Centzon Totochtin- Aztec GroupCollective"Gods of Drunkenness"

The Four Hundred Rabbits

The Centzon Totochtin, the "Four Hundred Rabbits," were the divine children of Mayahuel, goddess of the maguey plant, and Patecatl, god of fermentation. Four hundred, in Aztec reckoning, meant innumerable: as many forms of drunkenness as there were rabbits. Each one governed a different face of intoxication. Some presided over cheerful, sociable drinking: the loosened tongue, the warmth that spread through a feast. Others governed darker territory. Texcatzoncatl drove the drunk to violence, while unnamed rabbits presided over the dead stupor that followed.

Ome Tochtli, "Two Rabbit," served as the group's foremost representative. Tepoztecatl was patron of the town of Tepoztlán and of particular drinking rites. But most of the Four Hundred remained unnamed, an endless host for the infinite varieties of drink.

Sacred and Forbidden

Pulque, the fermented sap of the maguey, was the primary alcoholic drink of central Mexico and was considered sacred. Drinking it during festivals was not merely permitted but expected. Ritual intoxication opened a door to the divine. But outside these sanctioned moments, Aztec society treated drunkenness with brutal severity. A commoner caught drunk in public could be put to death. The rabbit gods were divine patrons of a pleasure that, taken out of its ritual context, was a capital offense.

At festivals honoring the Centzon Totochtin, pulque flowed freely and excess was sanctioned by the gods themselves. The morning after, the same society that had drunk under divine permission returned to its strict codes. The rabbits, innumerable and unruly, retreated until the next occasion called them forth.