Tlatecuhtli
Also called Tlaltecuhtli, Tlateculhtli.
Tlatecuhtli is the Aztec earth deity, a monstrous fanged being torn in two by rival gods to form earth and sky, whose grief for that violence is answered with sacrificial blood.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Aztec mythology
- Region
- Mexico (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Two-Realmed
- Symbols
- Knee
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Knee bears image-domain The knee denotes the body's strongest hinge, which bends in submission and supplication, and was anciently held the seat of generation and a lineage's strength.
why
Tlatecuhtli is the earth given the shape of a devouring monster in Aztec tradition: a primeval creature found swimming in the waters that covered the world before its ordering, with mouths at the joints of its body — elbows and knees — in addition to its main mouth, so that it bites and consumes from more than one place at once.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Algae or flora growing on body
why
trees, flowers, and grasses will grow from its body
Omens
- Duality of sky and earth embodiment
why
To stop it they seize it by the limbs and tear the body in two: one half is raised to become the sky, the other becomes the surface of the earth.
Offensive powers
- Heart extraction
why
The torn being continues to cry out at night, and the gods answer the lament by decreeing that trees, flowers, and grasses will grow from its body to console it, and that it will afterward be given human blood and hearts through sacrifice — the ritual origin the tradition assigns to the earth's ongoing hunger.
Utility powers
- Creation
why
The torn being continues to cry out at night, and the gods answer the lament by decreeing that trees, flowers, and grasses will grow from its body to console it, and that it will afterward be given human blood and hearts through sacrifice — the ritual origin the tradition assigns to the earth's ongoing hunger.
Curses
- Insatiable hunger
why
Tlatecuhtli is the earth given the shape of a devouring monster in Aztec tradition: a primeval creature found swimming in the waters that covered the world before its ordering, with mouths at the joints of its body — elbows and knees — in addition to its main mouth, so that it bites and consumes from more than one place at once.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Death carries
1 citation
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Tlatecuhtli."
- Earth carries both readings
1 citation
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Tlatecuhtli."
- Shadow carries both readings
1 citation
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Tlatecuhtli."
- Threshold carries
1 citation
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Tlatecuhtli."