Teotihuacan

Basic Hearth Ritual

Below is an outline of a basic ritual framework that can be applied to most situations, whether you are solitary or part of a group, and whether you have a lot of space or little, indoors or outdoors. It was written by Lannan of Rotwork. Feel free to adapt it to your needs! If you do so, please share it with us so that we can put together a page of variations used by the community.

The Hearth Ritual

  1. Gather your tools, offerings, and tidy/ready your space; you will need access to a shrine/altar, table, other solid surface, or the ground. Consider playing some music!
  2. Light a candle for Huehueteotl, Xiuhtecuhtli, and Chantico and place it on the working area. From that, light incense, thanking Xiuhtecuhtli and Huehueteotl for their sacred fire, and offer smoke to the four directions. Then offer smoke to the center, and to the fire Teteo. Thank them for their gifts of warmth, light, and hospitality. Ask Chantico to carry your prayers to the heavens.
  3. Lay out your material offerings around your working area. Tell the Teteo that the offerings are given in thanks for their gifts. If you wish to perform autosacrifice, do so now.
  4. Call upon the Teotl/Teteo you wish to praise on this occasion. Pre-written prayers are great, but feel free to also read poems that inspire you, recite a myth, or speak from the heart. (For poetry written by the Mexica themselves, you might check out those collected in Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World or Daniel Brinton's hymn translations in the Rig Veda Americanus, a text in the public domain.)
  5. This is an appropriate time to conduct your "activity": holiday-themed crafts, taking turns giving thanks and praise if you're in a group, performing divination, or meditating in gentle silence are all possibilities.
  6. When finished, praise the gods a last time, thank them for their sacrifices, and humbly ask for their continued blessings. 
Nocualquetza Amehuan Tlatlazotin, Teteototahuan, tlazocamati. means "I praise You (All), our Beloveds, our Divine Parents, many thanks."
 
Feel free to use this phrase during ritual!