A Book Of Tongues

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Take it. (Dark leaves invade the air.)

Beware! I now know a language so beautiful and lethal

My mouth bleeds when I speak it.

— Gwendolyn MacEwen

I’ll be true to my love

If my love will be true to me.

— “Two Sisters,” Childe Ballad version

BOOK ONE: CITY OF JADES

The Barbary Coast, March 6, 1867

Month One, Day Thirteen Dog

Festival: Tlacaxipehualiztli, or Skinning of Young Men

Today is ruled by Centeotl, the Lord of Maize, a version of Xipe Totec, Our Lord the Flayed One. Also known as Xilonen, “the Hairy One,” he holds the position of fourth Lord of the Night.

The Aztec trecena (or thirteen-day month) Tecpatl, “Stone Knife,” is ruled by Mictlantecuhtli, Lord of Mictlan. This trecena signifies an ordeal or trial that pushes one to the very threshold of endurance. It forebodes an abrupt change in the continuity of things.

By the Mayan Long Count calendar, the protector of day Itzcuintli (“Dog”) is also Mictlantecuhtli, who rules that day’s shadow soul. Itzcuintli is the guide for the dead, the spirit world’s link with the living. It is a good day for being trustworthy, a bad day for trusting others.

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