The Forbidden Tree

One of the most curious things about the myths and legends of the past is how strikingly similar they can be, even when arising in total isolation from others. When all other traditions of culture seem alien, our stories unite us all. One such story from Aztec lore holds this particularly true. For on first reckoning there seems never to have been two more unlikely faiths to have common ground as Christianity and the religion of the Aztecs, but common ground there is aplenty.

Xochiquetzal
Image taken from the Codex Rios

" Hail to our Mother, from whose hand
  the yellow flowers blossomed,
  the seeds of the maguey were scattered,
  as she came forth from Paradise...

  Hail to the goddess,
  radiant as the bright butterfly
  in the bush of thorns.... "
        - HYMN TO THE ALL MOTHER

Long ago in the most ancient times, when the gods were at constant war with one another, each yearning for mastery over the cosmos, there lived a fair goddess in a fair land. Xochiquetzal, as she was called, was a youthful deity, and a sight of wonder to behold. With flowers in her hair, and a soothing, songlike voice, she reigned in a lost age of innocence, an age of dance and laughter. The land within which she dwelled was a Paradise worthy of her beauty. For this was Tamoanchán, the fairest of all the Thirteen Heavens. Vast, sweeping fields rolled away for eternity, towering peaks soared into the sky, topped with a snow which did not melt. The boughs of the trees bowed under the abundance of fruits and blossoms, as the eternal rays of the sun shone through to the soft grass below. One tree above all others stood in the very centre of this land, towering above all others in stature and in splendour. When the golden rays of the radiant sun fell upon its leaves, the Tree released the most alluring perfume into the air, which the breeze would soon carry to the four corners of this idyllic land. It was said that the birds which roosted in its branches serenaded Tamoanchán with the most enchanting evensong the Thirteen Heavens ever heard. This was a land of the purest tranquillity. The Great Creator, Ometeotl (for his role in the Creation, please click here), had gifted this land to Xochiquetzal with but one command - that she never eat from the fruit of the Tree.

Mictlantecuhtli
Statue in the National Museum
of Anthropology, Veracruz

Meanwhile in the cosmos, it was the dawn of the fifth age of the Sun. The hopes of an at last peaceful era were high, in the wake of the terrible destruction unleashed in the first four incarnations, the last ending in a cataclysmic flood at the hands of the goddess Chalchiúhtlicue (for the story of these struggles, please click here). Now Quetzalcóatl, the Plumed Serpent, and Tezcatlipoca, Lord of the Smoking Mirror, united to build the world anew (two friends who would one day become the most terrible of foes, in a story told here). From the body of the Earth Monster Tlaltecuhtli they wove the new land, and from her skin and bones they fashioned new gods. But the infant world was barren and lifeless, for all had been destroyed in Chalchiúhtlicue's wrath. It was Quetzalcóatl who reasoned that only from the bones of the previous races of man to walk the earth could a new one rise. The gods agreed, and the Plumed Serpent set off in search of the bones, held in the grim world of Mictlán - the Underworld. For while all else on Earth may change, the land of the dead never shows a new face. No less stubborn was the grisly lord of the dead, the god Mictlantecuhtli, who personally tore the souls of men from their mortal forms, and ruled Mictlán with his consort Mictecacíhuatl. No one, not even a god, could enter Mictlán whilst alive. With no other god eager to venture into that dark realm, Quetzalcóatl resolved to embark on the grim quest. Raising a pyre high, and setting in its heart a flame, Quetzalcóatl faced death with valour, and stepped into the roaring conflagration.

