Tezcatlipoca, whose name means “the smoking mirror” in Nahuatl, was one of the strongest and most feared gods in the Mexica pantheon. Tezcatlipoca was the god of the night, of fate, of sorcery, and of royal authority, and he was the patron of warriors and of kings. He was one of the four Tezcatlipocas, the high gods of the Mexica state, and he was associated with the north, with the color black, and with the jaguar. Tezcatlipoca was a complex and ambivalent god, capable of both good and evil, and he was believed to be the source of royal authority, of the human will to power, and of the unseen forces that shaped human destiny.
The Attributes of Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca had a wide range of attributes, and he was associated with many different aspects of Mexica life. He was the god of the night, and he was associated with the darkness, the stars, and the unseen forces of the universe. He was the god of fate, and he was believed to control the destiny of humans. He was the god of sorcery, and he was the patron of the sorcerers and the witches. He was the god of royal authority, and he was believed to be the source of the power of the Tlatoani.
Tezcatlipoca was also associated with the jaguar, and he was sometimes depicted as a jaguar or as a figure with jaguar attributes. He was associated with the color black, and his statues and images were often painted in black. He was associated with the obsidian mirror, which was used for divination and for seeing into the future. The obsidian mirror, called the tezcatl, was the symbol of Tezcatlipoca, and it was the source of his name.
The Myth of Tezcatlipoca
The most famous myth of Tezcatlipoca is the story of his conflict with Quetzalcoatl. According to the myth, Quetzalcoatl had been a great ruler of the ancient Toltec capital of Tollan, and he had presided over a golden age of peace and prosperity. Yet Tezcatlipoca, jealous of Quetzalcoatl’s success, came to Tollan and tricked him into drunkenness and incest. Quetzalcoatl, ashamed of his actions, departed from Tollan and retreated to the east, where he immolated himself and became the morning star.
The myth of the conflict between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl was a central part of Mexica mythology, and it was used to explain the rise and fall of civilizations. The myth was also used to explain the relationship between order and chaos, between good and evil, and between the human and the divine. The myth was regularly reenacted in the religious rituals, and it was the subject of many works of Mexica art.
The Cult of Tezcatlipoca
The cult of Tezcatlipoca shaped the Mexica religion, and it was centered on the great temple of Tezcatlipoca in the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan. The cult of Tezcatlipoca required human sacrifice, and the priests of Tezcatlipoca were known for their strict asceticism and their magical powers. The most important festival of the cult was the month of Toxcatl, which was dedicated to Tezcatlipoca and which involved the sacrifice of a young man who had been selected to represent the god for a year.
The priests of Tezcatlipoca were noted for their strict discipline and their mastery of the magical arts. The priests were required to undergo a series of rigorous religious and physical tests, including fasting, bloodletting, and the mastery of the obsidian mirror. The priests of Tezcatlipoca were also known for their scholarship, and they were responsible for the training of the young in the calmecac and for the maintenance of the religious calendar.
The Legacy of Tezcatlipoca
The cult of Tezcatlipoca was one of the most important and most lasting in Mexica religion. The cult of Tezcatlipoca was particularly important for its emphasis on the unseen forces that shape human destiny, and it has been compared to similar concepts in other religious traditions, including the Greek concept of fate and the Christian concept of original sin.
The cult of Tezcatlipoca also had an important influence on the Spanish conquest. The Mexica belief that Tezcatlipoca could return in disguise was part of the religious context of the conquest, and the appearance of the Spanish was interpreted by some as a manifestation of Tezcatlipoca. The cult of Tezcatlipoca was suppressed by the Spanish, but it has survived in the folk Catholicism of modern Mexico, and it continues to be a subject of fascination and study.
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- Who is Huitzilopochtli, the War God? — the patron of the Mexica
- Who is Tlaloc, the Rain God? — the rain god
- Aztec Religion and Mythology — the broader context