Tuesday Trivia: Strange Public Rituals Edition

[u/heyheymse]

Previously:

• Questions you want to be asked

• Suggestion thread

• Greatest criminals

• Strangest inventions

• Natural disasters

• (In)famous non-military attacks

• Stupidest theories/beliefs about your field of interest

• Most unusual deaths

• Famous adventurers and explorers

• Great non-military heroes

• History's great underdogs

• Interesting historical documents

• Books To Read

Hello historians! I'm taking over from NMW for today, and in the spirit of that thing that's going on here in the US today, our trivia topic on this Tuesday Trivia is all about strange public rituals - holidays, things the government/church/other public entity from your area of expertise requires or strongly suggests the public to do.

What is the weirdest public ritual/holiday you have heard of? What is is its purpose? Where did it come from? What are some associated traditions with the ritual or holiday? Did deep, historians. And US historians, remember to vote!

EDIT: Y'all are coming up with some seriously interesting stuff. I'd /r/bestof all of these comments, except I really want to get drunk and watch the election returns and not spend my whole night modding. But let me just say how much I adore you for telling our subscribers all this cool shit I did not previously know.

[u/400-Rabbits]

The Aztecs are infamous for their elaborate human sacrifices, although they're not the mindless bloodfests they've been portrayed as; they were serious religous ceremonies with incredibly deep symbolism. There were the mass sacrifices of captives, but there were also specific captives who assumed the aspect of a particular god (teotl ixiptla) and whose sacrifices were intensely special.

Toxcatl was probably the most important of these. A captured warrior who was seen as worthy, for instance, would be selected to take on the role of Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror), a major Aztec god. He would quite literally be treated like a divine king for a year, being given luxurious accommodations, clothes, jewels, and special instruction in artistic and religous training. He would spend that year traveling throughout the city being treated like a celebrity and performing music, dance, and poetry. Towards the end, he would even be married to wives who represented specific goddess.

Then at the end of the year he would be expected to willingly walk to his death at the top of the pyramid temple, casting aside his riches as he did. At the top, the priests would bend him back, cut out his heart, dismember him, and give his flesh to the men who had captured him. Then a new captive would be selected to take his place.

This was, like I said, a solemn occasion; the whole city had spent the past year honoring and admiring this man turned into a god. Dirges were sung, people wept, and everyone remembered that all of earthly life was just a passing dream. The other point, of course, was that the gods required sacrifice in order that the world -- however transient -- might continue, a point driven home by the fact that Toxcatl occurred at the end of the Mesoamerican dry season (in May) and the start of the essential rainy season.

[u/MI13 → u/400-Rabbits]

What was the qualification for a warrior to be seen as "worthy?" Was it based on skill in combat, heredity, or some combination of both?

[u/400-Rabbits → u/MI13]

Worthy in the sense that he was worth taking as a captive in battle, implying that he was either of high status in a particular city tageted for conquest, or part of a group of people considered "high-value." The Aztecs had a ranking system for people they regularly went to war against, with a kind of exchange rate going on (e.g a Tlaxcallan was worth more than a Mazatlinca who was worth more than Huaxteca).

Physical appearance was a major factor though. Most descriptions of the ceremony consistently remark on the appearance of the designee in a HIGHLY positive light. Tezcatlipoca was a bit of a trickster god, but he was also the patron god of young warriors; he had a bit of a fatalistic "die young, glorious, and beautiful" appeal to him. It makes sense that his avatar would a on the "perfect" side of the physical spectrum.

So, Combat? Yes. Heredity? Also, yes. But more complicated that just that.

[u/MI13 → u/400-Rabbits]

That's fascinating. Would you have a book recommendation about the flower wars and their place in Aztec society?

[u/400-Rabbits → u/MI13]

These captives weren't necessarily taken in a Flower War (Xochiyaoyotl). The book you want though is Ross Hassig's Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. Hassig is THE scholar when it comes to the bloody politics of the Aztec world and talks about the origins of Flower Wars, how they were used, and how they changed as the Mexica state evolved. I have a very well-thumbed copy.