Isla Bay - the furthest corner of the Aztec World
Photograph taken by 'Intersofia'

The pain at last subsiding, Quetzalcóatl awoke with a start. The darkness was heavy here, and a ghastly smell of rotting corpses poisoned the air. Turning north, the air grew fouler still, in a world so far away from idyllic Tamoanchán. After a while, when the stench of death choked even the Plumed Serpent, Quetzalcóatl at last found he who no other dares to seek - Mictlantecuhtli. Sitting upon a high throne, skeletal, emaciated and grimacing, Mictlantecuhtli gazed upon the intruder with unblinking, baleful eyes. The Plumed Serpent bowed before Death, and asked for the bones of the extinct animals, fish and men who had once walked the Earth. The dark god, who resented the other gods for residing in the sunlit lands, had no desire to grant Quetzalcóatl's request. Glowing with malice, he agreed to relinquish the bones on the condition that Quetzalcóatl travel four times around Mictlán whilst trumpeting on a holeless conch shell, a feat he deemed impossible, and indeed would at once make a fool of the god. Quetzalcóatl, however, was unfazed. Looking around him, he saw the worms and carrion that feasted upon the decaying corpses of Mictlán, and hatched a plan. Summoning the dark creatures to him, he commanded the worms to burrow through the shell, and the swarm of bees to enter it. The buzzing of the bees, amplified by the shell, became a pleasant music, such that had never been heard in Mictlán before. Mictlantecuhtli, furious that he had been outwitted, caused the very ground to quake and rend asunder in his rage.


Seizing his chance, Quetzalcóatl dived for the bones and made his escape. Just as he neared the mouth of Mictlán, however, he tripped on a fissure the dark god's anger had torn in the ground. Slamming into the bones, with a sickening crunch many of them broke, but the Plumed Serpent recovered and stole away. Coming to Tamoanchán, the gods resolved to create a new human race, to populate this perfect land. Taking blood from each god, Quetzalcóatl prepared the rites necessary to craft a man. Upon opening the pouch which contained the bones, however, the Plumed Serpent saw that they were broken, and knew not how they should be. It is for this reason that mankind has such infinite variety.

Pico de Orizaba
Photograph taken by 'Marte'

For a time, the harmony in Xochiquetzal's domain was absolute, and it seemed that the serenity would endure for all time. But soon, Xochiquetzal, distracted by her new company, began to forget the warning Ometeotl had decreed. One day, when the sun rose, and the perfume of the Forbidden Tree rose hhigh into the sky, Xochiquetzal could resist the temptation no longer. The other gods, and first humans, who had not known of their true nature, encouraged her to seek out the fruits of the Tree. There were so many fruits hanging from its leafy, blossomed boughs, that no one would notice if just one went missing? Tentatively, she edged towards the tree, entranced by its beauty. The Great Creator would not notice if she were to just pick one, she thought. Stretching out her hand, her fingers clasped a ripe, blood red fruit, and gently, she pulled it free. From the moment her fingers touched the fruit, however, a ripple of foreboding thundered through her. Blood dripped from the branch from whence the fruit came. With a scream, she backed away, as the Tree split clean in two, blasted apart by some unseen power. Lightning arced through the sky, and darkness rolled across the land. Spirited away to a lonely mountainside, Xochiquetzal wept, and Ometeotl condemned her for her actions. Since she had disobeyed the Creator's command, she would henceforth be banished from Tamoanchán, never to return. She, along with mankind, would be sent down to the dry, dusty plains of the Earth, and would know suffering. For ever after, Xochiquetzal would never be able to enjoy the beauty of flowers around her, for her eyes would ever stream with tears, tears at her Paradise lost...

The story of Xochiquetzal's exile was a shameful event to the Aztecs, as the reason why they lived in a world of peril. But what must have been equally, if not more, shocking, was the realisation in the minds of the Spanish conquistadores when they heard this tale from their newfound subjects. The parallel between this story and the events in the Garden of Eden are striking, yet the Aztecs had never before known the ways of the Old World. Perhaps the Aztecs were not the aliens they had first appeared after all...

