Tezcatlipoca

Tezcatlipoca was a central deity in Aztec religion. He is associated with a variety of concepts, including the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, and conflict.

He was considered one of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the primordial dual deity. His main festival was Toxcatl, which, like most religious festivals of Aztec culture, involved human sacrifice.

Origins

The origins of Tezcatlipoca can be traced to earlier Mesoamerican deities worshipped by the Olmec and Maya. Similarities exist between Tezcatlipoca and the patron deity of the K'iche' Maya, Tohil. The name Tohil refers to obsidian and he was associated with sacrifice.

The Classic Maya god of rulership and thunder, K'awiil, was depicted with a smoking obsidian knife in his forehead and one leg replaced with a snake. Although there are striking similarities between possible earlier imagery of Tezcatlipoca, archaeologists and art historians are split in the debate. It is possible that he is the same god that the Olmec and Maya term their "jaguar deity," or alternately that he is an Aztec expansion on foundations set by the Olmec and Maya, as the Aztecs routinely took deliberate inspiration from earlier Mesoamerican cultures.

Representations

Few representations of Tezcatlipoca survive into the present day, due in large part to a significant portion of codices being destroyed by Catholic priests. Simultaneously, some Aztec texts note that the darkness and omnipresence of Tezcatlipoca make him something akin to "invisible," thus direct representations of him are considered inadequate or even impossible. Still, multiple depictions of the deity exist, and common trends and symbols can be identified.

He is often depicted with various symbolic objects in place of his right foot, such as an obsidian mirror, bone, or a serpent. This is an allusion to the creation myth, in which Tezcatlipoca loses his foot battling with the earth monster Cipactli. The obsidian mirror may also appear on his chest, as a breastplate, and often is shown emanating smoke — a literal representation of his name and role. In the majority of representations, Tezcatlipoca bears the mirror in one hand, where it is surrounded by feathers of various colors.

A motif of skulls and crossbones is recorded appearing in some pictures, but likely would have followed the European popularization of such a design. Many iconographic elements highlight Tezcatlipoca's role as a warrior, including his shield, his anahuatl breastplate, his arrow nose ring, and his spears, or arrows.

Face paint

One of the most recognizable iconographic details of Tezcatlipoca is his face paint, called mixchictlapanticac. Most commonly, he is shown with horizontal bands of black and yellow, though codices may vary in which two colors are depicted.

Black is the foremost color associated with Tezcatlipoca, not only because of his role as a god of nighttime and darkness, but to differentiate him from the other three so-called Tezcatlipocas (Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopoctli, and Xipe-Totec) and their respective colors (white, blue, and red). Which parts of his body are painted black varies by site; half of his leg, the full length of his arms, the majority of his legs, or any combination thereof can be depicted. Later scholarship has identified the black material with which the god was supposedly painted as tezcatlipoctli.

Priests

The priests of Tezcatlipoca often wore the ornaments of the god and wore specific garments for different rituals. Most frequently worn were white turkey feather headdresses, a paper loincloth, and a tzanatl stick with similar feathers and paper decorations.

Another common practice was to cover themselves in black soot or ground charcoal while they were involved in priestly activities at the temple or during rituals. They would also cover the sick and newly appointed king in a similar manner with a black ointment to encourage an association with the god. When the ritual called for it, priests would also dress up as Tezcatlipoca himself and accompany other similarly outfitted gods or goddesses.

Rivalry with Quetzalcoatl

Tezcatlipoca was often described as a rival of another important god of the Aztecs: the culture hero, Quetzalcoatl. In one version of the Aztec creation account the myth of the Five Suns, the first creation, "The Sun of the Earth" was ruled by Tezcatlipoca but destroyed by Quetzalcoatl when he struck down Tezcatlipoca who then transformed into a jaguar. Quetzalcoatl became the ruler of the subsequent creation "Sun of Water," and Tezcatlipoca destroyed the third creation "The Sun of Wind" by striking down Quetzalcoatl.

In one of the Aztec accounts of creation, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca joined forces to create the world. Before their act there was only the sea and the primordial, crocodilian earth monster called Cipactli.

Aztec reverence

According to Aztec belief, Tezcatlipoca had a great many associations: the night sky, night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth, obsidian, hostility, discord, rulership, divination, temptation, jaguars, sorcery, beauty, war, and conflict.

Extreme reverence and respect, characterized by ceremonial proceedings in which priests were "to pay homage" to Tezcatlipoca, or where "citizens waited expectantly" for ceremonial proceedings to start under the low hum of "shell trumpets," were commonplace, especially for this deity. Utter respect from the highest position of Aztec nobility, the king, shown through the figurative and literal nakedness of his presence in front of Tezcatlipoca. The king would stand "naked, emphasizing his utter unworthiness", speaking as nothing but a vessel for the god's will.