AZ: Malinalli

[Frances Karttunen]

>   However, I have found a similar description in a passage in David
>Carrasco's _Religions of Mesoamerica_ where he states "Each of the
>realms...were permeated with supernatural powers circulating up and down the
>cosmic levels through spiral-shaped passages called 'malinallis'."
>I am sceptical because he does not quote any sources, and because he adds
>the english "s" to indicate plural.
>My question to those on the list more familiar with literary sources than I,
>is this:
>Are there any preconquest or colonial literary sources to suggest that the
>Mexica subscribed to this kind of "esoteric" beliefs?
>



I think there may be two sources for this idea as expressed by David Carrasco.

First is Bierhorst's controversial translation of the Cantares mexicanos
(Cantares Mexicanos:  Songs of the Aztecs Translated froM the Nahuatl with
an Introduction and Commentary.  Stanford University Press, 1985), where
Bierhorst makes a great to-do about ghosts and songs whirling up and down.
Bierhorst's interpretation of the Cantare seems to derive uncomfortably
from the whole, much-later Ghost Dance religion of North America, and B.
himself says there is precious little documentation for a similar tradition
in Mesoamerica.  But he takes the very fact that the friar evangelists
missed it to be a sign that it was there and very, very covert.

Bierhorst's translation and interpretation has been critically evaluated by
both Miguel Leon-Portilla and James Lockhart, and their critiques are worth
having a look at, since they are intelligently done from a wealth of
background knowledge.

If Carrasco accepts Bierhorst's interpretation of the Cantares, he needs to
tell his readers where he gets the whirling pathways ideas and why he
accepts them.

Source 2 is etymological.

The noun malinalli refers to a twisted bunch of grass, and it is one of the
calendrical signs associated with the south in the 260-day tonalpohualli
(count of the days).  As a calendrical sign, it is always associated with a
number from 1-13.

The noun is derived from the transitive verb malina 'to twist or wind
something."  When malina is used reflexively, it  means for something to
twist itself, to wind, to spiral.

Another transitive/reflexive verb also meaning 'to revolve or spin
something, to twist' is malacachoa, with the associated noun malacatl
'spindle, bobbin, or spiral'.

Malacaehecatl 'spiral wind' is one Nahuatl word for a whirlwind or dust devil.

Since malinalli and malacatl both refer to inanimate objects, they would
not ordinarily have distinct plural forms.

I hope this is helpful.

Fran