United Kingdom

Aztec Prayers:
Rig Veda Americanus
(A small collection of prayers and hymns to the pagan gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish account of the Conquest of Mexico:
The Conquest of New Spain
(A written account of the conquest given by a soldier who actually served under Cortés himself)

Mythology:
Mythology of the Aztec and Maya
(A colourful and nicely presented introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, and an excellent choice for 'getting into it'. The actual cover is different from the one Amazon displays, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

United States

Aztec Prayers:
Rig Veda Americanus
(A small collection of prayers and hymns to the pagan gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish account of the Conquest of Mexico:
The Conquest of New Spain
(A written account of the conquest given by a soldier who actually served under Cortés himself)

Mythology:
Mythology of the Aztec and Maya
(A colourful and nicely presented introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, and an excellent choice for 'getting into it'. The actual cover is different from the one Amazon displays, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

  

Quetzalcóatl's Exile

As the one of the Great Protectors of the Aztec nation, the god Quetzalcóatl shared a peculiar bond with his people. An exiled god, it was foretold that one day, Quetzalcóatl would triumphantly return from a distant land and lead his people in a new age of glory on Earth. The story of Quetzalcóatl stands apart from a great many of the myths of the world, in that it had a direct and profound influence upon the course of history. For on the 8th of November 1519, the catastrophic misinterpretation of this legend would spell the doom of the Aztecs. But what had lead to this?

The Mask of Tezcatlipoca
Artifact in the British Museum

Though he had been one of the gods which had helped create the world, Tezcatlipoca, the Lord of the Smoking Mirror, slowly began to reveal a streak of deep cruelty. The dark god possessed a magical mirror of obsidian, which reflected the deepest fears in men's hearts, as well as offering its bearer visions of the future. Though the god saw famine and natural disaster before they struck, he deliberately concealed this information from his people, delighting in their misery, and particularly in the resulting anguish of the most adored of the ruling gods - Quetzalcóatl - The Plumed Serpent. Though both gods had fought alongside one another against the great monster Tlaltecuhtli (for more on this and the creation, please click here), and Tezcatlopica had even sacrificed his own foot in the battle, tensions and mistrust began to build. The first to introduce war to the human world, Tezcatlipoca revelled in bloodshed for its own sake, deciding who should live and who should die on the mortal plain of battle.

Tollán (modern Tula)

Photograph taken by 'Luidger'

Quetzalcóatl, on the other hand, ruled as a living god king over the great city of Tollán, stronghold and crowning jewel of the Toltec people. The Toltecs prospered under his noble guidance, and the world was happy. Tezcatlipoca, however, was not. A skilled shapeshifter however, the dark god came to a great feast one night in Tollán, and deceived the King, switching his goblet for one filled with an extremely poweful drug. Oblivious, Quetzalcóatl drank from his goblet, eagerly partaking in the night's festivities. Soon inebriated, Quetzalcóatl began to behave most strangely. The people looked on in horror and disgust as their King seduced his own sister. The cries of outrage suddenly broke the spell, and Quetzalcóatl regained control of his senses. Still unaware that the scheme had been Tezcatlipoca's, Quetzalcóatl stood in disbelief at how he could have let himself become so drunk. Ashamed to the core at what he had done, the King left the hall, to the shouts of anger of his deceived subjects. The next morning, stricken with grief and frustration, Quetzalcóatl arose to devastating news. Playing on the events of the previous eve, Tezcatlipoca had roused the people against their King, his words of malice seizing upon the impulses of a mob. Realising the true extent of Tezcatlipoca's treachery at last, Quetzalcóatl's frustration turned to rage, and his wrath was terrible. Tollán burned, the mountains quaked, statues toppled and the fruits of the city's civilisation were buried under the Earth. The furious god commanded the magnificent bird which laired in the city to depart the land and not to return. Tollán's hour of greatness had reached an end.

