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PANQUETZALIZTLI

A SACRED CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI

700 years ago our ancestors arrived in Tenochtitlan in 1325. They were given a prophecy by Huitzilopochtli that they needed to leave their homeland called Aztlan (modern day South West US) and travel south to their new promise land, a place of refuge and protection from the invasion that was coming. They needed to find a sign, an eagle sitting on a cactus, eating a snake and on that very spot they were to build a mighty empire. This empire would inevitably collapse, but it was not meant to last forever. The purpose of the prophecy was that they were supposed to lay the foundation for the survival of Native people and one day when the 6th sun had arisen, their descendants would rise up, overthrow the invaders, and liberate the land and people. Here we are in the 700th year since the founding of Tenochtitlan, the fulfillment of the prophecy of Huitzilopochtli, now in the 6th sun, and we declare a sacred order that the celebration of Panquetzaliztli be restored in all our homes, and we remember the sacred prophecies on which our people are built on today! This is our path towards our liberation, by reembracing the sacred, and remembering our purpose in this world. Our survival, resistance, and liberation are written in the prophecies!

What is Panquetzaliztli?

Pronounced pawn-kets-saw-leest-lee, means the RAISING OF FLAGS. It was a sacred celebration observed every year during the winter solstice. It is believed that with the sun reaching its furthest point in the south, it was symbolizing the death of Huitzilopochtli, and when it began its journey back northward it symbolized his rebirth. Huitzilopochtli was a very important person in the Mexica belief system. He was the one that gave the Mexica the prophecy of their promise land, guided them through 260 years of wandering through what is now Mexico, building their strength, and preparing themselves for the day that they would finally be ready to find the prophecy and start building their empire. The annual celebration of Panquetzaliztli lasted for 400 years, honoring Huitzilopochtli for his prophecy and guidance. It was a celebration that lasted for 20 days, culminating in the Winter Solstice.

What happened with Panquetzaliztli?

The last celebration of Panquetzaliztli happened in 1520 in Tenochtitlan. The Mexica capital fell in August 1521, the sacred Templo Mayor in which Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc were honored was destroyed, and the stones from the Templo Mayor were used to build the Catholic basilica presently standing about 100 feet away from the ruins of the Templo Mayor. The Mexica "religion" was systematically destroyed by the invaders, their sacred places razed, their priests murdered, and their practices and sacred days outlawed. The Catholic church, in its common practice of conquering a new people, they would replace their "religion" by assimilating and renaming their sacred days and deities into the Catholic church's own pantheon of saints and holidays. In the case of the Mexica, Tonantzin became Guadalupe, Tlaloc became St John, Huitzilopochtli became Jesus the son of God, Tonatiuh became God the Father. In the case of sacred days, the celebration of Mictlantecuhtli, honoring the souls of the dead, it became Dia de los Muertos, the festival of Tonantzin became Dia de la Virgen, and Panquetzaliztl became las Posadas Navideñas.

The truth is that although the Catholic church attempted to completely destroy the Mexica "religion", they inadvertently preserved it within the structure of their own religion. In fact, the Mexica Tlatoani (erroneously called an emperor), and the priests instructed the people to hide their beliefs inside the Catholic church, secretly teaching our children the sacred ways, and keep them alive until the day that we can rise up again. The very fact that they used the stones from the Templo Mayor to build the Catholic Basilica, and the stones from the Templo de Tonantzin to build Basilica de Guadalupe is almost sure enough guarantee that the Mexica would never forget that our "religion" was purposely hidden within the "walls" of theirs! How do you know what is Catholic and what is Mexica? The Mexican Catholics, although some things are similar to other parts of Catholicism, they have very distinct practices in Mexico that are not celebrated anywhere else in the world. THOSE are the remnants of the Mexica "religion" still alive today!

How was Panquetzaliztli celebrated?

