In the Aztec view of the universe, human life was small and insignificant. An individual’s fate was shaped by forces beyond his or her control. The gods created people to work and fight for them. They did not offer favors or grant direct protection, although failure to properly serve the gods could lead to doom and destruction.
Duality, or the presence of two opposing forces in one thing, was the basic element of the deity Ometecuhtli (pronounced oh-me-teh-KOO-tle). This god had a male side called Ometeotl (pronounced oh-me-TEH-oh-tl) and a female side known as Omecihuatl (pronounced o-me-SEE-wah-tl). The other gods and goddesses were their offspring. Their first four children were Tezcatlipoca (pronounced tehs-cah-tlee-POH-cah), Quetzalcoatl (pronounced keht-sahl-koh-AHT-l), Huitzilopoch-tli (pronounced wee-tsee-loh-POCH-tlee), and Xipe Totec (SHE-pay TOH-tek), the creator gods of Aztec mythology.
Originally a Toltec god, Tezcatlipoca, Lord of the Smoking Mirror, was god of the night sky. The color black and the direction north were associated with him. He had a magical mirror that allowed him to see inside people’s hearts. The Aztec people considered themselves his slaves. In his animal form, he appeared as a jaguar. His dual nature caused him to bring people good fortune at some times, misery at others.
Tezcatlipoca’s great rival and opponent in cosmic battles, as well as his partner in acts of creation, was Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, an ancient Mexican and Central American deity absorbed into Aztec mythology. His color was white and his direction west. Some stories about Quetzalcoatl refer to him as an earthly priest-king, which suggests there may have been a Toltec king by that name whose legend became mixed with mythology.
As a god, Quetzalcoatl had many different aspects. He was the planet Venus (both a morning and an evening star), the god of twins, and the god of learning. The Aztecs credited him with inventing the calendar. A peaceful god, Quetzalcoatl accepted sacrifices ofanimals and jade, but not of human blood. When he was defeated by Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl sailed out into the Atlantic Ocean on a raft of serpents. The legend arose that he would return over the sea from the east at the end of one of the Aztecs’ fifty-two-year calendar cycles. When the white-skinned Spanish invader Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519, some Aztecs thought he was Quetzalcoatl come again, a belief Cortes encouraged.
Huitzilopochtli, Hummingbird of the South, is a deity that originated with the Aztecs. He was the sun and war god. The souls of warriors who died in battle were said to become hummingbirds and follow him across the sky. Blue was his color and south his direction. The Aztecs claimed that an idol of Huitzilopochtli had led them south during their long migration and told them to build their capital on the site where an eagle was seen eating a snake. The worship of Huitzilopochtli was especially strong in Tenochtitlan, where he was regarded as the city’s founding god.
Xipe Totec, the Flayed Lord, had a dual nature. He was a god of vegetation and life-giving spring growth. At the same time, he was a fearsome god of torture and sacrifice. His intense duality reflected the Aztec vision of a universal balance in which new life had to be paid for in blood. Xipe Totec’s color was red, his direction east.
The Aztecs also incorporated the worship of Tlaloc (pronounced TLAH-lok), an important god of rain and fertility long known under
In this depiction of an Aztec human sacrifice, a priest holds up the still-beating heart of a victim. © PRINT COLLECTOR/ HIP/THE IMAGE WORKS.
Various names in Mexico and Central America. He governed a host of lesser gods called Tlaloques (pronounced TLAH-loh-kes), who made thunder and rain by smashing their water jars together. Other deities, such as Huitzilopochtli’s mother, the earth goddess Coatlicue (pronounced koh-
Aht-LEE-kway), Lady of the Serpent Skirt, probably played key parts in the religion of the common people, who were mainly farmers. Many minor deities were associated with flowers, summer, fertility, and corn.
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