The Sierra Nevada of Mexico
Photograph taken by David Tuggy

Leaving the blasted lands, Quetzalcóatl assembled what remained of his loyal guards and ventured forth into the wilderness. Soon, Quetzalcóatl began to feel grief again. Destroying Tollán had brought him peace, but carried it further from him. After many hours on the road, the exhausted god came to rest at Quauhtitlán. Quetzalcóatl asked his servant to hand him a mirror, and the servant gave the King a polished, reflective obsidian mirror. Quetzalcóatl looked on at his reflection, and saw a broken, elderly face stare back up at him. "I grow old", the god spoke softly. The servants began to weep, mourning the brevity of greatness in the mortal world, that all things, even their great city and King, must all one day end. For behind every glimmer of light, the shadow of Tezcatlipoca lurks. The dejected procession marched onward into the mountains, though stopping as Quetzalcóatl's exhaustion grew. When the god and his servants reached Coaapán, however, an array of deities soared down to the Earth from the high Heavens and surrounded Quetzalcóatl. The gods interrogated the weary traveller, demanding to know where he ventured and why. Quetzalcóatl boldly answered that he was leaving these shores for the land of Tlapallán, the far away realm of his father the sun god, over the distant Oceans, for he had no purpose here any longer, and his ancestral domain called him home. Taking pity on Quetzalcóatl, the gods allowed him to pass, though ordered him to relinquish the divine secrets of his powers, the powers that had allowed him to raise Tollán to such vast heights of human achievement. The arcane magic he wielded would allow any to raise humanity to its former glory. Mistrusting all other gods now due to Tezcatlipoca's treachery, Quetzalcóatl refused, and cast all the records of his secrets into a nearby fountain, where the thundering waters obliterated all trace. Heading further east, Quetzalcóatl continued undaunted along his march of shame.

Mount Popocatépetl

Photograph taken by Alejandro Garcia

The god and his procession pushed on deeper and deeper into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The ice and snow drifts began to close in, and the frozen wastes bore no fruit. Higher and higher they rose, and one by one, the sheer cold began to claim the life of Quetzalcóatl's servants. At last, only the Plumed Serpent himself remained. Fighting through the deep snow, Quetzalcóatl began a song of exquisite beauty, mourning all those that died with him. Reaching the summit of the volcano, he slid down the far side, coming at last to the Eastern Ocean. Attracted by his enchanting song, all the serpents of the region were drawn to their Plumed Master. As if by preordained command, the serpents twisted and writhed, and coiled within and around each other, creating a raft of their living flesh. Without a backward look, Quetzalcóatl boarded his serpentine craft, and with his eyes fixed on the horizon of the rising Sun, departed the land of Mexico. The Aztec peoples await his return, when he will appear on the horizon of the Eastern Ocean once again, in all his rightful, regal glory, and his secrets will lead them to a new era of mastery over the Earth.

Many eons later, the Aztecs remained as faithful as ever, awaiting their great deliverer. So when the year 1519 anno domini arrived, and the time came when a stranger from a far away land arrived on the horizon of the Eastern Ocean, the Aztecs were jubilant. Unfortunately, this stranger's name was not Quetzalcóatl, but Hernan Cortés...

United Kingdom

Aztec Hymns:

Rig Veda Americanus: Sacred Songs of the Ancient Aztecs (Forgotten Books)

(A collection of prayers to the gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish Account of the Conquest of Mexico:

The Conquest of New Spain (Classics)

(A written account of the conquest given by a Spanish soldier who actually served under Cortés himself)

General Reference:

Mythology of the Aztecs and Maya: Myths and Legends of Ancient Mexico and Northern Central America (Mythology Of...)

(A very nice introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, which I found very useful a few years back. Due to the vast nature of the subject, such a book is always helpful in the beginning. The actual front cover is different from the one displayed on Amazon, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

United States

Aztec Hymns:

Rig Veda Americanus: Sacred Songs of the Ancient Aztecs (Forgotten Books)

(A collection of prayers to the gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish Account of the Conquest of Mexico:

The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics)

(A written account of the conquest given by a Spanish soldier who actually served under Cortés himself)

General Reference:

The Mythology of the Aztec and Maya: An illustrated encyclopedia of the gods, myths and legends of the Aztecs, Maya and other peoples of ancient ... 200 fine art illustrations and photographs

