The Codex Borgia by Gisele Díaz & Alan Rodgers

Author:Gisele Díaz & Alan Rodgers [Díaz, Gisele]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780486155210
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2012-10-11T04:00:00+00:00

Plates 29-46: A Long Supernatural Journey and Ritual Sequence

This passage of 18 pages is the longest and most elaborate of the entire Codex Borgia. It has the character of a story or narrative rather than a calendar, and in that is unique. The narrative, if such it is, is filled with ritual acts and with apparently real as well as supernatural characters. It is certainly religious in nature, though there does seem to be an element of physical reality that runs through the pages. This has been recognized by Nowotny (1961a) as well as by many others.

In this section of the codex the orientation of the pages shifts from that of a long horizontal strip read from right to left to that of a long vertical strip read from top to bottom (from the right edge of the page to the left edge of the page). This orientation prevails through page 46, the end of the current passage, after which the earlier orientation returns. The imagery of these pages is consummately complex. It is out of the question here to describe these plates fully or to discuss all the potential interpretations, even concisely. Nevertheless, an overview of the structure may be helpful.

This long passage begins with a series of five enclosures (Plates 29-32) that serve to make supernatural statements. Two major temples dedicated to heaven are then identified (Plates 33 and 34). Then begins a ceremonial sequence in which a principal participant, known to us as Stripe Eye (a name given to him by Peter van der Loo), engages in a long ritual journey in which he performs several specific deeds (Plates 35–44). Finally the series is closed by a short passage (Plates 45 and 46) from which Stripe Eye is apparently missing but in which a new fire, symbolizing a new beginning, is ignited.

The account begins on Plate 29, the first of several enclosures formed by the body of a goddess of death. Within this enclosure is a large black disc. On the disc is a large blue vessel from which emerges a dark foamy substance. From this substance emerge numerous animate creatures who are characterized as winds by the Quetzalcóatl features they display. In addition to the many winds, two skeletal figures are shown, one a deity of death and the other a representation of Tlazoltéotl as the earth below the blue vessel. At the left edge of the page (the lower edge of the image) two intertwined starry wind serpents spit out smaller wind figures to lead the reader to the next page.

There (Plate 30) a similar scene is found. The body of the death deity forms an enclosure containing a large circular device that in turn contains the two intertwined wind serpents and their two small wind figures. Other significant features of this page are the 20 day signs arranged counterclockwise around the central device and the presence of four Tláloc-plant combination figures at the corners of the enclosure. Among the day signs four have been

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.