- the god of death and lord of the underworld, the worst world of all the nine worlds of hell. Usually Ah Puch was depicted as a skeleton or corpse or in an anthropomorphic form with a skull instead of a head, black corpse spots on the body; his headdress is shaped like the head of an owl or caiman.
Kavil is one of the supreme Mayan gods, the lord of the elements, causing earthquakes, possibly the god of thunderstorms and war. His constant attribute is the celtic axe.
Camashtli is the god of the stars, the polar star, hunting, battles, clouds and fate. Creator of fire, one of the four gods who created the world.
Quetzalcoatl is the creator god of the world, creator of man and culture, lord of the elements, god of the morning star, twins, patron of priesthood and science, ruler of the Toltec capital - Tollan. Quetzalcoatl - “snake covered with green feathers.”
Kukulkan is the god of the four Holy Gifts - fire, earth, air and water; and each element was associated with a divine animal or plant: Air - Eagle, Earth - Corn, Fire - Lizard, Water - Fish.
Metztli is the god of the moon in Aztec mythology. Metztli is often depicted as a black disk or vessel of water with a rabbit on it.
Mictlantecuhtli is the ruler of the kingdom of the dead. In Aztec mythology, the god of the afterlife (underground) world and the underworld was depicted as a skeleton or with a skull instead of a head; his constant companions are a bat, a spider and an owl.
Mixcoatl - "cloud serpent". Initially, among the Chichimecs, Mixcoatl was a hunting deity, worshiped in the form of a deer. Later, the Aztecs associated with the cult of Huitzilopochtli and was considered the progenitor of the Nahua tribes.
Sinteotl is the god of corn. He was considered the patron saint of farmers. In ancient times, before the Olmecs, Sinteotl was revered by all the inhabitants of Mesoamerica under different names.
Tezcatlipoca is one of the three main gods; patron of priests, punisher of criminals, lord of the stars and cold, lord of the elements, causing earthquakes; he is the demiurge god and at the same time the destroyer of the world.
Tlaloc - god of rain and thunder, agriculture, fire and the southern side of the world, ruler of all edible plants; among the Mayans - Chac, among the Totonacs - Tajin, among the Mixtecs - Tsavi, among the Zapotecs - Cocijo-Pitao.
Tonatiuh - in Aztec mythology, the god of the sky and the sun, the god of warriors. The cult of Tonatiuh was one of the most important in Aztec society. Tonatiuh rules the fifth, current world era. He was depicted as a young man with a red face and fiery hair.
Huitzilopochtli is the god of the blue clear sky, the young sun, hunting, and the special patron of the youth of the Aztec nobility. In other myths, Huitzilopochtli among the Aztecs is the god of war, to whom the most brutal, bloody human sacrifices were made.
In May of this year, we already wrote about the Aztecs - fierce warriors, cunning politicians and natural administrators who built one of the most powerful empires in Mesoamerica. An empire in which religion played no small role in its demise. Belief in supernatural beings made the Indians consider the Spaniards gods and tremble with fear at the sight of conquistadors riding unprecedented horses (which, however, did not stop them from cutting off the heads of horses with one blow of their macuahuitl swords). Many Aztecs could not even imagine that the “return” of Quetzalcoatl - Cortez would be the end of the world for them.
Only fragmentary information has been preserved about the Aztec bestiary. Spanish priests took great care to ensure that the fictional inhabitants of the South American jungle never left the bas-reliefs of the destroyed pyramids. However, even a few pictures in half-worn codices create a picture of an amazing world in which there were more gods than fantastic animals. Meet the fictional creatures who destroyed the real empire!
The Divine Comedy
The opening pages of the Aztec bestiary are dedicated to the history of our world. In the first “sun” (era), the gods were greatly hindered by a giant Sipaktli- a hybrid of fish and crocodile, on each joint of which grew a head with an open, hungry mouth. The gods descended into the primordial world ocean, grabbed the poor monster by the limbs and began to pull in different directions until they tore the poor fellow into pieces. However, Zipactli managed to bite off Tezcatlipoca’s leg, so in most drawings he sports a stump.
The monster's head became the heavens, the body became the earth, and the tail became the underworld (compare with the Sumerian myth of Tiamat). The gods populated the earth with giant people. But soon the celestials quarreled with each other, knocked the sun out of the sky with a stone club, and the angry Tezcatlipoca created jaguars and ordered them to devour all the people.
When emotions subsided, the gods created new people - this time small in size. At first everything went well, but then these ungrateful creatures stopped worshiping the celestials, and Tezcatlipoca decided to teach them a lesson by turning them into monkeys. Quetzalcoatlus did not like this, and he blew away all the primates from the Earth, causing an unprecedented hurricane (some of the monkeys, apparently, saved themselves by clinging to trees - this has been the case ever since).
On the third “sun”, Tezcatlipoca distinguished himself by seducing the wife of the rain god Tlaloc (he didn’t have to strain much, since he was dealing with the goddess of sex), who was temporarily acting as the day’s luminary. The latter became so sad that he was distracted from his main work and caused a great drought for the people. They began to pray for rain, but God, out of balance, gave them an asymmetrical answer in the form of a fiery hail that destroyed the entire Earth.
The gods quickly rebuilt it, but the restless Tezcatlipoca upset the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue so much that she cried blood for 52 years, as a result of which some people drowned and some turned into fish.
Now we are in the era of the fifth “sun”. The Aztecs supported his fight against the night by regularly disemboweling people on the tops of the pyramids. For almost 500 years, rituals have not been observed, but eternal darkness and transformation into some kind of animal (for example, blind moles) do not threaten us. According to ancient legends, the fifth world will perish from terrible earthquakes.
High flying birds
The Aztec bestiary is interesting because it mixed gods and animals. Many higher beings were associated with specific animals or had a zoomorphic appearance. And vice versa - many animals were endowed with divine traits. In terms of the number of fictional creatures, the Aztecs are able to compete with the creators of the Dungeons & Dragons gaming system - they have about a hundred gods alone.
Birds dominate the oldest Aztec legends. The history of this people begins with herons. At least, the name of the legendary ancestral home - Aztlan - is translated as “country of herons”*. From there the Aztecs were led out by a divine hummingbird named Huitzilopochtli(“hummingbird of the left side” or “left-handed hummingbird”), and they founded their capital in the place where an eagle sat on a cactus (and pecked at a snake, according to other versions of the legend - ate a small bird or the cactus itself).
*This fact is controversial, since in the Nahuatl language “land of herons” sounds like “Aztatlan”.
Soon the divine hummingbird transformed into one of the most important Aztec gods. He was born from the goddess Coatlicue - a rather sweet woman who wears a skirt made of snakes and a necklace of human hearts, and has grown claws on her feet for digging up graves. One day, while the goddess was sweeping the temple, a bunch of feathers fell on her. From this the lady miraculously became pregnant, which greatly angered her daughter Coyolxauqui. She planned to kill her mother, who had disgraced herself with feathers. Huitzilopochtli, who was in the womb, heard about this and made proper preparations. Immediately before the murder, he jumped out of his mother in full combat gear, cut off his sister’s head and threw her into the sky, where she became the Moon. Even hummingbirds can be dangerous sometimes.
Rain God Tlaloc looked like a man - except for the owl's eyes, jaguar fangs and snakes on his face. His “subordinate” animals are frogs and snakes. Those killed by lightning, drowned people, lepers and gout fell into Tlaloc's heavenly domain. Every year, in honor of this god, the Aztecs drowned many children.
Eagles were representatives of the solar god Tonatiuh. The name of this deity is associated with “signature” Aztec sacrifices, since blood was considered the “fuel” of the Sun, without which it would stop, go out and destroy the whole world. The number of victims was in the tens of thousands per year, although perhaps they were exaggerated both by the Aztecs themselves (so that neighboring tribes would be afraid of them) and by the Spaniards (who wanted to cast a black light on the Indians).
At a simpler, everyday level, the Aztecs scared their children with a bird Tkaklo Hork(literally “Bird of Death”). She lived high in the mountains and was strong enough to grab a child and drag him to her chicks in a nest strewn with human skulls.
