THE FIVE SUNS OF AZTEC MYTHOLOGY

                                                                                         

Every mythology has its own “creation myths”, myths centered on how the world came to existence. In some cases a deity creates it on purpose, other times it was born by chance. Sometimes its inhabitants end up causing some kind of apocalypse that reshapes it. Other times the world has never changed since the beginning of time. Aztec mythology takes all the weirdest possible combinations and uses them to create one of the strangest yet most interesting creation myths.

Everything starts with the primordial god, Ometeotl, who spontaneously creates itself and then proceeds to create four other gods. Each of these gods is associated with one of cardinal directions. Their unpronounceable names are Quetzalcoatl (god of the West), Xipe Totec (god of the East), Tezcatlipoca (god of the North) and Huitzilopochtli (god of the South).

Despite their best efforts, the four can’t create anything that lasts long enough to become the World. That’s because Cipactli, the monstrous incarnation of primordial chaos, eats everything they create. To get rid of it, the four gods engage in a battle with Cipactli, and ultimately manage to kill it. The gods then create the World using Cipactli corpse, and start to populate it with humans.                                                                                       

However, the inhabitants of this new World need a source of light in order to survive. So Tezcatlipoca takes the initiative and becomes the First Sun. But Quetzalcoatl is not so happy with this decision, since he wanted to become the Sun instead. So he ends up knocking Tezcatlipoca out of the sky. The angered god of the North attacks Quetzalcoatl, and the two start fighting. During the battle, Tezcatlipoca accidentally causes the clouds to rain jaguars, ending the World in the process.

The four gods decide to rebuild the World, this time with Quetzalcoatl as the Sun. They also create many minor gods, to help them rule this new World. The Second Sun loves the new inhabitants of the World. But over time, they start to become less and less respectful of the gods. In the end, Tezcatlipoca steps in and punishes them by transforming them all into monkeys. Quetzalcoatl is so upset by this event that he brings an endless storm upon the World, ending it a second time.

The World is rebuilt again. This time, to prevent other internal conflicts, the four gods decide that Tlaloc, a minor god of the rain, will be the Third Sun. He proves to be a very good Sun, but Tezcatlipoca gets jealous of his position, and seduces his wife, the goddess of fertility Xochiquetzal. Upset, Tlaloc decides that there will be no more rain in the World as long as he is the Sun. The inhabitants of the World try to protest, but Tlaloc responds by setting off a rain of fire, burning everything to the ground and ending the World a third time.

Tlaloc remarries, this time with a water goddess, Chalchiuhtlicue, who becomes the Fourth Sun. She is, just like Tlaloc, a very good Sun and is beloved by the inhabitants of the World. But Tezcatlipoca steps in again, and tells her that he knows she’s just pretending to like the inhabitants because she wants them to worship her. This accusation hurts her so much that Chalchiuhtlicue cries blood for 52 years, flooding the World and ending it a fourth time.

For the last time the World is rebuilt, with humans from the Fourth World resurrected by Quetzalcoatl as inhabitants. This time Huitzilopochtli becomes the Fifth Sun. According to Aztec mythology, to this day the World is still under the rule of Huitzilopochtli. If humans want to keep the peace they have finally achieved, then they have to worship and respect the gods. Otherwise, it won’t take long for a Sixth World to be created.

YURI, 4sc