The Teteo

The Gods of the Mexica

In addition to referencing the divine "stuff" that makes up all things in existence, the word teotl is also used to reference gods in the singular. Teteo is the plural form of teotl, when speaking of multiple discrete godheads.

The number of named Teteo that we know of are in the dozens, if not hundreds. There are just altogether too many to account for on this site, but below we will list the most commonly spoken of.

Ometeotl

Contrary to popular understanding, Ometeotl was not a singular, "supreme" god of duality, but is actually a modern gloss that technically refers to Ometecuhtli (oh-mey-teh-KUH-tlee) and Omecihuatl (oh-meh-SEE-watl) Dual-Lord and Dual-Lady, or Tonacatecuhtli (toh-nah-kah-tey-KUH-tlee) and Tonacacihuatl (toh-nah-kah-SEE-watl), the Lord an Lady of Abundance, who are the first pair of creator deities.

There is much debate about the veracity of the historical evidence for even Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, however. We encourage seekers to do their own research on the matter, and approach these Teteo only in ways that make sense for their practice.

The Tezcatlipocas

Tezcatlipoca (tez-kat-lee-POH-kah), also known as Black Tezcatlipoca, is possibly the most well-known, and perhaps most infamous god of the Mexica. His name means Smoking Mirror, and he is a deity associated with trickery, war, kingship, sacrifice, male beauty, cunning, divination and sorcery, as well as creation through struggle, antagonism, and destruction. He was known to be the most powerful of the Teteo, for being able to travel anywhere and peer into the hearts of mortals. He’s recognizable by the black and yellow stripes across his face, black-painted body, and the obsidian mirror that replaces his foot. Tezcatlipoca has many aspects and guises, or nahualmeh.

His twin is Quetzalcoatl (ket-sal-KOH-atl), or White Tezcatlipoca. His name means Precious Serpent, and true to his nature as a divinity of civilization itself, his name and image still make appearances in modern-day art and media. Quetzalcoatl is associated with the cohesion of culture, the arts, sciences, language, as well as natural forces that embody the concept of unity or pursuit of knowledge, such as the wind and air, and the shape of spiraled things like conch shells (which the Mexica used as a musical instrument). Quetzalcoal famously appears as a serpent-like animal covered in sacred feathers, or in a more anthropomorphic aspect as Ehecatl, with his iconic long-beaked, red mask and jaguar-pelted conical hat.

Huitzilopochtli (wee-tsee-loh-POCH-tlee) is the Blue Tezcatlipoca, and his name means Hummingbird on the Left. He is widely understood to be a god of war, but he is maybe better understood as a god of passion, will, sacrifice, sports and feats of endurance, and the sun. Huitzilopochtli is also a patron of the Mexica people as a whole, having guided them through their historical migration through the desert to where they eventually founded Tenochtitlan, the seat of their empire. He often appears with a blue-painted body, with a black and yellow-striped face, and holding weapons of war.

And finally, the Red Tezcatlipoca is the god Xipe Totec (SHEE-pey TOH-tek), whose name means Our Lord The Flayed One. He is the picture of human sacrifice, and sacrifice in general, as he is depicted painted red and wearing the skin of a flayed sacrificial victim. More than that, though, Xipe Totec is a god of intense and dramatic transformation and rebirth, as well as fertility and spring. He was also a patron of metalsmiths, as his flayed skin was symbolically likened to gold.

The Fiery Teteo

Huehueteotl (wey-wey-TEY-ohtl), whose name means Old God, was the first and most primal god of fire, and is depicted as a wrinkled old man with a brazier on his head.

Xiuhtecuhtli (shew-tey-KOO-tlee) is the divine flame at the center of the universe, around which all the cosmos revolves. His name means Fire Lord or Turquoise Lord, as fire and turquoise stones were symbolically linked, and he was often depicted with a red-painted body and a red and black-striped face. Xiuhtecuhtli was seen as a god of both time and space as well, ruling over the 52-year cycle and the New Fire Ceremony held at the beginning of each.

The goddess of the hearth is Chantico (chan-TEE-koh), whose name means She Who Is In the Home. While being the manifestation of the domestic fire, she had war-like aspects and was respected for having the same terrible power as any other blaze. Chantico is depicted with a yellow face painted with thinner red stripes, an upper lip fattened with rubber, and fangs to symbolize her ability to inflict injury through burning.

The Watery Teteo

Tlaloc (TLAH-lok) is the bringer of rain and storms, and is nowadays considered the “primary” water deity of the Mexica. However, he has a female counterpart in Chalchiuhtlicue (chal-chew-TLEE-kwey), who rules over terrestrial waters such as rivers, lakes, and even bath houses. Tlaloc’s name is quite ancient, and possibly means “under the earth”, “deep cave”, or “made of earth”, highlighting his close ties to mountains, the tops of which being where he dwelled and kept the rains. Chalchiuhtlicue means Jade Her Skirt. In her domain of the steam bath, she was invoked for cleansing rites and childbirth.

Tlaloc, like Tezcatlipoca, is a quadripartite god with four directional aspects, each understood to send a different kind of rain.

The Earthly Teteo

Coatlique (koh-wat-TLEE-kwey) is the earth itself in its motherly aspect. Her name means Serpent Skirt, as the earth was seen as being a vast, reptilian being named Cipactli. Coatlicue is mother to many of the Teteo, including Huitzilopochtli, Coyolxauhqui, and the southern stars. As the mother of all living things, she is a goddess of fertility, life, death, and rebirth. She is depicted quite famously in a megalithic stonework where her arms and legs are carved as snakes, her head is a pair of snakes facing each other in profile, she wears a necklace of humans hands, hearts, and skulls, and of course as well, is wrapped in her titular skirt of woven serpents.

