Note: This piece was originally written in Classic Náhuatl. Nahuas are the largest indigenous group in México, numbering close to three million.
The Temascal, or bath house, has been in use since the Mexica (Aztecs since Mexican Independence in 1821) lived in Tenochtitlan and other city-states in the Valley of Mexico. Customs such as this remain in use in parts of Mexico outside the centers of the great cities. The author, who translated his essay into Spanish, is one of the leading scholars among the descendants of the Aztecs. He is fluent in Classical Náhuatl, which differs greatly from the language spoken in most of the states of México, Puebla, Guerrero, and Veracruz. Classical Náhuatl includes the honorific suffix (tzin) when speaking to adults, a holdover from the formality of pre-Hispanic society in the Valley of México. The formality is easily recognizable in a man like Silva, who is personally very warm, likes to make jokes, but has not abandoned the character of those Nahuas who are said to have fled Tenochtitlan after the Spanish conquest and made a place for themselves in the mountains south of the city. Santa Ana Tlacotenco, in that area, is now one of the few places where Classical Náhuatl is spoken as the first language of many residents.
When a bath house is constructed, the exterior is made with pieces of tezontle1 held together with mud. The bath house is not very large; only four to six people can fit inside.
In earlier times, they made a vent for the smoke to come out, a small hole on one side near the top; but now they only make a hole for the dirty water to go out. They also make a central fireplace; here is where they build the fire to heat the bath house. The fire is started with little pieces of pine.
Once the bath house has been constructed, a godfather is sought out and a priest is summoned. On the day that the bath house is blessed, they also give it a name.
The priest arrives at the bath, it is blessed, incense is placed there and it is baptized with a Christian name, like José, Juan, Luis, etcetera. But before this, the godfather decorates it with flowers and tissue paper, surrounds it with a wreath of flowers, and scatters flowers at the side and at the entrance. The godfather is also obliged to offer cookies, pulque2, aguardiente, and to set off fireworks.
The owner of the bath house hosts the meal: rice, mole verde3 and beans, and sometimes he serves mole with pinto bean or fava bean tamales. At other times he also serves tepache4.
When someone wants to bathe, he makes a fire in the center. To make the bath house very hot, firewood made from an oak or madrona tree is used. If a lower temperature is desired, only pine is used. Before bathing, he heats up the water close to the center fire. And when it is very hot, the fire is covered over with a plain stone, mud is stuck on it, and they seal it up by pushing small stones through the front.
Those who go to bathe gather Peruvian herbs or other from the tall capulin tree, which are very hot. They brush themselves with these herbs. At times they brush themselves with aromatic herbs called pericón (anise) and poleo (a variety of palm).
When the bath house is hot, a person enters, removes the smoking embers and throws water on the stones of central fire to remove the ashes (through the side vent).
When this has been completed, they put grama (yamanca zacatl) on it, it is spread out, and one may enter to bathe himself.
It is said that a long time ago, when they were going to use the bath house for the first time, before anyone went in, they put a dog inside. And it is said, in the event that something bad was found in the bath, the dog was beaten and the evil was removed. Thus the evil would not attach itself to the people and nothing would happen to them.
In those days, the people were also accustomed to the following: they entered the bath house walking backwards (when it was new). Because, they say, if the people did not enter this way they would die.
It is also said that when men and women go there to “do something” secretly, those who bathe there next would have “darkness fall on them,” they would faint or fall asleep, and when they awoke, they would have a headache.
This would prove that some people before them went to do something “indecent,” that they went there just to give themselves pleasure.
After a child is born, on the eighth day, the mother washes the child in the bath house. They must at times ask to borrow a bath house (because not everyone has one). Before lighting the fire, they place incense and candles inside, they ask the name of the bath house, and call it by name. They say, “Look, Jose,” in the event that it had been christened that way, “we put incense and candles here for you and we beg you to give us permission to bathe this little baby here. Make him grow well, may Our Father watch over him and help him always, may he never fall ill, may he live many years and always be happy. We will all be happy if he has a good life.”
Later, water is boiled with an aromatic herb and the mother bathes herself along with her child.
After the bath, the father carries the new mother. She is not permitted to walk; he carries her to her house. Sometimes, in cases where the woman is very tall or fat and heavy, he carries her in an ayate, a maguey fiber web, which will be made into a xiquipil (a bag or sling). (The new mother lies down in the middle of the ayate and it is fastened at the corners). A stick, although not a very heavy one, is passed through the xiquipil, which is then placed across the man’s shoulders and carried in this fashion.
When the new mother is carried to her house, the Peru herb or the grass that had been spread around the bath is scattered about. If it is done this way, nothing bad will happen to the child.
And also, when a child is born, the parents give it a xopacatl (“wet the foot,” which in Mexico means the obligatory blessing at the opening of something). The parents will give to anyone who asks for it an alcoholic drink, pulque, or anything else they have.
Footnotes:
1. Volcanic rock
2. An alcoholic beverage made from the maguey cactus
3. Sauce of chiles and pumpkin seeds
4. A drink made of fermented sugar cane or pineapple juice