(A very nice introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, which I found very useful a few years back. Due to the vast nature of the subject, such a book is always helpful in the beginning. The actual front cover is different from the one displayed on Amazon, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

The Hummingbird on the Left

With the Creation borne of strife and bloodshed (for this story, please click here), the few people who survived the brutal slaughters that accompanied the birth of each new world needed a protector, a god. Standing high in the Aztec Pantheon was Huitzilopochtli, the tribal war god of the Aztec peoples, who whilst benevolent and caring to his people, possessed a voracious thirst for human life force. For the Aztecs believed that only the offering of their own blood was adequate repayment for the gods' gift of life to the lands around them. It is this very belief which horrified the Spanish conquistadores - the sight of still beating hearts the Aztecs tore from the chests of their enemies.

Coatlícue
Sculpture in the National Museum
 of Anthropology and History,
 Mexico City.

Legend tells of a primordial earth goddess possessed of a dread visage. Wearing a necklace of human skulls and hearts, having two snapping serpents in place of a head and a skirt of live snakes, Coatlícue was a formidable mother for the patron deity of the Aztecs. In these most ancient times, Coatlícue served as a high priestess in the divine sanctuary at Coatepec, high in the mountains above the city of Tollán - capital city of the Toltecs. Coatlícue had many offspring. Among them were the moon goddess Coyolxuahqui, and four hundred sons, called the Centzonhuitznahauc "The Four Hundred Southerners". One day, the breezes in the mountains valleys carried a ball of exotic feathers through the sky. The feathers came to rest on Coatlícue, but the goddess thought nothing of this strange occurrence. But all the same, admiring the beauty of the vibrant plumage, fallen from an unknown yet clearly majestic sky bird, Coatlícue kept the feathers, securing them in her belt. Time passed and Coatlícue grew unexpectedly pregnant. In bewilderment she noticed that the magnificent feathers had disappeared from her belt.

Huitzilopochtli
Image taken from the Codex Telleriano-Remensis.

Coatlícue's existing children grew suspicious of their mother. Though Coatlícue assured them that the conception was miraculous, and that there was no father, rumours of promiscuity began to abound - a dangerous lie. Young Coyolxuahqui, convinced of her mother's infidelity, schemed and plotted against her, determined to punish this crime. Gathering at the foot of the mountain, the four hundred and one children devised their evil stratagems. So swayed by Coyolxuahqui's impassioned pleas and apparent integrity, the brothers resolved to kill their own mother, so determined to purify their line were they. But high above in the mountain shrine, the fell words of her brood reached Coatlícue's ears, borne to the skies on the high winds. The despairing goddess trembled with fear at her injust fate, but suddenly an ethereal voice sounded from within her womb. The voice soothed her fears, prophesying that her coming son would protect her. The next day, Coyolxuahqui and the Four Hundred Southerners ascended the mountain, ready to send their mother to the House of the Dead. But then, just at the last moment, a strange apparition took form. Leaping fully armed from his mother's womb, a tall figure emerged; his skin painted blue, a serpent clutched in his hand. Covering the god's left leg were a dazzling array of feathers, the bright plumage of the hummingbird. This was Huitzilopochtli, whose name in Nahuatl means "The Hummingbird on the Left". Wielding the great fire serpent Xiuhcóatl, Huitzilopochtli fell upon his kin, dealing bloody slaughter across the land. Casting their broken bodies down the mountainside, his bloodlust grew stronger, until the new god stood triumphant at the summit of the mountain.

Human sacrifice - the cardiectomy
Image taken from the Codex Tudela.

