Xiuhtli (MH796v)

This popular name, Xiuhtli, is linked to the religious calendar of years, because it was a name given to boys born during the time of the binding ceremony at the end of every fifty-two year cycle. Glyphs for comets vary considerably, as the examples below will attest. If we think of a comet as a star with a long tail, moving through the sky, it helps understand the ones that look something like a worm with a head and lots of dots or short lines around it. Another one, however, is a horizontal, multicolored snake. A considerable number simply have turquoise (xihuitl) tesserae, which provide a near homophone as a phonetic indicator.