| Aztec goddess of maize. |
| Aztec Deities IV |
| Popocatepetl |
| A young Aztec warrior who fell in love with Iztaccihuatl, the emperor's daughter. When he was send away to fight in a war, the girl died of grief. Upon his return, he took her body with him and carried her to the mountains, where he himself died of grief. They were transformed into mountains by the gods who took pity on them. Iztaccihautl. |
| Quetzalcoatl |
| "Feathered Snake". One of the major deities of the Aztecs, Toltecs, and other Middle American peoples. He is the creator sky-god and wise legislator. He organized the original cosmos and participated in the creation and destruction of various world periods. Quetzalcoatl ruled the fifth world cycle and created the humans of that cycle. The story goes that he descended to Mictlan, the underworld, and gathered the bones of the humanbeings of the previous epochs. Upon his return, he sprinkled his own blood upon these bones and fashioned thus the humans of the new era. He is also a god of the wind (the wind-god Ehecatl is one of his forms), as well as a water-god and fertility-god. He is regarded as a son of the virgin goddess Coatlicue and as the twin brother of Xolotl. As the bringer of culture he introduced agriculture (maize) and the calendar and is the patron of the arts and the crafts. In one myth the god allowed himself to be seduced by Tezcatlipoca, but threw himself on a funeral pyre out of remorse. After his death his heart became the morning-star, and is as such identified with the god Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. In dualistic Toltec religion, the opposing deity, Tezcatlipoca ("Smoking Mirror"), a god of the night, had reputedly driven Quetzalcoatl into exile. According to yet another tradition he left on a raft of snakes over the sea. In any case, Quetzalcoatl, described as light-skinned and bearded, would return in a certain year. Thus, when the Spanish conqueror Hern�n Cort�s appeared in 1519, the Aztec king, Montezuma II, was easily convinced that Cort�s was in fact the returning god. The Aztecs later made him a symbol of death and resurrection and a patron of priests. The higher priests were called Quetzalcoatl too. The god has a great affinity with the priest-king Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, who ruled the Toltecs in Tula in the 10th century. The cult of Quetzalcoatl was widespread in Teotihuacan (ca. 50km northeast of Mexico City), Tula (or Tull�n, capitol of the Toltecs in middle Mexico), Xochilco, Cholula, Tenochtitlan (the current Mexico City), and Chichen Itza. |
| Tecciztecatl |
| An Aztec moon god. |
| Tezcatlipoca |
| Tezcatlipoca was the Aztec god of night and all material things. He carried a magic mirror that gave off smoke and killed enemies, and so he was called "god of smoking mirror." He was god of the north. As lord of the world and the natural forces, he was the opponent of the spiritual Quetzalcoatl, and sometimes appeared as a tempter, urging men to evil. Punishing evil and rewarding goodness, he tested men�s minds with temptations, rather than trying to lead them into wickedness. He was also god of beauty and war, the lord of heroes and lovely girls. He once seduced the goddess of flowers, Xochiquetzal, wife of the god Xochipilli, because such a lovely goddess was a good match for him, being a handsome war-like god. Yet he appeared most frequently as a magician, a shape shifter and a god of mysterious powers. |
| Tien-Hou |
| Aztec protectress of sailors and others in times of crisis. |
| Tlaloc |
| The Aztec god of rain, agriculture, fire, and the south. In his kingdom he receives those killed by thunderbolts, water, leprosy, and contagious diseases. He is the consort of the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue and sometimes regarded as the father of the moon-god Tecciztecatl. Each year a large number of children were sacrified by drowning. He is of pre-Aztec origin and known from the time of the Toltecs. His image figures prominently in their art. He presided over the third of the five Aztec world ages. |
| Tlazolteotl |
| The Aztec earth and mother-godddess, and goddess of sex. Tlazolteotl was also called "the eater of filth", and she got this name from the legend that at the end of a man's life she comes to him and he more or less confesses and she cleanses his soul, eating it's filth. She was also the mother of childbirth. She rode naked on a broom holding a red snake and a blood stained rope. |
| Tonacatecuhtli |
| Tonacatecuhtli is the food giving god in Aztec mythology. He set the world in order at creation, dividing sea and land: sometimes said to be the same as Omteotl. Maya supreme god/goddess who was both male and female at once. The name means �the being at the center,� and was thought of as the still point of the center of a moving ring, where everything is at balance and at rest. In Aztec mythology there were two beings, the god, Ometecuhtli, and the goddess, Omecihuatl, who were the source of all life. |
| Tozi |
| Aztec mother goddess, healing, nature, mother of the gods. |
| Tuoni |
| Aztec god of death and the underworld. |
| Xilonen |
| Xipe Totec |
| The mysterious Aztec god of agriculture, spring and the seasons, the symbol the death and rebirth of nature. In order to stimulate the growth in both nature and mankind, he flayes himself to offer food to humans (such as the maize seed loses its outer skin to enable the shoot to grow). After he has shed his skin, he appears as a shining, golden god. In his honor, each year in the beginning of spring, people were sacrificed to him. These victims were flayed alive and the priests wore these skins in various rituals. These rituals symbolized the renewal of the earth and the budding of new life. Xipe Totec is also the god of the west and the patron of goldsmiths. He is thought to be responsible for sending diseases to man, such as the plague, blindness and scabs. He is depicted as a flayed man, covered in (his own) skin and his name means "our lord the flayed one". |
| Xiuhtecuhtli |
| Xiuhtecuhtli, also called Huehueteotl ("old god"), is the senior-deity of the Aztec pantheon. He is the personification of light in the darkness, warmth in coldness, and life in death. A god of light and fire, he is often depicted with a red or yellow face, with a censer on his head. His wife is mentioned as Chalchiuhtlicue, a water and vegetation goddess, although she also appears as the wife of Tlaloc. At the end of a 52-year cycle (the Aztec century) it was feared that the gods would discontinue their contract with mankind. To appease them, at the end of such a cycle feasts were held in their honor, where Xiuhtecuhtli as the god of fire was the center of their attention. Victims were placed on burning coals, after the hearts had been removed from the bodies. |
| Xochipilli |
| Xochipilli ("Flower Prince") is the Aztec god of flowers, maize, love, games, beauty, song and dance. He is the husband of Mayahuel and the twin brother of Xochiquetzal. He is also referred to as Macuilxochitl, which means "five flowers". Xochipilli is depicted with a stick of which the sharp tip penetrates a human heart. |
| Xochiquetzal Ichpuchtli |
| Aztec goddess of the underworld and flowers. Also symbolizes twins, artisans, sex, children. |
| Xochiquetzal |
| The Aztec goddess of the earth, flowers, plants, games and dance, but mainly she is a goddess of love. She is also the patroness of artisans, prostitutes, pregnant women and birth. Originally Xochiquetzal ("Flower Feather") was associated with the moon. This goddess is the most charming of the Aztec pantheon and her retinue consists of butterflies and birds. Every eight years a feast was held in her honor where the celebrants wore animal and flowers masks. She is the twin sister of the flower prince Xochipilli and sometimes mentioned as the wife of the rain god Tlaloc. |
| Xolotl |
| In Aztec and Toltec mythology, Xolotl is the god of lightning who guides the dead to the Mictlan. The Aztecs regard him as the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl. As lord of the evening star and personification of Venus, he pushes the sun at sunset towards the ocean and guards her during the night on her dangerous journey through the underworld. Xolotl is represented as a skeleton, or as a man with the head of a dog. |
| Yacatechutli |
| Aztec god of traders and merchants. |