Image from WikipediaWhile Full Moon Esbats are fairly common, I don't see much talk about New Moon celebrations. It's a time of newness, the pause before the growth spurt, the death of the old moon, so many things. I used it this month to look at myself and make sort of a mini-resolution, something small but self-improving to work on for the next two weeks while the moon and magick both grow in power and strength.

I lit two candles, white for the goddess and red for the god. I'd have preferred black for the god but it wasn't available and red is a nice god-color. I didn't call any gods by name, just sat and thought about what I wanted to work on while the candles burned a bit and the incense filled the room. I did chat with Phil for a bit about the day, what I was doing, what it all meant to me and afterwards made some pine sawdust for an incense base while I listened to Clannad.

It was a good night, peaceful, relaxing. The last week has been pretty emotionally hectic and this was a good time to pause, let the sadness go for a bit and this morning I feel far more stable than I have this last seven days even though I know the worst is yet to come as I suffer from something similar to seasonal depression and that has a week or two left to cycle through my life. And yet, I feel like I want to accomplish something again, even though my energy reserves are low and I'm still not sleeping more than four to five hours at time.

I think the experience would have been even nicer if I owned a piece of furniture with a moonscape painted on it with glow-in-the-dark paint. Thinking about it, though, I don't think I'd actually want the furniture piece but rather a moon painted on my wall or ceiling or part of it on both. The room would've glowed beautifully with that and the candlelight.

My horoscope says to trust my intuition this week but I have to admit, depression is good at shaking a person's self-confidence and while I usually do trust my judgment, I know I've already made several pretty bad calls in recent days. (I'm not a big believer in horoscopes anyhow but sometimes they help remind me of things I've forgotten to pay attention to.) On the other hand, something told me that I needed to do this ritual last night, even though I was tired, groggy, feeling out-of-sorts so perhaps it's not so bad after all.

Tonalli (much paraphrased from this site)

The important element in relation to human sacrifice, very briefly, is that the universe was thought to run on an energy called tonalli, "animating spirit". This word comes from tona, "to make heat or sun". It nourished the gods, and kept the sun moving. Throughout Aztec religion there is a great emphasis on motion, and motion is driven by tonalli. In humans it is located in the blood stream. When a man is frightened, it concentrates in the heart. The gods' thirst for it is perpetual. It drives the universe. Without it, everything stops.

As well, religious motivation is inadequate to explain the degree to which human sacrifice was practiced. Quetzalcoatl didn't think it was necessary at all. Religious necessity can be served symbolically, or else a single human sacrifice can be imbued with very great significance, as in the case of Roman Catholicism. Even one sacrifice to the bloodiest goddess in the Hindu pantheon, Kali, would keep the goddess happy for a thousand years (Kalika Purana, in Campbell, 1962; pg. 6). This would not prevent her worshippers from attempting to make her very happy, but even at their most enthusiastic, Kali looked like a tea granny compared to Huitzilopochtli.

There's very compelling evidence that the religious sacrifices, and the attendant ritual cannibalism, were actually economically motivated. Tenochtitlan was not self sufficient. Its population could not be supported by even the most copious yields of its technologically advanced intensive agriculture. Tribute from neighbouring states was required to make up the difference. When Aztec demands for tribute were greatest, there is evidence that reconquest was necessary for states that had had enough.

For my own practices involving Tonalli, I certainly wouldn't be involved with human sacrifice or even that of animals. However, the concept of an animating force that drives the world and requires nourishment is very central to Aztec religious thought but there are many ways this could be accomplished including menstrual blood, flower buds, seeds, and others. My thanks to the Pagan Forum for several of these ideas.