COSMOGONY
Accounts of the creation of the world and of man, even as handed down
to us by those writers on Mexican mythology who had the best
opportunities for collecting them, are prone to vagueness, and differ
so materially one from another that we will probably not be in error if
we impute their inconsistencies to a variety of local origins. As
regards the agencies by whom the creation or reconstruction of the
earth was accomplished, we are not in doubt, for certain passages in
the Interpretative Codices find almost exact corroboration in the
creation story contained in the Popol Vuh, the mythic book of the
Quiche of Guatemala (which was unknown to the interpreters of the
Mexican Codices), as well as in similar works of Maya origin.
The interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that the god
Tonacatecutli, “when it appeared good to him, breathed and divided the
waters of the heavens and the earth, which at first were all confused
together, and disposed them as they now are.” [41] Further, “he
breathed and begot Quetzalcoatl, not by connection with a woman, but by
his breath alone.” [42] The first of these deities, and his female
counterpart Tonacaciuatl, are almost certainly spoken of in the Popol
Vuh as “the serpents covered with green feathers,” which, farther on in
the Quiche work, are alluded to as Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, gods who are
generally admitted to be the same as the Mexican Oxomoco and
Cipactonal, who, again, are either identical with or closely connected
with Tonacatecutli and his spouse. [43] Quetzalcoatl, too, appears in
the Popol Vuh as Gucumatz, a known Quiche equivalent or translation of
his name, for as “wind” or “breath” he was also thought of as “spirit”
or “life,” and probably his fecundating efficacy as a water-bearing god
was also taken into consideration. In the Sahagun MS. in the Academia
de la Historia, Madrid, is a passage which reads when translated: “They
say that he made, created, and formed us whose creatures we are,
Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, and he made the heaven, the sun, the earth.”
The Anales de Quauhtitlan or Codex Chimalpopca, [44] too, relates how
Quetzalcoatl created the four classes of humanity, the men of the four
“suns” or periods of the world, and how men were made by him on the day
“7 wind,” and, as we shall see, the work of creation in detail is
alluded to in the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, as
effected by him and by Tezcatlipocâ. Lastly, we find in the Creative
Council of the Quiche heaven, Hurakan, who is none other than
Tezcatlipocâ, a deity closely connected with Quetzalcoatl in at least
one Mexican creation myth.
THE “AGES” OF MEXICAN COSMOGONY
Having thus satisfied ourselves regarding the creative personnel of the
Mexican pantheon, and preserving further proof of the constructive
character of certain of these deities until we come to discuss them
individually, we may proceed to examine such myths as tell of the
formation of the world. In the belief of the Mexicans the earth was not
destined to receive its present inhabitants, although occupied by
man-like beings, until it had undergone a series of cataclysms or
partial destructions, regarding the precise incidence and even the
number of which there is a marked difference of opinion on the part of
the older authorities.
The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus states that “in the first age”
(or “Sun,” as these periods were called by the Nahua of Mexico) “water
reigned until at last it destroyed the world.... This age, according to
their computation, lasted 4,008 years, and on the occurrence of that
great deluge they say that men were changed into fish, named
Tlacamichin, which signifies men-fish.” [45] The second age, he tells
us, lasted for 4,010 years and the world was ended by the force of
violent winds, the catastrophe concluding by the transformation of men
into apes. The third age endured for 4,801 years and ended in a
universal fire, and in the fourth, which occupied 5,042 years, the
human race, which had never ceased to transmit a few survivors from one
of these epochs to the next, was almost destroyed by famine.
In his Historia Chichimeca [46] Ixtlilxochitl calls the first of these
epochs Atonatiuh (Water Sun), in which all men perished by a great
inundation. The second epoch, Tlachitonatiuh (Earth Sun), ended with
violent earthquakes. In this age lived gigantic beings called Quinames.
The third epoch was Ecatonatiuh, or “Sun of Wind,” in which edifices,
trees, and men were nearly all destroyed by hurricanes, those who
remained being changed into creatures of an intelligence so low as to
be almost indistinguishable from monkeys. [47] The Texcucan chronicler
does not furnish us with the name of the present age in his Historia,
nor in his Relaciones, [48] where, however, we receive fuller
information regarding the first three epochs, which he succeeds in
carelessly transposing, giving the third the second place.
Camargo [49] would almost appear to have been indebted to Ixtlilxochitl
for his version of the creation myth, but he seems to have been under
the impression that only two of the epochs were ended. That three past
cataclysms had taken place and that four ages in all had occurred is,
indeed, the most generally favoured version of the story, but some
authorities seem to have been of the opinion that a myth was current
among the Mexican people which stated that no less than five epochs had
taken place in the history of the world. Gama, Gomara, and Humboldt
share this view, and Mendieta is of opinion that five “suns” existed
before the present era, all of which were of such noxious character
that the inhabitants of the earth languished and perished through their
baneful influence.
But we have more stable authority for the sequence of these “suns” or
epochs. It is probable that this cataclysmic theory was in vogue among
the Nahua for generations before it received a more or less definite
form, and, indeed, Veytia [50] and Ixtlilxochitl [51] state that the
number of suns was agreed upon at a meeting of native astronomers
within traditional memory. We are probably following the official
version of the myth if we accept that to which the so-called
calendar-stone of Mexico gives sculptured form and which may be
interpreted as follows: While the world was still wrapped in primeval
gloom, the god Tezcatlipocâ transformed himself into the sun. This
epoch, which was known as Naui Ocelotl or “Four Jaguar,” ended in the
destruction of humanity and the race of giants who then inhabited the
earth by fierce jaguars. Quetzalcoatl became the second sun, and the
age of Naui Eecatl or “Four Wind” ended in violent hurricanes, during
which men were transformed into monkeys. Tlaloc then took upon himself
the task of providing the world with light, and his epoch of Naui
Quiauitl or “Four Rain” came to an end by means of a deluge of fire.
The goddess Chalchihuitlicue represented the sun of the age Naui Atl,
“Four Water,” at the end of which there descended a deluge in which men
were changed into fishes. Later there appeared the present sun, Naui
Olin, which, it was believed, would end in earthquakes.
THE MAKING OF THE EARTH
The second chapter of the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, a
précis of the opening chapters of which is given farther on, states
that the gods “created a great fish which is called the Cipactli, which
is like the cayman [alligator], and of this fish they made the earth.”
