We show you all the details of Mexican Mythology. Learn about its origins, legends, gods and most popular places of worship in history
Mexican Mythology
Mexican mythology, like its population, reflects a mixture of indigenous and Spanish influences. Most people in modern Mexico trace their ancestry to the Native Americans, to the Spaniards who controlled Mexico for three centuries, or to both, in a mixed heritage called mestizo.
Likewise, Mexican religion, myths and legends are a mixture of Indian traditions, European influences such as Christianity, and mixtures of both. Mayan villagers believe, for example, that the chacs, ancient rain spirits, are controlled by Jesus Christ and accompanied in their movement through the heavens by the Virgin Mary, his mother.
The mythology of Mexico is a product of syncretism, a process in which two belief systems merge to form one that is different from either of the original systems or in which a new belief system superimposes an older one that has not disappeared.
Origin of Mexican mythology
According to legend, when the Mexicans arrived in the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups to be the least civilized of all, but the Mexica/Aztecs decided to learn, and took everything they could from other people, especially the ancient Toltecs (whom they seem to have partially confused with the older civilization of Teotihuacan).
For the Aztecs, the Toltecs were the creators of all culture; “Toltecayotl” was synonymous with culture. Aztec legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the legendary city of Tollan, which they also identified with the earliest Teotihuacans.
Because the Aztecs adopted and combined several traditions with their own earlier traditions, they had several creation myths. One of them, the Five Suns, describes four great ages that preceded the present world, each of which ended in a catastrophe, and “were named after the divine force or element that violently brought each of them to an end.”
Coatlicue was the mother of Centzon Huitznahua “Four Hundred Southerners”, her sons, and Coyolxauhqui, her daughter. She found a ball full of feathers and placed it in her waist, becoming pregnant by Huitzilopochtli. Her other sons became suspicious of the father’s identity and vowed to kill their mother.
Mount Coatepec
She gave birth on Mount Coatepec, pursued by her sons, but the newborn Huitzilopochtli defeated most of his brothers, who became the stars. He also killed his half-sister Coyolxauhqui by tearing out her heart with a Xiuhcoatl (a blue snake) and throwing her body down the mountain.
This was said to inspire the Aztecs to rip out the hearts of their victims and throw their bodies over the sides of the temple dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, which represents the sun chasing the stars at dawn.
Our era (Nahui-Ollin), the fifth age, or fifth creation, began in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. According to the myth, all the gods had gathered to sacrifice themselves and create a new era.
Although the world and the sun had already been created, only through their sacrifice would the sun be set in motion and time, as well as history, could begin.
The most handsome and strongest of the gods, Tecuciztecatl, was supposed to sacrifice himself, but when the time came to self-immolate, he could not jump into the fire. Instead, Nanahuatl, the smallest and humblest of the gods, who was also covered with boils, sacrificed himself first and jumped into the flames.
The sun was set in motion by his sacrifice and time began. Humiliated by the sacrifice of the Nahuatl, Tecuciztecatl also jumped into the fire and became the moon.
Gods or deities of Mexican mythology
- Tlaloc, god of rain, lightning and thunder. He is a god of fertility
- Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of water, lakes, rivers, seas, streams, horizontal waters, storms and baptisms.
- Huixtocihuatl, goddess of salt
- Opochtli, god of fishing and bird catchers, discoverer of the harpoon and the net
- Xiuhtecuhtli, god of fire and weather
- Chantico, goddess of stoves and volcanoes
- Xolotl, god of death, associated with Venus as the Evening Star (double of Quetzalcoatl)
- Xipe-Totec, god of strength, lord of the seasons and rebirth, ruler of the East.
- Quetzalcoatl, god of life, light and wisdom, lord of the winds and the day, ruler of the West.
- Huitzilopochtli, god of war, lord of the sun and fire, ruler of the South.
Animals of Mexican mythology
In Mexico, images of big cats (almost entirely referred to jaguars) first appear in the art of the Olmec civilization (1250-400 BC). They are carved as giant stone sculptures and as small, delicate jade figures from archaeological sites such as San Lorenzo.
Some of them appear as naturalistic animals, while others blend the human with the jaguar and add a fearsome snarling mouth. Myths and stories collected from indigenous Mexican villages in recent times suggest what these dramatic Olmec items may have been.
These supernatural creatures have been called “jaguar-men” by archaeologists because, like the better-known wolf-wolves of Europe, they appear to be a mixture of animal and human.
They may show powerful supernatural beings considered to be the offspring of Olmec rulers and the mythical jaguar beasts.
Some large and some smaller Olmec sculptures may show sorcerers transforming into spirit jaguars, caught, as it were, halfway between feline and man.
