> treating British occultism as a co-ordinate for serious inquiry into the function of an Aztec artifact
I don't think the article did that. The article suggests the occult significance of obsidian mirrors to Aztecs is known through the relationship of those mirrors to the god Tezcatlipoca:
>The Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, or “Smoking Mirror,” is frequently depicted wearing mirrors that allow him to see humans’ thoughts and actions. As Campbell tells Live Science’s Mindy Weisberger, “[T]here’s quite a specific association with these types of mirrors and that particular deity.”
Of this god, wikipedia says:
> His name in the Nahuatl language is often translated as "Smoking Mirror"[3] and alludes to his connection to obsidian, the material from which mirrors were made in Mesoamerica and which were used for shamanic rituals and prophecy.[4] Another talisman related to Tezcatlipoca was a disc worn as a chest pectoral. This talisman was carved out of abalone shell and depicted on the chest of both Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca in codex illustrations.[5][6]
I don't think the article did that. The article suggests the occult significance of obsidian mirrors to Aztecs is known through the relationship of those mirrors to the god Tezcatlipoca:
>The Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, or “Smoking Mirror,” is frequently depicted wearing mirrors that allow him to see humans’ thoughts and actions. As Campbell tells Live Science’s Mindy Weisberger, “[T]here’s quite a specific association with these types of mirrors and that particular deity.”
Of this god, wikipedia says:
> His name in the Nahuatl language is often translated as "Smoking Mirror"[3] and alludes to his connection to obsidian, the material from which mirrors were made in Mesoamerica and which were used for shamanic rituals and prophecy.[4] Another talisman related to Tezcatlipoca was a disc worn as a chest pectoral. This talisman was carved out of abalone shell and depicted on the chest of both Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca in codex illustrations.[5][6]