The description of the earth-monster, as it appears in the Codices, as
an alligator or sword-fish is, however, by no means convincing.
Moreover, the sculptured representation of the earth-monster in Maya
art, especially in such examples as that from Copan, is essentially
dragon-like in form, and there would seem to be little difficulty in
classing the Cipactli as an earth-dragon, similar in nature to the
cosmic monster of Chinese art and mythology. The fact, too, that in the
native paintings we frequently observe the sun-god in the act of being
swallowed by the Cipactli strengthens the analogy with the Chinese
example.
THE PEOPLING OF THE EARTH
The precise manner in which the earth was peopled by the gods is also a
subject concerning which great variety of opinion is shown by the older
writers on Mexican beliefs, and, as in the case of the cosmogonic myth
proper, this is probably to be accounted for by local variation.
Mendieta [52] is our authority for a conception which appears to have
gained wide currency in many parts of Mexico. There is good evidence
that he in turn received it from Andres de Olmos, a friar of great
literary integrity and linguistic capability, whose writings we may
regard with credence and confidence. The myth opens in the heavenly
abode of the gods Citlalatonac and Citlalicue, who were also known as
Ometecutli and Omecihuatl or Tonacatecutli and Tonacaciuatl, and whom
the Mexicans regarded as the eventual sources of all human life. The
goddess gave birth to a flint knife, probably such an implement as was
employed for the purpose of human sacrifice. The circumstance appeared
of bad omen to her sons, who, scandalized by it, cast the flint
earthwards. It fell in the vicinity of Chicomoztoc, the Place of Seven
Caves, and immediately there sprang from it an army of sixteen hundred
gods, who, discontented with their condition, dispatched Tlotli, the
Hawk, as an ambassador to the heavenly sphere to ask as a boon that the
power of creating men might be conferred upon them, as it was not
fitting that beings of divine origin should suffer the miseries of
earthly toil. Their mother, who also seems to have been perplexed by
the manner of their birth, replied in no very gracious terms. But in
order to relieve their wretchedness, she directed them to seek the good
offices of Mictlantecutli, Lord of the Realm of the Dead, from whom,
she suggested, they might obtain some of the relics of past
generations, which, if subjected to the magical influence of sacrifice,
might provide the beginnings of a new earth-race. After consultation,
the earth-gods chose Xolotl [53] as their messenger to the place of the
dead, and after an interview with its terrible ruler, he succeeded in
obtaining a bone of superhuman dimensions. Fearful of treachery at the
hands of Mictlantecutli, Xolotl turned to flee, but was pursued and,
falling in his flight, broke in pieces the precious relic he carried.
These he hastily gathered up and succeeded in quitting the subterranean
world without mishap. Returning to his brothers, he placed the bone in
a vessel, and each of the earth-gods, drawing blood from his own body,
dropped it into the receptacle. For three days nothing occurred to
justify their hopes; but on the fourth the gory mass stirred, and from
its depths there emerged a human boy. Satisfied with the experiment,
the gods repeated it, and at the end of another four days a girl arose
from the vessel. Xolotl was appointed guardian to the children so
miraculously created, [54] and nourished them upon the milk-like juice
of the maguey plant. They throve apace, and in course of time became
man and woman, the progenitors of the entire human race, who differ in
bulk and stature as the pieces of the rescued bone varied in size and
shape. Thus were born Iztac Mixcoatl the first man and Ilanceuitl or
Ilamatecutli, his wife.
CREATION OF THE SUN AND MOON
These deeds had, however, passed in a world of darkness, for as yet the
sun had not risen. A council of the gods was assembled at Teotihuacan,
a locality of great sanctity, and seated round a council fire, it
considered the means by which the luminary might be created. It was
resolved that he who first cast himself into the fire should be
transformed into the sun. The offer was accepted by Nanahuatzin, who
was afflicted with a painful disease, had therefore found life
intolerable and did not dread the transformation. Nothing happened for
some time after his self-immolation, and the waiting gods began to make
wagers with one another regarding the place in the heavens where the
sun would be likely to show itself. None of them had considered it
probable that it would rise in the East, and when at last it became
visible in that quarter, it was as a stationary mass which directed
such scorching rays upon them that they dispatched the hawk messenger
to request it to depart. Whether or not Nanahuatzin in his rôle of
Sun-god was wroth with his brothers for personal reasons, he replied
that it was his intention to destroy them utterly. A great fear seized
upon some, whilst others grew angry and caught up their weapons. Among
the latter was Citli, who fitted an arrow to his bow and fired at the
transformed Nanahuatzin. The sun-god avoided the shaft. He could not,
however, evade all those which followed, but seizing one, cast it back
at Citli, whom it transfixed and slew. Fiercer became the heat, until
at length the gods could tolerate it no longer, and felt that it
behoved them to perish by each other’s hands rather than by the ignoble
death of suffocation. They agreed that Xolotl should dispatch them one
by one, cutting open their breasts, and this holocaust he undertook,
finally slaying himself. Before perishing, the gods left their raiment
to their personal servants, of which each retainer made a bundle,
wrapping his master’s clothing round a stick, placing a small green
stone inside to serve as a heart, and naming it after the god to whom
it had belonged. Olmos himself encountered such a relic in Tlalmanalco,
exhibiting evidences of very considerable age. [55] On the death of the
gods the sun began to move in the heavens, and a god, Tecciztecatl, who
had hidden himself in a cavern when Nanahuatzin leaped into the fire,
now emerged from his hiding-place and took the form of the moon. The
retainers carried the bundles from place to place, and one of them, the
servant of Tezcatlipocâ, coming to the sea-shore, had a vision of his
deceased master, who commanded him to betake himself to the house of
the sun and to bring him singers and players of instruments to assist
in the celebration of a festival. To enable the messenger to travel to
the Sun-House, the whale, the siren, and the tortoise were asked to
form themselves into a bridge which might reach the abode of the
luminary. The servant crossed it, singing sweetly as he went, and his
song was heard by the Sun, who straitly commanded his retainers not to
respond to it on being approached by the singer. This some of them
failed to do, and returning with the messenger, took with them the
necessary instruments wherewith to celebrate the festival of
Tezcatlipocâ.