In the animal world
Near the rivers it robs Acuizotl- a creature like a black otter or monkey with a dog's head, dexterous hands and an additional limb instead of a tail, which it extends out of the water to grab prey. At night, Acuizotl imitates a crying child, luring gullible travelers. The body of the victim, dragged under water, soon floats up. The flesh is intact, not a single scratch on the skin. Only eyes, teeth and nails are missing - these are what this monster considers the most delicious.
In the case of Acuizotl, the dog “rummaged” through history. This was the name of the Aztec emperor who reigned from 1486 to 1502. His coat of arms depicted a dog-like creature with a hand instead of a tail. Acuizotl's reign was short and despotic even by the standards of the harsh Aztecs, so that popular memory quickly turned the tyrant into a monster dog.
God Xolotl had three forms: a skeleton, a dog-headed man, or a monstrous beast with legs turned backwards. He served as a guide for souls in the underworld, sending lightning, fire and bad luck to people.
An ancient breed of hairless Mexican dog was named after Xolotl ( sholoitzkuntli). The Aztecs believed that Xolotl made these dogs from bone meal mixed with blood from Quetzalcoatl's penis - that is, from the same material as people. The Indians kept these dogs as sacred pets, believing that after the death of the owner they would take his soul to the right place. That, however, did not stop them from serving fried sholoitzkuntli (dog dishes caused no less shock among the Spaniards than the blood-stained steps of the pyramids).
Another Aztec dog is a goddess Chantico, “The one who lives in the house.” The scope of her metaphysical responsibility is quite varied: the hearth, the ripening of corn and volcanic eruptions. One day, during Lent, this agricultural and volcanic goddess could not resist eating fried fish with paprika. The use of paprika during Lent was prohibited, so the apostate was turned into a dog. Occasionally she takes the form of a red snake. Chantico can be identified by the crown of poisonous cactus spines on its head.
The Aztecs appointed Coyote as the god of music, dancing and fun by name Huehuecoyotl. Folk fantasy attached human limbs to the body of a coyote. He can change his appearance and, like the Scandinavian Loki, loves practical jokes. As a rule, the coyote's jokes with the gods ultimately turn against him. Sometimes Huehuecoitl gets bored and starts wars between people.
The jaguar was identified with a god named Tepeyolotl, that is, “The Heart of the Mountains.” He lived in mountain caves, filled the earth with his roar (produced earthquakes) and created a mountain echo, and his skin was covered with spots symbolizing the stars in the night sky. In addition, the jaguar was one of the favorite looks Tezcatlipoca- “smoking mirror”, god-sorcerer, patron of priests and destroyer of the world.
The second "sun" ended with a hurricane and people turning into monkeys, so it makes sense that the wind god Ehecatl depicted with a monkey's body. His head is decorated with a red bird's beak, and instead of a tail, a snake moves. This sight may seem unattractive to some, but according to legends, Ehecatl brought love to our world, being the first of the gods to fall in love with a mortal woman Mayahual. It was probably then that the stereotype arose that a man should be only slightly more beautiful than a monkey. The main thing is that in some other respects he is not inferior to God.
One day Mayahual I noticed that a rabbit that had eaten agave was running around the field in a completely inadequate state. So she discovered the alcoholic potential of this cactus, for which the gods made Mayahual a goddess - the personification of agave. According to legend, she gave birth Senzon Totochin- 400 rabbits, which became the patrons of intoxication (there is evidence that the Aztecs measured the degree of intoxication on a scale from 1 to 400 rabbits). It is still customary in Mexico to throw a little drink on the floor before drinking pulque as a sacrifice to rabbits.
Mayahual subsequently married a god Patecatl, personifying herbs and roots. His name is translated accordingly: “He is from the land of medicines.” The Aztecs perceived the concept of “medicine” in a rather unique way, so Patecatl’s main function was to patronize alcohol.
Doors leading to the kingdom are hidden in dry cotton trees. Chanekov- peculiar elementals, spirits of nature, protecting it from humans. If necessary, they attack him and “knock out” the soul from the body, after which they take it to themselves deep into the earth. There are rituals that call the soul back, but if they are not performed in time, the body will die. Later versions of the legends describe Chaneks as children with the faces of old men.
One of the characters in Pratchett's Discworld was named Twoflower. And the Aztecs had a god of intemperance Macuilxochitl, which literally means "Five Flowers". He was often depicted as a turtle with a human head. At the base of the statues were carved images of psychoactive mushrooms, tobacco, oliluqui (seeds of Turbina corymbosa, a decoction of which was given to crime suspects so that they would tell the truth), Chaimia livofolia (an auditory hallucinogen that changes the perception of sounds and paints the world in yellow-white tones, for which the plant was called “opening the sun”). Other "flowers" are not identified.
Considering this, as well as the fact that Macuilxochitl was usually depicted with his mouth open and his eyes rolled back, scientists draw a conclusion about the “profession” of this god. He patronized not ordinary gluttons or drunkards, but mainly drug addicts. Or rather, to the priests who entered into a narcotic ecstasy, it was like going to their own home.
Was a full-fledged goddess of flowers Xochiquetzal, “Flower Bird” (according to Aztec custom, it was also responsible for things very far from flora - for example, dancing, games and prostitution). Her retinue consisted of birds and butterflies. Unlike other Aztec gods, the flower goddess did not require her worshipers to strangle each other with their own intestines. It was enough for her that people hold flower festivals once every 8 years.
The corn goddess was named Chicometoatl, which meant "Seven Snakes". In September, a girl was appointed as her, who at the end of the month was beheaded, the blood was drained from the body and watered on the statue of the goddess. The priest removed the skin from the corpse and wore it on himself.
The Aztecs had great respect for snakes and dedicated them to many gods. "White Cloud Serpent" was called Mixcoatl, patron of heaven and hunting. Its physical embodiment was the Milky Way - a large white "snake" behind the clouds. Previously, he had the appearance of a deer or a rabbit, but later became a serpent-man, shooting lightning arrows and carving heavenly fire with a flint.
Judging by the myths, Mixcoatl's favorite pastime was impregnating unsuspecting goddesses with the help of the most inappropriate objects. He is suspected of the above-described pregnancy of Coatlicue, where the god took the form of a ball of feathers. Another legend says that he turned into a stone knife and fell on Coatlicue, causing it to give birth to the stars and the Moon.
A
Akolmiztli - god of the underworld.
Acolnahuacatl - god of the underworld.
Acuecucyoticihuati - goddess of the ocean, flowing water and rivers. Associated with the cult of Chalchiuhtlicue - it is its hypostasis. Patronizes working women.
Amimitl - god of lakes and fishermen.
Aztlan - "Land of the Herons", the mythical ancestral home of the Aztecs. In legends it is described as an island in the middle of a large lake. Initially, the Aztecs, like other Nahua peoples, considered their ancestral homeland to be Chicomostoc, a country located somewhere in the northwest of the Valley of Mexico. The myth of Aztlan arose after the Aztecs formed their own state.
Atl (Atl) - god of water.
Atlacamani - goddess of storms that originate in the ocean.
Atlacoya - goddess of drought.
Atlatonin is one of the names of the Aztec mother goddess.
Atlaua - "Lord of the Waters", a powerful god of water. Associated with the arrow (atlatl). He is also the patron god of fishermen.
Ayauhteotl - goddess of frost and fog, observed only at night or early in the morning. Associated with vanity and celebrity.
AND
Ilamatecutli - “Old Lady”, in Aztec mythology, a goddess associated with the cult of earth and maize, the first wife of Mixcoatl, one of the incarnations of the goddess of earth and childbirth, Cihuacoatl.
Iztaccihuatl - "Sleeping Woman". Daughter of an Aztec ruler, beloved of Popocatepetl. The gods turned them into mountains.
Itzlacoliuhque - god of the obsidian knife. One of the incarnations of Tezcatlipoca.
Itzli - god of the stone knife and sacrifices.
