object
Obsidian
Volcanic glass, sharp enough for blades and dark enough to take a reflection. In central Mexico it is a worked material with ritual uses, not a mood.
Also known as itztli
Nahua tradition
Obsidian is used in Nahua tradition.
Obsidian (itztli) is a named material in Nahua ritual and craft as the Florentine Codex records it.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
used in · sourced · culturally specific
Obsidian is used in Offerings.
Blades of obsidian belong to the technology of offering in that record. The stone is an instrument, not a symbol of mood.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
used in · sourced · culturally specific
Obsidian is associated with Death.
Obsidian blades in Nahua offering are instruments that open bodies. Death here is a ritual fact of cutting, not a mood.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
associated with · partially sourced · culturally specific
Obsidian is used in Mirror.
Nahua materials in the Florentine Codex treat smoking mirrors as worked obsidian: volcanic glass crafted into a reflective surface (tezcatl). A Mesoamerican material use in mirror-making, not European looking-glass silvering and not a license to merge every scrying practice.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
used in · sourced · culturally specific
Mirror is associated with Obsidian.
Nahua materials include smoking mirrors of obsidian. The reflection is a worked volcanic glass, not a European looking-glass.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
associated with · partially sourced · culturally specific
Death is associated with Obsidian.
Nahua ritual used obsidian blades. Blood and cutting belong to that material history, not to a mood of “darkness.”
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
associated with · partially sourced · culturally specific
Black is associated with Obsidian.
Obsidian is dark enough to take a reflection. The color is a property of the glass, not a mood imported onto Mexica rite.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
associated with · partially sourced · culturally specific
Jade is connected to Obsidian.
Mesoamerican working of hard green stone and of volcanic glass are neighboring crafts. They are not one “sacred stone” of later shops.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577; Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005
connected to · interpretive · culturally specific
Obsidian is used in Medicine.
Obsidian used in Medicine. Volcanic glass, sharp enough for blades and dark enough to take a reflection. An organized craft of treating the sick. The Atlas keeps their meeting local, without dissolving either into a single meaning.
from SHOE.BLUE · SHOE.BLUE, 2026
used in · interpretive · modern interpretation
Stone contains Obsidian.
Obsidian is a volcanic glass among stones. The species is geological before it is ritual.
contains · interpretive · documented
sources
- Florentine Codex · Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators
Bernardino de Sahagún, General History of the Things of New Spain (Florentine Codex).
- SHOE.BLUE · SHOE.BLUE
SHOE.BLUE, Atlas instrument voice.
- The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion · Karl A. Taube
Karl A. Taube, “The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion,” Ancient Mesoamerica 16 (2005).