The people of Texcuco, says Olmos, naturally placed the occurrence of
these events within their own boundaries, but they added (according to
a pictorial manuscript which they showed the friar) that the Sun shot a
dart into the ground and at this spot the first man arose. He was
imperfect, being formed only from the armpits upward. He was followed
by a woman. Mendieta suppresses the remainder of the myth because of
its Rabelaisian details, but we may conclude that from these twain
humanity was descended.
Sahagun’s account of the creation of the sun and moon [56] differs
somewhat from the foregoing and is as follows: The gods met at
Teotihuacan, and asked one another: “Who will undertake the task of
lighting the world?” to which one god called Tecciztecatl (he who was
to become the Moon-god) replied: “That will I.” They cast about for
still another member of the pantheon to undertake the duty. At last
they fixed upon one who was afflicted with a terrible disease who at
once agreed to the accomplishment of their desires. During four days
the gods prepared for the occasion by acts of penitence, then they
kindled a fire on a rock named Teotexcalli (high place of the gods).
Meanwhile Tecciztecatl made offerings of many precious things, rich
feathers and golden ornaments. The spines with which the gods
ceremonially pricked themselves were like the spines of the maguey, but
were made from precious stones, and the copal they used for incense was
of no common sort. The victim, who was called Nanahuatl, offered nine
green reeds, joined three and three, instead of the ordinary branches
and balls of grass and spines of the maguey generally employed for such
ceremonies, and these he saturated with his own blood. In place of
copal he offered up the scabs of his sores. The gods built a tower for
each of the two divinities who had undertaken the illumination of the
world, and performed penance for four days and four nights. They then
strewed the ground with the branches, flowers, and other objects of
which they had made use during that time. On the night following,
shortly before midnight, they brought Tecciztecatl his ornaments. These
consisted of a plumage called aztacomitl, made of herons’ feathers, and
a jacket of light stuff, whilst to Nanahuatl they gave a crown of paper
called amatzontli (paper hair) and a stole and cincture, likewise of
paper. Midnight having arrived, all the gods ranged themselves in the
place called Teotexcalli, where the fire had burned for four days. They
arranged themselves into two files, one on either side of the fire, and
Tecciztecatl was requested to cast himself into the burning mass.
Terrified by the intense heat which he experienced as he advanced
towards the flames, the god recoiled; again and again he essayed to
leap into the fire, but his courage failed him. Then the gods called
upon Nanahuatl, who, on being summoned, immediately cast himself into
the blazing mass, where he at once began to crackle “like meat that
roasts.” Tecciztecatl, ashamed of his former conduct, now followed him
into the conflagration, and it was said that the eagle entered the
flames at the same time, which is the reason assigned for its dark
plumage. The tiger or ocelot followed, and was only partly burnt, as is
witnessed by its spots. It is evident that this myth applied in some
manner to the Aztec military brotherhoods of quauhtli and ocelotl, who
wore the eagle and ocelot insignia respectively. [57]
The gods had already waited some time to witness the resurrection of
Nanahuatl, when they beheld the heavens commence to grow red. Terrified
at the sight, they fell upon their knees and could not comprehend
whence the light had arisen. The glow of sunrise illuminated every
point of the compass, but many fixed their gaze upon the East, feeling
that in that direction the luminary would first be sighted. Those who
gazed thither were Quetzalcoatl (also called Eecatl), Totec, and
Tezcatlipocâ. Others called Mimixcoa were innumerable, and there were
also present four goddesses, Tiacapan, Teicu, Tlacoeua, and Xocoyotl.
When the sun rose at length he appeared very red, and no one might look
upon him without being blinded by his rays. The moon appeared at the
same time, and gave forth light equal to that of the orb of day. But
the gods thought it ill that the moon should be as bright as the sun,
and therefore one of them took a rabbit and cast it at the face of the
moon, so that it remained there to dim its splendour. Although the sun
and moon were raised above the earth, they remained stationary. They
spoke mockingly to their erstwhile companions.
“How now,” they said, “do you wish to remain in mortal shame? Die all
of you and confer life upon the stars.” The wind then offered to
discharge the function of immolating the gods and slew them one by one.
Only Xolotl refused to die, and begged for life, weeping so sorely that
his eyes dropped out. When those who were to make the sacrifice laid
hold of him he fled and concealed himself in a field of maize, where he
changed himself into a stalk of that plant having two feet (roots) such
as the peasants call xolotl. But having been recognized among the
maize, he took flight a second time and hid himself among some maguey
plants, where he changed himself into the double maguey plant which is
called mexolotl (maguey of Xolotl). On being discovered a third time he
took flight once more and threw himself into the water, where he took
the form of a fish called axolotl. [58] But in this last disguise he
was caught and killed.
When the gods had been slain the wind commenced to whistle and blow
with violence, so that at length the burning globe of the sun began to
drift over the heavens. But the moon still remained at rest, and in
this manner they became separated, so that their habit is to rise at
different hours.
The Anales de Quauhtitlan, after the manner of the Book of Genesis,
states that the world and all therein were created in seven days. In
the sign Tochtli the earth was created, the firmament was erected in
Acatl, animals came into being in Tecpatl, and man was made out of dust
or ashes on Ehecatl, the seventh day, but completed and perfected by
Quetzalcoatl, who appears to have played the part of a demiurgos as
regards the human race. There can be little doubt that this myth has
been sophisticated, or is a later invention. The Anales de Quauhtitlan,
however, sustains the accounts of Olmos and Sahagun regarding the
creation of the sun and moon.
Camargo, speaking of the Tlaxcaltec cosmology, [59] says that the
Indians did not believe that the world had been created, but that it
had been produced by chance. Space, according to their philosophy, has
always existed. Veytia [60] states that the Mexicans believed the world
and man to have been created by Tloque Nahuague (Tonacatecutli).
Boturini credits the creation to the same first cause, and passages in
Sahagun lead us to believe that both Tezcatlipocâ and Quetzalcoatl were
regarded as sub-creative spirits, who were either partly or wholly
responsible for the existence of the universe. Clavigero expressly
states that the former was “the soul of the world, the creator of
heaven and earth and lord of all things.” [61] Mendieta, [62] a much
older authority, gives it as his opinion that the making and moulding
of the world was the handiwork of several gods, but especially of
Tezcatlipocâ, Uitzilopochtli, and an obscure deity, Ocelopuchtli, who
equates with the ocelot alluded to in Sahagun’s account.
