Tezcatlipoca (Art by Katie StarSoulArt)
Tezcatlipoca the 'Smoking Mirror’ in Nahuatl was one of the most important gods in Post-Classical Mesoamerican culture and a particularly important deity for the Toltecs and later, for the Aztecs, most especially at Texcoco.
Description[]
Often rivaling his brother for the position of supreme god, he took on a bewildering array of names and manifestations depending on where and by whom he was worshipped. This trickster god was known for his powes of invisiblity was known by some as a Creator god, the god of sustenance, a patron of warriors and as the bringer of both good and evil; he was the very embodiment of change through conflict.
Overview[]
Tezcatlipoca was believed to be the son of the primordial androgynous god Ometeotl. In Aztec mythology he was the brother of Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli and Xipe Totec. In the complex Mesoamerican creation myths Tezcatlipoca ruled the first world of the Sun but was then overthrown by Quetzalcóatl. The two later cooperated, however, to create the 5th Sun.
Transformed into giant snakes, the two gods attacked and dismembered the female reptilian monster known as Tlaltecuhtli (or Cipactli), one part became the earth and the other the sky. Trees, plants and flowers sprang from the dead creature’s hair and skin whilst springs and caves were made from her eyes and nose and the valleys and mountains came from her mouth.