Myths - Aztec - New Fire Ceremony
A complete calendar round of 52 years, and the associated New Fire ceremony, was known as xiuhmolpilli — The Binding of the Years (two such bundles comprised an Aztec century or an "old one"**). The last New Fire ceremony took place in 1507, in the reign of Motecuhzuma II (also known as Montezuma), in the veintena of Panquetzaliztli ("Raising the Banners").
That was the last time human sacrifice was made, at the temple of Huixachtlān on the top of Huixachtécatl (The Hill of the Star; Spanish — Cerro de la Estrella), to keep the sun in motion lest the world end in the fall of the female star-demons, the Tzitzimimeh.
According to Bernardino de Sahagún, the Franciscan missionary responsible for compiling the the Florentine Codex1 --
...they considered it a matter of belief that the world would come to an end at the conclusion of one of these bundles of years. They had a prophecy or oracle that at that time the movement of the heavens would cease, and they took as a sign [of this] the movement of the Pleiades. On the night of this feast, which they called Toximmolpilia [the Binding of the Years***] it so befell that the Pleiades were at the zenith at midnight with respect to the horizon in Mexico. On this night they made new fire, and before they made it, they extinguished all the fires in all the provinces, towns and houses in all of this New Spain. And they went in a solemn procession. All of the priests and servants of the temple departed from here, the Temple of Mexico, during the first quarter of the night, and went to the summit of that mountain near Itztpalapan which they call Uixachtecatl. They reached the summit at midnight, or almost, where stood a great pyramid built for that ceremony. Having reached there, they looked at the Pleiades to see if they were at the zenith, and if they were not, they waited until they were. And when they saw that now they passed the zenith, they knew the movement of the heavens had not ceased, and that the end of the world was not then. [Vol. 4, p143]
And when they drew the new fire, they drew it there at Uixachtlan, at midnight, when the night divided in half, They drew it upon the breast of a captive, and it was a well-born one on whose breast [the priest] bored the fire drill. And when a little [fire] fell, when it took flame, then speedily [the priest] slashed open the breast of the captive, seized his heart, and quickly cast it there into the fire. [Vol. 7, p25]
Then [the priests] slashed open [the captive’s] breast. In his breast [cavity] the new fire was drawn. They opened the breast of the captive with a flint knife called ixcuauac. [Vol. 7, p28]
Kay Read, in her book Time and sacrifice in the Aztec cosmos2 says of this last New Fire ceremony --
The offering in this particular event was a “well bred man” named Xiuhtlamin, a war captive from the town of Huexotzinco in the Valley of Tlaxcala (a valley to the east of the Valley of Mexico). He may have been 52 years old himself since children born during the year of this 52 year rite were given names that included the word xiuitl (“year”); to have a name with xiuitl in it was a prerequisite for the honored role as sacrificial offering. [p125]
Once it [the new fire] was sparked, four priests held Xiuhtlamin down while another removed his heart with an obsidian knife called ixcuauac or “he who has an eating face.” This knife was so sharp, it is said, that if simply dropped, it would have sliced through his chest as though it were a pomegranate. Such ceremonial knives often bore a face with an open toothy mouth. Xiuhtlamin’s heart, his teyolia, was fed to the fire, and once his entire body had been consumed, the flames were distributed to all the regions of Mexica domination. [p126]
As a war captive, Xiuhtlamin clearly had no choice in his sacrifice, but it was nonetheless an "honored role" — the Aztec owed a collective debt to their gods for the creation and movement of the fifth sun — and without his sacrifice the world was doomed:
...if the fire was successfully lighted, a new sun would have the strength to begin spinning again; if not, there would be no sun and all would disappear.
That was the last time human sacrifice was made, at the temple of Huixachtlān on the top of Huixachtécatl (The Hill of the Star; Spanish — Cerro de la Estrella), to keep the sun in motion lest the world end in the fall of the female star-demons, the Tzitzimimeh.
According to Bernardino de Sahagún, the Franciscan missionary responsible for compiling the the Florentine Codex1 --
...they considered it a matter of belief that the world would come to an end at the conclusion of one of these bundles of years. They had a prophecy or oracle that at that time the movement of the heavens would cease, and they took as a sign [of this] the movement of the Pleiades. On the night of this feast, which they called Toximmolpilia [the Binding of the Years***] it so befell that the Pleiades were at the zenith at midnight with respect to the horizon in Mexico. On this night they made new fire, and before they made it, they extinguished all the fires in all the provinces, towns and houses in all of this New Spain. And they went in a solemn procession. All of the priests and servants of the temple departed from here, the Temple of Mexico, during the first quarter of the night, and went to the summit of that mountain near Itztpalapan which they call Uixachtecatl. They reached the summit at midnight, or almost, where stood a great pyramid built for that ceremony. Having reached there, they looked at the Pleiades to see if they were at the zenith, and if they were not, they waited until they were. And when they saw that now they passed the zenith, they knew the movement of the heavens had not ceased, and that the end of the world was not then. [Vol. 4, p143]
And when they drew the new fire, they drew it there at Uixachtlan, at midnight, when the night divided in half, They drew it upon the breast of a captive, and it was a well-born one on whose breast [the priest] bored the fire drill. And when a little [fire] fell, when it took flame, then speedily [the priest] slashed open the breast of the captive, seized his heart, and quickly cast it there into the fire. [Vol. 7, p25]
Then [the priests] slashed open [the captive’s] breast. In his breast [cavity] the new fire was drawn. They opened the breast of the captive with a flint knife called ixcuauac. [Vol. 7, p28]
Kay Read, in her book Time and sacrifice in the Aztec cosmos2 says of this last New Fire ceremony --
The offering in this particular event was a “well bred man” named Xiuhtlamin, a war captive from the town of Huexotzinco in the Valley of Tlaxcala (a valley to the east of the Valley of Mexico). He may have been 52 years old himself since children born during the year of this 52 year rite were given names that included the word xiuitl (“year”); to have a name with xiuitl in it was a prerequisite for the honored role as sacrificial offering. [p125]
Once it [the new fire] was sparked, four priests held Xiuhtlamin down while another removed his heart with an obsidian knife called ixcuauac or “he who has an eating face.” This knife was so sharp, it is said, that if simply dropped, it would have sliced through his chest as though it were a pomegranate. Such ceremonial knives often bore a face with an open toothy mouth. Xiuhtlamin’s heart, his teyolia, was fed to the fire, and once his entire body had been consumed, the flames were distributed to all the regions of Mexica domination. [p126]
As a war captive, Xiuhtlamin clearly had no choice in his sacrifice, but it was nonetheless an "honored role" — the Aztec owed a collective debt to their gods for the creation and movement of the fifth sun — and without his sacrifice the world was doomed:
...if the fire was successfully lighted, a new sun would have the strength to begin spinning again; if not, there would be no sun and all would disappear.