Sahagun, it will be observed, disappoints us in his account of the
creation, which he confines to the details of the appearance of the sun
and moon and is silent concerning the creation of gods and men. This is
strange when the facilities he had for the collection of myths are
considered, but as a priest, it is evident that he is more interested
in points of ritual than in religious narrative, which, he evidently
agrees with Curtin’s French-Canadian, is to be regarded as “chose
d’absurde.” [63] Even although we possess the sonorous warning of
Prescott and the objections of others to bias us against Ixtlilxochitl,
there is little ground for regarding his version of the Mexican
creation story as being other than he received it from sources which
would have been unspeakably precious had he made better use of them as
regards other subjects.
Regarding Ixtlilxochitl’s version of the creation myth, that the
creator Tloque Nahuague, the maker of the planets, brought into being a
man and a woman from whom all human beings are descended, we have no
parallel in Mexican myth, nor, indeed, in American myth, if we accept
that of the creation of man current in ancient Peru, and it is probable
that, so far as his version of the creation of humanity is concerned,
Ixtlilxochitl had encountered a myth which was either of relatively
late origin, or had arisen out of the ideas engendered by contact with
Christianity. This is, however, by no means to say that Ixtlilxochitl
himself invented the account. [64]
THE HISTORIA DE LOS MEXICANOS
The Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas is a manuscript of such
importance to the study of Nahua Cosmogony that a short précis of its
earlier chapters may, perhaps, be found of value in this place.
“Tonacatecutli and his consort Tonacaciuatl, who had existed from the
beginning, resolved to undertake the work of creation. They had four
sons, the eldest of whom was Tlactlauque-Tezcatlipocâ, or Camaxtli. He
was born of a red colour. The second son, Yayanque-Tezcatlipocâ, was
greater and more powerful than the rest. He was born black. The third
was Quetzalcoatl or Yacatecutli, and the fourth Omitecilt, and for
another name Magueycoatl, and the Mexicans called him Ochilobi
(Uitzilopochtli), for he was left-handed and was chief god to those of
Mexico, and their war-god. Of these four, Tezcatlipocâ was the wisest,
was in all places, and knew the hearts and thoughts of everyone. And
for this he was called Moyocoya, “he who is all-powerful, and who has
all those things without which nothing can be.” Uitzilopochtli was born
without flesh, but with bones, [65] and in this state he remained for
six hundred years, during which time the gods made nothing.
“After six hundred years these four god-like brothers were born, and
all came together to order what was to be and the law that they should
hold. They made a half-sun in the midst, the other luminaries great and
small, and a man and woman named Oxomuco and Cipactonal, commanding him
to till the earth and her to spin and weave. From these were born the
maceguales or labourers. And to Cipactonal the gods gave certain grains
of maize that she might keep them and use them for charms and riddles,
and since that day women have used them for that purpose.
“The gods then gave this pair the days of the calendar and divided them
into months, twenty days to each month, and three hundred and sixty
days in the year. Then they made Mictlantecutli and Mictecaciuatl, man
and wife, to be the gods of the infernal regions. Later they made the
heavens and space and the water, and then a great fish like the cayman,
which is called cipactli, from which they shaped the earth. In order to
create the gods of water, all four gods joined together and made Tlaloc
and his wife Chalchihuitlicue.
“These gods of water have their place in the four quarters, and in the
middle of it was a great court, where there were four tubs of water.
One water is very good, and this rains when they grow grain and wheat.
And these gods of water have many dwarfish servants in the said house,
and these have pitchers, with which they take the water from the tubs,
and sticks in the other hand. When the gods of water wish them to go to
the boundaries, they take the pitchers and sticks and sprinkle the
water as they are told. And when it thunders, they crack the pitchers
with the sticks, and when it lightens they break off a portion of the
pitcher.
“All the aforesaid things had been made and created without taking any
account of the years, and without respect of time. The first man and
woman had a son called Piltzintecutli, who desired a wife with whom to
live. So the gods made of the hairs of Xochiquetzal a woman, and thus
was the first marriage made. This having been done, all the four gods
saw that the half-sun which had been created gave but little light. And
they saw that they must make another half, because the existing light
was not able to illuminate the world.... Then Tezcatlipocâ became the
sun-bearer. And the gods created the giants, who were very great men
and of much strength.... And they called the age in which Tezcatlipocâ
was the sun the age of boasting and of tigers, for the giants gorged
and ate and wanted for nothing. And when thirteen times fifty and two
years were passed, Quetzalcoatl was the sun. Then Tezcatlipocâ took a
great stick and struck upon the water, and turning himself into a
tiger, went out to kill the giants. Afterwards he appeared in the sky,
for they said that the ursa major sank in the water, because it is
Tezcatlipocâ.... During the time Quetzalcoatl was the sun another count
went on, which, having ended, Tezcatlipocâ cast out Quetzalcoatl, who
became the wind, which, when it blew on the maceguales, turned them
into monkeys and apes. And there was for sun Tlaloc, which lasted three
hundred and sixty-four years.... During these years Quetzalcoatl rained
fire on the sun, and then created as the sun his wife Chalchihuitlicue.
She was the sun for three hundred and twelve years.
“In the last year in which Chalchihuitlicue was the sun, it rained so
heavily that all the maceguales were turned into fishes. And when it
had ceased to destroy, the heavens fell upon the earth and the great
rain began, the which year was tochtli. And the gods ordered four roads
to be made to the middle of the earth for them, and raised the heavens,
and to help them in holding them up they created four men, called
Cotemuc, Yzcoadt, Yzmali, and Tenesuchi, who were created by
Tezcatlipocâ and Quetzalcoatl. Then they made great trees, Tezcatlipocâ
one which was called tazcaquavlt, which is to say “tree of the mirror,”
and Quetzalcoatl one which was called queçalhuesuch, and with the help
of the men they had made and the trees the gods held up the heavens and
the stars and made a road in the sky.