Vast oceans of time passed, and the wars of the gods raised the land then laid it low again. One race of people, however, endured in the idyllic pastures of Aztlán in northern Mexico. Huitzilopochtli came down to them and pledged to lead them south to the Promised Land. An ancient prophecy had decreed that the Aztec people should build their city when a certain sign should present itself - an eagle resting atop a cactus with a serpent in its beak. Huitzilopochtli guided his people on the long and treacherous journey south, watching over them, though he occasionally required sacrifices of blood to sustain him and the passage of day and night in the Heavens. Proud of his people and contemptuous of all others, Huitzilopochtli schemed to foster war between the Aztecs and the other peoples of Mexico, eager to gain the blood of his enemies. One day, when the Aztecs camped near Culhuacán, the god spoke to his people, demanding the allegiance of the princess of the Culhuacáns. Loyal to their new god, the Aztecs came before Achitometl, King of the Culhuacáns with a strange request. The Aztec emissary informed the King that his god had chosen the Culhuacán princess as his bride, who would then rule herself as a goddess. Achitometl, overwhelmed as the prospect of having a goddess for a daughter, agreed. The Aztecs took the princess back to their high temple, and on Huitzilopochtli's orders, they sacrificed Achitometl's daughter. The High Priest flayed her corpse and wore her skin as a macabre cloak, fanatically zealous about his new god. The Aztecs then scornfully invited Achitometl to see his new goddess of a daughter, blissfully unaware as he was of her cruel fate.

Coat of Arms of the United Mexican States

Proud as her father was, Achitometl gathered all the leading nobles of Culhuacán to lay sacrifices before his daughter, coming to the Aztec Temple. It was dark inside, and Achitometl could see nothing beyond his own hands, as he readied his sacrifice. But when the King hurled incense into the sacred flame, a ghastly sight tortured his eyes. As the flames rose high in the sanctuary, Achitometl's eyes fell upon the skin of his own daughter, cruelly ripped from her mortal form and now a foul robe of the High Priest. Running from the Temple, the Culhuacáns shouted in horror, wracked with sorrow and maddened by grief, as Lord Huitzilopochtli looked on in glee at his fell work. Achitometl could barely keep his tears at bay as he roared at his people to march on this bloodthirsty tribe. After a fierce and brutal battle, in which endless blood flowed in Huitzilopochtli's name, the Aztecs were repelled and driven further south, though now a destiny of strife with the other peoples of Mexico was now certain. One day, the exiles came upon a great valley, covered with a vast lake - Lake Texcoco. On a small island at the lake's centre, there it was. A great eagle astride a towering cactus, a serpent clutched in its fierce beak. The Aztecs had reached the Promised Land at last, and here they would raise their majestic city of Tenochtitlan. The sign of the eagle, the cactus and the serpent would be a powerful emblem ever after, and even today you will find this on the Flag of the modern nation of Mexico, in pride of place at the centre of the standard. Huitzilopochtli was honoured among the gods, as the mighty Templo Mayor was raised in the heart of the Aztec city, a huge pyramid bursting from the land, where countless grisly sacrifices were offered in his name, right until AD 1521, when everything changed...

" Huitzilopochtli is first in rank, no one, no one is like unto him:
 
  Not vainly do I sing his praises coming forth in the garb of our ancestors; I shine; I glitter.

  He is a terror to the Mixteca; he alone destroyed the Huasteca, he conquered them... "
                                                                    
                                                                    - THE HYMN OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI


United Kingdom

Aztec Hymns:
Rig Veda Americanus: Sacred Songs of the Ancient Aztecs (Forgotten Books)
(A collection of prayers to the gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish account of the Conquest:
The Conquest of New Spain (Classics)

(A written account of the conquest given by a Spanish soldier who actually served under Cortés himself, and therefore a valuable resource)

General Reference:
Mythology of the Aztecs and Maya: Myths and Legends of Ancient Mexico and Northern Central America (Mythology Of...)
(A very nice introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, which I found very useful a few years back. Due to the vast nature of the subject, such a book is always helpful in the beginning. The actual front cover is different to the one displayed on Amazon, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)


United States

Aztec Hymns:
Rig Veda Americanus: Sacred Songs of the Ancient Aztecs (Forgotten Books)
(A collection of prayers to the gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish Account of the Conquest:
The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics)

