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)