Tecciztecatl
Tecciztecatl (also Tecuciztecal or Tecuciztecatl ) was the god of the moon in Aztec mythology , whose male aspect he represented. He was considered the son of Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicues . In Nahuatl , his name means god of the old moon . But he was also called the one from the land of the sea snail shell.
Appearance
Tecciztecatl is often depicted with a large white shell on its back, symbolizing the moon. Sometimes he has butterfly wings.
Creation myth
Tecciztecatl played an important role in the Aztec creation myth. According to the Leyenda de los soles and the Codex Florentinus , Teotihuacán , 40 kilometers north of Tenochtitlán , was the place of the beginning of time where the gods considered which of them should illuminate the day and who should illuminate the night. The haughty Tecciztecatl answered. The gods named a second candidate: the humble Nanahuatzin . The competition between the two candidates consisted of jumping into a pyre after days of penance and fasting and sacrificing themselves in it. While Tecciztecatl loaded his stake with exquisite materials, the offerings of Nanahuatzin were initially modest. When the gods finally tell both of them to jump into the fire themselves, Tecciztecatl hesitates four times while his competitor went into the fire with no regard for himself.
- Nanahuatzin, daring everything ... hardened his heart ... He was not afraid, he did not stop ... He burned for that; his body crackled and hissed .
It was only when Tecciztecatl saw the heroism of his competitor that he too took heart and jumped. But it was too late to become the sun god. After both were burned, Nanahuatzin appeared mutated to the sun god Tonatiuh in the eastern sky and has ruled the age of the fifth sun ever since . For Tecciztecatl only the role of a moon god remains. Because the gods feared that two suns could burn the earth, one of them threw a rabbit in Tecciztecatl's face, which lowered its luminosity to the level of the moon. Tecciztecatl turned into the moon god Metztli .
literature
- Heike Owusu: symbols of the Inca, Maya and Aztecs . Schirner Verlag, Darmstadt 2000, ISBN 3-89767-073-9
- Günter Lanczkowski, The Religion of the Aztecs, Maya and Inca . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1989, ISBN 3-534-03222-5
- Karl Taube : Aztec and Mayan Myths . Phillip Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-15-010427-0
Web links
- Tecciztecatl in Azteccalendar (English)