Itzpapalotl - "Obsidian Butterfly", goddess of fate associated with the cult of plants. Originally she was one of the deities of hunting among the Chichimecs. She was depicted as a butterfly with wings studded with obsidian blades at the edges, or as a woman with jaguar claws on her hands and feet. She was killed by Mixcoatl.
Ixcuina - goddess of lust, patroness of prostitutes and cheating spouses.
Ixtlilton - "Black Face", goddess of medicine, health and healing, as well as festivals and games. Sacrifices were made to her when the child began to speak; sick children were treated with water from jugs that stood in front of the statue of Ishtlilton.
TO
Camaxtli (Camaxtli) is the god of war, hunting and fate. Creator of fire. One of the 4 gods who created the world. He is also the tribal god of the Chichimecs.
Quetzalcoatl - "Feathered Serpent". In the mythology of the Aztecs and Toltecs, the demiurge god, the creator of man and culture, the lord of the elements. One of the main gods of the Toltecs, Aztecs and other peoples of central Mesoamerica. He took part in the creation and destruction of various world eras, and ruled one of the world eras, creating for this era a person from the bones of people of previous eras, collected in Mictlan. He is also the god of the winds, Ehecatl (one of his forms), and the god of waters and abundance. As the god of waters, he commanded lightning, which in its forms reminded the Aztecs of the silhouettes of celestial serpents. He is believed to be the son of Coatlicue and the twin brother of Xolotl. As a bearer of culture, he gave the world corn (maize) and the calendar, and is the patron of arts and crafts. According to one myth, after his death he turned into the morning star (Venus) and became associated with Tlauitzcalpantecuhtli. Among the Toltecs, his opponent was Tezcatlipoca (“smoking mirror”). Later, the Aztecs made it a symbol of death and rebirth, and the patron of priests. The high priests were called by his name - Quetzalcoatl. The god Quetzalcoatl is often associated with the Toltec ruler-priest Topiltzin Se Acatl, who ruled Tula in the 10th century. The priest was the son of Mixcoatl (Camashtli) and Chimalman, and was born in Michatlauhco, "Deep waters where fish live." The cult of Quetzalcoatl was widespread in Teotihuacan, Tula, Xochilco, Cholula, Tenochtitlan and Chichen Itza.
Coatlicue - “She is in a dress of snakes”, Coatlantonan - “Our snake mother”. Goddess of earth and fire, mother of the gods and stars of the southern sky. It simultaneously contains the beginning and end of life. She was depicted wearing clothes made of snakes. She is the mother of the sun god Huitzilopochtli. According to myth, Coatlicue was a pious widow and lived with her sons - Senzon Huiznahua ("400 Southern Stars") and the daughter of Coyolxauqui - the goddess of the moon. Every day Coatlicue climbed Mount Coatepec ("snake mountain") to make a sacrifice. Coatlicue is the personification of the earth, from which the sun (Huitzilopochtli) appears every day, driving away the moon and stars. At the same time, Coatlicue is the goddess of death, because the earth devours all living things.
Coyolxauhqui - "Golden Bells". Goddess of the earth and moon. Controls the 400 star deities of Witznaun. Possesses magical powers that can cause colossal harm.
Cochimetl - god of commerce, patron of merchants.
M
Mayahuel - in Aztec mythology, initially one of the goddesses of fertility, then the goddess who gave people agave and the alcoholic drink octli. Goddess Maguey (type of agave). It turned into a maguey, infusing the plant with longevity spells. Depicted as a woman with 400 breasts.
Macuilxochitl - "5th flower". God of music and dance. God of spring, love and fun, patron of the arts. Another name is Xochipilli.
Malinalxochi is the sister of Huitzilopochtli. A sorceress who has power over scorpions, snakes and other stinging and biting desert insects.
Metztli - lunar god.
Mextli is the main god of the Mexicans, who gave the name to the country. He is often associated with Huitzilopochtli. Hundreds of people were sacrificed to him every year. Meshitli was the god of war and storms.
Mictlan - in Aztec mythology, the underworld, divided into nine levels. The last level of the underworld was located in the north. All souls, with the exception of warriors killed in battle, women and children who died during childbirth (they went to Tonatihuichan or “House of the Sun”), and drowned people (they ended up in Tlalocan), ended up in it, where they found eternal peace. However, to get to Mictlan, the souls had to make a dangerous journey. During the funeral, the dead were endowed with magical powers and, with the help of the god Xolotl, they could successfully reach Mictlan. The journey there lasted four days. The deceased had to walk between two mountains that threatened to crush him, while avoiding the attack of a snake and a giant crocodile, cross eight deserts, climb eight mountains, endure a frosty wind that threw stones and obsidian blades at him. The last obstacle - the deceased crossed a wide river on the back of a small red dog. Having reached the ruler of Mictlan - Mictlantecuhtli, the deceased presented him with his gifts and received his place in one of the nine hells.
Mictlantecuhtli - "Lord of the Kingdom of the Dead." In Aztec mythology, the ruler of the afterlife (underground) world and the underworld was depicted as a skeleton or with a skull instead of a head with protruding teeth; his constant companions are a bat, a spider and an owl. His wife is Mictlancihuatl. According to myths, Quetzalcoatl descended to the 9th Hell to Mictlanteculi for the bones of the dead in order to create new people. Knowing that Mictlantecuhtli was distrustful and prone to deception, Quetzalcoatl, having received what he asked, rushed to run. Angry, Mictlantecuhtli pursued him and ordered the quail to attack the creator god. In a hurry, Quetzalcoatl stumbled, fell on his bones, broke them and with difficulty escaped from the underworld, carrying away his prey. By sprinkling the bones with his blood, Quetzalcoatl created people, but since the broken bones were of different sizes, men and women differ in height.
Mictlancihuatl - wife of Mictlantecuhtli, goddess of the underworld.
Mixcoatl - “Cloud Snake”, Istak Mixcoatl - “White Cloud Snake”, Camashtli - god of the stars, the North Star, hunting and wars, and clouds, father of Quetzalcoatl. Initially, among the Chichimecs, Mixcoatl was a hunting deity, worshiped in the form of a deer. Later, the Aztecs associated with the cults of Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl and was considered the progenitor of the Nahua tribes. Sometimes in myths he is a hypostasis of Tezcatlipoca - he lit the first fire, using the vault of heaven, which he spun around an axis like a drill. He is the son of Cihuacoatl and the father of Xochiquetzal, as well as Huitzilopochtli, born of Coatlicue. He was depicted with a spear thrower (atlatl) and darts in his hands. He killed Itzpapalotl ("obsidian butterfly").
N
Nagual is a patron spirit in the form of an animal or plant. To identify the Nagual, sand was scattered near the newborn's hut; The tracks that appeared on it in the morning indicated the animal. Each god and man has his own nagual with whom he shares his fate until death. For example, Huitzilopochtli's nagual is a hummingbird, Quetzalcoatl's is a feathered snake, Tezcatlipoca's is a jaguar, Tonatiuh's is an eagle.
Nahual - patrons (protectors) of mortals. They are created from the same matter as mortals. Each mortal has his own nahual who looks after him.
Nanauatzin is a god who sacrificed himself so that the sun could continue to shine. Patronizes brave and courageous people.
ABOUT
Omacatl - "2 reeds". God of holidays and pleasures. It is one of the aspects of Tezcatlipoca. At one of the festivals, they made a figurine of a god from maize, and then ate it.
Omecihuatl - creator goddess. Ometecuhtli's wife. In Aztec mythology, there were two progenitors of all things - the goddess Omecihuatl and her husband Ometecuhtli.
Ometecuhtli - "2nd Lord". God the creator, god of fire. He occupied the highest place in the Aztec pantheon of gods. Lord (or genderless lord) of duality and unity of opposites. He did not have a clear cult and center of his cult, but he is believed to be present in every ritual and in every thing throughout the world.
Ometeotl is the deity of opposites. He combined both feminine and masculine principles.
Opochtli - "he who divides the water", the ancient Chichimec god of fishing, hunting and trapping birds. Perhaps he was worshiped back in Aztlan.
