Identity Of The Fire Drill Constellation

Good news! My dear friend Shock answered my plea for help regarding the identity of the Fire Drill constellation that was discussed in my article on greeting the dusk. She’s studied the scholarship on Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy extensively and kindly popped in to shed some light on this issue. This is what she had to say regarding the identity of the Fire Drill:

“Anyway… About the fire drill constellation. It’s Orion’s Belt, clear as day if you look at the evidence. The Pleiades couldn’t possibly be it. It’s a seven/six star cluster within Taurus and used as a reference point for the Fire Drill in the primary source material. Taurus itself couldn’t be it for these same reasons and the fact that its other noticeable stars aren’t in a straight line. The Cygnus idea makes little to no sense considering that Sahagun clearly states in book 7 of the Florentine that the constellation is near the Pleiades. Cygnus is NOWHERE near the Pleiades in the night’s sky. In book 7, look up two parts. First, the fire drill part in Nahuatl and then Sahagun’s commentary in Spanish under Castor and Pollux. Several things are clear; the Fire Drill needs to be by Gemnini and it needs to be by Taurus. It also has to be a straight line of three bright stars. The straightness is reiterated in the Nahuatl text numerous times. And what’s right by both of these, with three bright stars? Orion’s belt. And then you have the comparative ethnography stuff from FAMSI, plus there’s more stuff similar to that which is closer to Mesoamerica.”

So, it does look like the best candidate for the Fire Drill constellation is the stars of Orion’s Belt!

Also, apparently the guy who favors the Northern Cross as the Fire Drill is a poor-quality “scholar” associated with the atrocious “mayalords.org” site, so I’d recommend ignoring him beyond the value of knowing what the crap arguments are out there.

Thanks Shock!

Incidentally, I have updated my other post with this important information for convenience and clarity.

October 2, 2008 | Categories: Culture, Interpretations, Religion, Things | Tags: adorar, antes de la conquista, autosacrifice, Aztec, Aztec religion, Azteca, Aztlan, ética, belief, blood, bloodletting, ceremony, Codex, codices, constellation, copal, costumbre, creencia, cultura, culture, dawn, deity, devotion, dios, dioses, divine, divinity, dusk, Eduard Seler, ethics, faith, FAMSI, fe, filosofía, Fire Drill, god, goddess, gods, hymn, idea, incense, indígena, Indian, indigenous, indio, la religión de los aztecas, macehuales, mamalhuaztli, Mesoamerica, Mexica, Mexicayotl, Mexico, moral, morality, Nahua, Northern Cross, offering, ofrenda, Orion, Orion's Belt, philosophy, piedad, piety, Pleiades, prayer, pre-Columbian, pre-Conquest, Pre-Hispanic, Precolumbian, preconquest, Prehispanic, priest, reflexión, religion, ritual, sacred text, sacrifice, Sahagún, sangre, stars, teología, Teotl, Tezozomoc, theology, thought, tradicional, traditional, worship, Yacahuitzli | 9 Comments