Possibly, of course, these amazing works of art could simply be showing a sorcerer, priest or ruler wearing a jaguar mask, or striking a feline pose in a long-forgotten ritual.
Mexican Mythology Literature
The mythology of the Mexicans is acquired mainly through the works of those Spaniards, lay and clerical, who entered the country along with or immediately after the Spanish conquistadors. From several of them exist what might be called first-hand accounts of the theogony and ritual of the Nahua people.
The most valuable compendium is that of Father Bernardino Sahagún, entitled Historia General de las Ferias de la Nueva España, which was published from manuscripts only in the middle of the last century, although written in the first half of the 16th century.
Sahagún arrived in Mexico eight years after the country had been reduced by the Spanish to a condition of servitude. He gained a deep mastery of the Nahuatl language, and conceived a warm admiration for the native mind and a deep interest in the antiquities of the conquered people.
His method of collecting data on their mythology and history was as effective as it was ingenious. He held daily conferences with trusted Indians and asked them questions, to which they responded with symbolic paintings detailing the answers he needed.
Hieroglyphic paintings
He submitted them to the scholars who had been trained under his own supervision and who, after consulting among themselves, gave him a critique in Nahuatl of the hieroglyphic paintings he had made available.
Not content with this process, he submitted these responses to the criticisms of a third body, after which the matter was included in his work. But ecclesiastical intolerance was destined to prevent publication of the work for a couple of centuries.
Fearful that such a volume would succeed in keeping the fires of paganism burning in Mexico, Sahagún’s brothers denied him the help he needed for publication.
But by appealing to the Council of the Indies in Spain, he was encouraged and ordered to translate his great work into Spanish, a task he undertook when he was over eighty years of age. He transmitted the work to Spain, and for three hundred years nothing more was heard of it.
Symbols and Symbology of Mexican Mythology
The Aztecs saw these symbols in and around everyday life, in nature, on the walls of their temples, in jewelry, in their language, writing and religion.
1. Blood and Sun
The Aztecs of ancient Mexico believed that human blood was necessary to strengthen the sun. During the night wandering in the dark underworld, the sun was so weak that it needed new powers. It was important, if the cosmic order was to be maintained.
Human blood was the most powerful means to “help” the sun recover from its weakness. This belief explains the deep-rooted Aztec tradition of very frequent sacrifices of prisoners, whom the Aztecs forced to die. Blood united people with the gods from birth.
2. Atlatl Lanz – Symbol of War and Magical Power
Generally, in the Aztec world, fine weapons were symbols of power and religious warfare. In the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, the spear thrower was called ‘atlatl’ and was a symbol of war and magical power. Important Aztec gods were depicted holding ‘atlatl’, decorated with serpent (or snake) or feather designs (symbolizing a bird of prey).
3. Jaguar – Symbol of elite warriors
A jaguar, a fierce and brave hunter in ancient Mexico was the symbol of the elite Aztec warriors, the “jaguars” were the greatest beast of prey.
It was a cult and shamanic animal figure associated with sacrificial ceremonies and offerings to the jaguar god and the Aztec god of warriors. The god Tezcatlipoca (“Smoking Mirror”, in Nahuatl) is represented as a jaguar with an eagle at his side and the Aztec emperor had a throne of eagle feathers and jaguar skin.
The jaguar was also the symbol of the signs of the 14 of the 20 days of the Aztec calendar and was even aligned with the eagle and called the “jaguar of the heavens”. Gods and kings wore the skins and feathers of sacred animals as status symbols.
4. Eagle – Symbol of power
“Quauhtli” (eagle) is the 15th of the 20 days of the Aztec calendar, a symbol that expresses the warlike qualities of those born under this sign, but the sign also signifies a tendency to plunder and steal.
The eagle, a symbol of power, was also included in the insignia of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. Today, the eagle statue in Mexico City still commemorates the founding of Tenochtitlán, but the eagle does not have a bird in its talons.
In the Aztec Empire, the eagle symbolized one of two groups of elite warriors (“eagles”) dedicated to the sun. The sun’s journey from night to day was a representation of an eagle’s flight.
As the eagle soars to swoop down on its prey, so does the sun; it soars and then swoops and finally disappears. The eagle symbolized the greatest bird, which was fearless, powerful and courageous, as were the bravest of men. This bird was a symbol of warriors.
5. Chocolate – Sacred symbol of nobility
Chocolate was considered an aphrodisiac and symbolizes sensuality and decadence. The Aztecs used cocoa beans as a means of payment and drinking chocolate was reserved for the elite.
It was the political and social symbol of the empire. It was the symbol of nobility and the economic symbol of society. Drinking chocolate meant wealth and status.
