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Aztec Gods
Chalchihuitlcue
Lady Precious Green, wife of Tlaloc. Goddess of storms and water.
Personification of youthful beauty, vitality and violence. In some
illustrations she is shown holding the head of Tlazolteotl, the
goddess of the witches, between her legs. Chalchihuitlcue is the
whirlpool, the wind on the waters, all young and growing things,
the beginning of life and creation.
Cinteotl
The corn god, the giver of food, god of fertility and regeneration.
Cinteotl is protected by the rain gods Tlaloc and Chalchihuitlcue.
Coatlicue
Earth monster. In the darkness and chaos before the Creation, the
female Earth Monster swam in the waters of the earth devouring all
that she saw. When the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca decided
to impose form upon the Earth, they changed themselves into serpents
and struggled with the Earth Monster until they broke her in two.
Coatlicue's lower part then rose to form the heavens and her upper
part descended to form the earth. Coatlicue has an endless, ravenous
appetite for human hearts and will not bear fruit unless given human
blood.
Coyolxuahqui
("she who wears copper bells on her face") sister of Huitzilpotchli..
The earth and moon-goddess of the Aztecs. She is related to the
four hundred star-deities Huitznauna, who are under her control.
She possesses magical powers which with she can do great harm. Coyolxauhqui
decapitated her own mother Coatlicue when she became pregnant in
what her children deemed unseemly circumstances. Immediately the
sun-god Huitzilopochtli sprang fully armed from Coatlicue's womb
and slew Coyalxauhqui and many of her kin on the hill of Coatepec
(snake hill). According to one tradition, Huitzilopochtli tossed
Coyalxauhqui's head into the sky where it became the moon. He hoped
that his mother would find comfort at night by seeing the face of
her daughter in the sky.
Eueucoyotl
The Old, Old Coyote. Associated with gaiety and sex. A god of spontaneity,
of ostentatious ornament, of unexpected pleasure and sorrow. A trickster
and troublemaker. Considered unlucky.
Huitzilopochtli
God of war, son of Coatlicue. Principal god of the Aztecs. When
Coatlicue became pregnant with Huitzilopochtli, her daughter Coyolxauhqui
incited her brothers, the Centzon Huitznahua (the Four Hundred Stars)
to destroy Coatlicue, because her pregnancy brought disgrace on
the family. Still in the womb, Huitzilopochtli swore to defend his
mother and immediately on being born put on battle armor and war
paint. After defeating the Four Hundred Stars, Huitzilopochtli slew
his sister and cast her down the hill at Templo Mayor where her
body broke to pieces on striking the bottom. Priests at Templo Mayor
killed prisoners in the same way, these sacrifices being replicas
of mythical events designed to keep the daily battle between day
and night and the birth of the God of War ever in the minds of the
people. Often considered synonomous with QUETZALCOATL.
Itzcoliuhqui
The Twisted Obsidian One, the God of the Curved Obsidian Blade.
God of darkness and destruction. Blinded and cast down from the
heavens, Itzcoliuhqui strikes out randomly at his victims.
Itzpapalotl
Obsidian Butterfly. Beautiful, demonic, armed with the claws of
a jaguar. The female counterpart of Itzcoliuhqui.
Mictlan
Below the world of living men there are nine underworlds, the lowest
of which is Mictlan, the Land of the Dead ruled by Mictlantechupi
and his consort Mictlancihuntl. Souls who win no merit in life come
here after death, but they do not suffer as in the Christian hell.
Instead they merely endure a rather drab and colorless existence
before passing again into the world of the living. As a man disappears
into the West, the direction of the dead, the seeds of his rebirth
are sown.
Ometeotl
"God of the Near and Close," "He Who Is at the Center," the god
above all, the being both male and female who created all life and
existence. Ometeotl is dualistic, embodying both male and female,
light and dark, positive and negative, yes and no. Ometoetol occupies
Omeyocan, the highest of the Aztecs' thirteen heavens, and the four
heavens immediately below Omeyocan are a mystery about which no
one knows very much. Below the five highest heavens is a region
of strife and tempest, where Ometeotl breaks into his many facets
or aspects.
