A day in the life of an Aztec midwife Kay Read
Lord Sun dawns on the day called 7-Monkey,
his fingers slowly spreading a rosy sheen
that mixes softly with smoke rising
from Tenochtitlan’s many hearth fires.
The midwife, Xoquauhtli,
has a difficult choice to make.
A momentous shift from rainy season
to dry season is underway.
All summer, the gods have kept
the people fed with corn,
but the fertile summer months
are disappearing.
This day occurs during the festival
that marks the shift
between the summer season,
when the gods feed the people,
and the winter season,
when the people feed the gods in return.
Xoquauhtli owes a debt
to her patron, Teteoinnan,
the female warrior goddess
at the center of this festival.
Teteoinnan wages war both
on women’s battlefields of birth
and in men’s battles
with Tenochtilan’s enemies.
She must be kept happy
or she will bring bad luck.
The midwife should participate
in the festival today,
but one of her patients could
go into labor any minute.
Xoquauhtli decides to check
on her patient first.
The expecting mother hasn’t
worked too hard, chewed gum,
or lifted heavy things.
Her family is taking good care of her.
Surely Xoquauhtli can take a little time
to honor her goddess.
She leaves her apprentice in charge
and heads to the center of the city.
Along the way, she sees women sweeping
the roads and hanging gourds
in preparation for the festival.
Finally, she reaches the Great Pyramid.
On top are two temples: the north,
where rituals honor
the rain god in the summer,
and the south one is where rituals
honor the war god in the winter.
On the equinox, the sun rises
between the two sides.
The ceremony begins with a mock battle
between the midwives
and the other physicians.
Xoquauhtli’s team battles heartily,
throwing nochtles, marigolds,
and balls made of reed and moss.
They joke, call their rivals names,
and laugh.
But then, a girl comes running
with a message for Xoquauhtli.
Her patient is in labor!
She hurries back to the house.
All the old women
from the extended family
have already gathered for the birth—
their experience is very valuable
if anything goes wrong.
She readies herself with a prayer praising
her most important tools, her fingers.
Then she doses the patient with cihuapatli
to help expel the baby,
massages her in the sweathouse,
and rubs her stomach with tobacco.
Offering Teteoinnan a short prayer,
she urges her patient
to act like a warrior.
A strong baby girl slips
into her waiting hands
and the old women shout triumphant cries.
Xoquauhtli takes a few drops of water
from a jade bowl, breaths on them,
and places them on the baby’s tiny tongue.
She calls her a precious greenstone,
a little warrior,
and tells her how the Lord and Lady
of the Ninth Sky
breathed life into her, sending her
to this place of burden and torment.
She then turns to the new mother,
praising her,
telling her she acted like
an eagle warrior, a jaguar warrior.
By the time they finish, it’s late,
and the flames of the fire have died down.
Xoquauhtli piles the remaining hot coals
in the center of the hearth,
stoking them to keep them going.
She lays the baby in a woven basket,
head facing the warming fire.
This will warm her tonalli,
an important “soul” center in the body
central to health and well-being.
It’s almost midnight—
if Xoquauhtli hurries,
she can get back to the temple
for the culmination of the festival.
She makes her way to the city center,
where a priest carries a woman on his back
to the top of the pyramid.
To begin the new season and feed the gods,
she will be beheaded,
symbolizing how corn is cut in the fields.
Afterward, she will be reborn
as Lady Teteoinnan,
and preside over the induction
of new warriors.