Many Nahua people today trace their ancestry to the ancient Aztecs. However, 500 years of sometimes violent history separates the 16th-century Mesoamericans from the modern people. This long time span makes it surprising that many beliefs and customs of the contemporary Nahua and other Native American groups today so closely resemble the descriptions recorded by Spanish chroniclers.

In order to win the favor of these spirits, people must periodically travel to these sacred sites and deliver gifts to the beings who reside there. Because of these beliefs, both the ancient and modern people of Mesoamerica organize pilgrimages to visit the sacred locations in the regions where they live.

Nahua pilgrimages are organized by a ritual specialist called a tlamatiquetl in the Nahuatl language. The word means “person of knowledge,” and anyone can aspire to become such a shaman-priest if they are willing to undergo the long grueling apprenticeship. To organize a pilgrimage, a person of knowledge must first notify friends and helpers in his or her own village and in neighboring communities.

The most important features of pilgrimages involve the construction of elaborately decorated altars and the dedication of offerings to selected spirit beings that are related to crop abundance. Including all of the time spent preparing for it, a pilgrimage may last 10 days or longer. During a pilgrimage, the participants get very little sleep.

About one third of the way to the top, the people stop to rest and decorate an altar dedicated to the cloud spirits. After an hour or two, they resume their climb and stop again at a flat place about two-thirds of the way up. Here they decorate yet another altar to water. Nearby are two small clefts in the rock, said to be the homes of Apanchanej and her thunder spirit companions. It is from these openings that they send rain to the farmers’ fields far below.