Horoscopes · Systems of many cultures
Aztec (Tonalpohualli) · Aztec day sign 15
Cuauhtli
Eagle
Cuauhtli, 'eagle', day sign 15 of the Aztec tonalpohualli. Patron: Xipe Totec.
Cuauhtli, the eagle, was the bird of the sun and of the eagle warriors who were thought to accompany the sun on its journey. Its patron is Xipe Totec, the flayed god of renewal and spring. Those born under it were thought to be brave and ambitious.
The patron deities of the day signs differ between the surviving codices; the list used here follows the Codex Borgia tradition as reconstructed by modern scholars. The tonalpohualli was read by trained diviners together with the number of the day and its trecena, so a sign was never interpreted alone.
Personality
brave · ambitious · visionary · proud · energetic · noble
In the Aztec tonalpohualli, a person whose tonalli, or birth sign, is Cuauhtli is described as brave, ambitious and far-sighted, with the soaring vision of the eagle. Cuauhtli was the bird of the sun and of the eagle warriors who were thought to accompany the sun on its daily journey; its patron is Xipe Totec, the flayed god of renewal and spring.
Modern readings of the sign, following the colonial sources, credit Cuauhtli people with courage, ambition, energy, clear sight and the drive to rise high; they are said to be natural leaders and fighters for their causes. Their challenges are said to be pride, aggressiveness, impatience and a tendency to look down on others from their height.
In love Cuauhtli people are portrayed as passionate and loyal but independent; in work, as leaders, soldiers, explorers and those who aim at distant goals. The eagle is also the emblem of Tenochtitlan's founding legend, still on the flag of Mexico. As with all twenty signs, the Aztec diviners read Cuauhtli with the number of the birth day and its trecena.
Sources and further reading
- The Aztec Calendar Stone — Khristaan D. Villela and Mary Ellen Miller (eds.), 2010
- Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript — Gisele Díaz and Alan Rodgers, 1993
- The Aztecs — Michael E. Smith, 2012