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| The Cosmogonic Epochs Around the central deity are four squares called Nahui-Ollin or Four Movement. The Aztecs believed that the universe had passed through four cyclical epochs, each of which had its own sun. Here are the four cosmogonic epochs and the ways in which they had ended. Firstly, the world had been destroyed by wild animals, then by wind, fire, and finally by floods. Ocelotonatiuh (Jaguar Sun): First Mythical Epoch Epoch of Ocelotonatjuh (The Jaguar Sun) was the first and most remote of the four cosmogonic epochs. In this epoch lived the giants created by the gods. They did not till the soil; they lived in caves, ate wild fruits and roots, and were in the end attacked and devoured by the jaguars. This basic epoch of the Aztecs is related to the geological quaternary period. As indicated by the discovery of bones of pre-diluvian animals found in deep ravines under dense Lithoshperic layers. Ehecatonatiuh (The Winds Sun): Second Mythical Epoch The human race was in danger of being destroyed by tremendous hurricanes, but the god�s transformed men into apes so they could hold on better with four hands and would not be carried away by hurricanes. This is the reason for the resemblance between men and simians. The epoch received its name because they found huge forests flattened by cyclones. Quiauhtonatiuh (Rain of Fire Sun): Third Mythical Epoch Quiauhtonatiuh (Rain of Fire Sun). Third cosmogonic epoch, in which everything is extinguished by rain of lava and fire. Men were transformed at this time into birds, thus being saved from the cataclysm. They justified this belief with the traces of volcanic activity and with the discovery of numerous huts and skeletons buried under layers of lava and ashes. Antonatiuh (Water Sun): Fourth Mythical Epoch Antonatiuh (Water Sun), the fourth epoch. At the end of this epoch everything perished because of terrific storms and torrential rains that covered the whole earth, reaching the peaks of the highest mountains. The gods changed men into fish to save then from this universal deluge. The discovery of different fossilized species of marine fauna on the tops of mountains created the basis for this belief. |
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| The Calendar Stone is a graphic symbol of the Aztec concept of the five mythological solar epochs and the end of the world. |