6. Dog – Guided to the afterlife
In the 20-day calendar of ancient Central American civilizations the dog (in Aztec, itzcuintli) is the sign of the tenth day. Dogs in ancient Mexico, were buried with the dead as sacrifices for them and as guides to the afterlife because they could lead the dead across the “river of the nine” to the underworld.
Children born under the sign of the dog were believed to be predestined to rule and distribute valuable gifts. The god Xolotl (“twin”), represented as a dog-headed man, was associated with the sunset and protected the sun as it traveled through the underworld each night.
7. Owl – A Bringer of Death
The Aztecs feared the owl and believed it to be a bringer of death. It symbolized a demonic nocturnal creature that represented dark shamanic forces. It appeared suddenly in the darkness and was always a bad omen.
Even today, this bird is believed to be a bad omen. Interestingly, in the pre-Aztec civilization of ancient Mexico (Teotihuacan), the owl was the sacred animal of the rain god. Tlacolotl, the horned owl was a representation of the deepest evil for the Aztecs.
The Spanish friar Bernardino de Sahagún wrote that among the omens and warning signs given by birds and owls were the birds, considered messengers of the gods of death, Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlantecuhuatl, often portrayed with owls.
These two feared gods called people who were destined to live in their subway world, Mictlán. If an owl was heard over an Aztec house or from a nearby tree, it was a warning sign that someone would soon die or even the lives of others would be in danger.
8. Monkey – Calendar symbol
The ape is also a calendar symbol in ancient Mexican cultures, giving its name (in Aztec Ozomatii, in Maya Ba’tz) to the 11th day of the month. The ape was a god of dance, celebration and those born under this sign were expected to become jugglers, dancers, jokers or singers.
An ancient myth of the periodic “end of the world” (or “the second era or “the sun”) says that everything ended with devastating tornadoes, and the humans of this era were transformed into apes.
On the Aztec Sun Stone carved in 1478, the north is a warrior’s headdress symbolizing the military power of the Aztecs (Mexica) and their developing empire. The south is a monkey and represents a part of the previous suns (ages) according to the creation myth.
9. Butterfly – Symbol of transformation
In ancient Mexico, the butterfly (in Aztec papalote, suggestive of the Latin papilio) was one of the attributes of Xochipilli, the god of vegetation, but it also symbolized the flickering light of fire and was associated with the Sun. The Aztecs believed that the last breath of a dying person took the form of a butterfly. As the life cycle of the butterfly (egg, larva, pupa and imago (adult) can be clearly observed, the Aztecs therefore gave this insect a symbolic meaning of transformation.
Itzpapalotl (‘obsidian butterfly’ or ‘clawed butterfly’), a butterfly goddess surrounded by stone knives (called ‘itzli’), was a symbol of the souls of women who had died during childbirth. The souls of enemy warriors killed on the battlefield were like butterflies fluttering among the flowers. The fluttering of the insect’s wings (like the flickering of a flame) was related to fire and the sun.
10. Corn – A gift from God Quetzalcoatl
The ape is also a calendar symbol in ancient Mexican cultures, giving its name (in Aztec Ozomatii, in Maya Ba’tz) to the 11th day of the month. The ape was a god of dance, celebration and those born under this sign were expected to become jugglers, dancers, pranksters or singers.
An ancient myth of the periodic “end of the world” (or “the second era or “the sun”) says that everything ended with devastating tornadoes, and the humans of this era were transformed into apes. On the Aztec Sun Stone carved in 1478, the north is a warrior’s headdress symbolizing the military power of the Aztecs (Mexica) and their developing empire. The south is a monkey and represents a part of the previous suns (ages) according to the creation myth.
Myths and legends of Mexican mythology
The Legend of the Flower of Cempasuchil
This beautiful legend tells the love story of two young Aztecs, Xochitl and Huitzilin, a romance from which the cempasuchil flower was born.
This wonderful love story began when the two young Aztecs were still small. They used to spend all their free time playing and enjoying discovering their city together. Although Xochitl was a delicate child, her family let her participate in the adventures of her neighbor Huitzilin. In time, it was only natural that their love would flourish.
In particular, they enjoyed a hike to the top of a nearby mountain where they offered flowers to the sun god Tonatiuh. The god seemed to appreciate their offering and smiled down from the sky with his warm rays. On a particularly beautiful day on the mountaintop, they vowed that their love would last forever.
Huitzilin
When war broke out, the lovers were separated as Huitzilin headed off to fight and protect his homeland. Soon the dreaded news of Huitzilin’s death reached Xóchitl. She felt her world crumble, her heart completely shattered.
She decided to walk one last time to the top of the mountain and implore the sun god Tonatiuh, to somehow unite her with her love Huitzilin. The sun, moved by her prayers, cast a ray that gently touched the young girl’s cheek. Instantly she turned into a beautiful flower of fiery colors as intense as the sun’s rays.