As we established the Mexica "religion" was largely destroyed, the most knowledge we have are found in the codices that were commissioned by the Catholic priests and compiled by Nahuatl scholars. Approximately 500 Codices exist, with only 2 of them being genuine codices written before the invasion. In the Florentine Codex some of the traditions of Panquetzaliztli are recorded. What is known is that it was celebrated with music and dancing, a foot race, and mock battles between students. An image of Huitzilopochtli was made of amaranth and eaten by participants as well as Tamales and chocolate based drink similar to Champurado. There were also stringers hung from trees with flags made of colorful "papel picado" made of bark paper. There were also ceremonial piercing or blood letting from the celebrants to make a sacred vow or to honor Huitzilopochtli. Another important part of the celebration was the sacrifice of wounded warriors. To die as a warrior was the greatest honor, and similar to the Japanese ritual of seppuku in which warriors would commit ritual suicide, in a form of sacrifice to retain their honor, likewise Mexica warriors who were ready to ascend with Huitzilopochtli would sacrifice themselves on the steps of the temple and cast themselves down. Life and death were considered sacred.

You should show compassion to the poor and unfortunate, providing them with basic necessities like clothing and drink, because they are seen as representatives of a divine or important figure. The act of charity is considered a virtuous duty, a way to honor and show respect to "the master, our lord" (Huitzilopochtli) through your care for others, which is to be rewarded with life on Earth.

The Florentine Codex, Book 9, Chapter 12, p.56-57

In spite of what the colonizers have said about the Mexica, the truth is that Mexica had very high standards of morality and ethics. Their values surpassed that of the European Christian colonizers who were filled with ignorance, hatred, and bigotry, even to this day. taking care of the community was the sacred duty of every warrior, an offering to the sacred energies. One could not claim to believe in the sacred and not practice it. That would be hypocrisy which was punishable by death. Nor could someone hoard wealth, neglect the poor and destitute, or neglect caring for their family for it would be the highest disgrace! Individualism, ego, narcissm, selfishness, disrespectful behavior is NOT the mark of warrior. Unfortunately, since the invasion the majority of our people have internalized these Christian colonial ideals, and it has crept into the movement with many activists, and so called, "medicine people", and "warriors" sometimes being the worst among us. Panquetzaliztli is a call, a reminder that we must seek a better way, to live a life with honor, integrity, and love. What you do for the less fortunate, you do for Huitzilopochtli!

A Call to Celebrate Panquetzaliztli

This year we celebrate the 700th year since the founding of Tenochtlitlan and we feel it is our sacred duty to restore the celebration of Panquetzaliztli to all of our people. As Brown Berets we have dedicated ourselves to be warriors for our people, putting our lives on the line to protect and serve our communities. We demand of all of our members to live a life of honor, integrity, and love. Ours is not a political movement, not a social scientific study on class warfare and the material struggle of the international proletariat. Truth is most people don't even know what that last sentence means and if we come at people like that, using those bougie sounding words, we lose them. We need to take things back to basics! Our organization, our movement is built on our culture, traditions, spirituality, and the shared struggle against the colonial oppressor! Decolonizing is not just a mental exercise, it is what we believe and what we practice every day, and in the days we hold as sacred.

This is our inaugural celebration that no Chicano organization has ever celebrated. What we propose to the Chicano Movement is that from this year forward we celebrate Panquetzaliztli, that we teach it to our youth, practice it in our homes, and celebrate it in every city that our people live in. We obviously cannot practice the custom of warrior self sacrifice, but we can incorporate all the other elements of the day and create a balanced beautiful celebration that will honor Huitzilopochtli!

A Warriors Creed

True followers of Huitzilopochtli believe and practice the virtues of Huitzilopochtli. Those virtues are called "flowers". To Huitzilopochtli we offer our "flowers". Panquetzaliztli is a time for us to reflect and recommit ourselves to those virtues. Our offerings and sacrifices should be on par with our commitment.

HONOR - INTEGRITY - LOYALTY
DISCIPLINE - COURAGE - SACRIFICE - LOVE

While a warrior does demonstrate skill and courage in battle, it is what is inside, the battle within that must first be conquered. Why are we here? Why do we fight? A warrior is guided by great feelings of love. Love for our our ancestors, love for our community, love for our future generations.

To the EAST we offer up our flower of HONOR
To the West we offer up our flower of INTEGRITY
To the North we offer up our flower of LOYALTY
To the South we offer up our flower of DISCIPLINE
To the Sky we offer up our flower of COURAGE
To the ground we offer up our flower of SACRIFICE
To our hearts we offer up our flower of LOVE

WHAT ITEMS DO YOU NEED FOR A PANQUETZALIZTLI CELEBRATION?

