Tezcatlipoca, "Fiery-mirror," the tribal deity of the Colhuas, was a god of the winds and the tempest and the giver of breath and hence of life. In the Nahua legend he is the opponent of Quetzalcoatl whom he deceived and induced to give up his work upon earth and return to the home of the Sun. In the capacity of doomster he was called Yaotzin, The enemy," and Nezahual pilli, "Hungry chief." As the spirit of the ever-youthful tem pest, he was address d as Telpochtli, "Youth ful-warrior"; and as the spirit of the night, he was called Yoalli Ehecatl, °Night-wind." Benches were placed along the highway for him to rest on after his exertions of the ought. He was a god of fortune and of fate. As the deity to whom worship was obligatory, he was known as Monenque, °Claimer-of-prayer" and as such he had special power over plague, famine and threatened danger to the people, the state and the human race. He had dominion over life and death. He carried a whistle, symbolical of the noise of the wind; as a warrior god he was armed with dart and shield. To his legs were fastened small bells and in his left hand he held a golden mirror, in which he saw re flected all that passed upon earth.
Tlaelquani, the Mexican deity whose prov ince it was to forgive or eradicate sin pos sessed a dual nature. She was the patroness of desire and luxury; and the confessions made to her were restricted to sins against morality. She was mediator between the penitent and Texcatlipoca, the °Most Powerful God," the "Protector of All* and the "Searcher-out-of evil." The penitent, in the presence of the officiating priest, lighted a sacrificial fire and burned incense to the deity to whom he con fessed his sins and addressed his prayers for forgiveness.
Tlalocs.— The Tlalocs were masters of the liquid element in all its forms. In the dwelling place of the Tlalocatecutli and Chalchiutlicue, Lord and Mistress of the Tlalocs, there were four ponds of water, the first of which aided germination, the second of which withered the seed, the third of which froze it and the fourth of which ripened it. These two deities were, according to the myth, created after the appear ance of the last sun. Tlalocatecutli was called the "Fertilizer of the earth," and the °Protec tor of Temporal Gods." He and his consort lived on a high mountain among the eternal clouds; and from there he sent his visitations of water, mist and fog.Hence his images were erected on high elevations such as hill tops and mountain summits. The characteristic sign of Tlaloc was the cross, which represented the four points of the heavens from which the winds drove the rains. The representation of Tlaloc in the Mexican manuscripts, is painted green and azure to depict the different shades of water; and he carries a spiral-shaped wand of gold, typical of the lightning.
Tlapotlazenan, the Aztec goddess of heal ing and the discoverer of turpentine as the base of certain native ointments, popular at the time of the Conquest, is credited with having originated most of the medicines in use through out the Aztec Empire.
Uayayab, "He by whom the Year is Poi soned," was the Maya deity who presided over the five unlucky days at the end of the year. His image was carried out of every village and town and left outside during the days of his influence in order that he might not poison the new year.
Votan, the fabled civilizes of the ancient people of Chiapas, was closely related to the culture gods of the other races of Mexico and Central America.
was the god of vegetation and the sowing time and his general characteristics are those of the culture deities. He was considered a tribal equivalent of Tezcatlipoca and, under somewhat varying forms, he was worshipped throughout the Aztec Empire and among the nations bordering upon it to the south. He was connected with the Moon, and the gold and silversmiths regarded him as their tutelar god. He was called the "flayed-one," because at his festival the skin was removed from each hu man victim sacrificed to him and worn for 20 days by the devotee furnishing the In Tenochtitlan, where his festival was one of the important religious events of the year, he appears to have been looked upon as the god of human sacrifices. The monarchs and chief warriors of the Aztec Empire, when actively engaged in war, frequently donned the classical costume of Xipe.
Xolotl was a southern deity of lightning; and in the Aztec calendar he ruled over the 15th week and the 17th day sign; but as the Mexican calendar was borrowed from southern nations, and as the nature of this exotic deity was not understood by the Aztecs, he always remained to them a strange, mysterious figure. He was the Lightning Beast of the Mayas and cognate tribes, among whom he was a deity of the air and the cardinal points or the four directions of the winds.
Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, Father-and Mother gods, are the Maya-Kiche equivalent of the Nahuatl generators, Ometecutli and Omecihuatl. They were endowed with creative power.
Yacatecutli, "He-who-guides,* was the Mexican god of commerce and trade; and the Aztec merchants held in his honor, twice a year, great festivities during which elaborate banquets were held and sacrifices were offered to the god. The traveler's staff was his par ticular symbol, and to it prayers were made and offerings of flowers and incense proffered_ Bibliography.—Acosta, J. de, 'Historia de las India0 (Seville 1880); Bancroft, H. H.. 'Native Races' (San Francisco 1875) ; Ban delier, A. F., 'On the Soda! Organization and Mode of Government of the Ancient Mexi cans' (in 'Twelfth Annual Report of the Pea body Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology,' Cambridge 1880); Biart, L., 'The Aztecs' (Chicago 1905); Bottirini Benaducci, L., 'idea de una nueva historic general de 12 America Septentrional' (Madrid 1746) ; Hour bourg, B. de, 'Histoire des nations civilisees du Mexique et de l'Amerique Central& (Paris 1857-59); Charnay, D., 'Ancient Cities of the New World' (London 1887) ; Clavigern 'Storia antica del Messico' (Cesena 1780). Diaz, B., 'Historia verdadera de la conquis'a Nueva ueva Espafia) (1837); Ixtlixochitl, F. de A., 'Historia Chichimeca' (Mexico 1891-92), Joyce, T. A., 'Mexican Archaeology' (London 1914); Nadaillac, Marquis de, 'Prehistoric America' (London 1885); Nuttall, Z., 'The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations' (1901) ; Pefiafiel, 'Monu mentos del arte mexicano antiguo' (Berlin 1890) ; Prescott, W. H., 'Conquest of Mexico': Sahagun, B. de, 'Historic general de las cosas de Nueva Espana) (Mexico 1829) ; Spence, L., The Myths of Mexico and Peru' (New York 1913) ; id., The Civilization of Ancient Mex ico) (ib. 1912) ; Starr, F., 'The Indians of Southern Mexico) (1899); Cyrus and Magee, 'The History of North America) (1908) ; Torquemada, J. de, 'Monarquia (Madrid 1723).