Chimallis' Emblazonment
THIS SET OF GRAPHICS REQUIRES ITS OWN SPECIAL SECTION AND EXPLANATION
Jay White works as a high school TA in upstate NY, having earned a Bachelor’s in History, working towards a position as a teacher after obtaining a Master’s in Education. Per Jay: “I have a number of specific fascinations, only two of which are heraldry and Pre-Columbian America. My personal art style isn’t fully developed as of yet, so in the meantime I’ve been imitating others. Along with the various styles of Europe, I’ve also taken inspiration from other cultures, practicing with Japanese mon crests, Arabic Kufic script, and the obvious Chīmallis. (While ostensibly Aztec, many of these Chīmallis’ emblazonments take inspiration from the wider Mesoamerican cultural sphere.) It’s a fun, niche hobby that I was really happy to find shared by other [incredibly welcoming] people.” Jay’s email is j.white1998@gmail.com
From Jay:
EXPLANATION
A Chīmalli is essentially just an Aztec shield, but they varied widely in practice. They came in many sizes, were made out of different materials, and could serve in battle or for purely ceremonial purposes. They were heavily decorated using pelts, precious metals, and bird feathers. Pendants in the shape of chimalli carry an association with warfare and valor. The designs themselves don’t appear to have been hereditary, having been more to do with class and military rank. Commoners wouldn’t have very elaborate designs, and were forbidden from wearing feathers, unlike nobility and very accomplished warriors.
I have to credit Di (Discord: Di (they/them)#0292; DeviantArt: DiAm1) for originating the idea, I was just inspired and happened to go off the deep end with it. I love history, and having an excuse to dive deep into scholarly articles and the old codices themselves is great. I have to take a few liberties when designing these chimallis, but it’s such a fun exercise, especially when getting to include motifs and double meanings that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
CALENDAR NAME
There are actually two Aztec calendars, the 365-day xiuhpohualli and the 260-day tonalpohualli. The latter, also called the day-count, is considered a sacred calendar due to its use in divination, serving a hugely important part in Mexica culture. Each child was given both a personal name and a calendar name based on the day in which they were born.
An Aztec week (or trecena) consisted of thirteen days, alongside a twenty-count of day symbols called tonalli (each with deep philosophical and divinatory implications). You would combine the day of your trecena with the symbol of your tonalli in order to get your calendar name.
In the case of David Wooten’s birthday, 9 August 1958 (using the Alfonso Caso–H.B. Nicholson alignment) your name would be “10-Wind,” or Mahtlācehēcatl.
Mahtlacehecatl
[maʔˈt͡ɬak.eʔˈekatɬ]
mah-TLAHK-eh-ay-katl
lit. “He is ‘It is the Day: Ten Wind’.” (ø-Mahtlāc-ehecatl)
CALQUE
In addition to your calendar name, you could also calque the meaning of your name. The Aztec script was pictographic and ideographic, and could also use rebuses to record words phonetically, so you could get something like:
Tlazo
[tɬɑ.soh]
TLAH-so
Since David comes from Hebrew meaning “Beloved” the coordinate term in nahuatl would be tlazo (as in tlazotli “precious one”). I connected this to the tlazo(tl) glyph, which means “something pierced or perforated;” usually expressed as a bone needle. Instead of the usual cloth or piece of turquoise, I chose to have it pierce a heart (yōlli) to reinforce the intended meaning of “beloved.”
Cuahāltepētl
[‘kʷá.waːltepeːt͡ɬ]
kwa-WAAL-tep-etl
Wooten comes from the Old English words wudu (“wood”) and tūn (“settlement”), so I combined the nahuatl words cuahui(tl) (“wood”) and āltepētl (“city-state” / lit. “water”+”hill”). The word cuahuitl is often represented as a tree, but I chose to use the pile of logs instead to reduce confusion.
All together you get:
Tlazo Cuahāltepētl
ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS
Below are my shield & crest (left), as well as my personal badge (right), shown on the Heraldic Achievement page. I also “pushed” Jay to render additional elements, including what supporters might look like (middle), as well as Calque and Calendar Name shown above. This is not part of his “regular” process, but he was gracious enough to include this in my “package” to show what would be possible.
