Pulque (in Náhuatl iztac octli) is a fermented beverage made from maguey, a plant that holds great cultural importance because of its multiple uses, its symbolism and ability to survive in different environments. The sweet liquid, called aguamiel, is extracted from the heart of the maguey, and is called pulque when it is fermented. This beverage has been considered sacred since before the arrival of Europeans and to this day. It was given to humanity by the gods, which is why it is always present in religious ceremonies.
The myths of the central highlands attribute its creation to several deities. Among them was the goddess Mayahuel (Meyehualli, Cetochtli or 1-Conejo), who gave the maguey form after being dismembered and devoured by the Tzitzimime. Her masculine counterpart, Patécatl, discovered the roots, called ocpatli, which caused inebriation, bringing cheer and stimulating worship of the gods. Other stories tell of Mixcóatl-Camaxtle, inventor of the “wine of maguey and other types of wine, which busied the chichimecas who understood nothing except when drunk” (Historia de los mexicanos..., 2005: 37). The Centzontotochtin (400 conejos) also appear as discoverers and gods of pulque, and as representatives of different types of inebriation. Their feast day and calendar sign are tied to Ometochtli or 2-Conejo.
During the pre-Hispanic period, pulque was present in ceremonies linked to the agricultural cycle, the mountains and cyclical renewal, such as the thirteenth of Tepéilhuitl. Pulque, therefore, is related to several cosmological aspects: fertility, the life cycle, water and the Moon, a star closely associated with growing maguey. During these celebrations, only priests, the elderly and warrior were able to drink it, and it was offered in pulque pots shaped like a rabbit, or in round vessels with handles shaped like yacametztli – a lunar nose ring, emblem of the gods of pulque and the Moon.
Frair Bernardino de Sahagún describes some of the Ometochtli priests’ ritual functions. For example, Pachtécatl was in charge of providing pulque to the singers, whereas other officiated during the feast of Tepéilhuitl, dedicated to the mountains, or during Atlcahualo, when the Tlaloques, lords of the rain, were honored. These contributions show how the rabbit gods integrated pulque into a cosmological complex during water rituals, which involved nocturnal, astral, lunar and vegetable forces.
Although ritual inebriation was allowed, outside of this context it was considered to be a transgression that needed to be purified through nocturnal penitence before the god Totochtli-Centzontotochtin. Pulque, described as a cold beverage, also had therapeutic features. It was associated with the south because of its qualities, as well as with the Cosmos’ dark and cold environment. The beverage and the rabbit gods were connected to the Moon and the stars, forces that participated in the fermentation of the liquid and in processes of fertility. In this regard, Alfredo López Austin and Leonard López Luján state:
“Pulque, which is white, is connected to the light of the stars; at the same time, it is considered to be an extremely cold liquid. It could be said that the totochtin are tlaloque who have moved out of their original dark condition to acquire the luminosity and astral quality of the beings from the south. They keep much of their earlier condition, since they do not renounce their vegetable origin as maguey fruit, and they themselves are the pulque” (2009: 483).
The attire and attributes of the rabbit gods reinforce their identity and tie them to the lunar deities. Among the attributes that stand out are their faces painted with vertical red and black lines; a helmet made of heron feathers; the yacametztli or lunar nose ring; paper earflaps; a dorsal emblem made of the feathers of a scarlet macaw; a necklace of loose beads; short skirts emblazoned with scorpions; bells on their legs attached with deerskin strips; Ometochtli sandals; an Ometochtli shield in one hand and, in the other, an obsidian-tipped cane (Sahagún, 2006: 862).
Altogether, pulque was a central beverage in Mesoamerican peoples’ cosmovision, nutrition and social organization. Its close relationship to the gods of the rain, the Moon, the stars and fertility made it into a divine element, indispensable to human and agricultural renewal processes.