“After the heavens had been raised, in the second year after the flood,
which was acatl, Tezcatlipocâ pronounced his name, and there appeared
the dumb Mixcoatl, ‘Serpent of the Clouds.’ And they paint him as a
serpent. And they drew fire from fire-sticks, which they called heart
of the fire. In the seventh year after the flood was born Cinteotl, the
first son of the first man, who was a god, and his wife a goddess, and
he was made of the hairs of the mother goddess, and it was said that he
was not able to die. And in the eighth year after the flood the gods
created the maceguales, like those that were before. When the first
three years of this group of years had passed, in the first of the next
group all the four gods came together, and said that because the earth
had no light, and was dark, and that because there was no fire, they
would make a sun which would give light to the earth, and which would
eat hearts and drink blood. In order to do this they made war, by which
they were able to procure hearts and blood. In this time Tezcatlipocâ
made four hundred men and a hundred women, and on these the sun lived.
In the tenth year, Suchicar, the first wife of Piltzintecutli, the son
of the first man, was killed in the war, and was the first so to die.”
If we search for a common factor among these conflicting ideas, we
will, indeed, find the task one of difficulty. The nature of the
sources from which we obtain them does not permit us to arrange them
chronologically, and all that we can found upon in this respect is
their subject-matter, which cannot enlighten us much. As has been said,
we are probably on safe ground if we accept the version of the several
ages hypothetically contained in the so-called Calendar Stone of
Mexico. The circumstance, too, that the sun and moon myth, as related
by Olmos, agrees for the most part with the version of Sahagun, permits
us to regard it as a well-recognized belief. Nor can the variant myth
regarding the creation of mankind, which is briefly described in an
annotation, shake our confidence in the credibility of Olmos, as it
obviously differs more in the names of the actors in the drama of
creation than in the circumstances, which are almost identical. But if
it is impossible to verify strictly the place of origin of the Olmos
myth, although Texcuco was claimed as its home, it is permissible to
indicate the universal character of that portion of it which deals with
the creation of the heavenly bodies, from its similarity to the
analogous passage in Sahagun’s rendering, which proves that that part
of it at least must have been more or less widely disseminated
throughout Mexico. We know that after the collection of data in any
district it was his custom to submit them to experts in other and
distant parts of the country for comparison and verification. We may
thus be justified in classing the Calendar-stone version of the world’s
ages and the Sahagun portion of the creation myth of the luminaries of
the last age as among the standard beliefs of Mexican theology. It
follows from Sahagun’s general agreement with the Olmos-Mendieta
account that the portion of that version which he does not treat of
must naturally be within reasonable distance of exactitude. The
circumstance that both of these accounts relate the self-immolation of
the gods by the sacrificial method of having their breasts opened,
seems to prove that the myth was no older than the institution of human
sacrifice, which we are perhaps correct in regarding as of no very
great antiquity, although arguments of sufficient cogency might be
brought against this view.
DELUGE MYTHS
As Mexican myths of the creation differ, so do those concerning the
great deluge which at one period was supposed to have overwhelmed the
earth. As we have seen, myths which are concerned with the several ages
of the earth dwell upon such an event, but separate myths exist which
also tell of a great flood which is almost certainly to be identified
with the “Water-sun.” The goddess Chalchihuitlicue (the goddess of
water), says one of the interpreters of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis,
“saved herself in the deluge.” The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus
A. relates that: “Most of the old people of Mexico say that a single
man and a single woman escaped from this deluge, from whom, in course
of time, mankind multiplied. The tree in which they saved themselves
was called Ahuehuete (the fir-tree), and they say that this deluge
happened in the tenth sign, according to their computation, which they
represented by water, which on account of its clearness they place in
their calendar. They say that during the first age men ate no bread,
but only a certain kind of wild maize, which they called atzitziutli.
They name this first age coniztal, which signifies the white head;
others say that not only did these two who were preserved in the tree
escape, but that seven others remained hidden in a certain cave, and
that the deluge having passed away, they came forth and restored the
population of the earth, dispersing themselves over it: and that their
descendants in course of time worshipped them as gods, each in his own
nation.”
A similar myth in the Anales de Quauhtitlan or Codex Chimalpopoca, is
also worthy of quotation.
“And this year was that of Ce-calli, and on the first day all was lost.
The mountain itself was submerged in the water and the water remained
tranquil for fifty-two springs.
“Now toward the close of the year, Titlacahuan (Tezcatlipocâ) had
forewarned the man named Nata and his wife Nena, saying: ‘Make no more
pulque, but straightway hollow out a large cypress, and enter it when
in the month of Tozoztli the water shall approach the sky.’ They
entered it, and when Titlacahuan had closed the door he said: ‘Thou
shalt eat but a single ear of maize and thy wife but one also.’
“As soon as they had finished eating, they went forth and the water was
tranquil; for the log did not move any more; and opening it they saw
many fish.
“Then they built a fire, rubbing together pieces of wood, and they
roasted fish. The gods Citlallinicuc and Citlallatonac, looking below,
exclaimed: ‘Divine Lord, what means that fire below? Why do they thus
smoke the heavens?’
“Straightway descended Titlacahuan Tezcatlipocâ and commenced to scold,
saying: ‘What is this fire doing here?’ And seizing the fishes he
moulded their hinder parts and changed their heads, and they were at
once transformed into dogs.” [66]
THE “COXCOX” FALLACY
It is unnecessary in this place to deal at any length with the quite
artificial myth given by Siguenza and Clavigero, based on a mistaken
interpretation of certain Mexican paintings. Briefly, they state that
Coxcox, “the Mexican Noah,” and his spouse Xochiquetzal escaped from
the deluge in a boat which grounded on the peak of Colhuacan: “the
Ararat of Mexico.” Dumb children were born to them, who received
innumerable languages from a polyglot dove. Garcia y Cubas published in
his Atlas Geografico a letter from Ramirez (April 1858) in which the
then conservator of the National Museum of Mexico showed the fallacy of
Siguenza’s interpretation and proved that the pictures in question
referred to the wanderings of the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico.
