Teotl: The Aztec Gods

Introduction
I grew up watching American cartoons, reading American books and
listening to American music in Mexico. I always had an interest in ancient
mythology but it always seemed as if all I was learning was based on Roman
or Greek mythology. It wasnt until high school when I was introduced to
Aztec mythology. When I found about our gods it was as if I had found a new
identity, my cousin and I decided that we can should do something to share
our heritage with the world. We decided that we would try to make a
childrens version of Aztec mythology. The following is an attempt to research
the Aztec deities in hopes of creating a children friendly version of them.
Tezcatlipoca
The most important Aztec god and perhaps the most difficult one to
understand was Tezcatlipoca. His presence was an embodiment of the duality
of Aztec thought and culture as well as a complex of shifting identities.
Tezcatlipoca was at once one being and four: the Four Tezcatlipocas, lords of
the directions, governed the creation and destruction of the Earth and Sun.
In the east was the red Tezcatlipoca, Xipe Totec; in the south the blue
Huitzilopochtli; white Quetzalcoatl in the west; in the north the Black
Tezcatlipoca or Tezcatlipoca proper. (Burkhart, Tezcatlipoca) In order to
better understand this figure we must look at Tezcatlipoca as a whole. In
such a condensed entity we can see it as an analogy that represents

everything in the world, all that is good and all that is bad. Each part is
complex on its own but they each serve the function of balancing the world.
Quetzalcoatl
White Quetzalcoatl is the most known figure in Aztec mythology.
Feathered Serpent has his origins long before the Aztecs. From El Tajin to
the Maya world, the representation of a feathered serpent as a deity is
prevalent throughout the Mesoamerican world. One of the most iconic preAztec depictions comes in the form of the temple of the feathered serpent at
Teotihuacan. The icon that symbolized the god consisted of a rattlesnake
with scales covered by the long green feathers of the quetzal bird. The usual
interpretation of this fusion of avian and reptilian features is a contrastive
dualism signifying the union of sky and earth, embodying a creative concept.
(Nicholson) After the Spanish conquest the myth of Quetzalcoatl became
associated with Hernan Cortes, many historians agree that this came about
thanks in large part to a Spanish misrepresentation of the Quetzalcoatl.
Quetzalcoatl maintained a close relationship with the sun, the fact that the
sun rises in the East and returns to the world.
Black Tezcatlipoca
Opposite of Quetzalcoatl stood Black Tezcatlipoca or smoking mirror.
These two deities lived in constant conflict with each other and largely
symbolized the battle between light and darkness in Aztec cosmology.
Although he embodied a dark figure, Tezcatlipoca is not an innately evil

figure. The Aztec creation myth of the fifth sun comes about in great part
due to the conflicts between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. In it their
conflicts have led to the end of the previous four suns. Also known as Lord
of the Here and Now, he is seen as an omnipotent and omnipresent force
that caused conflict, disharmony and change (Sanchez).

Xipe Totec
The red Tezcatlipoca, Xipe Totec, is one of the most enigmatic figures is
Aztec mythology. His name literally translates to Our Lord the Flayed One
and he is most often depicted as a figure wearing human skin. Because of
this Xipe Totec inspired the flaying of victims for sacrificial purposes. Despite
of this macabre appearance, he was largely a symbol for warfare and
renewal. His shedding of the skin is thought to symbolize the shedding of the
outer germ of maize thus bringing about food for mankind. One the rituals
associated with him, Tlacaxipehualiztli, takes place during the second month
of the Aztec calendar. During this ritual priests wore the skins of human
victims for upwards of twenty days. Other symbolic rituals include the tying
of captives to a frame and the firing of arrows, the blood of the captives
would symbolize the rain falling on crops (Xipe Totec).
Huitzilopochtli
The southern Tezcatlipoca, blue Huitzilopochtli would eventually
become the patron deity of the Aztecs. His name means humming bird on

