Tlaloc: The God of Rain
Existing between the periods between 1345 to its forceful capture in 1345, the Aztec civilization began with the creation of its thriving city of Teotihuacan. Like their predecessors, the Mayans, the Aztecs were deeply intoned with their polytheistic belief of powerful deities. One such deity, Tlaloc, god of rain and earth, was held in high regard. Tlaloc was thought to form a union with Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and war in Aztec mythology. They shared the Templo Mayor, an iconic, twin temple pyramid featured in the center of the city of Teotihuacan. This signified a union of the two seasons of the tropical world, wet and dry (Miller 249), and thus bought legitimacy to the new civilization of the Aztecs. The pair …show more content…
His name comes from the cognate of the words huitzlin, meaning hummingbird, and opochtli, meaning left. Warriors were believed to be reincarnated as hummingbirds and the south was considered to be the left side of the world to the Aztecs; therefore, Huitzilopochtli translated to “resuscitated warrior of the south” (Huitzilopochtli: Aztec God). Apart from hummingbird motifs, Huitzilopochtli is also often associated with eagles.
Huitzilopochtli was conceived by his mother, Coatlique, regarded as the mother goddess who also gave birth to the moon and stars. Huitzilopochtli guided the Aztecs through the long migration from their original home of Aztlan to the Valley of Mexico. “His power lived in a bundle carried by the Aztecs” and then kept at the Templo Mayor (Miller 250). During the journey, an image of a hummingbird was carried upon the shoulders meant to represent him, and at night his voice gave orders in order to guide the Aztecs through the arduous …show more content…
He was also depicted as an anthropomorphic hummingbird figure with his legs, arms and half of his face colored blue, and the other half of his face colored black. Like all Aztec deities, his head was fashioned with elaborate feathered headdress. Artwork of Huitzilopochtli also showed him brandishing weapons with images of serpents.
Because the Aztecs believed themselves to be people of the sun, it was believed that Huitzilopochtli required several sacrifices in his honor in the form of human blood. Priests would tear the hearts out of human sacrifices to offer to the sun quauhtlehuanitl, or eagle who rises. Then the sacrificial hearts would be burned in quauhxicalli, the eagle’s vase (Huitzilopochtli: Aztec God).
Representations of Huitzilopochtli generally depicted him as “a hummingbird or as a warrior with armor and helmet made of hummingbird feathers” (Huitzilopochtli: Aztec God). He was also depicted as an anthropomorphic hummingbird figure with his legs, arms and half of his face colored blue, and the other half of his face colored black. Like all Aztec deities, his head was fashioned with elaborate feathered headdress. Artwork of Huitzilopochtli also showed him brandishing weapons with images of
Existing between the periods between 1345 to its forceful capture in 1345, the Aztec civilization began with the creation of its thriving city of Teotihuacan. Like their predecessors, the Mayans, the Aztecs were deeply intoned with their polytheistic belief of powerful deities. One such deity, Tlaloc, god of rain and earth, was held in high regard. Tlaloc was thought to form a union with Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and war in Aztec mythology. They shared the Templo Mayor, an iconic, twin temple pyramid featured in the center of the city of Teotihuacan. This signified a union of the two seasons of the tropical world, wet and dry (Miller 249), and thus bought legitimacy to the new civilization of the Aztecs. The pair …show more content…
His name comes from the cognate of the words huitzlin, meaning hummingbird, and opochtli, meaning left. Warriors were believed to be reincarnated as hummingbirds and the south was considered to be the left side of the world to the Aztecs; therefore, Huitzilopochtli translated to “resuscitated warrior of the south” (Huitzilopochtli: Aztec God). Apart from hummingbird motifs, Huitzilopochtli is also often associated with eagles.
Huitzilopochtli was conceived by his mother, Coatlique, regarded as the mother goddess who also gave birth to the moon and stars. Huitzilopochtli guided the Aztecs through the long migration from their original home of Aztlan to the Valley of Mexico. “His power lived in a bundle carried by the Aztecs” and then kept at the Templo Mayor (Miller 250). During the journey, an image of a hummingbird was carried upon the shoulders meant to represent him, and at night his voice gave orders in order to guide the Aztecs through the arduous …show more content…
He was also depicted as an anthropomorphic hummingbird figure with his legs, arms and half of his face colored blue, and the other half of his face colored black. Like all Aztec deities, his head was fashioned with elaborate feathered headdress. Artwork of Huitzilopochtli also showed him brandishing weapons with images of serpents.
Because the Aztecs believed themselves to be people of the sun, it was believed that Huitzilopochtli required several sacrifices in his honor in the form of human blood. Priests would tear the hearts out of human sacrifices to offer to the sun quauhtlehuanitl, or eagle who rises. Then the sacrificial hearts would be burned in quauhxicalli, the eagle’s vase (Huitzilopochtli: Aztec God).
Representations of Huitzilopochtli generally depicted him as “a hummingbird or as a warrior with armor and helmet made of hummingbird feathers” (Huitzilopochtli: Aztec God). He was also depicted as an anthropomorphic hummingbird figure with his legs, arms and half of his face colored blue, and the other half of his face colored black. Like all Aztec deities, his head was fashioned with elaborate feathered headdress. Artwork of Huitzilopochtli also showed him brandishing weapons with images of