A flood myth which has for its hero one of the giants who were supposed
to inhabit the earth in the first age (or rather the first age
according to the version which is supported by the Calendar-stone),
states that Xelhua, the giant in question, escaped the deluge by
ascending the mountain of Tlaloc in the terrestrial paradise, and
afterwards built the pyramid of Cholula. The interpreter of the Codex
Vaticanus A says of this story: “In this first age giants existed in
that country.... They relate of one of the seven whom they mention as
having escaped from the deluge, that, the earth becoming populous, he
went to Chululan and there began to build a tower which is that of
which the brick base is still visible. The name of that chief was
Xelhua; he built it in order that should a deluge come again he might
escape to it. Its base is 1,800 feet in circumference. When it had
already reached a great height lightning from heaven fell and destroyed
it. Those Indians who were under that chief who had escaped from the
deluge, named Xelhua, made bricks out of a mountain in Tlalamanalco
called Cocotle, and from Tlalamanalco to Chulula Indians were placed to
pass the bricks and cement from hand to hand: and thus they built this
tower, that was named Tulan Chulula, which was so high that it appeared
to reach heaven. And being content, since it seemed to them that they
had a place to escape from the deluge if it should again happen, and
from whence they might ascend into heaven—a chalcuitl, which is a
precious stone, fell from thence and struck it to the ground. Others
say that the chalcuitl was in the shape of a toad; and that whilst
destroying the tower it reprimanded them, inquiring of them their
reason for wishing to ascend into heaven, since it was sufficient for
them to see what was on the earth. The base of the tower is at the
present day still remaining and its circumference is 1,800 feet.”
This myth has equivalents in the Hindoo story of the manner in which
Hanuman, king of the monkeys, built a bridge from India to Ceylon, and
in Scottish legend, where Corstorphine Church, near Edinburgh, is the
scene of the building, the stones being passed on from hand to hand by
the “Picts” from Ravelston Quarry, some considerable distance away. But
it bears a more striking resemblance to the story of the tower of
Babel, the work of another being of gigantic origin—Nimrod. Xelhua was
the mythical ancestor of the people of Tehuacan, and Teotitlan del
Camino. It may be that his myth has been sophisticated by the priestly
writers who set it down, and in any case it seems to be ætiological or
explanatory of the Pyramid of Cholula.
THE FALL OF THE GODS
In the literature of ancient Mexican mythology we find persistent
vestigial notices of a fall of the gods, or rather of certain deities
from “heaven.” Thus in the interpretation of the Codex
Telleriano-Remensis we find a divine locality called Tamoanchan
described as the “mansion” from which they fell, and “where they
gathered roses.” The same paragraph [67] relates that Tamoanchan “is
the place where these gods were created whom they feared: it signifies
the Terrestrial Paradise, and accordingly they relate that those gods
being in that place transgressed by plucking roses and branches from
the trees, and that on this account Tonacatecutli and his wife,
Tonacacigua, became highly incensed, and cast them out of that place,
and that some of them came to earth and others went to hell.” One of
these, the divinity most frequently associated by the Codices with this
event, Ixnextli, is spoken of in the same work [68] as “Eve, always
weeping and looking at her husband Adam. She is called Ixnextli, which
signifies ‘Eyes blind with ashes,’ and this refers to the time
subsequent to her sinning by plucking the roses.” In Codex
Telleriano-Remensis (Plate VII, Kingsborough) she is associated with a
god Ueuecoyotl and is represented as kneeling on a chair with head
averted. There is no doubt that the name given her here, and which is
supplemented by the name Xochiquetzal, is that of a variant of the
latter, who is the goddess of flowers.
In his interpretation of this goddess in his work on the Aubin-Goupil
tonalamatl (pp. 118–119) Seler gives it as his opinion that the
insignia of the goddess Tonacaciuatl, consort of the creative deity
Tonacatecutli, is identical with that of Xochiquetzal, and proceeds to
say that this strongly suggests “that the home of the cosmogonic
speculations embodied in the names of Tonacatecutli and Tonacaciuatl
was to be sought in the region where dwelt the goddess Xochiquetzal,
and this was assuredly not Mexico proper, but appears to have been the
group which in one place is comprised by Torquemada under the name
Chalmeca, Olmeca, Xicalanca, Tepaneca, Xochimilca, and Tlalhuica. Here
by Chalmeca are to be understood the dwellers about the volcano, and by
Olmeca, Xicalanca, the aborigines of the Tlaxcallan district....
Originally the goddess Xochiquetzal is perhaps nothing more than the
deity of one of those mountains from which the life-giving waters flow
down from the fields.” It is easy to believe that Xochiquetzal is a
variant of Tonacaciuatl; but it is not necessary to infer therefrom
that the Olmec-Tlaxcaltec version of the myth relating to her with its
cosmogonic speculations was prior in origin to that which found
acceptance at Mexico, even although the Olmecs were regarded as an
older race. Tonacatecutli and his consort were believed to be Toltec
deities, and had thus a greater antiquity behind them than Olmec myth
could invest them with. Codex Vaticanus A tells much the same story
regarding Ixnextli and was probably inspired from the same source.
MEXICAN CONCEPTIONS OF THE UNIVERSE
No definite account of the Mexican conception of the universe has come
down to us, but we are probably founding correctly if we accept the
Maya belief as closely approximating to that in general currency in
Mexico. An examination of the central design in the Maya Book of Chilan
Balam of Mani, given in Cogolludo’s History of Yucatan (1640), shows
the earth as a cubical block, by which term it is practically described
in the Popol Vuh (“the quadrated castle, four-pointed, four-sided,
four-bordered”). This the Maya described as tem (“the altar”), that is,
the altar of the gods, the offering upon which was life. Above this
cube on four legs is the celestial vase (cum) containing the heavenly
waters, rains, and showers, upon which all life depends. Above it hang
the rain-clouds which fill it and from it springs the vax che, or Tree
of Life, with outspread branches.
A similar illustration from the Codex Cortesiano, [69] a Maya MS. which
has been described as the “Tableau of the Bacabs” or heavenly
supporters, shows the Tree of Life, the Celestial Vase, and the cloud
masses. Beneath the tree are seen the two creative deities, and the
whole design is surrounded by the twenty day-signs.