P
Paynal - "hasty", Huitzilopochtli's messenger.
Patecatl - "He is from the land of medicines", the god of healing, fertility and the alcoholic drink octli - "lord of the root of pulque" - is the personification of the herbs and roots needed to prepare octli. Husband of the goddess Mayahuel, together they are the parents of Senzon Totochtin ("400 rabbits"). He was depicted with an ax and a shield or with an agave leaf and a digging stick in his hands. Originally a deity of the Huastecs.
Popocatepetl is a young warrior who fell in love with Iztaccihuatl, the ruler's daughter. The gods, taking pity on them, turned them into mountains of the same name.
WITH
Centzon Totochtin - "400 rabbits". A group of debauched and drunken deities.
Centzonuitznaua - gods of the southern stars. They are the brothers of the sun god Huitzilopochtli, who opposed him.
Civatateo - references to these vampires go back to Aztec mythology, it is believed that they served the gods. So, they have the magical powers of the priests. All of them are noble women who died during childbirth and returned to earth. These creatures sneak up on travelers at crossroads and hide in temples or churches. They look terrifying (wrinkled, shriveled), and they are white as chalk. They often have drawn heads of the dead or other glyphs on their clothes and bodies (tattoos).
Centeotl - "God of Corn", deity of young corn. He is the son of Tlazolteotl and is sometimes mentioned as the husband of Xochiquetzal. He was depicted as a young man with a bag filled with corn cobs on his back and a digging stick or cobs in his hands. In some myths she appears in female form. In ancient times, before the Olmecs, Sinteotl was revered by all the inhabitants of Mesoamerica under different names; The Aztecs borrowed his cult from the Huastecs. He was considered the patron saint of farmers and goldsmiths who lived in Xochimilco.
Cipactli is the very first sea monster in Aztec mythology, looking like both a fish and a crocodile, from which the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca created the earth. Tezcatlipoca sacrificed his leg for this monster. Another personification of the earth - Tlaltecuhtli, who had the appearance of a half-toad, half-alligator, was male; According to some myths, Cipactli is the wife of Tlaltecuhtli.
Citlalatonac - creator god. With his wife, Citlalicue created the stars. He is one of the incarnations of Tonacatecuhtli.
Citlalicue - "Clothes made of stars." Creator Goddess. Wife of Sitlalatonak.
Ciucoatl - goddess of the earth.
Cihuacoatl - "Snake Woman". One of the oldest deities in the mythology of the Indians of Central America. Mother goddess of earth, war and childbirth, mother of Mixcoatl. The patroness of childbirth and women who died during childbirth, as well as the patroness of midwives and the ruler of the Zihuateteo. She assisted Quetzalcoatl in creating the first people of this era, who were created from the bones of people of the previous era and the blood of the old gods who sacrificed themselves for this purpose. Depicted as a young woman with a child in her arms or in white clothes, with a skull instead of a head, armed with a spear thrower and a shield; sometimes two-headed. Her scream signals the start of war. The cult of Cihuacoatl was especially popular in the form of Tonatzin, and the center of her cult was located in the city of Culuacan.
Ciuteoteo are spirits of the underworld living under the patronage of Cihuacoatl. In the form of eagles, they bring the sun down from the sky, when it is at its zenith, home to the underworld, bringing illness to children. They are also the souls of women who died during their first childbirth or those who were warriors.
T
Talocan is the home of the Aztec gods.
Tacatecutli - god of traders and travelers.
Tamats is the god of wind and air masses of the peoples of the Valley of Mexico.
Tenoch is a cultural hero in Aztec mythology, the son of the god Iztak-Mixcoatl. The image of Tenoch merged legends about a historical figure, the leader of the Aztecs during their migration to the Valley of Mexico City. Under him, the Aztecs founded their capital on an island in Lake Texcoco, named Tenochtitlan in his honor.
Tecciztecatl - "Old Moon God". God of the moon, representing its masculine aspect. He was depicted as an old man carrying a large white sea shell on his back.
Teoyaomqui is the god of dead warriors, one of the gods of death. Also known as Huahuantli.
Tepeyollotl - “heart of the mountains”, god of the earth, mountains and caves. It is his fault that earthquakes occur and it is believed that echoes are also created by him. His totem is a jaguar.
Tezcatlipoca - in Aztec and Mayan mythology, one of the three main gods; patron of priests, punisher of criminals, lord of the stars and cold, lord of the elements, causing earthquakes; he is the demiurge god and at the same time the destroyer of the world. God of the night and everything material in the world, god of the northern side of the world. He carries with him a magic mirror Itlachiayaque - "The place from which he looks", which emits smoke and kills enemies, and therefore it is called the "smoking mirror" (Tezcatl - mirror, Ipoka - smoking). In this mirror he sees everything that is happening in the world. And in his right hand he holds 4 arrows, symbolizing the punishment that he can send to sinners. As the ruler of the world and natural forces, he was an opponent of the spiritual Quetzalcoatl and sometimes acted as a tempter of people. Punishing evil and encouraging good, he tested people with temptations, trying to provoke them to commit sin. He was also the god of beauty and war, the patron of heroes and beautiful girls. One day he seduced the flower goddess Xochiquetzal, the wife of the god Xochipilli, because... she was very beautiful, a match for him. Quite often he was perceived as a sorcerer, changing images and the god of mystical powers. Tezcatlipoca also has the following incarnations: Moyocoyatzin - “Fickle Creator”, Titlacahuan - “He whose slaves we are”, Moquequeloa - “Mockingbird”, Moyocoyani - “Creator of himself”, Ipalnermoani - "Lord of the Nearby and the Night" and Nahuaque - "Night Wind".
Teteoinnan - mother of the gods. Hypostasis of Tlazolteotl.
Titlacauan is one of the images of the god Tezcatlipoca. Sahagún mentions that the sick worshiped Titlacauan in the hope of his mercy. At the intersections of all roads, stone seats called Momuztli were placed, decorated with flowers (which were changed every 5 days) in honor of one of the most revered deities.
Tlaloc - “Forcing to Grow”, god of rain and thunder, agriculture, fire and the southern side of the world, ruler of all edible plants; among the Mayans - Chac, among the Totonacs - Tajin, among the Mixtecs - Tsavi, among the Zapotecs - Cocijo-Pitao. His cult spread from the 2nd century. BC, displacing the more ancient cult of Quetzalcoatl. Tlaloc was depicted as anthropomorphic, but with owl eyes or circles (in the form of stylized snakes) around his eyes (sometimes such circles were placed on his forehead), with jaguar fangs and snake curls in front of his nose. On Tlaloc's head is a jagged crown, his body is black, and in his hands is a snake-like staff (lightning) with teeth, or a stalk of maize, or a jug of water. According to the Aztecs, Tlaloc is a beneficent deity by nature, but can cause floods, droughts, hail, frosts, and lightning strikes. He was believed to live on mountaintops or in a palace above the Gulf of Mexico where clouds form. In his home, in the courtyard, in each of the four corners there is a large jug, which contains beneficial rain, drought, plant diseases and destructive downpours (therefore, Tlaloc was sometimes depicted in the form of a jug). The priests considered him a single deity, but, according to earlier popular beliefs, there were many individual dwarf-shaped Tlalocs (“rain boys”) who ruled over rain, mountain peaks, hail and snow; they had jurisdiction over both rivers and lakes. Frogs and snakes were associated with Tlaloc. Tlaloc sent rheumatism, gout and dropsy to people. Therefore, those killed by lightning, drowned people, lepers and gout went to Tlalocan (his domain in heaven). Tlalocan had an abundance of water, food and flowers. Tlaloc's first wife was Xochiquetzal and then Chalchiuhtlicue; and according to some myths he is considered the father of the moon god Tecquistecatl. The images of Tlaloc are countless, since he enjoyed unusually wide veneration. The Aztecs performed rites in his honor in the deep pools of Lake Texcoco. Every year, many children were sacrificed to him by drowning them in water. On Mount Tlaloc, near Tenochtitlan, a large statue of Tlaloc was erected made of white lava with a recess in the head. During the rainy season, the seeds of all edible plants were placed there. Tlaloc was the lord of the 3rd of the 5 Aztec world eras.
