Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca was the god of night and matter of the Toltecs and the Aztecs . He is also called the “smoking mirror” because he is represented with his magic mirror , with which he looks into the heart and into the future. Other attributes were his sacrificial knife of obsidian and his Jaguar -Gewand.
Tezcatlipoca was the god of the north, of the cold, of the night sky with moon and stars, of the color black, of matter, of war, of heroes, of temptation and of beautiful women.
Tezcatlipoca was involved in creating the world at the time of the first sun. His opponent Quetzalcoatl destroyed this world, but later Tezcatlipoca drove him out of Tollan / Tula .
Tezcatlipoca once seduced the flower goddess Xochiquetzal , the sister of Xochipilli .
The following text about Tezcatlipoca comes from the Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España by Bernardino de Sahagún :
“The god Tezkatlipoka, he was considered a true god, invisible, powerful to enter every place, the heavens, the earth and the place of the dead. It was said that when he was on earth, he spurred people on to war, created enmity and discord and caused much fear and unrest. He incited the peoples against one another so that they wage wars, and that is why he was called the 'enemy on both sides'. He alone understood how the world is governed, and he alone bestowed prosperity and wealth and took them away at his will; he donated riches, wealth and fame, bravery and rule, honors and dignity and took them away again when he pleased. That is why he was feared and revered, for it was in his power to rise up and prostrate. "
The asteroid (1980) Tezcatlipoca was named after the deity Tezcatlipoca .
One of the most important ceremonies of the Aztec religion was the sacrifice of a youth who symbolized Tezcatlipoca. A youth offered himself up for sacrifice and was worshiped as a god for a year, during which time he played the flute in the streets. At the end of the year he had to climb the steps to the temple and break four flutes, which symbolized the cardinal points . Finally he lay down on the sacrificial stone where his heart was cut out.
Trivia
Tezcatlipoca and his relics, the obsidian blade and the smoking mirror, are the subject of the main plot in the adventure Baphomet's curse 2 .
literature
- Mary Miller: The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames and Hudson, London 1993, ISBN 0-500-05068-6 .
- Guilhem Olivier: Mockeries and Metamorphoses of an Aztec God - Tezcatlipoca, Lord of the Smoking Mirror . University Press of Colorado, 2003, ISBN 0-87081-745-0 .
Web links
- Mexicolore - Tezcatlipoca Symposium (English)