His image has black stripes on his face and he carries an obsidian mirror. Chalchiuhtlicue pronounced Tchal-chee-uh-tlee-ku-eh was the goddess of running water and all aquatic elements.
Centeotl pronounced Cen-teh-otl was the god of maize , and as such he was based on a pan-Mesoamerican god shared by Olmec and Maya religions. He was closely related to Tlaloc and is usually represented as a young man with a maize cob sprouting from his headdress.
He represented the positive counterpart of Tezcatlipoca. He was the patron of knowledge and learning and also a creative god. Quetzalcoatl is also linked to the idea that the last Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, believed that the arrival of the Spanish conquistador Cortes was the fulfilling of a prophecy about the return of the god. However, many scholars now consider this myth as a creation of the Franciscan friars during the post-Conquest period.
He is usually portrayed wearing a flayed human skin representing the death of the old and the growth of the new vegetation. Mayahuel pronounced My-ya-whale is the Aztec goddess of the maguey plant, the sweet sap of which aguamiel was considered her blood. Tlaltechutli Tlal-teh-koo-tlee is the monstrous earth goddess. Her name means "The one who give and devours life" and she required many human sacrifices to sustain her.
Tlaltechutli represents the surface of the earth, who angrily devours the sun every evening to give it back the next day. Updated by K. Kris Hirst.
And after their hearts were cut out, their skins were worn by Aztec priests for 20 days, often bedecked with bright feathers and gold jewelry. On the completion of the festival period, the priest shed the rotting flayed skins, thus once again symbolizing the rebirth aspect of Xipe Totec. In the narrative of the Aztec lore, Chalchiuhtlicue plays a crucial role in the Mexica version of the deluge myth, as she is the one to bring forth the cataclysmic flood and destroy the world of the Fourth Sun the world of the Fifth Sun is once again populated by humans due to the efforts of Quetzalcoatl — discussed earlier in the article.
However, in spite of her seemingly harsh aspect, she does her bit to save the life essence of humans by transforming them into fishes. As for the historical side of affairs, Chalchiuhtlicue was an important Aztec deity in a time period as late as the 16th century.
Her festival coincided with the month of February at the commencement of the rains , usually involving various rituals, like fasting, feasting, bloodletting, and brutal episodes of human sacrifice that even included women and children.
The deity of the hunt, Mixcoatl , among the major Aztec gods, has a pretty complex history in the mythical narrative. Most of these cultures, along with the Aztecs, also tended to associate the lord of the hunt with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens. As for his worship, Mixcoatl was venerated during November Quecholli — the 20th Aztec month , with the festival entailing hunters dressed up like the god engaging in hunting, roasting games, and feasting. In essence, all of these narratives place her as the supreme matronly goddess of the Aztec mythology who nourishes through her feminine abilities as opposed to the abstruse nature of double gender presented by Ometecuhtli , the primordial entity among the Aztec gods.
On the symbolic level, she was also seen as the embodiment of earth — however, with dual characteristics — that of a loving, nourishing mother and of an insatiable force that required the lifeblood of its hosts. Interestingly enough, as opposed to other Aztec gods, Xochiquetzal had pretty straightforward depiction in the mythical narrative, as she was often represented as an attractive, youthful woman who was dressed in her exquisite attire bedecked with flowers and followed by a vibrant retinue of birds and butterflies.
Incredibly enough, it was the latter who elevated her to the position of the goddess of love — thus somewhat mirroring a political rivalry between the major Aztecs deities. Huitzilopochtli The famed Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the Mexica people and a key figure in the creation of the Aztec cosmogony. Xipe Totec Xipe Totec was the Aztec god of agriculture, seasons, goldsmiths, and disease.
Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec version of the Feathered Serpent god that permeated Mesoamerican mythologies. Tlaloc The Aztec god of rain, Tlaloc ensured that rains vital to the harvest arrived on time. Mictlantecuhtli Mictlantecuhtli was the Aztec lord of the dead and ruler of the underworld.
Tezcatlipoca Tezcatlipoca was an omnipresent Aztec deity who, together with Quetzalcoatl, created the world and everything in it. Chalchiuhtlicue The Aztec water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue governed oceans, rivers and lakes. Mixcoatl Mixcoatl was the Aztec god of the hunt and the patron god of the Tlaxcalan people. Xochiquetzal Xochiquetzal was one of several Aztec deities associated with the moon; she also served as the goddess of erotic love, fertility and weaving.
His shrine sat on top of the pyramid of Templo Mayor in the Aztec capital, and was decorated with skulls and painted red to represent blood. In Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli was engaged in a sibling rivalry with his sister and the goddess of the moon, Coyolxauhqui. And so the sun and the moon were in a constant battle for control of the sky. Huitzilopochtli was believed to be accompanied by the spirits of fallen warrior, whose spirits would return to earth as hummingbirds, and the spirits of women who died during childbirth.
His nagual was the jaguar. Tezcatlipoca was one of the most important gods in post-classic Mesoamerican culture and the supreme deity for the Toltecs — Nahua-speaking warriors from the north. Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca together created the world.
However Tezcatlipoca represented an evil power, often associated with death and cold. He plays a key role in other Mesoamerican cultures such as Teotihuacan and the Maya. As the patron of science and learning, Quetzalcoatl invented the calendar and books. He was also identified with the planet Venus. With his dog-headed companion Xolotl, Quetzalcoatl was said to have descended to the land of death to gather the bones of the ancient dead. Her face was made up of two fanged serpents, her skirt of interwoven snakes and she wore a necklace of hands, hearts and a skull.
Coatlicue was as feared as she was beloved, symbolising the antiquity of earth worship and of childbirth.
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