Aztec star-gazing

[John B. Carlson]

On Sun, 7 Nov 1999, Leonel Hermida wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I just came across two names the Aztecs used associated with 'celestial
> objects', namely "Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli" for the god associated with planet
> Venus and "Piltzintecuhtli" for the one associated with planet Mercury (sic,
> in a source on the Web)
> Now, if they were able to spot the elusive planet Mercury they must have
> known quite well the other planets (which are much more conspicuous,
> I mean Mars, Jupiter and even Saturn)
> Are their names known, and if so what were they? I'm sure star-gazers
> would welcome the Nahuatl names of the 7 'wanderers' (Sun, Moon,
> Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn)...
>
> Thank you.
>
> Leonel


My reaction to your question is two-fold:

First, you mention "a source on the web." What source? Why don't you tell
us where you get your information?

Secondly, there is a real wealth of information about Venus, but nothing I
know of about Mercury. Can you give us the sources for the suggestion that
Mercury is associated with Piltzintecuhtli? I don't know of any, but if
they exist, it might be interesting.

Without ethnohistorical or archaeological sources, or evidence from the
pre-contact or post-contact codices, any speculation about the planets is
just that... a good example of "Rorschach" scholarship.

If you need further references on Venus, I could provide them.

Sincerely,  John Carlson