Contributed by Comrade (former Priest of Set) Walter Radke from a working in
Temple of Set Pylon
Note: the IXIPTLA was a human personification of the
God Tezcatlipoca, who, for a year before the annual ceremony of the month of Tezcatlipoca,
was groomed, regaled and worshipped as a god/noble. He was then paraded through
the streets where the multitudes would entreat him to bring their petitions of
luck, health and victory in battle to the god who he was soon to meet. Celebrants:
TEZCATLIPOCA
IXIPTLA
HIGH
PRIEST
4 CALLERS 1 Hummingbird 2 Rabbit 3 Coyote 4 Jaguar
Implements:
Corn husks. Marking Pen. Rattles/Drums. Vessel(s). Chocolate
Drink. Copal Incense. A Smoking Mirror. A small flashlight. A ritual blade. Compression
music or something S. American. A small red velvet bag with a string that can
fit over the head of the IXIPTLA that is symbolic of his heart. It may contain
various small talismans and substances, but should include as a minimum: cinnamon,
a piece of obsidian (heart shaped if possible), a small green feather, a piece
of copal Incense. binding string.
Pre Ritual Preparation:
Celebrants
are given dried corn husks upon which they write a fear on one side and a hope
on the other. At the indicated moment these will be given to the IXIPTLA.
The Rite:
The rite begins with the IXIPTLA's transformation of himself.
TEZCATLIPOCA speaks a spell to the IXIPTLA, his soon to be new human self. This
is spoken in NAHUATL, the Aztec tongue and the IXIPTLI repeats the English translation
simultaneously.
TEZCATLIPOCA says this in Nahuatl
Nohmatca
Tezcatlipoca
nicelyatl
ninoyoalitoatzin
inic nehuatl inic chicnauhopta
ynic Niquimanitiuh Notlahuan tlamacazque
Tlilpotonqui
tlalli yneptatla
ynic nauhcampa
yn amo nelli y no niquincuepa
yn amo cochia yn amo ayaca
chicnauhmictla
yn amo neli
oqunihuicac y moyohualytoatzin
ea ye niquincuepa
ny yehuatl
yn temiocxoch
y nehuatl y niyohuallahauantzin!
IXIPTLA
says this in English:
I Myself Tezcatlipoca
I am the adversary
I am the One Called Night
For I am come forth from beyond the Nine Beyonds
For I am going to conduct my uncles, the Priests.
The Black Tarred Ones
From the center of the Earth
From the Four Directions
It is not true that
I am transforming them
They were not sleeping
They had not gone to the
Nine Lands of the Dead
It is not true
That the One Called Night carried
them off
I am returning them
From those dream-flowers
I who am the
Drinker of the Night!
A rattle or drum is sounded 9 times
The
Black Flame is lit
The Invocation to Tezcatlipoca is spoken:
Great princes and officials, You stand before the "Drinker of the Night" who says
to you: life is short. If, while it lasts, We do not glorify our own names We
will be totally forgotten Tezcatlipoca knows of your great deeds! and is aware
of the dauntless spirit With which you have resisted our foes Behold O Lord, you
have come to be the help, The shade and the refuge of this Aztec nation. Who have
come a great distance from our home In the seven caves of Aztlan, Land of White
Herons Through many trials to the valley of Mexico To exert the dominion of Tezcatlipoca
Throughout the lands of the Nahuatl peoples You guided us through a wilderness
You now give us repose and we praise thee We have built the houses and Temples
of Tenochtitlan Which is an island in the pool of water Where the eagle sang and
the snake hissed Where the blue waters came out of join the red waters Here among
the reeds, here among the rushes Where reigns the god Tezcatlipoca We have placed
within our houses jade and rubies Splendid feather mantles of many colors Shields,
weapons, insignia, ear-plugs, Loin cloths, arm bands, tobacco, maize Gold and
silver and cacao and copal You made us masters of the wealth we possess You have
now concluded your task And that is why you came to us. Tezcatlipoca gathers and
draws to his service All the nations with the strength of his chest and of his
head. O you who are our jewel and precious feather Let us weep for joy!
The Gods of the Four Directions are now summoned:
HUMMINGBIRD:
From
the Yellow East I call Necoc Yaotl, the Enemy of both sides. Divider. He who turns
one upon another. Throw off our complacency and let us taste of strength and struggle.
wield the obsidian blade that feeds the movement of mankind. Hurl us onward, and
let the stagnant cower before our path!
RABBIT:
From the Red south
I call Tezcatlanexia, He Who causes Things to Be Seen in the Mirror. Rise up from
the blackened depths. all the secrets of the hearts of man are laid bare before
your probing gaze. You see all things known and unknown. rise up and glimpse these
ambitions among us!
COYOTE:
From the Blue West I call Titlauacan,
He Who Stands Behind the Shoulder. You plot and conspire within your secret realms.
Insolent and unholy being, come and spread your whispered wisdom. come tempt and
entice, come screech of boundless power, for we have need of you!
JAGUAR:
From
the Black North I call Tezcatlipoca, the smoking Mirror. Embodiment of all directions,
of star-filled night, of all things hidden and dangerous. You know of no law,
you see no sanctity. Dark inner god of Man, we draw you forth from the shadows
tonight!
