Huitzilopochtli

Huitzilopochtli is one of the chief deities of Aztec mythology. He is the main god of the sun. His name means "blue hummingbird on the left", and is probably derived from what a priest saw after he stared at the sun too long. He commanded Aztec warriors to carve out an empire, to fight without mercy, and the get sacrifices for him. In fact, his favored victims were children, which might be connected somehow with fertility. He is usually depicted as a blue man, fully armed and decorated with hummingbird feathers, but in the picture above, it is actually the Huitzilopochtli aspect of Tezcatlipoca. Like most Aztec deities, Huitzilopochtli underwent a nightly death, becoming bones during the evening and reborn in the morning.

According to legend, Coatlicue became inpregnated by Huitzilopochtli by tucking a mysterious ball of feathers in her dress. When Huitzilopochtli's 400 brothers and sisters heard of Coatlicue's pregnancy, they became jealous, and tried to find Coatlicue to kill her. Her unborn child counseled her to go to a certain cave. When her children found her and attacked, Huitzilopochtli sprang out of his mother's womb, fully formed, and commenced the slaughter of his siblings. The first to die was Coyolxauhqui, and many others were killed before Huitzilopochtli's siblings finally gave up.

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