Tlaltecuhtli - "Lord of the Earth." An earthly monster that had the appearance of a half-toad, half-alligator; According to some myths, Tlaltecuhtli's wife is Cipactli.
Tlalchitonatiuh is the god of the rising sun of the peoples of the Valley of Mexico.
Tlazolteotl - "Goddess - eater of dirt (excrement)." Goddess of the earth, fertility, sex, sexual sins and repentance (hence her name: by devouring dirt, she cleanses humanity of sins); mistress of the night. According to legend, she got her name this way - one day she came to a dying man who confessed to his sins, and she cleansed his soul by eating all the “dirt.” Tlazolteotl is one of the most ancient deities of Mesoamerica, dating back to the “goddess with braids”; The Aztecs probably borrowed her cult from the Huastecs. She is also known by other names: Tosi (“our grandmother”), Tlalli-ipalo (“heart of the earth”), Ishkuina, Teteoinnan (“mother of the gods”), Chikunavi-acatl (“nine reeds”), etc. Tlazolteotl was portrayed sometimes naked, sometimes clothed; distinctive features - a nasal insert in the shape of a crescent, a headdress made of quail feathers with a piece of cotton wool and two spindles, yellow face coloring; its symbol is a broom or a person eating excrement. At a festival in her honor, a girl was sacrificed, and a jacket was made from her skin, which was worn by the priest who personified the goddess. This was followed by her symbolic reunion with the god of war and the sun, Huitzilopochtli, and the birth of the god of young maize. During the years of drought, Tlazolteotl (in the guise of Ishkuina) sacrificed a man. They tied him to a post and threw darts at him (the dripping blood symbolized rain). Tlazolteotl was considered the patroness of sinners.
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli - "Lord of the morning dawn (dawn)." God of the morning star - planet Venus. It is believed that he acted as another incarnation of Quetzalcoatl.
Tlillan-Tlapallan - 2nd level of 3-level heavens. A place for the souls of those people who learned the wisdom of Quetzalcoatl.
Tloquenahuaque, Tloque-Nahuaque - “He who contains everything in himself”, Ipalnemohuani - “He by whom we all live” - the supreme deity. Initially, he is one of the epithets of the creator god Tonacatecutli and the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, later the priestly school of Texcoco began to personify him with the supreme creative spirit and erected a special temple for him, but without the image of Tloque Nahuaque.
Tonacacihuatl - wife of the creator god Tonacatecuhtli.
Tonacatecuhtli - "Lord of our existence", the god who gives people food. He brought order to the world (when it was created) by dividing the sea and the land. Together with his wife, Tonacasihuatl was considered the creators of the world, the first divine and human couple, the parents of Quetzalcoatl, the lords of Omeyocan - the uppermost (13th) sky. Tonacatecuhtli and his wife did not have a special cult. Among the Mayans, Tonacatecuhtli, the supreme deity, was born in both female and male guise at the same time. His name translates as “the being in the center” and symbolizes the fixed point of the center of the moving ring, where everything is balanced, in balance and at peace.
Tonantzin - "Our Mother", mother goddess. Known in the form of Cihuacoatl.
Tonatiuh - “Sun”, Cuauhtemoc - “Descent Eagle”, Pilzintekuhtli - “Young Lord”, Totec - “Our Leader”, Shipilli - “Turquoise Prince”. In Aztec mythology - the god of the sky and the sun, the god of warriors. Those who died in service had eternal life ahead. He rules the 5th, current world era. He was depicted as a young man with a red face and fiery hair, most often in a sitting position, with a solar disk or half-disk behind his back. To maintain strength and preserve youth, Tonatiuh must receive the blood of victims every day, otherwise he may die while traveling at night through the underworld, so every day his path to the zenith was accompanied by the souls of sacrificed warriors who died in battle. According to the Aztecs, the universe went through several eras, during which various gods were the sun. In the current, fifth era, it became Tonatiuh under the calendar name Naui Olin (“Four Movements”). The Aztecs had several myths about the origin of the sun, the most common being the following. After the creation of the world (or at the beginning of the fifth era), the gods gathered to decide which of them would become the sun god. To do this, they lit a fire into which the chosen one was supposed to rush, but everyone was afraid of the terrible heat. Finally, Nanahuatl (“Strewn with buboes”), suffering from a terrible illness, rushed into the flames, where “it began to crackle like meat roasting on coals.” He was followed by Tequistecatl ("Located in a sea shell"), who tried three times before Nanahuatl to jump into the fire, but retreated from the unbearable heat. Nanahuatl became the sun, Tequistecatl the moon - the god Metztli. At first, the moon shone as brightly as the sun, until one of the gods, irritated by this, threw a rabbit at it. Since then, Metztli has been depicted as a black disk or vessel with water on which there is a rabbit. Tonatiuh is the patron saint of the eagle warrior union, its symbol is the eagle. The cult of Tonatiuh was one of the most important in Aztec society.
Toci is the mother goddess of other gods, earth and healing.
Tochtli - god of the south.
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Huahuantli - see Teoyaomcui.
Huitzilopochtli - “Hummingbird of the south”, “he is from the south”, “hummingbird of the left side”, “left-handed hummingbird”. Originally he was a tribal god of the Aztecs (the hummingbird often acts as the personification of the sun among many Indian tribes of Central America). Huitzilopochtli promised the Aztecs that he would lead them to a blessed place where they would become his chosen people. This happened under Chief Tenoche. Later, Huitzilopochtli absorbs the features of more ancient gods, as well as the features of the sun god Tonatiuh and Tezcatlipoca (sometimes acting as his double). He becomes the god of the blue clear sky, the young sun, war and hunting, a special patron of the emerging Aztec nobility. In some versions of the myth, Huitzilopochtli is associated with the old fertility deities. During the solemn holidays held twice a year, a huge image of Huitzilopochtli was made from bread dough with honey; After religious rituals, this image was broken into pieces and eaten by all participants in the holiday. In other myths, Huitzilopochtli appears as a warrior who defeats the forces of the night every day and prevents them from killing the sun; hence its connection with the cult associations of “eagle warriors”. Huitzilopochtli was depicted anthropomorphically wearing a helmet shaped like a hummingbird's beak made of gold, holding a shield in his left hand, decorated with five white down balls in the shape of a cross and four arrows protruding from it, and a bow or spear thrower and darts. In his right hand he holds a club in the shape of a snake, painted blue. He wears gold bracelets on his wrists and blue sandals on his feet. He was also depicted as a hummingbird, or with hummingbird feathers on his head and left leg, and with a black face, holding a snake and a mirror in his hands. He is the son of Coatlicue. According to legend, he cut off the head of his sister Coyolxauqui and threw it into the sky, where she became the moon. Huitzilopochtli is one of the more revered deities of the Aztecs; bloody human sacrifices were made to him; A temple was built in honor of Huitzilopochtli in Tenochtitlan. The sanctuary at the top of this temple was called Lihuicatl Xoxouqui, “Blue Sky.” Durán tells that in the temple there was a wooden statue of Huitzilopochtli seated on a blue bench. There were snakes propping up the bench in the corners. The headdress of the statue was made in the shape of a bird's beak. And in front of his face there was always a curtain hanging, indicating respect for him. In Texcoco, as well as in Tenochtitlan, at the top of the main temple there were two sanctuaries - dedicated to Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli. The statue in the sanctuary depicted a young man covered with a cloak of feathers, wearing a necklace of jadeite and turquoise, and wearing numerous golden bells. The statue was made of wood, the body was covered with blue paint, and the face was painted with stripes. The hair was made of eagle feathers, and the headdress was made of quetzal feathers. The head of a hummingbird was hollowed out on his shoulder. His feet were painted and decorated with golden bells. In his hands he held a spear thrower with darts and a shield decorated with feathers and covered with gold stripes.
