TYPE: Sun god, Patron god of the Aztec Nation.
ORIGIN: Aztec (Classical Mesoamerican) [Mexico]
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa CE 750, but probably earlier, to circa CD 1500
SYNONYMS: Blue Tezcatlipoca
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Tenochtitlan [Mexico City]
ART REFERENCES: Stone sculptures, murals, codex illustrations.
LITERARY SOURCES: Pre-Columbian codices
INFORMATION: The tutelary god of the Aztecs who also regarded him as a war god. He is the southern (blue) aspect or emanation of the sun god Tezcatlipoca, the so-calles high-flying sun, and the head of the group classed as the Huitzilpochtli complex. He is regarded, in alternative tradition, as one of the four sons of Tezcatlipoca. His mother is the decapitated earth goddess Coatlicue, from whose womb he sprang fully armed. He slaughtered his sister (moon) and his 400 brothers (Stars) in revenge for the death of his mother, signifying the triumph of sunlight over darkness. By tradition he led the people from their ancestral home in Aztlan (perhaps in the state of Nayarit) with the promise of securing a great empire. He appeared to them in the form of an eagle clutching a serpent in its talons and standing atop a cactus growing on a rocky island. This was Tenochtitlan, on the site of which Mexico City now stands.
The Great Temple of Coatepec was dedicated to the cosmic battle. In ritual Huitzilopochtli was fed on human hearts taken from captives, the blood of which was said to cool his heat; several wars were instigated to gain sacrificial material. FOr the origin of the name "blue hummingbird on left foot" see Tezcatlipoca.