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Around 1000 years ago, the Aztecs left their home of Aztlan and followed their patron,
Huitzilopochtli, to a new land and way of life. For generations they travelled in seven tribes
called calpultin, one of which was especially favoured by Huitzilopochtli. After many years
Read on to learn about the god who could inspire a tribe to come so far and achieve so
much
Above: Historia Tolteca Chichimeca fol.16r
Mother: Coatlicue
Huitzilopochtli was the Patron of the Mexicas, who are more gen-
erally known as the Aztecs. He symbolised the sun, war, youth
and conquest. Great human sacrifices were regularly performed
in his name.
Left: Huitzilopochtli represented in the Borbonic Codex. He is carrying a snakelike
weapon called a Xiuhcoatl and a shield. On his head is a headdress imitating the
head of a hummingbird.
Family History:
One day, Coatlicue was ritually sweeping in Coatepec mountain. As she worked,
a ball of white feathers floated down to her, so she took it and stowed it by her
breast, under the folds of her skirt. When Coatlicue went to examine it later, the
ball of feathers had disappeared but she found she was pregnant.
Coatlicue had a daughter called Coyolxauhqui and 400 sons called the Centzon-
huitznahua and when they discovered their mothers pregnancy they were terri-
bly angry. Coyolxauhqui plotted with the others to kill Coatlicue in revenge for
the shame their mother had brought upon them.
Upon hearing their plot, Coatlicue was greatly saddened, but her unborn child,
Huitzilopochtli, spoke to her and told her not to fear for he knew what he must
do. Meanwhile, Coyolxauhqui and the Centzonhuitznahua prepared for war,
twisting their hair and arming themselves .
On the day of battle, the brothers and sister marched towards Coatepec and the
pregnant Coatlicue. One of them, Quauhitlcac, secretly went to Coatlicue and
helped the unborn Huitzilopochtli to see how the Centzonhuitznahua were ap-
proaching. Coatlicue (meaning skirt of snakes),
earth goddess and Huitzilopochtlis
Once his siblings got to Coatepec mountain in order to kill their mother, mother. Museo Nacional de Antro-
Huitzilopochtli sprang from Coatlicues womb and with the fire from a snake in pologa, Mexico City.
his hand, called a xiuhcoatl, he killed his sister who was at the head of the
group, throwing her head into the Coatepec mountain and ripping her body
apart. Next, he killed almost all of his 400 brothers.
This is the tenth of twenty thirteen day periods that constitutes the 260 day ritual calendar.
Men born beneath this sign were predicted to be brave, honourable and rich whilst women would have many
abilities, be manly, good cooks, well spoken and discreet. All of the following signs during this 13 day period
were said to be prosperous.
Festive month: Panquetzaliztli or the raising of flags. This festive month was celebrated from the 2nd until
the 21st of December (the Aztec solar calendar had 18 periods of 20 days plus 5 unlucky days at the end of the
year)
This ceremony re-enacted the epic voyage of Huitzilopochtli and the Aztec migration from Aztlan in the north
to Teno- chtitlan.
Other festivities featuring Huitzilopochtli include Atamalqualiztli,
that occurred every eight years around the November/December
period, and Toxcatl which revolved around the god Tezcatlipoca. If you
look at the picture to the right, you will see the main temple in
Tenochtitlan that was dedicated to the rain god Tlaloc (left) and
Huitzilopochtli (right). Above, you can see the glyph for
Panquetzaliztli.
Interests: Sacrifice, war and, above all, looking after his people, the Mexicas,
and ensuring that they were faithful to him.
Powers: According to Sahagn, Huitzilopochtli was robust, strong, warlike and
a great destroyer of towns and men. In wars he was like live fire, and
fearsome to his adversaries. His emblem was of a dragons head that spewed fire
from its mouth (xiuhcoatl). He could also transform into different birds and
beasts.
Symbolic forms: In his role as warrior, Huitzilopochtli was the sun. His celestial
circuit has been interpreted as the model that all life-cycles follow; those of men,
periods and eras.
As a dweller of land, Huitzilopochtli was the sun eagle that devoured a snakes tail,
emblem of darkness. He was sometimes a hummingbird, the soul of a dead war-
rior, and he could be a snake, symbol of a people settling in its promised land. As
a nocturnal being, Huitzilopochtli appeared as a Tzitzimitl, a scary skeletal appari-
tion
Blood thirsty:
Huitzilpochtli had strong links to the sun and for this reason he required a
constant supply of sacrificial victims (The Aztecs, Smith). Those who had
died in war, at the mercy of their enemies as captives, or during childbirth, were
allowed to accompany the sun on its voyage through the heavens. According to
Sahagns informers, these dead people would wait on a plain until the sun
started to rise. Its brightness was blinding and only those that had many arrow
holes in their shields would be able to look through them,
at the sun, without being hurt. In this way, only the very bravest warriors could get a
good view. After four years, the souls of these dead people turned into hummingbirds
and butterflies and came back down to the earth.
Upper left: Quauhxicalli in the shape of an eagle, Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico City. Upper right: Image
from the Tovar Manuscript p.2, f.122. Right: Cup with hummingbird. Mixtec postclassic, Zaachila, Oaxaca.
Museo Nacional de Antropologa, Mexico City.
Huitzilopochtli in Images
Pictographical Representation:
Sahagns works:
Here is a passage from the Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espaa that de-
scribes Huitzilopochtli as he leaps from Coatlicues womb:
...and as the Centzonhuitznahua arrived, Huitzilopochtli was born holding a shield that is
called a teueuelli, with a blue dardo and vara (spear and spearhead?), and his face
was painted, and on his head he had a headdress made from joined feathers and his left
leg was thin and feathered and his thighs were blue, and so were his arms...
Huitzilopochtli in the
Florentine Codex.
Sources:
Journals:
Books:
Len Portilla, Miguel, De Teotihuacan a los aztecas: fuentes e interpretaciones histricas, 2nd ed.,
UNAM, 1983, Mexico City, Mexico.
Lpez Austin, Alfredo and Leonardo Lpez Lujn El pasado indgena, coord. Alicia Hernndez
Chvez,2nd edition, Colegio de Mxico, 2001, Mexico City, Mexico.
Molina, Fray Alonso de Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, prelimi-
nary study by Miguel Len Portilla, 4th edition, Editorial Porra, 2001, Mexico City, Mexico.
Tezozomoc, Fernando Alvarado, Crnica Mexicayotl, translated by Adrin Len, 3rd ed., 1998, UNAM,
Mexico City, Mexico.
Sahagn, Fray Bernadino de, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espaa, Comments by Angel Mara
Garibay, 6th ed., Editorial Porra, 1985, Mexico City, Mexico.
Smith, Michael E. The Aztecs, 2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing, 1996, Oxford, UK.