Huixtocihuatl - “Salt Woman”, was the goddess of fertility in Aztec and pre-Aztec mythology. Goddess of salt and salty waters. One source calls Huixtocihuatl the wife of the death god Mictlantecuhtli. She was considered the patroness of debauchery. According to some sources, she is Tlaloc's older sister. She was depicted in clothes covered with wavy lines, with a white shield and a reed staff in her hands.
Hueuecoyotl - “Old, old coyote.” God of sex and unbridled fun, songs and dances, one of the incarnations of Macuilxochitl (Xochipili); by origin, obviously, the deity of the Otomi tribe. He was depicted as a sitting coyote or in an anthropomorphic form with musical instruments in his hands. He was the patron of troublemakers and those who spread rumors.
Huehueteotl - “Old God”, god of fire. Another name of God is Xiutecutli.
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Tzitzimime - god(s) of the stars.
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Chalmecacihuilt - goddess of the underworld.
Chalmecatecuhtli - god of sacrifices.
Chalmecatl - god of the underworld.
Chalchiuhtlatonal - god of water.
Chalchiuhtlicue - “She is dressed in jade”, Matlalkueye - “She is dressed in blue”. In Aztec mythology, the goddess of fresh water, running waters, controls all waters on earth. Wife of Tlaloc, sister of the Tlalocs, mother of Senzon-Mimixcoa (stars of the northern part of the sky). She identified herself with youthful beauty and passion. It was depicted as a river from which grew a thorny pear tree full of fruits, symbolizing the human heart. Or she was depicted as a young woman sitting among a stream of water, wearing a headdress of blue and white ribbons, with two large strands of hair along her cheeks. She caused a flood (as punishment for sinners) that destroyed the fourth world. She was the patroness of those traveling on water.
Chalchiutotolin - “Bird decorated with jewels”, god of epidemics, diseases. One of the incarnations of Tezcatlipoca.
Chantico - “She who lives in the house.” Goddess of hearth fire and volcano fire. When she broke the ban on eating paprika (red pepper) on fasting days and ate fried fish with paprika, Tonacatecuhtli turned her into a dog.
Chicomecoatl - “7 snakes”, goddess of maize in the classical period of Aztec life. Sometimes called the “goddess of food,” the goddess of abundance, she was the feminine aspect of corn. Every September, a young girl representing Chicomecoatl was sacrificed. The priests beheaded her, collected the blood and poured it on the statue of the goddess. Next, the skin was removed from the corpse, which the priest put on himself. They portrayed (described) her in different ways: as a girl with water flowers; a woman whose embrace meant death; and a mother who carries the sun with her as a shield. She is the counterpart of the maize god Cinteotl, their symbol being an ear of corn. Sometimes it is called Shilonen.
Chicomexochtli is the god and patron of artists.
Chiconahui is the goddess of the hearth and the guardian of the family.
Chiconahuiehecatl is an insignificant creator god.
Chicomostoc - “seven caves”, in Chichimec mythology - the legendary ancestral home, the starting point of the wanderings of many tribes.
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Xilonen - “Mother of young maize”, Xcanil (“corn maker” among the Quiche) - goddess of young corn, patroness of the poor. It is also called “hairy,” alluding to the fuzzy ear of corn. In midsummer, people were sacrificed in her honor to appease her and ensure a good maize harvest. She is the wife of Tezcatlipoca. She was depicted as a girl dressed in a yellow and red dress.
Xipe Totec - “Our flayed ruler”, “Our flayed leader”, Tlatauqui Tezcatlipoca - “Red Tezcatlipoca”, Itztapaltotec - “Our leader of the flat stone”. In Aztec mythology, a deity dating back to the ancient deities of spring vegetation and sowing, the patron of goldsmiths. Mystical god of agriculture, spring and seasons. Xipe Totec was associated both with the spring renewal of nature and with the harvest and with the intoxicating drink of octli. Its symbol is the death and rebirth of nature. For the growth of both maize and people, he cut his flesh and offered it to the people as food (just like planted maize seeds, shedding their outer shell before germinating). After he sheds his old skin, he emerges as a renewed, shiny and golden god. In his honor, people were sacrificed every year at the beginning of spring. All the peoples of Central America had such a holiday with the ritual of sacrifice to Xipe Totec, at which the priests, dressed in the skin of the sacrificed people, solemnly danced along with the warriors who captured prisoners. These rituals symbolize the rebirth of the earth. Xipe Totec was also the god of the western side of the world. It is believed that it is he who sends diseases, epidemics, blindness and scabies to people. Most often he was depicted wearing a jacket made of flayed human skin, laced at the back; the victim's arms hang from the elbows with fingers spread out. On the face is a mask made of human skin (characteristic of the double lips resulting from this), on the head is a conical cap with two decorations in the form of a swallowtail, in the hands is a figured staff with a rattle on top and a shield. In the process of syncretization, Xipe Totec merged with Tezcatlipoca in the form of his red incarnation. The Zapotecs considered him the patron saint of their nation. According to Sahagún, the cult of Xipe Totec originated from Zapotlan, a city in the state of Jalisco.
Xiuhcoatl - “Fire Serpent”. The personification of drought and scorched earth.
Xiuhtecuhtli - “Lord of the Year”, in Aztec mythology, the god of fire, lord of volcanoes. The cult of Xiuhtecuhtli and its image are attested in pre-Olmec times. He was the god of fire, both heavenly and underground, cruel, all-consuming, but at the same time the god of the hearth, as evidenced by his other names and incarnations: Tzoncastli (“yellow-haired”), Kuesaltzin (“flame”), Thoth (“our father "), Huehueteotl (“a very old god”), Tlalxictenica (“sitting in the navel of the earth”), “mother of the gods, father of the gods”, etc. He is the personification of light in darkness, warmth in cold and life in death. Among the Aztecs, he was depicted with a face painted half red, half black, and the head decoration consisted of two reeds or a butterfly; in his hands he has either a rod or a shield, or a copal (smoking resin) and a censer. At festivals, his statue was always brought last, since he is old and walks very slowly. As the god of light and fire, he was also depicted with a red or orange face with an incense burner on his head. His wife is called Chalchiuhtlicue, although in other myths she is considered the wife of Tlaloc. At the end of the 52-year cycle, people were afraid that the gods would destroy them, and in order to appease the gods, they organized holidays in their honor, where Xiuhtecuhtli (as the god of fire) was especially honored at these celebrations (the center of attention). Hearts torn from the bodies of victims roasted on coals were dedicated to him.
Xocotl - god of fire and stars.
Xolotl - among the Toltecs and Aztecs, is the god of light and the guide of the dead to Mictlan. The Aztecs consider him the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl. As the lord of the evening star and the personification of Venus, he “pushes” the sun over the ocean, causing sunset, and then guards the sun’s journey through the underworld throughout the night. The Xolotl is depicted either as a skeleton or as a man with a dog's head.
Xochiquetzal - “Flower Feather”, Se atl - “One Water”, Masateotl - “Deer Goddess”. In Aztec mythology - the goddess of love, flowers, fertility, pregnancy, and household chores. Goddess of the earth, flowers, plants, games and dances, but mainly the goddess of love. Patronizes artisans, prostitutes, pregnant women and childbirth. Initially, she was associated with the moon. She is the most charming of the Aztec pantheon, and her retinue consists of butterflies and birds. She was usually depicted as a young woman in a plaid skirt, with two braids or two tufts of quetzal feathers in her hair. Xochiquetzal is one of the later incarnations of the “goddess with braids,” so the myths about her are very diverse: she is the first woman who came from Piltzintecuhtli (aka Tonatiuh) from the earthly paradise of Tamoanchan; in other sources, Xochiquetzal is Tlaloc’s wife, kidnapped from him by Tezcatlipoca; mother of the first celestial twins, Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl; wife of Macuilxochitl or Xochipilli (or twin sister of the flower lord). Spanish sources of the 16th century. They compare her to the Roman Venus. Among the Aztecs, Xochiquetzal was considered the patroness of wives, weavers, lovers, artists, libertines, and sculptors. Every 8 years, celebrations were held in her honor, where participants wore flower and animal masks.