THE FIVE REGIONS OF THE WORLD
The Mexicans divided the universe into five regions. The locus
classicus for the representatives of the gods who preside over these
regions is the first sheet of the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer. The Fire-god
occupies the centre of the picture, for just as fire occupies a space
in the middle of the primitive hut, so does Xiuhtecutli maintain the
central position in the universal disposition of things. From him four
streams of sacrificial blood radiate in the direction of the four
cardinal points, east, north, west, south, [70] which are situated at
each corner of the picture, for he rules over all as well as over the
centre, which is known as Tlalxicco. These bands of blood end in the
four day-signs—acatl, tecpatl, calli, and tochtli, from which alone the
years of the “calendar” or tonalamatl could be named, and which
respectively agree with the cardinal points noted above. The four sides
of the square are also associated with the four quarters of the
universe. Thus the top square in the picture represents Tlapcopa,
Region of the Dawn (the East), the right-hand side Uitznauac, Place of
Thorns (the South), the bottom Ciutlampa, Region of Women (the West),
and the left-hand side Mictlampa, Place of the Dead (the North). Within
these squares are seen four species of trees, belonging to the four
points of the compass. They resemble the trees seen in sheet 49 of
Codex Borgia and sheet 17 of Codex Vaticanus B, from the first of which
codices they can be more clearly described.
The Tree of the East is represented as a highly conventionalized tree
having two boughs, each with four branches which end in the
chalchihuitl (greenstone) symbol. Round branches are twisted two ropes,
green and blue in colour, set with golden bells. A quetzal bird perches
upon the top and the trunk is decorated with the symbol for war, for
the spirits of the sacrificed warriors were believed to dwell in the
eastern heavens, where the sun rose. The tree springs from the body of
the Earth-goddess, and the ornaments borne by it are symbolic of the
rich and fruitful character of the Orient.
The Tree of the North.—This tree is painted half-green, half-blue, but
is set with thorns in every part. Bands of blood and darkness issue
from the body of the Earth-goddess, in which it has its root, and these
wind around its boughs. The eagle stands upon the top, each of its
plumes bristling with a sacrificial stone knife.
The Tree of the West.—This has a yellow star, and bears the magic bloom
at the end of each branch. It is surmounted by the humming-bird, and
its trunk is dotted with the stellar eye, in this case the evening
star.
The Tree of the South.—This, too, is thorny, but painted red, and the
trunk is sprinkled with symbols recalling that of the “spoken word”
which in the Codices is frequently seen issuing from the mouths of gods
and men. It may symbolize smoke or fire, thus alluding to the fiery
nature of the region to which the tree belongs. A cloud of darkness and
a stream of blood wind around the stem. It is surmounted by the arara
bird.
These four trees have parallels in Maya mythology, as, for example, on
the altar-pieces of the cross from Palenque (Temple II) and elsewhere.
The gods governing the five regions of the universe are [71]:
Centre—Xiuhtecutli.
East—Mixcoatl and Tlaloc.
North—Itztli and Xochipilli.
West—Iztac Mixcoatl and Quetzalcoatl.
South—Macuilxochitl and Xipe.
We find from an examination of the codices that the Mexicans believed
that the “world” or universe was divided into:
Tlalxicco, the centre or “navel” of the Earth.
Tlapcopa, “the region of the Dawn” (the East).
Uitznauac, “Place of Thorns” (the South).
Ciuatlampa, “Region of Women” (the West).
Mictlampa, “Place of the Dead” (the North).
These several regions demand a brief description.
Tlalxicco was the dark interior of the earth, which was supposed to be
inhabited by an animal-headed god or demon, resembling a badger, to
whom no name has as yet been applied, but who seems to possess
affinities with sorcery and the darker arts. A good representation of
him is to be found on sheet 9 of Codex Vaticanus B.
Tlapcopa, the East, or “Region of the Dawn,” was regarded as a region
of prosperity, fertility, and abundant food-supplies. It was the house
of the Sun, the region where sacrificed warriors dwelt in bliss, and
will be further described when we come to deal with the subject of
“heaven and hell.”
Uitznauac or Uitzlampa, “Region of Thorns” (the South), was, as its
name implied, a place of rather evil omen, for it was sometimes thought
of as inhabited by Mictlan, Lord of the Dead. The Mexicans, dwelling in
a plateau country where climatic conditions were temperate, probably
regarded the tropics to the south as a region fatal to health, and
generally insalubrious in character.
Ciuatlampa, “Region of Women” (the West), was the place to which those
women who died in their first childbed (Civapipiltin or Ciuateteô) went
after death, and as such falls to be described in the section on
“heaven and hell.” But it was also the home of the maize-plant, and of
the deities producing it, and also of the Gods of Procreation. It was
the Region of the Evening Star, Tlauizcalpantecutli, the planet Venus.
In Codex Borgia (sheets 43–46) we seem to see a subdivision of the
Western region into North, South, and West. This region may also be
collated with Tamoanchan, the paradisaical land of abundant maize,
where the maize goddess Tlazolteotl gave birth to her son Centeotl.
Mictlampa, “Region of the Dead,” also falls to be noticed in the
section on “heaven and hell.” Symbolically it is the region of drought.
THE SUPPORTERS OF THE HEAVENS
Just as we gain light upon the subject of the Mexican idea of the
universe from Maya sources, so do we find a similar correspondence in
the beliefs of the two races as regards the conception that the heavens
were supported by certain deities. Thus the Maya believed that the
heavens were upheld by four gods called Bacabs, and we find pictures in
the Mexican Codices which depict certain deities upholding both the
heavens and the earth. On sheets 49–52 of Codex Borgia (upper half) are
seen the gods of the four quarters and the four supporters of the sky,
which last are Tlauizcalpantecutli, the Sun-god, Quetzalcoatl, and
Mictlantecutli. On sheets 19–23 of Codex Vaticanus B the four upholders
of the heavens are given as Tlauizcalpantecutli, Uitzilopochtli,
Quetzalcoatl, and Mictlantecutli, and the four terrestrial gods as Xipe
Totec, Mictlantecutli, Xochipilli, and Centeotl. The first four are
shown upholding the starry firmament, so that we are left in no doubt
as regards the existence of such a conception as the support of the
heavens by certain gods. The close correspondence between the personnel
of the sky-bearers in the two MSS. proves a fairly universal acceptance
of the belief, especially as Xipe Totec, and Tonatiuh the Sun-god have
much in common. [72]
THE AZTEC HEAVENS
According to ancient Mexican belief various destinations awaited the
dead. Warriors slain in battle repaired to the region of the sun, where
they dwelt in bliss with the deity who presided over that luminary.
