Horoscopes · Systems of many cultures
Aztec (Tonalpohualli) · Aztec day sign 14
Ocelotl
Jaguar
Ocelotl, 'jaguar', day sign 14 of the Aztec tonalpohualli. Patron: Tlazolteotl.
Ocelotl, the jaguar, was the animal of the night, the earth and the warrior elite of the jaguar knights. Its patron is Tlazolteotl, goddess of purification, sexuality and confession. The sign joins courage and power with the dangers of the night.
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
courageous · powerful · proud · mysterious · independent · warlike
In the Aztec tonalpohualli, a person whose tonalli, or birth sign, is Ocelotl is described as courageous and powerful, but exposed to the dangers of the night. Ocelotl, the jaguar, was the animal of night, of the earth and of the warrior elite of the jaguar knights; its patron is Tlazolteotl, goddess of purification, sexuality and confession.
Modern readings of the sign credit Ocelotl people with bravery, strength, self-reliance, magnetism and a capacity for leadership in difficult conditions; they are said to be fearless and to command respect. Their challenges are said to be aggression, pride, secrecy and a tendency to excess, and colonial accounts of the diviners treat some jaguar births, such as those on 1 Ocelotl, as ill-fated, which shows how much the number of the day mattered.
In love Ocelotl people are portrayed as passionate, protective and intense; in work, as warriors, leaders, guardians and those who face danger on behalf of others. As with every sign, the tonalpouhque read Ocelotl together with its number and trecena, and could delay a child's naming to a more favourable day.
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