CONTENT WARNING:

Translated Spanish and Nahuatl vulgarity abound in this article.

When I was a kid, my tíos, abuelos and Dad used to warn me about screech / barn owls.

“They’re witches in disguise,” they said. “Looking to steal kids.”

Then they would launch into a discussion of protections against these magical pests. Among the many ways to escape them?

Bad words.

Barn Owl (from Wikipedia)

My dad’s favorite vulgar phrase to make witch owls flee was “¡A la chingada, pinche lechuza!” or “Fuck off, you damn barn owl!”

I used the phrase often out on my uncle Joe Casas’ ranch and in the brush near my home.

I had no idea at the time that the ritual was Aztec.

In the fifth chapter of Book V of the Florentine Codex, we learn that Nahua people in the Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire) believed it an omen for a screech owl to alight near or on one’s house and then loose its cry. Someone would fall ill.

If it passed by twice or more, someone would die.

Why? Because the screech owl was a messenger of Mictlāntēuctli and Mictēcacihuātl, Lord and Lady of Mictlān, the Land of the Dead. Those gods of death called the screech owl “yāōtequihuah,” War Captain, because it captured souls for them.

But the Nahuas knew his weakness.

A screech owl and Mictlāntēuctli

When they heard it outside, rasping its talons against the wood, readying its throat to unleash the dooming screech, they let fly their own powerful cry …

Men would shout, “Mā xitlamattiuh, nocné, tīxtecocoyocpōl, monān ticyecoh!”

The first two words are a command. The verb “tlamati” literally means “become wise,” but it’s used for “be silent” (as is the wont of wise folks). The -tiuh suffix indicates movement away.

“Go away silently.”

Then “nocné” means “o, my icnītl” … “icnītl” being “friend” but also “rogue, rascal.”

Like modern “bro,” basically.

Next is “tīxtecocoyocpōl” or “you sunken-eyed thing” (īxtecocoyoc) with the derogatory -pōl ending.

“Big ol’ sunken-eyed thing.”

And, yikes, finally … the phrase “monān ticyecoh.”

Mo- is “your.”

Nān- is “mother.”

Ti- is “you.”

-c- is “her.”

Yecoh is the past tense of “yecoa,” meaning literally “finish” or “enjoy,” but metaphorically … “fuck.”

Yup, that’s right. “Monān ticyecoh” is Nahuatl for “motherfucker.”

Altogether, the male insult for supernatural owls was “Go wisely / in silence, my rogue, vile sunken-eyed thing, you who fucked your mother.”

Or, in more colloquial English:

“Wise up, shut up, and get lost, bro, you shitty sunken-eyed motherfucker.”

Quite expressive, no?

Women had an even more delightful ritual spell.

“Mā xitlamatpōlohtiuh, cuilonpōl! Cuix oticcoyōnih in tzontli ic nātlītiaz? Ca ayamo cuel in niyaz.”

The initial command is almost the same, but it inserts a derogatory verbal suffix, -pōloa, used to show disgust or anger when discussing an action. As a result, rather than “shut up and leave,” this “xitlamatpōlohtiuh” is more “shut the hell up and leave.”

Next comes a pretty harsh word. I need to make an additional content warning:

Potential homophobia.

The verb “cui” is “take,” but by extension it means “be the active partner in sex.” The passive “cuilo” is “be taken,” or “be the passive partner in sex” (i.e., the receiver of a penis, basically).

And “cuiloni” is the noun form of that passive. The, ahem, fucked.

Unfortunately, the Mexica / Tenochcah and other Nahuas used that word to refer to gay men. Especially with the derogatory -pōl ending.

Still, when women called the lechuza “cuilonpōl,” the nuance was more “get fucked.”

After telling the bird to “fly the hell off and get fucked,” women would add the question, “Cuix oticcoyōnih in tzontli ic nātlītiaz?”

“Have you hollowed out a strand of hair so I can drink?”

This refers to the belief that the dead in Mictlan use hair as a straw.

After that question, woman were said to wrap up the spell with “ca ayamo cuel in niyaz” or “for not until then will I go!”

One can only imagine what would happen if the screech owl actually DID have a hollowed-out strand of hair.

Oops.

That’s how to get rid of a “chīcuahtli,” a screech / barn owl. Mexicans and Chicanos continue the practice of running them off with curses today.

Apparently, however, you are shit out of luck if a HORNED OWL comes calling. In Nahuatl, it’s called a “tecolōtl,” from whence the Spanish “tecolote.”

Horned Owl (from Wikipedia)

In ihcuāc tecolōtl chōca, quinēxtia miquiztli, the Florentine Codex tells us.

“When the horned owl cries, it means death.”

Or, as the Spanish saying goes, “Cuando canta el tecolote, el hombre muere.”

(“When the horned owl cries, some man dies.” There’s a racist version, but I won’t repeat it here.)

A person would not only die, they would be OBLITERATED … their very house would crumble into ruins that would be used by all as a place to piss and shit.

People would look upon it and say, “Once a revered man lived here. Now all that’s left are the shattered walls.”

My wife points out, “When we were kids, everyone told us owls were witches, not messengers of the Underworld. Did Aztec beliefs evolve?”

I dunno. You see, they also believed in witch owls.

Witch Owl (from the Florentine Codex)

“Chīchtli” could mean “owl” or “witch who shape-shifts INTO an owl.” Of such sorcerers, the Florentine Codex says, “chīcuahtli, tecolōtl, chīchtli mocuepa” or “they transform into horned owls, screech owls, into owls.”

The magic they wield is “chīchyōtl” or “the Owl Way.”

And it’s clearly the way of death. Unless you curse the fuckers.

Addendum.

Maya peoples have similar beliefs. In Maayat’aan (Yucatec Mayan), the horned owl is called “tunkuluchuj.” Its cry is considered a tomoj chi’ or bad omen.

Folks might say, “U’uye’ex bix u k’aay le xlab ch’íich’o’! Míij yaan máax kun kíimil ti’ le k’iino’oba’!”

“Listen to that damn bird screech! I think someone’s going to die soon!”

The xooch’ or barn owl is also considered unlucky. So is the t’oojka’ x nuuk (pygmy owl or tecolote bajeño). But if you have a dog or cat, your pet will take care of that littler owl for you.

Killing it.

The four most famous owls in Mesoamerica are found in the Popol Vuh, which names them “Arrow Owl, One-Legged Owl, Macaw Owl, Skull Owl … known as the Messengers of Xibalba.”

These owls bring the Hero Twins to Xibalba, the Underworld (as they had their fathers before). What I love about them is their independent thinking.

When Xkik’ (Lady Blood) finds herself miraculously pregnant with the Hero Twins, her father Kuchuma Kik’ (Gathered Blood, one of the Lords of Xibalba) orders the owls to take her off and kill her, bringing back her heart.

But bad-ass Lady Blood convinces them to turn against their arrogant masters, replacing her heart with the congealed red sap of a tree in the Underworld. The Lords of Xibalba fall for the ruse, never suspecting that the owls have taken Lady Blood out of their realm.

Years later, the owls would bring her twins sons to Xibalba at their lords command. The two boys would defeat them at last.

So owls … yeah. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

I’d cuss ’em out, just to be safe.