Sacrificed captives also fared thence. These followed the sun in his
daily course, crying aloud and beating upon their shields, and fighting
sham battles. “It is also said,” writes Sahagun in his History of the
Affairs of New Spain (Appendix to bk. iii, ch. 3), “that in this heaven
are trees and forests of divers sorts. The offerings which the living
of this world make to the dead duly arrive at their destination, and
are received in this heaven. After four years of sojourn in that place
the souls of the dead are changed into divers species of birds having
rich plumage of the most brilliant colours.” These were known as
tzintzonme [73] (“little bird which flies from place to place”), and
they flitted from blossom to blossom on earth as well as in heaven,
sucking the rich fragrance from the tropical blooms of the deep Valleys
of Anahuac. This region is the Ciutlampa, and perhaps the Tamoanchan
alluded to above.
Tlalocan.—An even more material paradise was presided over by the
water-god or deity of moisture, Tlaloc. Sahagun calls this a
“terrestrial paradise,” “where they feign that there is surfeit of
pleasure and refreshment, void, for a space, of torment.” In that
delectable region there is plenteousness of green maize, of calabashes,
pepper, tomatoes, haricots, and it is fulfilled with variegated
blossoms. There dwell the god Tlaloc and his followers. The persons who
gain admittance to this paradise are those who have been slain by
lightning or thunderbolt, the leprous and the dropsical—those whose
deaths have in any way been caused through the agency of water—for
Tlaloc is god of that element. Existence there is perpetual. The
paradise of Tlaloc was situated in the east in a climate of eternal
summer.
Homeyoca.—The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A states that the
abode of the Creator of the Universe, Tonacatecutli, was Homeyoca or
Homeiocan, “place of the Holy Trinity.” The etymology is vague, but
would appear to apply to duality rather than trinity, a suggestion
which is buttressed by the androgynous character of the creative
deities. In an accompanying picture he points out the various
departments of this heaven as “the Red Heaven,” “the Yellow Heaven,”
“the White Heaven.” Young children, he says, went to a specific
paradise, but it was thought that they would return to re-people the
world after the third destruction. They were nourished by a milk-giving
tree round which they were seated, getting suck from the branches.
But we have glimpses here and there in Aztec literature of a much more
elaborate series of heavens, thirteen in number. The first contained
certain planets, the second was the home of the Tzitzimimê, who
included many of the great gods, the third that of the Centzon
Mimixcoa, or star-warriors, who were many-coloured—yellow, black,
white, red, blue—and provided the sun with food in the shape of blood.
The fourth was inhabited by birds, the fifth by fire-snakes (perhaps
comets), the sixth was the home of the winds, the seventh harboured
dust, and in the eighth dwelt the gods. The remainder were placed at
the disposal of the high primal and creative gods Tonacatecutli and his
spouse Tonacaciuatl, whose abode proper was in the thirteenth and
highest heaven. [74]
MICTLAMPA AS HADES
The Hades of the Aztec race was Mictlampa, presided over by
Mictlantecutli (Lord of Mictlampa) and his spouse (Mictecaciuatl). The
souls of the defunct who fared thither were those who died of disease,
chiefs, great personages, or humbler folk. On the day of death the
priest harangued the deceased, telling him that he was about to go to a
region “where there is neither light nor window,” and where all was
shadow, a veritable land of gloom, the passage to which swarmed with
grisly forms inimical to the soul. It was a vast, trackless, and gloomy
desert, having nine divisions, of which the last, Chiconahuimictlan,
was the abode of the lord of the place. Rank and privilege would appear
to have been maintained even in this dark realm, although all offerings
to the dead must first be inspected by Mictlantecutli himself ere being
passed on to their proper owners. Sahagun states that four years were
occupied in journeying to Mictlampa, evidently an error for four days,
as elsewhere he says that the former period was spent within the
regions of the dead. The journey thence was replete with terrors. Says
the interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A: “In this region of hell they
supposed that there existed four gods, or principal demons, one of whom
was superior, whom they called Zitzimatl, who is the same as
Miquitlamtecotl, the great god of hell. Yzpuzteque, the lame demon, was
he who appeared in the streets with the feet of a cock. Nextepehua was
the scatterer of ashes, Contemoque signifies he who descends
headforemost; an allusion being made to the etymology which learned men
assign to the name of the Devil, which signifies deorsum cadens, which
mode of descent after souls they attribute to him from this name and
Zon. Yzpuzteque is he whose abode is in the streets, the same as Satan,
he who on a sudden appears sideways. It appears that they have been
acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, although clearer arguments in
proof of this fact are adduced in the course of the following pages.
They say that these four gods or demons have goddesses.”
These and other dread beings, according to the same MS., rendered the
hellward journey terrible in the extreme, and an attempt was made to
mitigate the terrors of the passage between the two worlds by means of
passports of much the same character as the spells in the Egyptian
“Book of the Dead,” which franked the soul past the numerous demons and
dangers which awaited it. The first paper served to pass him by two
mountains which threatened to clash together and crush him. The second
saved him from the maw of a huge snake. Others helped him to face the
lurking terrors of eight deserts and eight hills, and to avoid the grim
crocodile Xochitonal. A wind of sharp flint knives then attacked him.
Lastly he came to the river Chiconahuopan (Nine Waters), which he
crossed on the back of a red-coloured dog which accompanied him and
which was killed for that purpose by having an arrow thrust down its
throat. It is not clear whether this dog acted as a guide to Mictlampa,
or whether it preceded the soul, but it would seem that its master
found it awaiting him when he came to the banks of the river, in the
passage of which it assisted him. It kept its vigil on the opposite
bank, however, and had to swim the river ere it could reach him.
The deceased then came before Mictlantecutli, to whom he made suitable
gifts—cotton, perfumes, and a mantle. He was told to which sphere he
must go. It is obvious that Mictlampa was not so much a place of
punishment as a place of the dead, a Hades, where the souls of the good
and evil were alike consigned. Its locality is partially fixed, for it
is “the place where the sun slept,” and, like the Egyptian Amenti, it
was therefore antipodean, or occupied the centre of the earth. After a
four years’ sojourn in this dark monarchy the soul was supposed to come
to a place where, according to the interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus,
it enjoyed a measure of rest.