important mythical-political centers of authority and wealth (also codified by references to the chromatic plenitude) was Tollan. Consequently, the metaphor of varicolored waters gained additional significance: it became the carrier of toltecayotl and a means of legitimation of power. Thus, the place of colorful (or flowery) waters symbolically defines the altepetl claiming to be the heirs of Tollan (such as Tenochtitlan and Cholula).
To fully grasp the meaning of matlalatl toxpalatl it is necessary to shift the focus away from this metaphor’s most prominent context in the sources: the foundation of Tenochtitlan. For this reason, this study embraced all mentions of this metaphor in colonial written sources and assessed their different contexts. These included rites of passage (bathing and the name-giving ceremony of newborns and restoration-of-balance ritual), the realm of gods, and the instruments of rulership of the tlatoque. Even though the collected sample seems rather meager (a challenge caused by limited data), it still reveals a common thread linking all those instances. The tlatoani, the central political figure and mediator between the gods and his subjects, shared some competencies with the deities who granted him the authority. He served as a provider of abundance and prosperity, a source of justice, and one who ensured group identity and cohesion. Finally, in the context of rites of passage, the liminal phase is comparable to a return to the place of origin, with those undergoing it emerging in their new status strengthened and enriched. It must be stressed that contrary to the interpretation pursued by sixteenth-century authors, bathing in blue and yellow waters did not serve as purification. Instead, the transformative character of varicolored (and not just any) waters metaphorically endowed the bathed ones with the properties they encapsulated.
It is noteworthy that the significance of the blue and yellow water metaphor seems to transcend the Nahua world, reflecting a broader Mesoamerican conceptualization of power, political legitimacy, and prosperity. The coupling of these colors symbolizes not only completeness and abundance but also embodies a cyclical cosmological order linking rulers, deities, and the well-being of the community. This is evidenced by the parallel presence of a similar motif—formed by the two colors blue (or green), yax, and yellow, kan—in both Classical and colonial Maya texts. In the Mayan context, it conveyed a very similar meaning, pointing to a complete cycle and abundance (see Stuart Reference Stuart2005), and defined the realm and responsibility of both gods (such as the Moon Goddess in Plate 19c of the Dresden Codex; see Hull Reference Hull, Hull and Carrasco2012:100) and rulers (as shown in an inscription from Yaxchilan; see Tedlock Reference Tedlock2010:97). Therefore, this metaphor can be seen as part of a widespread Mesoamerican symbolic repertoire that links natural abundance to social and political power, emphasizing the ruler’s role as mediator and guarantor of both cosmic and earthly harmony.
Further research is needed to explore this chromatic symbolism across different Mesoamerican cultures and languages because it may reveal shared cognitive frameworks concerning the interdependence of prosperity, legitimacy, and sacred authority throughout the region. Such studies would not only deepen our understanding of matlalatl toxpalatl but also enrich the broader field of Mesoamerican studies—particularly those focusing on political history, cosmology, and religion.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to Julia Madajczak for the stimulating discussions on this topic, and to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback, which significantly contributed to enhancing this article.
Funding Statement
This research received funding from the National Science Center of Poland, project No. UMO-2019/33/B/HS3/00528.
Data Availability Statement
All data supporting the findings of this study are contained within the article.
Competing Interests
The author declares no competing interests.
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