Xochipilli - “Lord of Flowers”. God of flowers, corn, love, games (including ball), beauty, songs, dances and fun. Husband of Mayahuel and twin brother of Xochiquetzal, son of Tlazolteotl. It is often associated with Macuilxochitl (“5 colors”). He was depicted as a young man sitting among flowers and butterflies, with a scepter in his hands, on the sharp end of which human hearts were strung. He was considered the patron saint of artists, singers, weavers, musicians and ball players.
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Ehecatl - “Wind”, god of the winds. He organized the movement of the sun across the sky and swept (by blowing on them) the roads of Tlaloc, located high in the sky. As one of the incarnations of Quetzalcoatl, he brings life into everything lifeless. He gave love to humanity after he himself fell in love with the young woman Mayahuel. Their love is symbolized by the beautiful tree that grows in the place where they set foot on earth.
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Yacatecuhtli - “Lord who shows the way”, god of traveling traders.
Yaotl - “Enemy”, a hypostasis of Tezcatlipoca.
Sources
Anonymous authors. Codex Magliabecca / Ed. and lane V.N. Talaha, S.A. Kuprienko. - K.: Vidavets Kuprienko S.A., 2013. - 202 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-04-0.
Anonymous author. Codex Mendoza / Ed. and lane S. A. Kuprienko, V. N. Talakh.. - K.: Vidavets Kuprienko S. A., 2013. - 308 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-05-7.
Prester Juan; Antonio Perez; fry Pedro de los Rios (glosses). Mexican Manuscript 385 "Codex Telleriano-Remensis" (with additions from the Codex Rios) / Ed. and lane S. A. Kuprienko, V. N. Talakh.. - K.: Vidavets Kuprienko S. A., 2013. - 317 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-06-4.
Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de. The history of the Chichimec people, their settlement and settlement in the country of Anahuac.. www.. - trans. from Spanish - V. Talakh, Ukraine, Kyiv, 2010. Retrieved March 23, 2010. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
Literature
// Mythological Dictionary/ Ch. ed. E. M. Meletinsky. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1990. - 672 p.
Tales of the Suns. Myths and historical legends of the Nahua / Ed. and lane S. A. Kuprienko, V. N. Talakh.. - K.: Vidavets Kuprienko S. A., 2014. - 377 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-11-8.
Talakh V.N., Kuprienko S.A. America original. Sources on the history of the Mayans, Nahuas (Astecas) and Incas / Ed. V. N. Talakh, S. A. Kuprienko.. - K.: Vidavets Kuprienko S. A., 2013. - 370 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-00-2.
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In Mayan mythology, Ah Puch is the god of death and lord of the underworld, the worst world of all nine hells. Usually Ah Puch was depicted as a skeleton or corpse or in an anthropomorphic form with a skull instead of a head, black corpse spots on the body; his headdress is shaped like the head of an owl or caiman. The Mayans had a large number of death gods, their names varying depending on the tribes from which they are attested. The most frequently mentioned are: Kumhav (among the Yucatan Mayans), Kisin (among the Lacandons), Pukuh (among the Tzeltali), Ma As Amquink (among the Q'eqchi), Ah Alpuh (among the Quiche), etc. All of them lived in the underground worlds (usually the number of these worlds equals nine). Their iconographic appearances are different. Even today, many native Central Americans believe that the owl screeches to foretell imminent death, according to a proverb in Spanish: cuando el tecolote canta... el indio muere (when the great owl sings, the Indian dies).
Cavil
Kauil, one of the supreme Mayan gods, lord of the elements, causing earthquakes, possibly the god of thunderstorms. Its connection with war is obvious; its constant attribute is the celtic axe. He was the patron of the ruling dynasty of the largest Mayan cities. For example, the names of some Tikal, Calakmul, Caracol, Naranja and Copan rulers contained the name of this deity. A special feature of Kawil's iconography is that one of his legs was always depicted as a snake. The scepter of the supreme power of many large Mayan cities was an image of this god. Items associated with Kavil - incense burner, mirror. In Aztec mythology, it corresponds to Tezcatlipoca.
Camaxtli
Camaxtli (Camaxtli) is the god of the stars, the polar star, hunting, war, clouds and fate. The creator of fire, he kindled the first fire, using the firmament for this. One of the four gods who created the world. Father of Quetzalcoatl. Originally among the Chichimecs, Camaxtli was a hunting deity, worshiped in the form of a deer. Later, the Aztecs associated with the cults of Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl. Sometimes in myths he is synonymous with Mixcoatl.
Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatl - “a snake covered with green feathers” or “the precious father of snakes, sweeping away roads”, in the mythology of the Indians of Central America, one of the three main deities, the creator god of the world, the creator of man and culture, the lord of the elements, the god of the morning star, twins, patron of priesthood and science, ruler of the Toltec capital - Tollan. He had many hypostases, of which the most important are: Ehecatl (god of the wind), Tlayizcalpantekytli (god of the planet Venus), Xolotl (god of twins and monsters), Se-Acatl, etc. Quetzalcoatl is the son of Mixcoatl and Chimalmat. The first images of Quetzalcoatl, discovered in Olmec sculpture, date back to the 8th - 5th centuries. BC e. During this period, Quetzalcoatl was the personification of the winds from the Atlantic, bringing moisture to the fields, and the cultural hero who gave maize to people. In the 1st - 6th centuries. n. e. The cult of Quetzalcoatl spread throughout Central America. He became the supreme god, the creator of the world, the creator of people and the founder of culture. Quetzalcoatl gets food for people: having turned into an ant, it penetrates the anthill where maize grains are hidden, steals them and gives them to people. Quetzalcoatl taught people to find and process precious stones, build, create mosaics from feathers, monitor the movement of stars and calculate dates using the calendar. During this same period, Quetzalcoatl also appeared as the patron saint of the priesthood: according to myth, he is the establisher of sacrifices, fasts and prayers. In the subsequent period, Quetzalcoatl enters into a fight with his antipode Tezcatlipoca. Tezcatlipoca seduces old Quetzalcoatl, and he violates his own prohibitions: he gets drunk, enters into communication with his sister. Misfortunes befall his subjects, the Toltecs, caused by the same Tezcatlipoca. The distressed Quetzalcoatl leaves Tollan and goes into voluntary exile in the country of the East, where he dies and his body is burned.
The Aztec religion attracts the attention of researchers from all over the world, and this is understandable. The point here is not even the originality that the Aztec gods possessed, (a well-known fact: the mythology of the Indian civilizations of Mesoamerica echoes each other) and not in their quantity (Olympus, which the Aztecs possessed, the pantheon of gods of this people is considered one of the most numerous), and in the special attitude of the Aztecs to faith, in the way the Indians revered their idols. And indeed the Aztecs, their religion could not help but arouse interest in what kind of faith it was that required endless offerings and bloody rituals of sacrifice.
Aztec religion: the structure of the universe and the role of the gods.
The mythology of the Aztec people was actually based on the deeds of the Aztec gods, who acted both as creators of the world and as creators of human civilization. Aztec religion operates with several theories of the origin of life and the emergence of the universe. According to the first, two gods were responsible for the creation of everything, two rulers of the Aztec religion, who were in constant rivalry and struggle for power - Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, and Tezcatlipoca in legends is found in several forms at once, Black and Red Tezcatlipoca. The deities of the Aztec religion defeated a mythical monster, from whose body the universe was subsequently created. After its formation, as the Aztec religion says, the world was repeatedly reborn - a kind of theory of evolution, such as the Aztecs, the gods of this people, saw it. According to Aztec mythology, each new era, the era of the universe and the Earth, as the religion and gods of the Aztecs conceived it, was accompanied by the death of old people and the birth of new people, and with them plants and animals. Today people live in the fifth era, which means that for the fifth time in the history of the universe, the names of the Aztec gods, the gods themselves and the world around them have changed.
