Temazcal and Tonal

On Sunday, January 20th, Carlos, Ninfa and I went to Tultepec, a little city north of Mexico City. It is known for the its pyrotechnics industry and so it came that we heard and saw fireworks all day. Every year, the town also throws the weeklong National Pyrotechnic Festival with fireworks competitions among various producers. We didn't go to this city because of its fireworks but to join a Temazcal and a Tonal, two prehispanic traditions of Mexico.

The Temazcal (from the language Nahuatl: temazcalli, 'house where one sweats', temaz = 'sweat' and calli = 'house') is a steam bath used in traditional medicine and everyday life of the people especially in central Mexico. These baths have been used by diverse indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica for medicinal purposes of detoxification by sweating from herbal infusions. We used e.g. osha root (raíz del oso), chamomile (manzanilla), ruta/rue (ruda), garlic (ajo), lavender (lavanda), rosemary (romero), tagetes lucida (flor de pericón/Yauhtli), cinnamon (canela).

The preparation of the Temazcal needed approx. two hours for heating up the volcanic rocks, over which the herbal water will later be poured little by little. Before the Temazcal started we were incinerated with incense to enter the Temazcal purely. Once the Temazcal started the entrance of the little cave was shut with some blankets and we remained for about 20 minutes in complete darkness. After this time has passed "the door" was opened and we got a little break from the heat and vapor. We passed two more rounds of 20 minutes, with singing some traditional songs, beating the drum, some prayers and also one infusion of Mezcal.

When we finally left the little cave we had a shower with a bucket of water also flavoured with herbs. We ate some fresh mandarins and mangos and tamales. We all felt deeply relaxed, like the cats who were sleeping in the garden all day.

The Tonalpohualli (meaning: "count of days") is an Aztec calender which consists of periods of 20 (veintenas) and 13 (trecenas) days. Each trecena is ruled by a different deity. Based on the year, day and hour of our birth Marin, the master of the Temazcal and reading the Tonal interpreted its significance for our behaviour and actions.