Papel Picado stringers

They must be made of colored paper, not plastic. There are Youtube videos, and templates available online, here is example.

Large and small flags

They must be made of white cloth and can be hand drawn, silkscreened, or heat pressed.

Cuetlaxochitl flowers

In the US these are called Poinsettas. This is an absolute must and have to be placed on the altar. Live flowers are preferred so they can be gifted to the attendees at the end of the celebration

boxes for 4 layer altar

Arrange the boxes into the shape of a temple with four layers, covered in a white cloth. Place candles, flowers, and images of huitzilopochtli and fallen warriors on the altar.

tamales and champurado

Offer tamales and champurrado free of charge to all attendees.

gifts for the community

Have a gift exchange of attendees bringing donations of clothing and items that are in good or new condition. Attendees can take anything that they need as well.

gifts for sponsored family

choose specific families who have experienced hardships to be the recipients of Huitzilopochtli's blessings. Prepare special gifts of food, items, and/or money to give the families.

large amaranth huitzilopochtli cake

make a large amaranth cake effigy in the shape of Huitzilopochtli. You can either cut it out in the shape if you have the skill, or using food coloring draw the image on a large flat cake. at a given point of the celebration everyone who believes in Huitzilopochtli must step forward, make a vow to Huitzilopochtli, and take and eat a piece of the cake.

400 small amaranth stars

cut out 400 small stars made of amaranth. pass them out at a given point of the celebration and everyone eat them as a ceremonial representation of Huitzilopochtli's 400 brothers who became stars.

THE FOUR DIRECTIONS

To the north is Tezcalipoca. The element is wind and air. The region of Rest and Transformation. The season is Winter.

To the south is Huitzilopochtli. The element is water. The region of willpower. The season is Summer.

To the west is Quetzalcoatl. The element is earth. The region of female essence. The season is Fall

To the east is Xipe Totec. The element is fire. The region of light and illumination. The season is Spring.

How to set up the Celebration

Although the observance of Panquetzaliztli goes on for 20 days, the large community celebration will be held on the third weekend of December. Each community can make it as elaborate and spectacular as they can. The following must be present at every celebration.

The altar should be the first thing to be set up, and the fire lit. Each item that is used for the celebration must be smudged with the smoke before being set up.

Papel Picado Stringers: Set them up all the way around the perimeter of the celebration area.

The Altar: A four layer altar covered in white cloth surrounded with Cuetlaxochitl flowers set up in front of the stage.

The Four Directions: The banners with the sacred images of the four directions must be hung up according to their orientation.

Stage: The stage must be behind the Altar so that celebrants do not have their back to the altar.

Offerings: Tables should be set up for offerings.

Open area must be kept free of obstacles for the Danzantes and celebrants to gather.

Vendors can set up outside of the celebration area. Vendors should never be charged as this is a sacred celebration that is meant to bless others, including vendors who are trying to provide for their families. Vendors must bring an offering to Huitzilopochtli and must not price gouge celebrants.

Remember, this is a celebration, not a mourning vigil. This is a testament of the fulfillment of Huitzilopochtli's prophecy, our resilience in surviving genocide, and the great future of our people! Do not allow European alcohol or drunkenness there. Every band, performance, presenter, and speaker should be in line with the purpose of the celebration. Flash tattoos should be set up for people to get hummingbirds tattooed on themselves. Encourage people to dance, to be happy, to enjoy each other's company!

If you are interested in hosting a Panquetzaliztli celebration in your city and need assistance, we would be happy to send you our PNG files, and any information you will need to put it together. We want to spread this to all our people far and wide and awaken the warriors! Contact us at brownberetorganization@gmail.com

Aqui y aya; ayer, hoy, y mañana, invoco a mis ancestros, pidiendo ayuda para potenciar nuestra fuerzas y voluntad. A Huitzilopochtli yo le doy mis flores!
Here and there; yesterday, today, and tomorrow I invoke my ancestors, asking for help to enhance our strength and will. To Huitzilopochtli I give my flowers!

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