the left and it is a reference to his association with the southern or winter
sun which passes on the left hand side of the sky (Burkhart,
Huitzilopochtli). He is the god of war and associated with the sun. It is
under his guidance that the Mexica left the mythical land Aztlan in search of
a new homeland (Snchez). In Aztec folklore hummingbirds were associated
with the spirit of fallen warriors thus were given veneration throughout
society. In Nahuatl poetry the hummingbird has also been associated with
the brevity of life thus placing even more importance in living a meaningful
and honorable life. This sense of purpose fed Aztec warriors and made them
willing to give their life for Huitzilopochtli.
One need look no further than the center of axis culture, Tenochtitlan,
to see the importance of Huitzilopochtli. The legend states that after a battle
with his nephew Copil, Huitzilopochtlis priest threw Copils heart into Lake
Texcoco and from it arose a small rocky island. This island would become the
site of Tenochtitlan. His temple stood in the middle of the city atop the great
Hueteocalli (Great God House) which he shared with Tlaloc (Snchez). Also
known as Templo Mayor, this edifice was the center of Aztec religion and a
central part of their way of life. His temple sat on the left side of the building,
true to his name. Given the importance of sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli this
wouldve been a place in which many rituals involving human sacrifice
wouldve taken place.
The myth of Huitzilopochtli begins with the death of his mother,
Coatlicue. According to the story, Coatlicue (Serpent Skirt) was the mother of

four hundred stars and Coyolxauhqui, she lived in the mythical Coatepec
(Serpent Hill). One day while sweeping, she was surprised by a ball of
feathers that appeared with the wind and magically impregnated her. Her
sons and her daughter Coyolxauhqui saw their mothers pregnancy as an
insult and rallied to Coatepec to kill her. As Coatlicue is dying she gives birth
to Huitzilopochtli and he manages to avenge his mother by fighting off his
brothers and decapitating his sister. He then throws Coyolxauhquis head to
the sky and she becomes the moon. It is important to note that this part of
the myth remained a point of debate among scholars until the finding of the
stone of Coyolxauhqui in 1978. Many correlations have been made between
this story and the cosmovision of the Aztecs. They believed that the moon
fell from the sky because it was defeated by the sun. The stone also supports
some claims that the ritual of Pantquetzaliztli in which sacrificed prisoners
were thrown off the temple in order to replicate the body of Coyolxauhqui
(Rodrguez).
Coatlicue
Coatlicue here serves to explain one of the most studied aspects of the
Aztec belief system, duality. She is often seen as a symbol of fertility and as
a mother earth figure but it is important to note that just as the earth
provided it also consumes (Coatlicue). This brings us to the Aztec concept
of duality. Coatlicue is a prime Erepresentation of this concept, she is the
giver of life yet she is often portrayed decapitated, an eerie reminder that life
and death exist side by side. Unlike in most western religions, Aztec gender

roles were not ordered in a hierarchical fashion. Rather than succumb to

male superiority, the female aspects of the universe work hand in hand with
its counterpart. All throughout the thirteen levels of heaven and nine levels
of the underworld there is a representation of both male and female deities.
To further highlight this balance, the top level of the heaven is ruled by a
male-female deity and the deepest level of the underworld is ruled by a
male-female pair, lord and lady Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecihuatl (Ruether
193-194).
Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecihuatl
The Aztec underworld, or talocan, is a place where the human world is
mirrored by the supernatural. Unlike the western view of the underworld,
talocan is not demonized or placed in an eternal struggle with the heavens.
The structure of talocan is separated into four corners, much like the
structure of the Tezcatlipoca. The regions of the underworld are separated
into the four directions and they are all ruled by separate but connected
deities, the most notable of which are the aforementioned lord and lady
Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecihuatl (Knab). These lords guided the called the
souls of the dead and guided them through a journey in the underworld until
they found their resting place. They are often portrayed with a skull for a
face and in the body of a skeleton. In the story of the creation of humans, the
bones that Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl were sent to steal belonged to
Mictlantecuhtli. From these bones the race of man was created (Fernndez).

Tlaloc
Atop the Hueteocalli sits the temple of Tlaloc, the rain deity. Tlalocs
iconic look is characterized by a set of rings around his eyes (Keber). From
the colonial period until recently the set of rings were thought to be a pair of
glasses, recent scholars have suggested that these are mirrors. Tlaloc is also
associated to other sources of water such as caves, springs and mountains.
Recent studies have suggested that Tlaloc may be related to the Aztec seats
of power altepetl or water mountains. Tlaloc has also been associated with
talocan the most holy earth as a facet of Aztec religion(Knab).
Tlaltecuhtli
In his book, El Quinto Sol Alfonso Cano names one of the four earth deities as
Tlaltecuhtli. He is featured in many Aztec monuments throughout the post
classic period. The figure of Tlaltecuhtli was also found with many of the
iconic monoliths we associate with the Aztecs today. At the bottom of some
of the most important statues that have been found, like the stone of
Coatlicue, there is a relief of Tlaltecuhtli facing the earth (Kilroy-Ewbank and
Zucker). This symbolic placement is meant as an acknowledgement of the
role of the earth in supporting this deities.

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