Tianquiztli

Tianquiztli [tiaːŋ'kistɬi]  ( listen) ("Marketplace") was the Aztec's name for the Pleiades. Time was measured by movements of the stars and the sun. Their calendar was based upon a fifty-two year cycle. They watched Tianquitzli (Pleiades) closely.

The crossing of the meridian by the Pleiades signaled that the cosmos did not interrupt their movement, and the world would not end then and another fifty two years were safe of the apocalypse and that demons of darkness descending to earth and devouring men. This also ensured that the sun was reborn. At the specific moment when the Pleiades crossed the meridian, the Aztec priests would start a small fire on the slashed chest of the victim. The same fire was then carried to the temple of the Sun god Huitzilopochtli, and to the homes of the Aztec people.

See also

• Aztec calendar
• Xiuhpohualli (The Aztec civil or agricultural calendar)

References

Aveni, Anthony F. (2001). Skywatchers (Rev. and updated edn. of: Skywatchers of ancient Mexico, 1980 ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70504-2. OCLC 45195586.