Aztec Gods
The Aztec gods and goddesses were a bloodthirsty group whose constant warring with each other led to a cycle of death and rebirth for all humanity. Each of the first four ages was ruled by a different deity, or “sun,” and each age ended in violence before a new sun was chosen.
List of Aztec Gods
Chalchiuhtlicue
Prominent Aztec water goddess, patron of newborns and the sick.
Chalchiuhtlicue was the Aztec goddess of oceans, rivers, springs, and lakes, and patron of newborns and the sick. She represented the fourth sun of the Aztecs, and cried tears of blood when accused of faking her feelings.
View
Coatlicue
Aztec fertility goddess wearing a serpent skirt, and mother of Huitzilpochtli.
Coatlicue was the serpent-skirt wearing Aztec goddess of fertility who prophesied the fall of the Aztec empire. Mother of the war god Huitzilopochtli, she predicted that when the cities he conquered finally fell, her son would return to her.
View
Huitzilopochtli
Aztec god of war, who led his people to found the city of Tenochtitlan.
Huitzilpochtli was the Aztec god of war, served by fallen warriors and women who had died in childbirth. An immensely powerful warrior, legends held that his eventual defeat would mark the end of the Aztec empire.
View
Mictlantecuhtli
Skeletal Aztec god of death who ruled over Mictlan, the land of the dead.
Mictlantecuhtli was the Aztec god of death, who ruled over the land of the dead with his wife Mictecacihuatl. He was tricked into giving up the bones that would become the humans of the fifth age by Quetzalcoatl.
View
Mixcoatl
Aztec god of the hunt, inventor of fire, and patron of the Tlaxcalan people.
Mixcoatl was the Aztec god of the hunt who gave fire to humanity. A deity with many forms and origins, he was at once an iteration of Tezcatlipoca, a child of Ometeotl, and a divinely transformed hunter named Mimich.
View
Ometeotl
Aztec creator deity, formed of both Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl.
Ometeotl was the Aztecs’ original creator deity, composed of husband Ometecuhtli and wife Omecihautl. After creating themselves and four of the most powerful gods of the pantheon, they left to reside in the highest heaven.
View
Quetzalcoatl
Aztec Feathered Serpent deity, god of winds and bringer of maize.
Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec’s Feathered Serpent god, controller of winds and bringer of maize. A clever shapeshifter, he used his wits to trick the Lord and Lady of Death into giving him the bones that he shaped into mankind.
View
Tezcatlipoca
The “Smoking Mirror,” omnipresent Aztec deity ruling the modern age.
Tezcatlipoca, the “Smoking Mirror,” was a powerful Aztec creator deity represented by an obsidian mirror. Frequently in conflict with his brother Quetzalcoatl, he sacrificed his foot to a sea monster to create the world from its body.
View
Tlaloc
Aztec god of thunder and rain, whose blessings nurtured vital crops.
Tlaloc was the Aztec god of thunder and rain, one of the longest continually worshiped gods in the pantheon. Usually beneficent but occasionally fickle, he was offered sacrifices to ensure that the seasonal rains arrived on time.
View
Tonatiuh
The fifth and current sun of the Aztecs, whose death signals the world’s end.
Tonatiuh’s existence as the fifth sun of the Aztecs was brought about by the sacrifice of the god Nanahuatzin. Setting the sun in motion required many more deaths, and his own eventual demise will signal the end of the world.
View
Xipe Totec
The “Flayed One,” Aztec god of agriculture, seasons, fertility, and goldsmiths.
Xipe Totec, literally “Our Lord the Flayed One,” was the Aztec god of agriculture, seasons, and goldsmiths. He was worshiped with rituals of gladiatorial combat and human sacrifice, culminating with his priests wearing the victim’s flayed skin.
View
Xochiquetzal
Youthful Aztec goddess of fertility, sexuality, weaving, and the moon.
Xochiquetzal was the Aztec goddess of sexuality and procreation, weaving, and the lunar cycle. Wife to many gods, her festival was celebrated with flowers, drinking, copulation, and human sacrifice.
View