Mazatl (Deer): Aztec day sign Meaning

Mazatl, 'deer', day sign 7 of the Aztec tonalpohualli. Patron: Tlaloc.

Mazatl, the deer, is linked with the hunt, the forest and gentleness. Its patron is Tlaloc, the rain god, ruler of the paradise of Tlalocan. The sign was considered generally favourable and associated with grace and sensitivity.

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

gentle · graceful · sensitive · alert · kind · timid

In the Aztec tonalpohualli, a person whose tonalli, or birth sign, is Mazatl is described as gentle, graceful and sensitive, with the alertness of the deer. The sign is linked with the hunt and the forest, and its patron is Tlaloc, the rain god, ruler of the green paradise of Tlalocan; diviners considered it generally favourable.

Modern readings of the sign credit Mazatl people with kindness, refinement, intuition, a love of nature and a peaceful temperament; they are said to sense danger early and to be quick to help those in need. Their challenges are said to be timidity, nervousness, a tendency to flee rather than confront difficulties and a restlessness that makes them roam.

In love Mazatl people are portrayed as tender, attentive and faithful; in work, as artists, carers, guides and those who work with nature and animals. Colonial sources also mention less favourable fortunes for some deer births, such as timidity or wandering, depending on the number of the day, a reminder that the Aztec diviners always read the sign with its number and 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