Cihuacoatl (see-wah-KOH-atl) is a mother deity and giver of life. Her name means Serpent Woman, and she played a part in creating the current age of humans when she ground bones stolen from Mictlan into the dough from which humans were made. She was chiefly honored as a patron of midwives, and was often depicted as a young, beautiful woman, though was also sometimes shown as a patron of women who died in childbirth. In this fiercer aspect, she is seen an old woman, skull-faced, and holding a shield and weapons, and honored as the leader of the spirits of those women. She was also regarded as a patron of weavers.

The god of maize was Centeotl (sin-TEY-ohtl), seen in the ripened corn.  His name means Maize God. His female counterpart was Chicomecoatl (chee-koh-mey-KOH-ahtl), whose name means Seven Serpent, and was also known as Xilonen (shee-LOH-nen). She was also associated with the maize plant, but moreso in its earlier stages of growth.

Mayahuel (may-YAH-wel) is the goddess of the maguey, or century plant. She was depicted as a goddess usually rising from the middle of a maguey, and was considered a giver of health and sustenance, along with being the mother of drunkenness because of the sacred alcoholic beverage, pulque, which was made from the plant's fermented sap.

The goddess of tlazolli, of filth, dirt, waste, and sexual excess, was Tlazolteotl (tlah-sol-TEY-ohtl) whose name means Goddess of Tlazolli, or Goddess of Filth. She was the great recycler, working her divine power on things returned to the earth so that they could then be reused or reborn. As a cleansing divinity, she was also associated with the sweatbath. Tlazolteotl was easily recognized by her moon-shaped nose jewelry, the black paint around her mouth, and the corn snakes sometimes accompanying her. She was often depicted in a squatting position, giving birth.

The Celestial Teteo

The sun is chiefly personified through Tonatiuh (toh-NAH-teew), the current sun of the fifth age of the world. Before the current world was made, the sick and ugly god Nanahuatzin was asked to jump into a fire and sacrifice himself in order to be transformed into the sun. When he did, Tonatiuh was born. 

The moon has several deities ruling it, including Tecciztecatl (tek-seez-TEY-kahtl), a prideful god who was too cowardly to be transformed into the sun, as well as Coyolxauhqui (koy-ol-SHAO-kee), Huiztilopochtli’s sister, who is famously depicted in her dismembered state on the megalithic stone of the same name.

Itzpapalotl (eets-pah-PAH-lohtl), whose name means “obsidian butterfly”, is a star goddess and patron of childbirth and midwives.

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (tlah-wees-kahl-pan-tey-KUH-tlee) is Venus as the morning star, and his name means Lord of the Dawn. In some myths he is the deified mythic ruler of Teotihuacan, Ce Acatl. Other interpretations include him as one of Quetzalcoatl's aspects. 

The Teteo of Daily Civil Life

Healing: Patecatl (pah-TEY-catl) and Ixtlilton (ish-TLEEL-ton) are regarded as the primary Teteo associated with healing, medicine, and rest.

Beauty and the Arts: Xochipilli (shoh-chee-PEEL-ee) and Xochiquetzal (shoh-chee-KET-sal) are a twin brother and sister. Their names mean Flower Prince and Precious Flower, respectively. Together they represent beauty, dance, poetry, writing, sexuality, as well as flowers themselves, especially as metaphors for the vitality of life. Xochipilli had an aspect named Chicomexochitl (chee-koh-mey-SHOH-cheetl) or Seven Flower, who was a patron of painters.

Travel and Commerce: The two concepts were generally seen as one and the same, as the merchant guilds of Tenochtitlan were expected to travel extensively and bring news back to the empire. Yacatecuhtli (yah-kah-tey-KOO-tlee) was the primary patron of the pochteca merchant class and business travel, while Zacatzontli (sah-kah-TZON-tlee) is associated more with non-commercial travel and the roads themselves.

Entertainment: Macuilxochitl (mah-kweel-SHOH-cheetl) was an aspect of Xochipilli and a god of games, while Tepoztecatl (tep-ohs-TEY-katl) was a god of drunkenness and pulque, and was one of the Centzon Totochtin, the 400 rabbit gods of drunkenness. And while representing great age and wisdom, the trickster coyote god Huehuecoyotl (wey-wey-COY-ohtl), Ancient Coyote, was also famous for playing tricks on the gods and was associated with mischief, song, and dance.

Justice: The god Iztlacoliuhqui (ees-tlah-kol-YOO-kee) is patron of justice, as well as a personification of killing frost and icy winters. He is depicted wearing all white or pale colors, with an eyeless, mouthless obsidian mask for a face and an arrow through his long, striped hat.

Were the Teteo Worshipped?

Many modern sources, even those that are academic or claim to be part of an ancient lineage, will claim that the Teteo are not gods and that the pre-hispanic Mexicans did not believe in or maintain cultus for gods. Many times “god” will be written in scare-quotes, or trivialized in some other rhetorical way, but this is misleading.

The prevailing view of the Teteo were not as archetypes or symbolic manifestations of natural forces. While there is evidence that the elites of Tenochtitlan may have leaned away from polytheism towards monism or even a kind of pantheism, the Teteo were still, without a doubt, understood to be divine agencies by the majority of people in the Valley of Mexico: divine agencies who responded to offerings, worship, and prayer.

As Teochan primarily represents a worship-based community, we find it tiring to see these myths perpetuated by some in academia as well as by those in the Mexicayotl movement. While worship and building cultus in one’s life is a personal choice, we do not believe it is historically accurate to insist that the post-classic Mexica were all uniformly pantheistic, monotheistic, or even more extreme, atheistic.