Suddenly, a hummingbird lovingly touched the center of the flower with its beak. It was Huitzilin who was reborn as a beautiful hummingbird. The flower gently opened its 20 petals, filling the air with a mysterious and enchanting aroma.
The lovers would always be together as long as cempasuchil flowers and hummingbirds existed on earth. This is how the cempasuchil flower came to be the Flower of the Day of the Dead.
The culture of the sun
When the first men became aware of the light emitted by the sun and the relationship between light and day, darkness and night, the sun and the moon, they assigned values to each of them. The sun received the positive values: life and flourishing nature; the values of the moon were a little more negative: the world of the dead, a decadence.
From the sun comes the positive energy, and to him, “Tonathiu”, the highest honors are given in the festivals and traditions that come from the “cycles of life” – the same cycles that are associated with the arrival of spring.
In all pre-Columbian cultures, the sun is associated with spring rituals, when life is reborn and flourishes. It is also the time of year to prepare fallow land for harvest. In the Huichol villages, a ritual is prepared for the “deer”, which is the sun that brings light to the villages throughout the three days of celebration.
The figure of the sun is even present in the roundness of our Mexican tortilla, which nourishes and energizes our body. The shape of the tortilla – round – and the corn – yellow like the sun – bring together symbolic elements of positive values.
The Pre-Hispanic cultures
Pre-Hispanic cultures took advantage of the sunlight, turning it into energy for their own bodies. They rubbed their hands vigorously and then exposed them to the sun of the celestial star for several minutes, sitting on the ground with their legs crossed in the lotus position.
In archaeological centers around the world, it has become a tradition for people to greet the equinox. As the pyramids attract energy, people arrive dressed in white, ready to receive the forces of the sun.
Many arrive early in the morning, climb the pyramids and find a good place to receive the energy. Some wear flower necklaces; others wear red scarves around their foreheads; and the more tradition-bound, light incense and walk in huaraches or barefoot along the uplifting rocks.
Traditions of Mexican mythology
Legacy of Mythology. Several aspects of modern Mexican culture show the importance of myths in national life. Religious holidays often combine pagan traditions with the worship of Christian saints. Mourning and funeral practices are also a syncretic blend of indigenous and Christian ideas.
The ancient belief that the personality and needs of people remain the same after death leads to the custom of burying possessions and useful objects with the dead.
A related belief is the notion that the dead can harm the living unless ceremonies are performed to prevent them from doing so.
On November 2, the people of Mexico celebrate a national holiday called the Day of the Dead. Images of death, such as skulls and skeletons, appear everywhere on toys, candies, breads and masks; at the same time, families prepare altars with offerings for dead relatives, who are believed to visit the world of the living at that time.
Some of modern Mexico’s best-known works of art include images drawn from Native American, Christian and revolutionary myths.
The most prominent painters of the Mexican School, José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), Diego Rivera (1886-1957), and David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), produced murals that glorified the Mexican past, Indians, peasants, and revolutionary ideals.
Rivera’s painting The Liberation of the Peasant illustrates their use of mythical symbols: the figure of Christ taken from the cross represents the peasants who gave their lives in the Mexican Revolution.
Sacred Places of Mexican Mythology
Chicomoztoc
(“The Place of the Seven Caves” or “The Cave of the Seven Niches”) is the mythological cave of emergence for the Aztecs/Mexicans, Toltecs and other groups of Central Mexico and northern Mesoamerica. It is often depicted in the codices, maps and other written documents of Central Mexico, known as lienzos, as a subway room surrounded by seven chambers.
In the surviving representations of Chicomoztoc, each chamber is labeled with a pictogram that names and illustrates a different Nahua lineage that emerged from that particular location in the cave.
Like other caves illustrated in Mesoamerican art, the cave has some animalistic features, such as teeth or fangs and eyes. The most intricate digital images show the cave as a lion-like monster from whose open mouth the original people emerge.
Palenque, Mexico
“The House of the Serpent in Infinity” is a Mayan ceremonial center that possesses one of the highest spiritual frequencies. Its sacred architecture is exemplary and unique, a poem in stone. Surrounded by the Lakam-Ha and Otulum rivers, Palenque is home to many of the classic Maya masters, such as Kinich-Hanab-Pakal (“Great master with the shield of the sun”).
Yaxchilan, Mexico
Yaxchilan means “City of the First Prophets”. Here, secret rituals were performed that allowed initiates to travel through time and space to return with specialized information. No wonder they were called Architects of Heaven!
Masters such as Itzamnaj-Balam II, Jaguar-Bird IV, Lady Kabal-Xook and Lady Sak’biyaan (“Precious Crystal Skull”) were versed in the Mysteries by traveling to parallel universes and recording information on the stelae and lintels of this very special, and often overlooked, site
