CHAPTER 17

OF THE PENANCES AND AUSTERITIES THAT THE INDIANS PRACTICEDAT THE DEVIL'S BEHEST

Now that we have reached this point, it behooves us both to demonstrate Satan's accursed pride and shame and awaken the sense of our own lukewarm efforts in the service of Almighty God, to say something about the severe practices and strange penances that this wretched people made at the devil's behest, like the false prophets of Baal who wounded themselves and drew blood with knives,' and also like those who sacrificed their sons and daughters to the vile Beelphegor and passed them through the fire,2 as Divine Scripture gives witness;3 for Satan has always desired to be served by men, greatly to their cost. I have already said that the priests and religious of Mexico rose at midnight and that when the priests and dignitaries of the temple had censed the idol they went to a place where there was a large room with many seats. They sat down there, and each one took up a maguey thorn, which is like an awl or punch, or some other kinds of lancets or knives, and they pierced their calves with them near the bone, drawing a great deal of blood, with which they anointed their foreheads, bathing the lancets or points in the rest of the blood; and then they placed them on the battlements of the courtyard, stuck into globes or balls made of straw, so that all might see them and understand the penance that they had done for the people. They washed off this blood in a lake specially appointed for the purpose, called Ezapán, which means "blood water"; and there was a large quantity of these lancets or thorns in the temple, for none could be used a second time. In addition to this, these priests and religious underwent severe fasts, such as fasting for five and even ten days in succession before some of the important festivals, which were like our ember [fasting] weeks. They maintained continence so strictly that many of them, lest they succumb to any weakness, split their virile members up the middle and did any number of things to render themselves impotent to avoid offending the gods. They did not drink wine and slept very little, for most of their disciplines were at night, and they did very cruel things to themselves, suffering for the devil, and all in exchange for being considered great fasters and very penitent. They were accustomed to discipline themselves with knotted ropes, and not only the priests but the people, too, used this discipline during the procession and feast that they made to the idol Tezcatlipoca, who, as we said above, was the god of penitence. For at that time all carried in their hands new ropes made of maguey fiber, six feet long with a knot on the end, and disciplined themselves with these, giving themselves great blows on their backs. For this same festivity the priests fasted for five consecutive days, eating but once a day and without contact with their wives; they did not leave the temple for those five days, striking themselves rigorously with the ropes I have described. Letters from the fathers of the Society of Jesus, written from India, describe at length the penances and harsh extremes used by the bonzes. But all this was sophistic, and done more for appearance than reality. In Peru, for the festivity of Itu, which was very great, everyone fasted for two days, during which time they had no congress with women nor ate anything with salt or chiles, nor drank chicha, and they were much given to this kind of fasting. For certain sins they did penance by lashing themselves with sharply stinging nettles; at other times they administered many blows on the back to one another, using a certain stone. In some places these misguided people, at the devil's behest, go into the wild mountains and lead a very rugged life there for a long time. At other times they sacrifice themselves by leaping from some high crag; and all of these are deceits of the being who loves nothing more than men's suffering and perdition.