The IXIPTLA now symbolically wends his way throughout the
ritual room and gathers the hopes and fears of the citizens who entreat and encourage
him to give their petitions to the god Tezcatlipoca precedence. He binds up the
corn husks with a binding string (preferably decorated with feathers and beads)
and holds them in his left hand throughout the ceremony.
When this is
completed, the HIGH PRIEST intones:
Far below the steps on which we
stand In the streets and courtyard We hear his flutes and the beating of drums
The wailing of the anguished And the shouts of triumph rise before his approach.
We have been waiting for the Dark One the Left Handed Jaguar the enemy of both
sides Who spreads his forbidden truth Who mocks us yet aids us We hear his single
foot beat out his approach We feel the scorching heat of his breath Burn our skin
and reduce the flowers to ash He is magnificent this divider, this unifier, this
prince, this slave He grasps us and we twist in his clawed hand He is outside
of us He is deep within He is a wearer of masks He is the impetuous self-Creator
He is ever present, ever near He is not who he appears to be
The IXIPTLA
now begins an exchange with the HIGH PRIEST to establish his worthiness to
ascend to godhood:
IXIPTLA: I am mere mortal man who is but a servant of
many ancient and powerful gods. I see no god of the night here.
HIGH PRIEST:
Approach, slave of impulse. The Jaguar of Night moves restlessly within you!
IXIPTLA:
I am a warrior. My bravery is known throughout the lands of the Nahuatl peoples.
My courage in battle is the courage of 100.
HIGH PRIEST: You have courage
because Tezcatlipoca has shown you fear. You cower before his outstretched hand!
IXIPTLA:
I am a noble. A man of righteousness. My counsel is sought within the chambers
of state in our great capital of Tenochtitlan.
HIGH PRIEST: Tezcatlipoca
knows that secret greed, that unspeakable lure, that lust at your core!
IXIPTLA;
show me this beast and I will splinter his bones with my array of battle clubs.
HIGH
PRIEST: He lies behind your face and peers through at the world from your glittering
eyes. He whispers the terrible truth into your incredulous ears, and sends commands
you long to obey. He is that which you most fear and that which you most desire.
(raises blade) This blade does not cut, but unifies the higher and lower, and
binds together the thoughts and desires of man.
IXIPTLA (grabs heart-bag
in right hand, holding it out. Begins to approach altar slowly as though climbing
Temple steps) I now begin my endless journey and climb the Temple steps in deep
thought one by one. I stand at the peak of the Temple and I see the stars. But
my heart desires that my feet no longer touch the ground. I leave behind this
beating heart as an object of instruction for those of my kind gathered here below.
(raises left hand with corn husks)
HIGH PRIEST: Carry these husks in your
journey, they are the hopes and fears of the people. Carry them to the 9 unknown
lands, and plant them in your fields. our fears shall be the roots from which
the flowers of our ambitions will spring.
The HIGH PRIEST cuts the bag away
and places it on the altar. He picks up the smoking Mirror and shows IXIPTLA his
dark self.
HIGH PRIEST: Tezcatlipoca!
IXIPTLA: Tezcatlipoca!
The
IXIPTLA takes the mirror and holds it before the celebrants. He gives an observation
from his newly ascended position as a god. This can be prepared beforehand on
an individual basis or spoken intuitively as the moment dictates. The observation
given at a sample working is like this:
We are here to prepare a domain
of potential and with it regale our children as this convening of wills has been
made a gift to us
We stand on the shoulders of mystic achievers who have
made purpose into a great game
This universe defies no comprehension that
cannot be built upon the previous comprehension
We have a strange history,
that much is known for certain it cannot be a complaint for we are confident that
what wounds most deeply is neither darkness nor intelligence nor ancient song
recalled in moments of wonder
The deeper poetry of night occurs all-at-once
a glorious din that is not a joke simply the most excellent of puzzles
The HIGH PRIEST fills the vessel(s).
IXIPTLA takes the heart
bag from the altar and sprinkles a bit of cinnamon from it into the vessel
saying:
I grace this holy ichor of CHOCOLOTL with a rare spice and cast
my image within it.
Each celebrant now files up to the altar, guided by
Hummingbird and Rabbit to drink CHOCOLOTL from the vessel and then to see their
reflection in the smoking mirror which is held by Jaguar who is assisted by Coyote
illuminating the face with a small flashlight. Hummingbird and Rabbit have rattles
and they are shaken throughout the "Drinking of the Night" As the celebrant approaches
the mirror, Jaguar holds the mirror before their face and intensely utters "Tezcatlipoca!"
After
the last celebrant has drunk there is a moment of quiet. The Black flame is extinguished.
At a signal from the HIGH PRIEST, the Song of Tezcatlipoca is spoken in unison
by all celebrants as Jaguar and Coyote dance and weave among them shaking their
rattles:
TEZCATLIPOCA'S SONG
I myself am the enemy
I
search out the servants and messengers
Of my relatives
Who are dressed
in dark plumes
Who are plumes of rain
I have to see them here
Not
tomorrow or the next day
I have my magic mirror with me
Smoking with stars
And my allies
Until those others, my relatives, those
Dark plumes of rain
glistening in the sun
Until they are put away
All: SO IT IS DONE!
