The Aztec also referred to their time as Nahui Ollin which, in Nahuatl, means “four movements or motions”. When Europeans came into contact with them, Aztecs thought that they were living in the fifth age of the Cosmos, which they also called the Fifth Sun. They thought that, through history, many cycles there had been, each ended with a sort of conflagration, from which a new world was born. A New Life for a New WorldĪztecs had a cyclic conception of time. Let’s see this last aspect in greater detail. Besides, he would have had an important role in the creation of life. ![]() The god Xolotl had an important role in Aztec mythology since he was thought to guide and protect the sun, granting the normal progression of the World. The most ancient surviving sources on him already underline his connection with the dead, the lightning, and dogs. The figure of the god Xolotl seems to have originated in the southern regions of Central America, among the Mayas. History of the Aztec god Xolotl and Most Important Myths Related to Him Xolotl’s name, therefore, would simply indicate the animal he was more tightly linked to. It seems that the name “Xolotl” could represent dogs in Nahuatl. Other representations of Xolotl portray him as a skeleton or as a deformed creature having reversed feet. Most often, he was depicted as a man with a dog head.ĭogs were actually considered guide animals, useful to accompany the dead in their journeys through Mictlan, the Aztec Underworld.Īccording to the Aztec god Xolotl mythology, this deity would have been connected to the Xoloitzcuintli, a hairless breed of dog common in Mexico.Īnother animal linked to the Aztec god Xolotl was the Axolotl, a type of water salamander. Xolotl’s iconography reflects his many different characteristics. To make the Aztec god Xolotl’s figure even more complex, we remark that he was the god who presided to the Mesoamerican ballgame, a sport popular among Aztecs and many other neighboring peoples, which was born many centuries ago and that is still played today, at least in some of its variants, by some indigenous populations of Central America. Despite this link with the Underworld, the Aztec god Xolotl would have been connected to the sky, too: he was the personification of the evening star and would have been the protector of the sun during its journey through the firmament. ![]() Xolotl Aztec god was also connected to the Afterlife: he would have been a guide for the dead. His link to Quetzalcoatl is remarked by the fact that the Aztec god Xolotl typically wore his brother’s jewels: they comprised ear ornaments and a sort of necklace having the form of a spiral, which was called the wind jewel. For this reason, probably, he was considered to be the god of twins, too. In fact, they would have been generated together by the goddess Chimalma. He was thought to be the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl, another important Aztec deity. Besides, he was linked to fire and lightning. ![]() In the Aztec pantheon, the Aztec god Xolotl occupied a peculiar place: he was in fact the god of monsters and, by extension, of diseases and deformities, of calamity and misfortune. Symbols of the Aztec god Xolotl and Their Meanings. ![]()
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