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In Aztec mythology, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (Nahuatl for "Lord of the Dawn"; pronounced: tɬaːwiskaɬpanˈteːkʷtɬi) is the god of the planet Venus, the morning star. Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli was considered a dangerous and malevolent god, and was associated with Quetzalcoatl.[1]

Myths[]

Motolinia's Memoriales, the Histoyre du Mechique and the Annals of Cuauhtitlan relate that the Toltec ruler Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl became the morning star when he died. The Annals of Cuauhtitlan gives his year of death as 1 Reed, one 52-year calendar cycle from his birth.[1][2]

In the Legend of the Suns, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli attempts to shoot the sun with arrows, but misses and is shot himself.[3]

Effects[]

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli was believed to cause harm to people by shooting darts. According to the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, after Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl died, he spent four days in Mictlan making darts before emerging as the morning star.

The Annals list his victims according to the days of the Aztec calendar: old people on 1 Alligator; small children on 1 Jaguar, 1 Deer and 1 Flower; nobles on 1 Reed; everybody on 1 Death; and young people on 1 Movement. On 1 Rain, he shoots the rain, so that no rain falls, and on 1 Water, he causes drought.[4]

Calendar[]

In the Aztec calendar, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli is patron of the trecena beginning with the day 1 Snake and ending with 13 Movement. In this he is paired with Xiuhtecuhtli, the god of fire.[5]

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Quiñones Keber (1995): p. 175.
  2. Bierhorst (1992): p. 36.
  3. Bierhorst (1992): pp. 148–149.
  4. Bierhorst (1992): pp. 36–37.
  5. Quiñones Keber (1995): pp. 175–176.

References[]

  • Bierhorst, John (tr.) (1992). History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The Codex Chimalpopoca. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1886-9. 
  • Quiñones Keber, Eloise (1995). Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manuscript. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-76901-6. 
Wikipedia
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.
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