(A written account of the conquest given by a Spanish soldier who actually served under Cortés himself, and therefore a valuable resource)

General Reference:
The Mythology of the Aztec and Maya: An illustrated encyclopedia of the gods, myths and legends of the Aztecs, Maya and other peoples of ancient ... 200 fine art illustrations and photographs
(A very nice introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, which I found very useful a few years back. Due to the vast nature of the subject, such a book is always helpful in the beginning. The actual front cover is different to the one displayed on Amazon, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

The First Aztecs

       “ Among these temples there is one which far surpasses all the rest, whose grandeur

         of architectural details no human tongue is able to describe;

         for within its precincts, surrounded by a lofty wall, there is room enough

         for a town of five hundred families. ”

                       - THE WORDS OF HERNAN CORTÉS TO HIS MASTER, EMPEROR CHARLES V

The Valley of Mexico
Painting by José Maria Valesco.

Such was the awe which the Aztec peoples inspired within the mind of the man who would one day seal their doom. Almost five hundred years since the fall of Tenochtitlan, a city which rivalled Paris, Venice and Constantinople at their height, we continue to be fascinated by the culture of the tribes which inhabited the Valley of Mexico. As the event which sowed the seeds for the American story, and an almost theatrical showdown between pagan gods and Christianity, it is little wonder the Aztec Empire holds a special place in world history. Fine workers of gold, jade and obsidian, fearless warriors, legendary builders and fanatically zealous about their gods, there is much to look on in awe, just as Cortés and his small band of Conquistadors did so many years ago. Deeply pious, mythology and history were so intricately entwined in Aztec culture so as to be indistinguishable from one another. We start, as the Aztecs did, with how they came into being.

Quetzalcóatl
Image taken from the Codex Codex Telleriano-Remensis.

The primeval creator of the cosmos was Ometeotl, the god of duality, so named because he existed in both male and female forms. These forms were known as Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacíhuatl respectively. Both forms resided in the thirteenth and highest level of the Aztec Heaven, known as Omeyocán. One day, out of the darkness, Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacíhuatl gave birth to four gods, known as The Four Tezcatlipocas, and charged them with creating the gods, the world and the human race. Each Tezcatlipoca was granted a quarter of the cosmos, and was associated with a particular colour. Red Tezcatlipoca, who commanded the East, was the god of vegetation and the creation of new life, and would later be renamed Xipe Totec “The Flayed One” (so named because he would one day flay himself to give food to humanity). Black Tezcatlipoca, who ruled the North, was associated with the night, discord, war and strife, and would later retain the name of Tezcatlipoca “Lord of the Smoking Mirror”, and be known as a malevolent force in the World. White Tezcatlipoca, who took the West, was a god of the winds and a hero of the Aztec peoples, and would one day be renamed as Quetzalcóatl “Feathered Serpent”. To the south was assigned Blue Tezcatlipoca, the god of the sun, war and patron of the Aztec tribe, who would one day take the name Huitzilopochtli “Hummingbird on the Left” and become the supreme deity of the Aztec pantheon.

Tezcatlipoca
Image taken from the Codex Borgia.

