Tlāloc is a member of the pantheon of Aztec gods in Mexica religion. As supreme god of the rain, Tlaloc is also a god of earthly fertility and of water.
Description[]
Tlaloc is usually depicted with goggle eyes and fangs. He is most often coupled with lightning, maize, and water in visual representations and artwork. Offerings dedicated to Tlaloc in Tenochtitlan were known to include several jaguar skulls and even a complete jaguar skeleton. Jaguars were considered the ultimate sacrificial animal due to their value.
He was widely worshipped as a beneficent giver of life and sustenance. However, he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder, and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. Tlaloc is also associated with caves, springs, and mountains, most specifically the sacred mountain in which he was believed to reside. His animal forms include herons and water-dwelling creatures such as amphibians, snails, and possibly sea creatures, particularly shellfish.
Overview[]
Four Tlālocs[]
In Aztec cosmology, the four corners of the universe are marked by "the four Tlalocs" which both hold up the sky and function as the frame for the passing of time. Tlaloc was the patron of the Calendar day Mazātl. In Aztec mythology, Tlaloc was the lord of the third sun which was destroyed by fire.
Each Tlaloc is pictured watering the maize with differing types of rains, of which only one was beneficial. The rain that was beneficial to the land was burnished with jade crystals and likely represented the type of rain that would make a bountiful harvest. The other forms of rain were depicted as destroyers of crops, “fiery rain, fungus rain, wind rain, and flint blade rain”. This depiction shows the power that Tlaloc had over the Central American crop supply. Also, the high ratio of damaging rains to beneficial rains likely symbolizes the ratio of the likelihood that crops are destroyed to them being nourished. This would explain why so much effort and resources were put forth by the Central Americans in order to appease the Gods.
In Aztec mythic cosmography, Tlaloc ruled the fourth layer of the upper world, or heavens, which is called Tlalocan ("place of Tlaloc") in several Aztec codices. Described as a place of unending springtime and a paradise of green plants, Tlalocan was the destination in the afterlife for those who died violently from phenomena associated with water, such as by lightning, drowning, and water-borne diseases. These violent deaths also included leprosy, venereal disease, sores, dropsy, scabies, gout, and child sacrifices.
Third Sun[]
Before the current era of the 5th Sun ruled by Huītzilōpōchtli, there were 4 previous Suns and Sun Gods who ruled the Aztec pantheon. Tlaloc was the 3rd to rise to the position of Sun God after Quetzalcoatl stepped down. For a brief time, Tlaloc's reign brought about peace and prosperity as he both illuminated the world and supplied it with the water necessary for life continue. But this all changed when Tezcatlipoca seduced and stole his wife Xochiquetzal, the goddess of sex, flowers and corn.
After discovering what had happened, Tlaloc refused to do anything other than wallow in his own grief, so a great drought swept the world. The people's prayers for rain annoyed the grieving sun god, and he refused to allow it to rain, but the people continued to beg him. Then, in a fit of rage he answered their prayers for rain with a great downpour of fire. It continued to rain fire until the entire Earth had burned away. and Tlaloc was removed from his position as sun god. Once the fires were finally put out, the gods had to construct a whole new Earth from the ashes left behind.