Tecciztecatl- Aztec GodDeity"He from the Sea Snail"
Also known as: Tecuciztecatl and Tecciztēcatl
Description
The proud god in precious feathers and jade who was chosen to become the sun — but flinched four times before the fire. When the humble, diseased Nanahuatzin leaped in without hesitation, Tecciztecatl followed in shame and became the moon instead, his face forever marked with a thrown rabbit.
Mythology & Lore
The Coward at Teotihuacan
Tecciztecatl, "He from the Sea Snail," was a wealthy and proud god, the first chosen to illuminate the new age of the Fifth Sun. At Teotihuacan, where the gods gathered to create a new sun after the fourth world ended, Tecciztecatl stood before the divine bonfire adorned in precious feathers and jade. His offerings were coral instead of bone, quetzal plumes instead of grass. Everything about him said he was worthy.
Four times he approached the blazing pyre. Four times he stopped, driven back by the heat. He could not make himself jump. The gods watched and waited, then called forward Nanahuatzin, a humble, pox-scarred god with nothing to offer but agave thorns and the scabs of his own sores. Without hesitation, Nanahuatzin threw himself into the fire and was consumed. He rose as the blazing sun. Shamed by the poor god's courage, Tecciztecatl finally followed.
The Rabbit
Tecciztecatl emerged from the fire as a second sun, as bright as the first. The gods would not allow it. One of them seized a rabbit and hurled it at Tecciztecatl's shining face. The blow dimmed his light, and the rabbit's silhouette was pressed into his surface forever. He became the moon, following the sun he should have preceded.
Relationships
- Family
- Associated with