tlalcua. | Nahuatl Dictionary

tlalcua.

Headword:

tlalcua.

Principal English Translation:

to swear or pledge by kissing the ground, or to eat dirt (see Molina)

Orthographic Variants:

tlalqua

Alonso de Molina:

tlalqua. ni. (pret. onitlalqua.) jurar besando la tierra, o comer tierra.
Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 124v. col. 1. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.

Attestations from sources in English:

Sometimes translated literarlly as to "eat earth," but it is also described as kissing the earth using the fingers, touching the earth and then the mouth, a ritual. (see Spanish attestations)

Attestations from sources in Spanish:

tlalcualistli [tlalcualiztli] = "tlalli, tierra; cualistli, comida = «comida de tierra,» alusión al acto de tocar con la mano la tierra y llevarla después á la boca , que ejecutaban en el juramento solemne"
Cecilio A. Robelo, "Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa," Anales del Museo Nacional de México 4 (1907), p. 127.

themes:

Religion (Indigenous)