3,652m (11,981 ft)
Pine tree zone!
The distinction between fir and pine trees has a ritual significance. Pine trees had a lot of ritual uses. Pine resin was a religious offering and had various medicinal uses. In Book 11 of the Florentine Codex:
“Pine/[Ocotl]
The pine tree is tender, verdant, very verdant. It has particles of [dried] pine [resin]. It has cones - pine cones; it has bark, a thick skin. It has pine resin, a resin. [The wood] can be broken, shattered. The pine is embracing. It is a provider of light, a means of seeing. a resinous torch. It is spongy porous, soft, It forms a resin; drops stand formed; they stand sputtering.”
For medicinal uses, it was used in its various forms alongside other native plants and roots. These would cure bloody sputum, hiccups, gout, excessive heat, mentagra, those caught in a whirlwind, “fetid odor of the infirm,” washing of the abdomen of a woman in childbirth, and much more.
Pine was often used for ceremonial fires. This area was also abundant in whitetail deer, a common food source for the Nahua. The white deer is described as “the ruler of the deer.” Because Mount Tlaloc was a habitat for the deer, the Nahua interpreted the area as very fertile and life-giving.
Mount Tlaloc was filled with many things that were agriculturally and ritually significant in Nahua society.
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A few key Nahua terms and their English translations.
| Nahua Term | English Term | Translator |
|---|---|---|
| Ocotl | Pine | Karttunen |
| Tlahuilicotl | Pine torch | Karttunen |
| Ocopilli | Pine torch | Molina |
| Ococentli | Pine cone | Molina |
| Ocecenyollotli | Pinenut of the pine cone of the pine tree | Molina and Sahagún |
| Ococintli | Pine tree seed | Karttunen |
| Ayauhcuahuitl | A tall pine (for construction) | Molina |
| Ococuahtla | A pine forest | Molina |
| Ococuahuitl | Tree or beam and wood of the pine tree | Molina |
| Ocotzotl | Pine Resin | Molina and Karttunen |
References
- florentinecodex.getty.edu. “Digital Florentine Codex,” n.d. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/.
- Popovici, Catherine. “The Ritual Ascent at Mount Tlaloc, Mexico.” MAVCOR Journal 5, no. 2 (January 1, 2022). https://doi.org/10.22332/mav.ess.2022.7.
- Tucker, Arthur O, and Jules Janick. Flora of the Codex Cruz-Badianus. Springer Nature, 2020.
- Wood, Stephanie. “Welcome to the Online Nahuatl Dictionary! | Nahuatl Dictionary.” nahuatl.wired-humanities.org, n.d. https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/.