malinalli (TR8r)

The contextualizing image, below, shows that this sign is part of a date. As a date, malinalli could be a common name. Apparently, it was given to girls, and the sign came to serve the purpose of indicating the name Marina or María, nearly homophones for Malinal. Malinal- also appears as part of place names, such as is found in the Codex Mendoza (below). Two of these examples convey the twisted or entwined nature of the grass as it appears in many variations. The twisting and entwining of grasses suggests movement that would be required to have that result. According to James Maffie (2014, 482), Malinalli grasses represent motion, movement, and change. He writes that malinalli energy "initiates new olin-defined life~death cycles as well as feeds and renews existing olin-defined life~death cycles. Malinalli-shaped energy fuels the four-phased, olin motion-change of the Fifth Sun and all things in the Fifth Age. It is the shape of energy that nourishes humans, as well as plants, animals, Earth, Sun, rain, wind, fire, and Fifth Age." He continues: "If olin represents the pulsating heart beat of the Fifth Age, then malinalli represents the bloodstream and foodstream--the twisting arteries, veins, and entrails--of the Fifth Age." And: "Aztec artists conveyed the idea of malinalli using spirals, coils, twists, double helices, double-unfolding spirals, the xicalcoliuhqui, and the malinalli day sign glyph."