Quetzalcoatl
The Feathered Serpent. The Precious Twin who lifts the sun out of
darkness, god of the winds and the breath of life, First Lord of
the Toltecs. Lawgiver, civilizer, creator of the calender. Demons
tempted Quetzalcoatl constantly to commit murder and human sacrifice,
but his love was too great for him to succumb. To atone for great
sins, Quetzcoatl threw himself on into a funeral pyre, where his
ashes rose to the heavens as a flock of birds carrying his heart
to the star Venus. A frieze in the palace at Teotihuacan shows his
first entry into the world in the shape of a chrysalis, from which
he struggles to emerge as a butterfly, the symbol of perfection.
Quetzalcoatl is by far the most compassionate of the Azec gods --
he only demands one human sacrifice a year. Often considered synonomous
with HUITZILOPOTCHLI.
Tezcatlipoca
The Prince of This World, the Mirror that Smokes, the One Always
at the Shoulder, the Shadow. A trickster, revered particularly by
soldiers and magicians. The name refers to the black obsidian mirrors
used by magicians which become cloudy when scrying. A god of wealth
and power, Tezcatlopoca's favors can only be won by those willing
to face his terrors. Ruler over the early years of a man's life.
Tlaloc
Lord of all sources of water, clouds, rain, lightening, mountain
springs, and weather.
Tlalocan
Kingdom of Tlaloc, a heaven of sensual delights, of rainbows, butterflies
and flowers, of simple-minded and shallow pleasures. Souls spend
only four years here before returning to the land of the living.
Unless it strives for higher and nobler things while living, a soul
is destined for this endless round of mortal life and Tlalocan.
When a life had been particularly evil, a soul might journey instead
to Mictlan.
Tlillan-Tlapallan
The land of the fleshless. The Land of the Black and Red, the colors
signifying wisdom. A paradise for those who successfully follow
the teachings of Quetzalcoatl. Those souls who come to Tlillan-Tlapallan
have learned to live without fleshly bodies, a state greatly to
be desired.
Tlazolteotl
Eater of filth, devourer of sins, goddess of witches and witchcraft.
Tlazolteotl has power over all forms of unclean behavior, usually
sexual. Confessing sins to Tlazolteotl, one is cleansed. The goddess
has four forms or aspects, corresponding to the phases of the moon:
a young and carefree temptress, the lover of Quetzalcoatl; the Goddess
of gambling and uncertainty; the Great Priestess who consumes and
destroys the sins of mankind; and frightful old crone, persecutor
and destroyer of youth.
Tonatiuh
God of the Sun. Poor and ill, Tonatiuh cast himself into the flames,
and being burnt up, was resurrected. Daily Tonatiuh repeats his
passage across the heavens, down into darkness, and back again into
the sky. With him Tonatiuh carries all brave warriors who have died
in battle and all brave women who have died in childbirth. The greatest
heroes Tonatiuh carries with him to the greatest heights. In Tonatiuhican,
the House of the Sun, dwell those who have won even greater enlightenment
than those who dwell in Tlillan-Tlapallan.
Xipe Totec
Lord of the Spring, god of newly planted seed and of pentitential
torture. A pockmarked saviour who tears out his eyes and flays himself
in penance to the gods, thus persuading the gods to give maize to
men. Giving up his pockmarked skin, Xipe Totec is then clad in robes
of gold.
Xiuhtecuhtli
Lord of fire, Lord of the Pole Star, pivot of the universe, one
of the forms of the Supreme Deity. The lord of every flame, from
those which burn in the temples to those which burn in the lowliest
huts.
Xolotl
The god with backward feet who brought Man as well as Fire from
the underworlds. Bringer of misfortune. The evil aspect of the star
Venus. Quetzalcoatl's deformed twin.
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Native American Legends A-B