Deep tensions began to simmer between Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca, but six hundred years later, even they had to put aside their differences in face of a new foe. A primordial force was rising which was rapidly beginning to eclipse the power of the gods. This force was Tlaltecuhtli, the Earth Monster, who spread terror wherever she ventured in the seas. Using his own foot as bait, Tezcatlipoca lay in wait for Tlaltecuhtli. Suddenly the monster appeared, but the god was not fast enough. Seizing Tezcatlipoca’s foot, the monster tore it from his body and devoured it. Enduring the pain, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl took the forms of great rippling serpents, eyes flashing, and seized the monster. One god coiled around her left arm and right foot, and the other her right arm and left foot, and together they tore her apart into two vast pieces. The first piece they hurled into the Heavens and made the sky, and the second they laid out in to make the flat expanse of the Earth (this provides an interesting parallel with the Norse creation, click here for more). The other gods were displeased with the fate of Tlaltecuhtli, reprimanding Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl, and declaring that from the earthly part of the monster, sweet smelling flowers, herbs and trees would grow. They also decreed that springs and rivers would come forth from her eyes, whilst her mouth formed rivers and caverns. Her nose became the tall snow capped mountains and the deep valleyed sierras. Mankind has since grown used to walking on her body. From her body they also fashioned further gods; Tlaloc, god of the rains and Chalchiúhtlicue, his consort. From her body was crafted the Underworld too (known as Mictlán), and its masters; Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacacίhuatl, the god and goddess of the dead. Born too was Xochiquetzal, whose name means “Flower Feather”, who was goddess of flowers and the Earth, song and dance. The gods also fixed the calendar at two hundred and sixty days.

Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl together raised the first sun in the sky, and crafted the first man and woman, called Oxomoco and Cipactonal. They gave birth to a son, called Piltzintecuhtli, who was the first human to have enjoyed pleasure in life, and a wife was fashioned for him from a hair from the head of the flower goddess Xochiquetzal. With their original task of creation complete, the four master gods began the four ages of Earth’s history, yet bloodshed, and the reason why the Aztecs offered human sacrifices to the gods, was coming...

Aztec mythology is a vast story, with many events having many differing stories. Different gods rose into prominence as the ages of the Earth progressed, with the position of supreme deity changing hands several times in mythology. Crucial to understanding the Aztec peoples is understanding their beliefs, as all the facets of their culture were branches growing off the central trunk that was their religion. The next part of the Aztec story we will return to is how the the gods struggled over mastery of the Sun, how the Aztec peoples first arrived by the shores of Lake Texcoco (the basin of which now contains Mexico City), and the rise to prominence of the god Huitzilopochtli in the pantheon.

With the transformation of the Aztec Empire into the colony of New Spain, much of the Aztec culture was subject to forcible conversion to Christianity, and native customs found their survival under threat. With terrible atrocities committed by the conquistadors, countless relics of Aztec culture lay in ruins. It is testament to Aztec brilliance that even the remains which survived such inquisitions continue to hold sway over our imagination. One must understand that much of the Aztec religion was discovered by Spanish missionaries through speech, as the Aztecs largely recorded their stories through art rather than verse. The story I have told today can be pieced together from several sources, some difficult to access, but I have listed one Aztec and one Spanish, both available quite easily at Amazon:

United Kingdom

Aztec Hymns:

Rig Veda Americanus: Sacred Songs of the Ancient Aztecs (Forgotten Books)
(A collection of prayers to the gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish account:
The Conquest of New Spain (Classics)
(A written account of the conquest given by a Spanish soldier who actually served under Cortés himself, and therefore a valuable resource)

General reference:
Mythology of the Aztecs and Maya: Myths and Legends of Ancient Mexico and Northern Central America (Mythology Of...)
(A very nice introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, which I found very useful a few years back. Due to the vast nature of the subject, such a book is always helpful in the beginning. The actual front cover is different to the one displayed on Amazon, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)

United States

Aztec Hymns:
Rig Veda Americanus (Illustrated Edition) (Dodo Press)
(A collection of prayers to the gods, translated from the Nahuatl language)

Spanish Account:
The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics)
(A written account of the conquest given by a Spanish soldier who actually served under Cortés himself, and therefore a valuable resource)

General reference:
The Mythology of the Aztec and Maya: An illustrated encyclopedia of the gods, myths and legends of the Aztecs, Maya and other peoples of ancient Mexico ... 200 fine art illustrations and photographs
(A very nice introduction to Aztec and Mayan Mythology, which I found very useful a few years back. Due to the vast nature of the subject, such a book is always helpful in the beginning. The actual front cover is different to the one displayed on Amazon, and the book itself has many high quality photographs in it)