Aztec creator gods

In Aztec mythology, Creator-Brothers gods are the only four Tezcatlipocas, the children of the creator couple Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl "Lord and Lady of Duality", "Lord and Lady of the Near and the Nigh", "Father and Mother of the Gods", "Father and Mother of us all", who received the gift of the ability to create other living beings without childbearing. They reside atop a mythical thirteenth heaven Ilhuicatl-Omeyocan "the place of duality".[1]

Each of the four sons takes a turn as Sun, these suns are the sun of earth, the sun of air, the sun of fire, the sun of water (Tlaloc, rain god replaces Xipe-Totec). Each world is destroyed. The present era, the Fifth Sun is ushered in when a lowly god, Nanahuatzin sacrifices himself in fire and becomes Tonatiuh, the Fifth Sun. In his new position of power, he refuses to go into motion until the gods make sacrifice to him. In an elaborate ceremony, Quetzalcoatl cuts the hearts out of each of the gods and offers it to Tonatiuh (and the moon Meztli). All of this occurs in the ancient and sacred, pre-Aztec city of Teotihuacan. It is predicted that eventually, like the previous epochs, this one will come to a cataclysmic end.

The Tezcatlipocas created four couple-gods to control the waters by Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue;[2] the Earth by Tlaltecuhtli and Tlalcihuatl;[3] the underworld (Mictlan) by Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl;[3] and the fire by Xantico and Xiuhtecuhtli.[3]

  1. ^ Editorial Universo México, ed. (1981). El Mundo Mágico de los Dioses del Anáhuac (in Spanish). México. p. 13. ISBN 968-35-0093-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Cecilio A. Robelo (1905). Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa (in Spanish). Editorial Porrúa. p. 136. ISBN 970-07-3149-9.
  3. ^ a b c Otilia Meza (1981). El Mundo Mágico de los Dioses del Anáhuac (in Spanish). Editorial Universo. pp. 60–70. ISBN 968-35-0093-5.