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Xiuhpohualli
The Xiuhpohualli, meaning “count of years” in Nahuatl1), is a 365-day calendar used by the Aztecs and other pre-Columbian Nahua peoples in central Mexico. It is composed of eighteen 20-day “months,” called veintenas, cempoalilhuitl (Nahuatl for 20 days)2), or mētztli (the contemporary Nahuatl word for month), and an intercalary period at the end of the year called the nemontemi.
Consisting of 365 days, the Xiuhpohualli tracks the sun and the seasons consistently and is easy to correlate to the Gregorian calendar. On leap years, a sixth day is added to the nemontemi, but whether this is an innovation introduced during colonization or an original part of the Xiuhpohualli is unclear. The Tonalpohualli, a 260 day calendar, serves to describe days and track a different sacred cycle. The calendars serve different functions and complement each other.
The Teochan community follows the Ruben Ochoa count of days.3) Dates listed will correlate accordingly, not accounting for leap years.
| Number | Name | Gregorian Date | Teotl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tlacaxipehualiztli “The Flaying of People” | 3/21-4/9 | Xipe Totec |
| 2 | Tozoztontli “The Perforation” | 4/10-4/29 | Centeotl, Tlaloc, Chicomecoatl and Coatlicue |
| 3 | Huey Tozoztli “The Great Perforation” | 4/30-5/19 | Tlaloc and Toci |
| 4 | Toxcatl “Dryness” | 5/20-6/8 | Tezcatlipoca |
| 5 | Etzalcualiztli “The Eating of Corn and Beans” | 6/9-6/28 | Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue |
| 6 | Tecuilhuitontli “Small Feast of the Rulers” | 6/29-7/18 | Xochipilli and Huixtocihuatl |
| 7 | Huey Tecuilhuitl “Great Feast of the Rulers” | 7/19-8/7 | Xilonen |
| 8 | Miccailhuitontli “Feast of the Dead”, Tlaxochimaco “The Gathering of Flowers” | 8/8-8/27 | Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli |
| 9 | Huey Miccailhuitontli “Great Feast of the Dead”, Xocotl Huetzi “The Falling of Fruit” | 8/28-9/16 | Xiuhtecuhtli |
| 10 | Ochpaniztli “Sweeping” | 9/17-10/6 | Toci, Tlazolteotl and earthly Teteoh |
| 11 | Teotleco “The Return of the Teteoh” | 10/7-10/26 | All Teteoh |
| 12 | Tepeilhuitl “Feast of the Mountains” | 10/27-11/15 | Tlaloc and mountain Teteoh |
| 13 | Quecholli “Roseate Spoonbill” | 11/16-12/5 | Mixcoatl |
| 14 | Panquetzaliztli “Raising of the Flags” | 12/6-12/25 | Huitzilopochtli |
| 15 | Atemoztli “The Descent of Water” | 12/26-1/14 | Tlaloque |
| 16 | Tititl “The Stretching” | 1/15-2/3 | Ilamatecuhtli, Yacatecuhtli and motherly Teteoh |
| 17 | Izcalli “Rebirth” | 2/4-2/23 | Xiuhtecuhtli |
| 18 | Atlcahualo “The Water has Departed” | 2/24-3/15 | Tlaloc, Tlaloque, Chalchiuhtlicue and Quetzalcoatl |
| 0 | Nemontemi “They Fill the Void” | 3/16-3/20 | None. Intercalary period |
* Information synthesized from 3 sources, supplemented by individual months' wikipedia pages as needed 4) 5) 6)