Tlaloc
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Tláloc, as shown in the late 16th century Codex Rios. |
Tlaloc, also known as
Nuhualpilli, was, in
Aztec belief, the god of rain and fertility. He was greatly feared among the Aztecs, who drowned children to appease him. They believed that Tlaloc was responsible for both floods and droughts, and that he had been created by the other gods. He is commonly depicted as a goggle-eyed blue being with fangs.
Human sacrifices were often made in his honor, usually children. Before the victims were actually sacrificed, their tears were collected in a ceremonial bowl, to serve as an offering.
Tlaloc was also worshipped in pre-Aztec times, by the
Teotihuacan and
Toltec civilizations.
Tlaloc was first married to
Xochiquetzal, a goddess of flowers, but then
Tezcatlipoca kidnapped her. He later married the goddess
Chalchiuhtlicue, "She of the Jade Skirt". In Aztec mythic
cosmography, Tlaloc ruled the fourth layer of the 'Upper World", or heavens, which is called
Tlalocan ("place of Tlaloc") in several
Aztec codices, such as the
Vaticanus A and
Florentine codices. Described as a place of unending Springtime and a paradise of green plants, Tlalocan was the destination in the afterlife for those who died violently from phenomena associated with water, such lightning, drowning and water-borne diseases (Miller and Taube, 1993).
With Chalchiuhtlicue, he was the father of
Tecciztecatl. He had an older sister named
Huixtocihuatl. He ruled over the third of the five worlds in Aztec belief.
In
Salvadoran mythology, he was also the father of
Cipitio.
Other
Mesoamerican people had similar rain gods with slightly different attributes, such as the
Maya god
Chaac and the
Zapotec deity
Cocijo.
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Tlaloc image at the Federation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies
