Aztec Gods and Goddesses

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 Talocan
 Home of the Aztec gods and goddesses.

 Coatlicue
 She represents the pain of life, has a serpent skirt (poverty), claws and heart necklace (pain of life).

 Tezcatlipoca
 God of magic, war and death. Has missing foot which was eaten by the earth monster as he dragged the earth from the waters before man was created. He's called 'smoking mirror' or the dark side of life.

 Xipe Totec

God of spring and new life and the god of suffering. He wore a human skin. At his festival a prisoner was skinned alive and the skin was worn by priests to show new life bursting from the old.

 

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 Xochipilli
 Prince of flowers, god of dawn, dance and love. Shown as eternity.

 Huehuetecti
 God of fire. Shown as a toothless old man.

 Tloque Nahuaque
 Lord of everywhere, the one supreme force, both male and female.

 Quetzalcoatl

God of knowledge, creation, priesthood, and wind.

 

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 Chantico
 Goddess of the hearth.

 Tlaloc

God of rain. Recognized by his fangs and eye rings. Thought to be half human and half alligator.

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 Mictlantecuhtl

God of the dead. Those who died of natural causes went to live with this god. On the way to him their skin was ripped off by a wind of knives; then they lived as skeletons.

 

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 Chalchiuhtlicue

Goddess of the lakes and streams.

 

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 Chicomecoatl
 Goddess of maize.

 Tezcatlipoca
 God of fate and creation.

 Huitzilopochtli

God of war, sun, and the nation. Shown holding a fire-breathing serpent and a shield.

 

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 The Sun and Moon Story
The gods wanted to bring light to the world and they asked for a volunteer to become the sun. Not one, but two gods volunteered - the rich Tecuciztecatl and the poor Nanauatzin. At midnight, after five days of preparing to be sacrificed, they were taken to a terrible fire. Tecuciztecatl was told to throw himself into the flames. Four times he tried, but each time the flames drove him back. Then it was Nanauatzin's turn, and he rushed straight in. Tecuciztecatl tried again, and he followed Nanauatzin into the fire. In the morning, Nanauatzin rose and shone brightly in the sky. He was the sun. Then Tecuciztecatl appeared. He was the moon. To send them on their way, Quetzacoatl, the Wind God, blew hard until they moved through the heavens.

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