Nahui Ollin
Nahui Ollin is an Aztec concept of cosmic movement and change, associated with the present world age, the Fifth Sun, and the day sign Four Movement.
Aztec cosmology: The Mexica and other Nahua peoples’ accounts of the cosmos, its origins, and its successive ages. Nahui Ollin names the movement associated with the current age in this cosmological framework.
Nahuatl: A Uto-Aztecan language family branch spoken historically across central Mexico and still used by millions. The phrase Nahui Ollin comes from Nahuatl and combines a numeral with a movement term.
Codex Chimalpopoca: A colonial-era Nahuatl manuscript containing accounts of Toltec history and the creation of the world. Its Leyenda de los Soles recounts the succession of world ages, including the present one.
Nahui Atl: Four Water, a day name associated with one of the earlier world ages in Aztec accounts. It names a former sun’s age rather than the present age of Four Movement.
Fifth Sun: The current world age in Aztec cosmology, destined to end in an earthquake. This age is named for Four Movement, the day sign associated with Nahui Ollin.
Nahui: The Nahuatl numeral meaning four. It supplies the numeral in the day name Nahui Ollin.
Florentine Codex: A sixteenth-century bilingual Nahuatl-Spanish encyclopedia of Mexica life compiled under Bernardino de Sahagún. Its accounts document Mexica beliefs and ritual language relevant to interpreting Nahui Ollin.
Nahui Ehecatl: Four Wind, the day name associated with an earlier world age in Aztec accounts. It marks a different age in the sequence of suns.
Aztec calendar: A system combining interlocking cycles to mark days, ritual time, and years in central Mexico. Its day signs provide the calendrical setting for Four Movement.
Tonalpohualli: The 260-day ritual calendar used by central Mexican peoples, including the Mexica. Four Movement is one of its twenty day signs, paired with a numeral.