Aztec mythology; Indian mythology -- Mexico; Mexico -- Religion
These deities were identified by the Mexicans with the Creator, the
Tloque Nahuaque, of whom almost every one of the post-Conquest Spanish
writers speaks. Indeed the Codex Telleriano-Remensis expressly
identifies them with the creative force. The passage runs: “All those
epithets (God, Lord, Creator) they bestowed on their god Tonacatecutli,
who, according to their account, was the god who created the world; and
they painted him alone with a crown as lord of all. They never offered
sacrifices to this god, for they said that he did not regard them.” Of
the female deity the Codex Vaticanus says: “Tonacacigua was the wife of
Tonacatecutle; for, as we have observed, although their gods were not,
as they affirm, united together for matrimonial purposes, still they
assigned to each a goddess as a companion. They called her by another
name, Suchiquetzal and Chicomecoual, which means Seven Serpents, for
they say that she was the cause of sterility, famine, and all the
miseries of life.” [170]
In further descriptive passages concerning Tonacatecutli the same Codex
says: “This is the representation of Tonacatecotle, which name
signifies the Lord of our Bodies; others say that it means the First
Man, or perhaps it means that the first man was so called.” “These are
the figures which have been mentioned; and the first is that of their
greatest god Tonacatecotle. It represented the first god under whom
they affirm was the dominion of the world; who, when it appeared good
to him, breathed and divided the waters of the heavens and the earth,
which at first were all confused together, and disposed of them as they
now are; and accordingly they called him Lord of our Bodies; and also
of abundance, who bestowed everything upon them; and on this account
they paint him alone with a crown. They called him besides Seven
Flowers, for they say that he disposes of the principalities of the
earth. He had no temple, nor did they offer sacrifices to him, for they
say that he did not require them, as if on account of his superior
majesty.... They say that Tonacatecotle presided over the thirteen
signs which are here marked (the day-signs of the tonalamatl, q.v.).
Those above denote the thirteen causes or influences of the sky which
are under subjection to him, and the others below are the thirteen
signs of their superstition and sorcery. This man and woman represent
the first pair who existed in the world; their names are Huehue (very
old ones). Between them is placed a knife or razor and an arrow above
each of their heads, typifying death, as in them death originated.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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