Another version tells of a single god, Tloca Nahuac, who became the creator of the universe. Aztec religion says that Tloque Nahuaque created the sea, sky and earth and divided them into levels so that there would be a place for all his children in the universe. The world of heaven, according to the Aztec religion, was divided by the supreme being into 13 levels, the underworld into 9, and the earth, the territory of people, remained untouched, only the four most powerful sons of Tloque Nahuaque, the first Aztec gods, dispersed to the four corners of the world to look after their father’s creations.
However, regardless of hypotheses, various legends and theories, the religion of the Aztecs and the worldview of the Indian people were inextricably linked with the cult of gods, of which there were several dozen in total. The Aztec religion, the heritage of the Aztec faith is considered one of the richest in the whole world. On the territory of the Aztec state there were about 40 thousand buildings belonging to the Aztec religion, among which were majestic temples and epic pyramids. The enormous influence of the gods, the religion of the Aztecs, the power of priests and rulers who were representatives of divine forces on earth - this is what forced the Aztecs to erect structures that were surprising in their architectural thought.
The all-powerful gods of the Aztecs: the forces on which the world rested.
The Aztec pantheon has countless goddesses and gods. However, it must be taken into account that among them there were, so to speak, secondary beings, namely the local gods of the Aztecs, who were the patrons of individual social groups, city-states and ruling dynasties. In addition, many Aztec gods had various incarnations, which also had their own cults.
If we talk about the dominant gods of the Aztecs, then here we can distinguish several groups of creatures, among which the so-called ancient gods were considered the most powerful, i.e. forces and embodiments of the elements responsible for the creation of the world and people. An equally important place was occupied by the caste of Aztec gods of the new generation, which included the underground gods, gods embodying the elements and the Aztec gods who ruled the thirteen levels of heaven. It is important that, regardless of the rank and mythological position occupied by the Aztec gods in the mythological tales and religion of the Indian people, all creatures and their cults required bloody sacrificial rites.
Religious Beliefs and the Aztecs: Pantheon of Gods - creators of the universe.
Tloque Nahuaque is the main deity of the Aztec faith. God is the father, God is the creator of the world. The Aztecs, the pantheon of gods, animals, nature - all this was created by the supreme god. Tloque Nuake was the center of the universe and was to some extent a unique deity, as religion, the Aztec gods and the mythology of the ancient Indians say, Tloque Nuake did not need sacrifices, he did not depend on veneration.
No less important deity Aztecs, pantheon of gods was Tlaloc. According to the mythology of the ancient Indians, Tlaloc is one of the most ancient creatures responsible for controlling nature, in particular the elements of water, rain, thunder, lightning and fire. In addition, Tlaloc was the god of fertility, and accordingly belonged to the group of especially revered deities responsible for agriculture. In the engravings of the Aztec gods, the image of Tlaloc has several unique details, in particular, he always carried either a snake-shaped rattle, a drum, or an ax in his hands. As mythology, religion, and Aztec gods say, the cult of Tlaloc required sacrifices of infants and virgins.
Quetzalcoatl is one of the three all-powerful beings of the Aztec version of Olympus. As they said Aztecs, pantheon of gods Indian world, Quetzalcoatl is the lord of water and wind, the father who gave the names of the Aztec gods, as well as an educator who gave science and knowledge to people. According to Aztec mythology, the Aztecs, the pantheon of gods and no other creatures without Quetzalcoatl would not have known what art and scientific knowledge are. The cult of this deity required constant offerings of material assets: handicrafts, precious stones, and examples of art.
The roots of the cult of the “feathered serpent,” as the name of Quetzalcoatl is translated, go back to ancient times, namely to the 1st-10th centuries BC, when most of the existing Indian tribes, and even European settlements, worshiped totem animals. The features that distinguished Quetzalcoatl from his colleagues in the images were the bright plumage that served as decoration for his robes, the quetzal hovering around the god or sitting on his shoulder and a staff made in the shape of a snake and also decorated with bright bird feathers.
The third deity of the all-powerful trinity is Tezcatlipoca. This deity was the patron of fate, the creator and destroyer of the world. The Aztec world, the pantheon of gods - everything that was created by others could be destroyed by the will of Tezcatlipoca. The patron of fate was the embodiment of the earth and air elements. According to legends, in his anger Tezcatlipoca brought earthquakes, hurricanes and other bad weather down on the Aztec lands. Aztec images of gods show the patron Tezcatlipoca as a sage, with a quetzal parrot perched on his shoulder. In addition, Tezcatlipoca was the only god who had two guises: Red Tezcatlipoca and Black Tezcatlipoca.
Tezcatlipoca did not immediately become one of the most important inhabitants of the Aztec version of Olympus. At one time, this god was the patron spirit of the air element. However, already in those days his cult was considered very respected, which was reflected in the further fate of the deity.
Huitzilopochtli is one of the most influential deities of the Aztecs, the pantheon of gods of this people. Huitzilopochtli is the deity of the sun and war. At the beginning of his journey, he was a tribal patron; later, when the Aztec gods, names and essences of the inhabitants of the pantheon changed, he rose to a new level, becoming one of the incarnations of the elements. The bloodiest rites and rituals of the Aztec tribe are associated with the cult of this deity. According to mythology, the Aztecs, the pantheon of gods and Huitzilopochtli in particular waged an ongoing struggle against the forces of darkness, in which the higher beings required constant replenishment of their forces with human blood and lives. Aztecs, gods, images, representing their connection, clearly demonstrate how bloody the rituals could be. The sacrifice of hundreds of slaves, dozens of virgins and babies is just the tip of the iceberg.
The main gods of the Aztecs were bloodthirsty, this is no secret to anyone. However, there are exceptions in their ranks, in particular the god Mictlantecuhtli, the ruler of Mictlan. Mictlan is the underworld in Aztec mythology, divided into nine levels and Mictlantecuhtli is the ruler of the deepest, ninth, layer of the underworld. Despite its terrifying status, the cult of this god did not require endless sacrifices; according to legend, the powers of the underground god were replenished thanks to the souls of the dead, and not their blood.
The Aztecs, their religion and numerous local deities.
Omacatl is a deity of Aztec mythology who presided over holidays and pleasures. Aztec gods, pictures, engravings and casts depicting them show Omacatl as a black and white man, squatting. There was always a rod in the hands of God.
Huehuecoitl is the deity of song and dance. “Venerable Old Coyote,” as the name of the deity is translated, was one of the favorites of the Aztec people. And really, who doesn’t love dancing, singing and fun.
Mixcoatl is one of the most important local deities. Among the Aztecs, in their religion, Mixcoatl was the embodiment of the Milky Way and the stars, in particular the North Star. This god was considered the patron of astronomical knowledge, which was developed by priests in the Aztec civilization. The name of God is translated as “cloud serpent”.
Atlaua is one of the patrons of the water element, especially revered in the city-states of the Aztec empire. He was considered the patron saint of archers and fishermen, and was associated with the fishing rod and arrow.
Tecquisticatl is the old moon god in Aztec mythology. Despite the many reforms and changes that he experienced, Tecquisticatl continued to be a revered deity. A unique feature of the deity was the moon-shaped head in the images.
Patecatl - among the Aztecs, in their religion the deity of healing, medicinal herbs and healers. In a few images, Patecatl appears as an old man mixing herbs.
Camashtli is a revered deity in Aztec mythology. The Camashtli cult patronized hunting, fate and luck. It was to this deity that ancient hunters read prayers before going into the forest in search of game. Aztec gods with pictures depicting them are a rarity. So Camashtli is practically not found in examples of art of the Aztec Indian tribe.
Chantico is the deity of the hearth, comfort and volcanoes in the Aztec faith. Aztec beliefs represented Chantico as a goddess of ambivalence. On good days she gave happiness and warmth to Indian families, on bad days she brought earthquakes and volcanic eruptions down on their heads.
These are not all the gods and goddesses that the ancient Indians worshiped. The Aztecs and their religion have an almost limitless mythological heritage. The pantheon of gods of this ancient empire is considered one of the most numerous in the entire history of human civilization. It is not possible to list them all. Unfortunately, knowledge of some of the inhabitants of the Aztec version of Olympus disappeared forever during the Spanish Conquest.
