The Ages of the Sun

Today we once again take up the story of the Aztec Creation tale (for the first episode in this saga, click here). As we saw last time, the earliest days of Creation were governed by the so called ‘Four Tezcatlipocas’, the sons of the primordial Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacíhuatl, the androgynous forms of the Aztec supreme Creator god – Ometeotl. Each had been assigned a colour and a quarter of the cosmos to rule, and each were charged with the Creation of the world we know today. The White Tezcatlipoca of the West, who later was known by his more famous name – Quetzalcóatl, and the Black Tezcatlipoca of the North, later to be known infamously as Tezcatlipoca, the “Lord of the Smoking Mirror”, joined their power to conquer the mighty Earth Monster Tlaltecuhtli and create the world. However, the world born of the monster’s slain form was not the first world. It was in fact the fifth. The Creation was far from a smooth ride...

Tezcatlipoca - The Jaguar Sun
Images taken from the Codex Rios.

Four worlds had waxed and waned in older times, each victim to the endless struggles of the gods, as each vied for power and ultimate mastery of the cosmos. In the Old Age, of the Four Tezcatlipocas, Black Tezcatlipoca arose to the skies to take his place as the Sun. This was a time before humans, when instead the ethereal plains were home to a race of giants, so mighty in stature that they could tear the trees from their roots and hurl them through the air. Unlike the jötunn of the Norse lands however (for more on this, click here), the giants of the Old Age were not violent by nature, and in fact ate the acorns of the land for sustenance. The age was largely peaceful, and became known as the world of the Jaguar Sun, enduring six hundred and seventy six years. But the envy of gods is not lightly cast aside. White Tezcatlipoca, or Quetzalcóatl, could bear no longer to see Tezcatlipoca at the highest point of the sky. Seizing hold of his great staff, Quetzalcóatl struck down Tezcatlipoca from the Heavens, hurling him into the endless oceans at the farthest extremes of the land. However, by doing so, he had knocked the Sun from its place in the sky, and darkness covered the land. In his rage, Tezcatlipoca rose from the murky depths, assuming the form of a powerful jaguar. Tezcatlipoca wrenched himself onto dry land, and sent forth a plague of jaguars onto the plains of Mesoamerica, thirsty for blood and howling for revenge. The jaguars hunted down and exterminated the giants in an orgy of violence and bloodshed which would spell the doom to each of the first four worlds. His bloodlust temporarily sated, Tezcatlipoca leaped into the night sky where he became the celestial gathering of stars known to us as the constellation of the Great Bear.

Éhecatl - The Lord of the Winds
Image taken from the Codex Magliabechiano.

Quetzalcóatl’s hour had come. Seizing his immortal throne as supreme god, Quetzalcóatl assumed the form of a lord of the winds, known as Éhecatl, and rule over the land. Gone were the giants, yet now a race that resembled what would one day become humans lived under the god’s yoke. They too were peaceful, eating only the seeds of the sacred mesquite tree. The age of the Wind Sun, as it became known, endured three hundred and sixty four years of peace, before divine tensions once again threatened the world. Seething with the injustice of the usurped, Tezcatlipoca enacted a brutal vengeance. Since Quetzalcóatl had taken the form of the wind god, Tezcatlipoca decided to mock his ‘power’. Gathering his dark powers, Tezcatlipoca summoned a mighty hurricane and unleashed it upon Quetzalcóatl’s world. So powerful were the vortex’s winds, the Sun was swept from the sky, as well as the world’s inhabitants, but for a few survivors. These survivors escaped Tezcatlipoca’s wrath by hiding within the leafy boughs of the few trees not uprooted by the fell wind. These survivors would populate future worlds, and their descendants are the monkeys of the world today.

Tláloc
Image taken from the Codex Rios.

Devastated by chaos, the world looked to god of the rains, Tláloc, to guide it. Those under Tláloc’s rule made great leaps forward in human technology, learning from their god how to work the land. Enlightened by the gift of agriculture, the dwellers learned to cultivate the maize crop. Tláloc’s rule, which became known later as the world of the Rain Sun, lived on for three hundred and twelve years before the malice of gods once again seized its chance. Quetzalcóatl, like Tezcatlipoca before him, seethed with injustice and envy for his lost paradise. Quetzalcóatl humiliated Tláloc, the lord of rain, and channeled his powers into a torrent of fire which blasted the land. For a whole day, the fiery inferno engulfed the world, its flames sweeping the Sun from the sky. All life was charred by the conflagration, except for a few survivors, It was from these ancestors that the turkeys, dogs and butterflies of today are descended.

Beaten, battered and broke, Tláloc retreated, and the world passed to Chalchiúhtlicue, Tláloc’s consort. Goddess of lakes, the oceans, streams and rivers, Chalchiúhtlicue created a new Sun and begun her rule. As the most peaceful of all the worlds that had yet been created, the age of the Water Sun endured happily for six hundred and seventy six years. The people of the age lived peacefully on the seeds of wild plants, and this was the first age in which the highest deity decreed Creation to at last be over. As she did so, however, the sky waters broke, crashing down upon the Earth. Water burst from solid rock on the ground, and rose from deep within the land, obliterating most life. The Great Flood lasted for fifty two years, and the surviving people survived by adapting their physical forms to coexist with this water. It is from these peoples that the whales, fish and other creatures of the deep are descended.

Teotihuacán
Image in the Public Domain.

It was then that the fifth and current world was created, by Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca, from the body of the monster Tlaltecuhtli, who was herself one of the creatures of the deep that lived in the floodwaters (to find out what happened, click here). Yet the world was dark. Seeking to end once and for all the instability that had spelled the doom of so many worlds before it, the gods held council at Teotihuacán. Deciding that the Creation of a Sun and Moon was of the utmost importance, two gods stepped forth to volunteer for the roles. One was Tecuciztécatl – “He of the Sea Stone”, a proud god, the other was Nanahuatzin, a humble god, disfigured by scars, weals and sores. Preparing for their duty for four days, the other gods prepared an enormous pyre upon which offerings were to be laid. Both Tecuciztécatl and Nanahuatzin made offerings; fine gifts of quetzal feathers and incense from Tecuciztécatl , whilst Nanahuatzin could give only cactus thorns that he had used to make offerings of his own blood, and scabs from his injuries. The time came for them to assume their place in the Heavens. Tecuciztécatl approached the fire first, but was repelled by the intense heat. He tried again, and again, but could not summon the courage to enter the flames. Nanahuatzin approached instead. Fearlessly, he strode into the pyre, as the other gods looked on in admiration as his body crackled and burned in the flames. Emboldened, Tecuciztécatl hurried into the fire, and an eagle and a jaguar followed them in.

The sacrifice complete, the gods watched in earnest. Tecuciztécatl rose first as the Moon, but shining brightly. Close behind him followed Nanahuatzin as the Sun. But both Sun and Moon hung in the sky, motionless. The gods worried. How would the seasons pass and time progress? Nanahuatzin called down from the sky, and decreed that he would follow the daily motions, only if the gods would offer their hearts and blood in sacrifice, just as he did in the offer of his own body. Outraged, the gods refused, and one even tried to attack Nanahuatzin, but the new Sun was immovable. Resigned to the inevitable, the gods drove a knife into their chests, and the first blood sacrifice was made. The Sun accepted their offering and begun his passage through the Heavens. Ever since, the Aztec peoples offered their blood and hearts to the Sun, so that it may continue to move through the sky, and delay the day when Tezcatlipoca will fulfill his destiny as the Destroyer of Worlds...

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)

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)