Art Journal

The Aztec god of the Sun and War wields a snake atlatl. Of which in essence is a sun beam and therefore, logically, is on fire. (also another larger file)

Huitzilopochitli also turns into a hummingbird, but this is about the snake, which is one of my favorite weapons in all of mythology. Tried making this look like a scene cut from a movie but I ran out of time to add in all the details I wanted to. Like a background, and the circle... things on Xuicoatls' back, haven't really found out what they are yet, even with all the research I do. (I blame the dog that ate what was going to be my dinner, had to make something else.)

A link to what an atlatl is. And since it's a throwing weapon, Xuihcoatl probably spits fire too.

And I'm done. Another year complete, and with only one hitch in the form of a break day that I had to make up. Rather satisfied with the results, as this year produced better art overall and far more consistently than before. And for the first time, I think I'm ending my challenge on a roll. The art bug is still nibbling a bit and that hasn't really happened in any year previous.

Now to take care of the half dozen art projects that I have to get to... but first a break, and a lovely chance to pass out and maybe even sleep in. Wooo, I'm ambitious. Ha.

This is a little bit late, but oh well.



It's been one year and eight days since I've joined Livejournal. A year of finding interesting new people, stories, facts and laughs. It's been awesome and extremely entertaining. So thank you LJ and all the peeps in it for making my year a better one.

The creature is my take on the Ahuizotl. The glow is just for kicks.

One of the fascinating things about the Meso-American Indians was/is their concept of time. The Aztec and Mayan calenders are one of the first things that come to mind whenever one of these peoples are mentioned. For good reason, they are very accurate.

A book called The Aztec Calender Handbook has had me examining any information I thought I knew about their sense of time, lifestyles, and some of their mythos as well. I consider myself well-read and I knew that much of the 'knowledge' out there is false when it comes to these people, I just never realised just how much. It's a very good read, and I recommend it for anyone who is even mildly interested in knowing about how these people actually were like. As opposed to the sensationalism a violent and bloody story (even if it's horribly exaggerated) gets.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to is that I learned my birthdate according to the aztec calender. My "month" [Trecena] is Miquiztli, and is fun on it's own, but a little confusing in what it really means as my sources are a little conflicting in what they say. The day [Tonalli] I was born on is Malinalli, which is Grass or Dry-Grass, not quite sure which it is. But it symbolises tenacity and perservering against all odds, which appeals to me in more ways you can imagine. The glyph they use to represent the day isn't a deity (none of them are) but I wanted to see what one as a person would look like.

( Malinalli: Aztec day of Grass. )

If you want to find out your own Aztec birthdate, go here.